Im travelling around the world, working as i go, living life as much as i can, enjoying everything thing and everyone i encounter. Along the way I capture these moments of fun and beauty and like to share these with whoever is watching.
But I’ll start with a recap of the last few weeks;
So after I finisked working at Nakiska I had plenty of time to ride for myself. I purchased a new snowboard in the sales for just over $200 to replace my years old board. All of this lead to huge improvements in my riding, and me performing new tricks and gaining lots more confidence.
I started working as a line cook in the Elk and Oarsman pub, the busiest pub in town. I worked on the salad/pizza/desert section so could munch on yummy fresh food all the time. Being able to take food home meNtion saving spending on groceries too! It was fun working there, met a few good people and made some good contacts.
I started socialising more with my new found time, and not having to wake up for six am. So this gave me time with my friends and party a bit more.
At the end of the season, the last day we went to Slush Cup. I started off by tobogganning from the highest lift on the mountain, which was crazy. Nobody on a board could keep up with me down the longest black run, only alan could manage, and that was with the brakes on. I hit moguls went flying and throw myself off to stop, heart pounding I saw the ski patrol waiting for me to tell me off. Needless to say he was nice, and just called all of the lifts to stop us from taking the sled up again.
So maybe I’d pushed fate and come off fine, for later while making my last run I caught an edge and fell down hard. Had it not been raining over the weekend, then snowing, turning the mountain to ice, I would had been fine. But hitting the ground face first onto ice left me checking for all of my teeth and questioning where all of the blood was coming from. Well I should have been wearing goggles because my sunglasses cut the bridge of my nose. I smashed my nose in causing a big nose bleed, and I grazed the skin from my face from chin to forehead.
The lively lady in ski patrol cleaned me up, gave me a little plaster so I could wear my glasses to protect my eyes from the sun and off I went to enjoy the festivities. My first slush cup was fun all in all.
Why is it I manage to smash my face up each year?
So I looked haggered and scary for a good week, I can only breathe a little through my nose, and I have a mousache because I can’t shave my upper lip.
I got a hold of a ticket to Sasquatch, a music festival in Washington state that Alan and co. were going to and I had come to think I had no chance of getting to. I rode down in convoy with some guys I’d never met, a great road trip with much junk food along the way, 13 hours in all. The venue ‘The Gorge’ is possibly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. It’s a canyon like the Grand Canyon, but smaller and greener with a natural amphitheatre and beautiful sunsets.
The music was great especially LCD Soundsystem, Vampire Weekend, Z Trip, Booka Shade, Simian Mobile Disco and Deadmaus, and I had a good dance.
So I met some great people and had an awesome last weekend with Alan, Chris, Sarah and Sarah, so farewell to them I’ll miss them.
On the way back to Banff, I didn’t want to go back, we had trouble at the border, misunderstanding a question, getting searched and fined for not declaring alcahol. But on the upside we some a family of black bears, momma and three cubs, my first sighting of bears!
This left me with 2 days to sort my life out, pack up and clean the house.
So lots of farewells and help from Malcolm and so we left Banff, Malcolm, Natalie and I in her VW Golf laden down, roof rack piled high off on the next adventure.
We drove west, stopping got lunch in Revelstoke, an awesome mountain town.
We then hit BC and the Oakanagon valley where we’ll live for the next few months. We’ve come to pick fruit and live a leaisurely summer on the farm. I called around a few weeks ago, with little positive response but one guy Al we met up with us has given us a place to set tent, and given us lots of advice, no promise of work but things are looking positive.
So this is our new life and we are super excited for this will be a wonderful summer!
i’ve been dressed up, smart shoes, trousers and shirt, handing in resumes. it feel so peculiar to be dressed like that, but got some positivish results. one place wants me to memorise the menu by thursday, i presume next thursday as 12 hours is a bit short. i’m going to continue to job hunt today.
otherwise, i’ve been riding a bit, nice sunny weather, snow is hardening up now, so we’re eagerly awaiting the next storm.
and it’s shocking to wake up and read in the telegraph that all flights in the uk are no go due to the icelandic volcanic eruption, check the photo of where there are flights in europe and where there aren’t:
well time for some breakfast and off to look for jobs.
i’ve just about finished my work as a ski/snowboard instructor. it’s been great, i’ve spent sooo much time on the mountain, had some great experiences, met some great people, learned a lot.
i’ve progressed to level 2 snowboard instructor and level 1 ski, and will take my snowboard freestyle course in a couple of weeks, so i’m working my way up nicely.
i’m pretty exhausted and so im resting up a bit this week, even though it has been snowing, i’d rather rest up than tire myself out more, there is still 2 months of riding left before the lifts close!
so i have to job hunt now, need money.
so photos i’ve been uploading from my travels in the past year:
I think it been a long time again. I’m sat in the restaurant at lake louise having some lunch. I’m on a pre course level the snowboard instructor level 2. I think I’m becoming accustomed to the cold a little, yesterday it was -10 and felt almost warm! Monday they couldn’t even open the lifts because it’s was over thirty below. People say this is freak cold for this early in winter, but so good for getting used to it. I tend to lose feeling in my toes after twenty minutes outside, and frostbite comes in around ten.
So it hasn’t snowed in a while, just nice and sunny, the sun not feeling warm. But everybody is waiting for the next snow, after all snow is what we came for.
After being here around 5 weeks, alan and I finally have a place to move into, so that’ll end my almost 8 months of homelessness. It’s unfurnished so were trying to find our furniture online at no cost. It’s been done, so doable. I can’t wait to have a home.
So we decide to stay here for the winter, and have season passes for the local hills, so we are totally committed to Banff, expensive as it is.
I have a definately job lined up for January onwards, but only part time, so I’m still looking. But instructing is what I’ve been working towards, so excited!
Most of the time here is spent cold, on the snow, drinking, eating, and having lots of fun meeting new people.
Oh and one bad thing, I failed my level 1 for ski instructing. I passed the teaching but failed the technical skiing. It was pretty ambitious taking the course having barely skied In ten years. So there is a another course next week so I have to get practicing, and make sure I pass this time.
I guess last thing is ???
Photos; cheese, dice and drinks, bingo, robs new car, elk in town, more bingo, me riding, circular rainbow and my leg bruise after landing on a tree
Alan and I have just been to the mall in Winnipeg, narrowly escaping the busyness. I bought a cover for my iPhone because I have seen so many iPhones with smashed screens. I went for the recycled plastic option. We also got some thermals, it’s going to be a cold winter.
So winnipeg was interesting. Out couchhost was a fun girl, plenty of time having recently been made redundant, along with most of her crazy friends but we spent most of the time partying, there isn’t much else to do in that town. It is the grain trading capital of north America.
And the people there are crazy, many of whom walk around making wierd sounds, screaming or talking to themselves. There’s too much winter, no excitement or hope, not even any population growth, the gun crime capital of Canada so we are told.
So we are now in the real prairies, you can see for miles and miles, forward the road dissappears on straight to the horizon and to the sides are endless yellow field where crops grew in the summer.
It’s so straight and boring that they have giant signs to keep you mind active like odometer checks. But no worries if you fall off the road asleep, there’s nothing to hit.
It’s barely above zero degrees and they’re still harvesting.
So wawa was no too interesting, lots of goose statues.
Thunder bay, out host wasn’t too talkative until we got him a bit drunk, and he hit on us.
So the most important thing we did was go to an employment centre to canadianise our resumes. We’ve applied for several jobs now. Not much response yet.
The car is super dirty because I decided to do some off roading just to wake me up from the boring drive.
Oh and I got myself a lovely yellow hat, mmm warm
So today has been a wonderland adventure with zoey.
We started off with Breakfast with the bugs and plants in the sun until zoey chipped the top off a molar chewing her muesli! So after some calming, emergency over and back to having fun. I love hanging with her, there’s always soo much laughing smiling and fun. So we had an park hopping walk across Mayfair to selfridges, she’s never ever been before! We had some photos with Santa in Christmas land, and then went to see the icecreamists. Down underground is a sexy ice cream lounge. We sat down in a black ice cream van all vinyl and fluff inside, with the queen in shades at the wheel. At the centre of the table was a red lit up button, and as curiosity would have me do, I pressed it. A couple of seconds later and a loud tune blared out, the tune to call children a running, the ice cream man is coming tune I didn’t go for the most expensive ice cream at £39.99 but the second at almost twenty quid. For that I got some natural stimulant milk ice cream, so toffee like that which adorns your toffee apple, and a shot of La Feé absynthe and even a badge. It was a delightful breakfast, and well worth the money, we even had an ice cream sex show off in our periphery.
Feeling dizzy we wandered the floors of selfridges laughing at the crazy things to buy, playing with the fun bits, and gawping at the funny people. I bought some White powder that when added to some water turns to snow, which turns back to powder and can again turn to snow. To finish off we bought some pies and had a lovely sunny goodbye so off back to dad’s I fly.
Yesterday I had a long walk around doing nothing but feel tired.
After ben finished work we went to a Moroccan restaurant which I’ve wanted to go to for years, so yummi cocktail and grilled halloumi.
Then to brick lane, but there was a music festival on and we weren’t there to pay to get into a bar that we wouldn’t be able to chat in, so the gun by spittlefields, a good old fasioned English pub was just right.
It was wonderful to have almost all of my best London friends all around one table, it made me really happy.
After some trouble and a slagging match with some waiters we found a nice restaurant where the waiter offered us 40% off our meal, bingo! We all heartily stuffed our faces until we couldn’t ven drink any longer.
So I’ve had a very memorable last time for a while in London.
The last few days have been so great, I couldn’t ask for better.
Time to start packing, off to LA tomorrow.
We’ve been drinking too much and watching family guy too much.
I can’t wait for the season to end, and the drinking to be done!
Saturday ian, courtney, alex, alan and I drove through Italy to lucarno in Switzerland. We went there to do the craziest thing we’d all done in our lives maybe. Coming around the corner to see the dam, all of our hearts stopped. The verzasca dam is the largest bunjee jump off of a dam, at 220m, it was scary to look at. Even more scary to walk along, but stood at the edge of the gantry was fairly nerve wracking. It was a seven second free fall at 120kmh. We then bounced almost all of the way back up. We had to climb up our cord a bit, then hook ourselves up to a cord to pull us back up.
It was awesome to the point at which I can’t describe!!!
Afterwards we had a pizza by lago maggiore, beautiful place, awesome pizza, wonderful drive all day. A day that was amazing, beyond words.
Sunday, alan and I drove to Chamonix to escape, but the skiing was crap, the snow was good but it was snowing too heavily to enjoy. We headed down to town for a proper raclette, the three of us managed to eat a kilo of cheese, which was super painful.
It was the last night of casbah. Which was great, but I won’t be sad to not go there any longer. Too much drinking went on in there, and my body could do with a rest.
Yeatsrday we drank from midday, went to l’atelier for hog roast and party. I had to bring alan home at midnight, hi being too drunk.
Last night of wonderbar tonight, so the same again :s
I’m going to try and get plates for my car this afternoon, so thumbs crossed.
Anne gets here tomorrow, and I haven’t riden much in ages.
So Alan is here, and everybody had last night off work. So much for the plans for a BBQ, it snowed loads. So we had a house party, we were all a mess by five pm. It was a fun evening, with a big bad head day today.
Alan and I managed to go skiing, boarding today, I even took him up mont gele, pretty hardcore for his first day! Maybe thirty cms of powder, now, in April, insane, and awesome!!!
We got my car back from the garage, with the summer tyres
So off to lugarno tomorrow to jump 220m off a dam, same one that James bond did at the beginning of goldeneye. Ace or what.
Good luck to us all.
it has snowed. it felt like a lifetime and lots of snow had melted, but finally we have some great powder, and i’ve had to great days of riding!
so i’m getting a bit sick of work. it’s probably mostly because everybody else moans a lot, and this bring the general vibe toward a negative feeling. but also my boss is being a real idiot. his girlfriend asked if i wanted to ski one day, sent me her number so i texted her once, and now he’s freaking out thinking i’m after his girlfriend, which is so far from the truth, but he ought to grow up, and be less insecure about his life. he just fired one employee yesterday, another handed in written notice, and if he doesn’t sort himself out, i may as well do the same, and then for the busy easter period, they’ll be quite short staffed, which will suck for the other employees, who will have to work so much harder. it’s a shame for everybody that he’s such an incompetent lazy manager.
i’ll miss the snow, but tomorrow i’m off to greece, analya, to get my tooths fixed. it’s so much less expensive to travel to places liek bulgaria, hungary, greece, and having looked online at reputable, reviewed dentists, i chose greece, being that i have never been there. so i’m trading in snow for the beach. i know i’ll miss verbier. but i really need to escape for a bit, some time to chill and relax. otherwise i’ll probably have to wait until july, so i may as well work this out and make the most of it. i imagine some slight discomfort and excruciating pain when getting this implant!
looking forward to the end of the season, the parties, the sun, the snowpark and alan and anne coming to visit, bring it onnnnnn!
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