October 26, 2005
Snow!
We have a rather big update today:
It snowed a bit on both Whistler and Blackcomb, which is a very good sign, the weather has also gone a lot colder - it's like 2'c in the village today.
I got offered a job, rather cushty too, I enjoy always landing on my feet. I hadn't intended to get a job out here as I can probably afford a fairly luxurious 6 months pissing away what money I'd saved over the past 2 years and I have come out here with the intention of skiing and boarding, otherwise known as skiboarding, but I could hardly turn down a $15 an hour email support job that can:
- be done from home
- is a guaranteed 3 hours a day
- can be done at any time during that day
- the guy running the website is a keen boarder so wants to enjoy the snow as much as myself
- there is a bunch of development work available at extortionate 95north rates
This has perked me up a bit since I was awoken at both 3am and 5am by two unnamed members of our party getting it on about 2 foot from where I was "sleeping", a little unsporting I feel.
Finally, we secured a luxury condo for the season so thankfully I am all settled and ready for 6 months of snow. The place is in a place called Blueberry Hill overlooking the Whistler golf course and a few minute walk from Alta Lake (the biggest up here). It's about a 15 minute walk to the base of the lifts so some sort of 2 wheeled transport may have to be acquired, but apparently you can store your skis at the mountain so that would help. Besides, the flat has a jacuzzi bath, heated floors, about 600sq ft living room, awesome views of both mountains from the deck and is really nicely decked out. The landlord seems very keen to keep the place in top condition which may well mean he will screw us on the cleanliness at the end of the tenancy but at least he will remain interested in the place unlike our current dude.
Vancouver tomorrow. Oh and Canadian KFC is awesome, just the basic $5 meal tastes so much better than anything in the UK.
Posted by Mark at 3:21 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 21, 2005
No Canadians live in Whistler
So Thursday night was Canucks night and I'm really beginning to get into the game. Luckily they seem to be doing particularly well this season and picked up the 6th win of the season over Gretzys mighty Coyotes, I even cheered when "we" scored. I'm not sure I can use "we" yet so I'm going to use quotes for a bit longer.
Izzy and Ad had gone to a job fair at the Four Seasons earlier in the day, where I sat in the lobby enjoying the cackling women having a meeting over my shoulder while I finished my book, "What I Loved" (not recommended, a bit pretentious) where they ended up meeting a few other seasonaires, Jenelle, Gwen and Amy. Anyway, back to being at the bar watching the Canucks, Gwen and Amy joined us, along with Ads friend from University, Lucy with yet more Brits Lorna and Jamie and a random Kiwi they met in the taxi who I am informed was a bit weird. After the pitchers had been emptied we moved onto Garfinkels for locals night, one of 3 or 4 clubs Whistler has to offer, better than the last we went to although it smelt of balloons inside. Drink, dance (yes, I know) and chat a bit more until people started to depart.
Of course, the only day that it hasn't rained for a week, I am hungover and we are all suffering from a lack of sleep. Today was another wasted day sat in bars, coffee shops and the like. Only 4 weeks to go until the lifts open *sigh*
There's another bunch of photographs from last night I'm about to upload.
Posted by Mark at 7:50 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 16, 2005
It's still raining.
Well I make that 5 days of rain now. After a slow start to the day we walked about 10km around the Whistler "Valley Trail" which takes in the most scenic areas of the area, lakes, forests, golf courses etc. Very good to get out of the (cabin fever) apartment and do some excercise. Ad and I hopped in the hot tub after and were joined by about 8 US college students which wasn't totally unpleasant, we're heading out for a few drinks later to try and catch up with them.
The beard has gone. I'll post the final images soon. I also have a few pictures from Saturday night I'll put up, when we hit Whistler in style and knocked back a few white russians.
I'll be heading to Vancouver next Friday, going to a couple of shows during the week and then heading over to Victoria the Friday afterwards.
Posted by Mark at 7:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 14, 2005
More beards...
There really is nothing to do in Whistler, I've seen more rain than I've seen in my entire life and aside from the odd game of shithead we are trying to waste time on the net. I'm heading back to Vancouver on Thursday or Friday next week.
Here's the beard update for today: 
Posted by Mark at 5:14 PM | TrackBack
October 13, 2005
Beard update, day 11.
If you couldn't already tell I have a semi-permanent net connection now. Here's the promised beard update:
Posted by Mark at 12:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 12, 2005
Whistling
Waking up with what felt like a "Stella Hangover" wasn't the best start to what was going to be a horrible trawl from Vancouver to Whistler, and of course the weather had turned typically wet. Sweating my way to the station I met up with Adam, Mark and Izzy who made the actual 3 hour bus trip pass without much boredom, the weather remained awful and spoilt what could have been incredible views across the ocean.
I'd booked into the only hostel near the village, the aptly named "Shoe String Lodge" although the Lodge part literally comes from the fact it's a building made of wood and not quite as idyllic you'd imagine. The 4 of us grabbed the same room giving the slight relief that I'd not have another episode with a fat guy, unless Ad slept below me.
The next 4 days have pretty much passed in routine, worringly. Consisting of going to the Whistler Turkey Fair, a huge past season ski and snowboard sale and us buying various necessary ski equipment, spending hours in a warm coffee shop, making the same stupid puns and jokes about various locations in the village and slumming in the hostel playing poker and watching (previously on...) Veronica Mars. The one highlight would be watching a movie called "Descent", a Canadian cinema offering that from the appearance of the formidable Luke Perry should have warned us of its quality.
Unfortunately it looks like we were premature in our adventure up to the mountain, although many others are here trying to do the same thing, the "summer" season isn't over yet and a lot of the rental property isn't yet available.
We managed to find a property for 5 weeks right in the village (above Starbucks, oh god) and it's a perfect, if somewhat small, location to find somewhere more permanent AND IT HAS A HOT TUB. I'll be heading back to Vancouver in a few days probably to meet up with Angela and pop over to Victoria before the season kicks in and the lifts open around early November.
I've uploaded a few pictures of drunken escapades, hit the link at the top.
Posted by Mark at 5:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Gary
This one's a bit old and should be dated about 5 days ago...
A new resident was present in the hostel wednesday morning and made passing comment to my ski boots asking my final destination, it turns out Gary had just come down the mountain from working last season and we got talking. Rather pleasantly I didn't have a whole lot planned for the day aside from going to North Van and checking out one of the parks and canyons, Gary was on a limited budget from having spent all his money (I hope that's not an omen) so was checking out a movie. We had a coffee and talked until about 12, I figured I asked all the right questions because he didn't once stop talking about Whistler and from what information I managed to retain I am grateful.
We departed around lunch with the intention of meeting up in the evening to watch the season opener of the Vancouver Canucks and I headed to the SeaBus station. I told you Vancouver was small, I bumped into Mark and Adam from the SWAP (Bunac thing) meeting earlier in the week and we agreed plans to meet in the Greyhound station on Thursday at 11am. On the SeaBus, across the inlet on the Seabus and onto local transit to wind it's way through the suburbs of North Vancouver towards Lynn Canyon. By the end of the trip I was the only one on the bus, always a bit disconcerting when you don't know when you are but I caught my bearings got off in time and walked into the park. Lynn Park is the smaller brother to Capilano, which I had been told can cost up to $35 just to cross the suspension bridge, the lift to Grouse Moutain resides on that side of town also and another extortionate fee awaited, hence my choice to go more "underground". Plus the weather was appalling so I wouldn't have seen much.
As it turns out I was the only person who fancied walking through incredible scenery borded by huge waterfalls and stunning views as no one else was around. Fine by me, except had I slipped on a rock and hurt myself a bear would have surely had me before I saw someone else. An hour later (after I said I'd walk no more) I made my way back down and to the hostel. Gary was outside and we headed to back to Mahoneys on Robson, which Tyler had originally made me familiar with and were greeted again by the waitress who had questioned out my tea-drinking stereotype credentials last time I was there.
The rules were slowly explained to me and while it was no football, the hockey game was relatively entertaining, the crowd made the experience very worthwhile and even more so since the Canucks won. No going back from the 3rd pitcher we went to another couple of bars before heading back to the hostel, turns out I wasn't the only dorm member disturbed by the "fat man".
Posted by Mark at 3:17 PM | TrackBack
October 11, 2005
Beard watch
Proper update coming soon, I am keeping offline diary entries, I just don't have my laptop with me.
Top stories:
I have a short-term apartment sorted shared with 3 guys I met in Vancouver.
I am growing a beard.
More soon.
Posted by Mark at 1:21 PM | TrackBack
October 4, 2005
I saw a racoon and a black squirrel!
I'm done with walking. Christ. In terms of my progress on checking the city out, I briefly checked on Stanley Park yesterday and it is indeed really beautiful, Yaletown is scheduled to this afternoon and that just about leaves North Van and Grouse Mountain tomorrow I figure.
The Vancouver International Film Festival is currently going on across the city and I watched a Danish movie called Accused yesterday evening, nothing to write home (or on your blog) about.
Jetlag has been defeated after an epic sleep but I think my immune system suffered as I got a cold. I blame the fat guy in the hostel, he is to blame for everything.
Posted by Mark at 2:26 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 3, 2005
I have a really big blister on my toe.
I think I am getting over the worst of the jetlag, of which I have always been sceptical actually exists, as a kid travelling to the US I'm sure I never used to get it. Must be like hangovers, gets worse as you get older.
So Vancouver, yeah nice place. My wild adventures on Saturday night, after landing at 5pm (thanks Manchester baggage handlers) and getting to the hostel at 7pm I didn't feel up to much so took a short walk around the local area. Which I have since been informed is the cities gay district. Go me.
I tried to get to bed early, having been travelling for 20 hours, but a hostel is a pretty dramatic downturn from semi-luxury Oxford bachelor pad, and even further from parents palaical comforts. I was feeling pretty down, christ, you would too if a 60 year old dude from San Fransisco woke you up at 1am telling you you're in the wrong bed. I wonder when they dropped the "Youth" part of Youth Hostel? I have since reached the conclusion that this guy is here for the local scene only, but am thankfully yet to see any evidence.
I didn't get back to sleep after 1am so if you're keeping tabs, I've been up since 8am GMT (midnight PST), sneaked 4 hours sleep at 9pm (PST) and am back awake listening to the chorus of snores in the dormitory. Morning finally comes and I head straight out avoiding the complimentary breakfast (I cannot begin to imagine what it consists of), Starbucks is within crawling distance and the first coffee hit of the day comes into force.
At this point I should state I had no real plan of what I intended to do for the day, albeit going to the tourist office downtown seemed a smart idea. Somewhat suprisingly, downtown is small, I don't mean Oxford small but it's all pretty much walkable. The hostel is a 5 minute walk to the epicentre. After wandering around Canada Place, which is oddly similar to Chicagos Navy Pier, I realised that Vancouver doesn't get up on Sunday mornings and I'd have to wait it out. Someone told me they do good doughnuts here and a 9am Sunday morning continental Maple Syrup and Classic Glazed Tim Hortons awaits, along with another coffee.
Flicking through what I picked up at the tourist office, I'm told Gastown makes for a moderately popular Sunday haunt so I lugged my backpack back onboard and set out. For the record, laptops are heavy. My Rough Guide makes out Gastown to be kind of historic. Briefly, it became the original centre of the city (before burning down) due to some clever minded chap setting up a large drinking establishment, for the loggers to frequent after lumberjacking all day. Historic in Canadian terms meaning over 100 years old, so it'd not be unreasonable to expect some large Victorian architecture, maybe a bit of cheap tack thrown in for the tourists? Well not really, there's a 200 yard road which has a steam clock on it, a bunch of native art shops and the Storyeum, which after closer examination (I figured the hour long show might waste some time) is a live action representation of Vancouvers history. Yes it does sound amusing but the place was full of kids so I got the idea and moved on.
Chinatown is nearby and claims to be the 2nd largest outside well, erm China I guess. All chinatowns tend to be the same I find but who doesn't enjoy looking at roasted animals and various other odd foodstuffs strung up inside elaborately decorated windows? I should have followed my instincts, again the 300 yard stretch of Main Street wasn't very exciting, I popped into the Cultural District which consisted of a small Chinese garden, very pleasant and relaxing until the American tourbus arrived. Heading back out is where I made my first mistake. They say East Gastown (verging on Hastings) gets seedy, that's the guide book way of saying you'll be dodging hobos, syringes and crazed freaks. Seriously, this area of Vancouver has some serious drug and homeless issues it needs to address. It's a shame because the actual area isn't so bad.
After my excursion into the worst of Vancouver, I thought I'd head into the shopping district, well, road, as you might be beginning to gather, Vancouver is small, Robson and Granville probably make up a mile or so of shopping, I guess with the large Mall tossed in there is a fair deal of shopping to be fair but I'm not really one for meandering pointlessly around clothing boutiques although I do need a jacket (I forgot to bring mine). It wasn't a caffiene fix I needed now, after carrying my laptop around for the best part of a day, it was Internet.
Luckily the only person I actually know is available later in the afternoon and went on to show me some hospitality that is worthy of an Ambassador status. Maybe that's just how they do it in Canada but I can't imagine many Brits meeting up with a holiday maker from the Internet, taking them to a bar for a couple of beers (good choice in bar too, I thought All Bar One had some good waitresses) escorting me back to his house and letting me crash on his bed for an hour (there was no buggery, he assures me). I wake up to pizza and quality Canadian television before we head back downtown to Sonar to see if we can score an extra ticket for a show he's going to. Luckily we do and head in, the venue is smoke-free, clean and there's no queue at the bar, take note English music venues. The National play a pleasantly suprising set with musings of Suede vocals, a Canadian synth sound and a voilin thrown in for good measure. Time update, assuming I'm still running on GMT, it's now 6am and I've had 4 hours sleep in the past 48. Apologies to Tyler for the lack of energy and enthralling conversation while we wait for Clap your Hands and say Yeah to come on stage. They're nothing out of the ordinary live and they did nothing to back up my initial thoughts that the singer just warbles into the mic.
And to bed. I managed 8 hours sleep and am awake feeling a little more with it, the plan today is head into town and catch up with Tyler before work so I can bore him with more Canadian/British comparisons.
Posted by Mark at 1:57 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack