Giants Game 9th Dec

Through one of my work mates I was able to score a couple of free tickets to see the Vancouver Giants play Chilliwack Bruins. This was Rach`s first Canadian Ice Hockey game... and she was lucky to get there. The bus out to the Coliseum has a stop at the West and East end of one street, Rach wanted the east end... but got off the bus at the west end. Being still a few kilometres from the coliseum she had to wait 15 minutes for the next bus to arrive. She eventually made it 15 minutes before puck drop, just enough time to grab some food and find our seats - We ended up in nice seats, about half way up, right on half way.

Rach and I both found the Giants to be a more genuine Hockey experience. Sure the players on the ice weren't playing to the same standard but the crowd was there to support and enjoy the game. The result was great too, the Giants won it 5 nil.

Chirstmas Preaparations. December 2 - 6

Given it was now December and we could see Christmas lights going up in apartments around us we decided we should do some decorating ourselves. For obvious reasons we didn't bring a lot of decorations with us from NZ so on Wednesday night we did a trip out to Canadian Tire (For Kiwis - Its like a Warehouse with a Repco attached, and yes, they spell tyre wrong). After spending just under $100 we had a small tree, lights and some decorations. We spent the rest of the evening blasting terrible Christmas music and decorating the apartment. We were very happy with the results.

Thursday night we decided to appreciate someone else's work and went to the waterfront and back through town enjoying all the Christmas lights setup around the city. The large Christmas tree in front of the art gallery was great, especially with the lights on the Fairmont Hotel in the background.

With decorations up the only thing left to do was shopping. Fortunately we had an early start on this sending things back to NZ with Rach in November. Rach carried on with the shopping both Thursday and Friday, I however, had to wait for the weekend - and the chaos that involves.

On Saturday Rach's work had their Christmas party. 80 Doctors and Nurses took over Chivana Restaurant and Lounge in Kits. The food was great, the place was great. There were a lot of prize draws; a lot of the management staff and doctors had donated the prizes. Rach did well and got a basket full of chocolate, it's going to take us a long time to get through it all. I think everyone had a fantastic night.

On Sunday Rach managed to get an LOA (Leave of absence) from work so we decided to take a break from all the Christmas festivities and head up Grouse Mountain for some snowboarding. We got there early afternoon and stayed till afterdark. The sunsets are spectacular from up there and view while night snowboarding is breathtaking...

Back to New Zealand!! 19th Nov - 26th Nov

So I was supposed to work a night shift on the Wednesday finishing at 7am, flying out of Vancouver at 2.30pm that day. Turns out I was able to get the night off and therefore was able to pack, spend the night with Cam and get a good nights sleep before my travelling adventures the next day.

19th November was flying day. Cam said goodbye and headed off to work, I was so excited and worried about travelling and getting to all my connecting flights that I couldn't sleep anymore. Thought I may as well get up and get ready for my long travel. As flights only go direct to NZ on Fridays and Sundays I had to get a flight to LA and then on to New Zealand. So packed and ready to go I carted my 2 suitcases, 6 or so blocks down the road in the rain to the train station. I couldn't quite hold the umbrella as well, so got a little bit wet on the way. I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare, so could go through to the gate and relax for a while. I had all my bridesmaid stuff with me as carry on, as the wedding was the day I arrived and wanted to have it with me in case my luggage didn't make it all the way there.

Anyway I arrived in Auckland, New Zealand with smooth travelling. I got my connecting flight to Tauranga and arrived there about half an hour prior to time of arrival, feeling very excited and relieved to be there early. Mum, Dad and Carlene picked me up from the airport and we headed to the supermarket before heading home to start the getting ready part of the day. After a series of hugs, hellos and conversation I was able to have a small rest and seat before getting ready for the day. Vanessa's friends were here to help out and do our hair and makeup. Vanessa was in the process of getting her hair done so I took a long awaited shower. Its amazing how great you can feel after a shower. Then lunch and I felt even better. After this it was my turn for my hair to be done and makeup time for Vanessa. The morning continued to consist of getting ready, eating and taking photos.

With a near hiccup of not being able to get one of the cars started we headed off in the cars for a tour around to end up at the wedding venue (fashionably late of course!!). The venue was a small park called Bell Common down Cambridge road, very secluded and beautiful under one of the big trees. As I hadn't been home to be involved in the planning I was given my instructions once we arrived. Fairly straight forward except for the heals digging into the grass of course and nearly tripping over. The wedding was beautiful and the weather held out nicely for it, I have heard that the best photos are when its overcast anyway.

After speeches, vows and several tears shed they were pronounced married, after the register was signed it was time for some well earned drinks, nibbles and chatter (not to forget a little dancing with the flower girls). People gathered for several photos and then after an hour or so the bridal party was left for more photos at the park. We then headed off to Yatton park for more photos, some drinks and nibbles. It was a very relaxing and stress free time here, luckily the weather held out once again, just starting to spit as we hopped back into the cars.

The reception was held at The Historic Village which made for a beautiful venue for photos. Well actually a great venue all together. The reception went as most others including, food, speeches, laughter and toasts to the bride and groom, Vanessa and Jarrod Boud. With of course an evening of dancing, chit chat and presents. A great day and evening, everything went beautifully and appeared very calm and relaxed. Congratulations once again to the bride and groom.

The bride and groom headed off after the end of the reception curfew, and a few of us decided to continue the night away and headed off to Tauranga town for some drinking and dancing. Man how things have changed, well have they or have I just changed?? I'm sure people never used to do some of the things these young people were doing on the dance floor, I mean get a room, I think your in!! Haha maybe I'm just getting older. Still made for a fun and entertaining night.

Sunday morning I was stuffed, don't know if it was wise flying half way around the world, being at a wedding all day the same day I arrive and staying up till 4.30 in the morning, oh well it was worth it. Sunday was a cruisy day anyway, we lazed around at mum and dads, visitors and relatives came over for lunch and we sat around talking. Most people had left around 3-4pm and just a few of us remained. We headed off that evening to baywave for some hydro-sliding and wave pools. This was great and even more fun when you have young children to take with you, even if you are a little tired and hungover. Think I'm going to be a great Aunty!! Well not the hungover part.

Monday was such a beautiful day and involved several of my favourite things. Mum borrowed Joan's car. We all pilled in including Carlene, Mum, Nicola, Tyler, Hollie, Lochie and myself and headed out to the Mt beach to meet Vanessa and Jarrod for fish and chips on the beach. The day was just stunning except for the small amount of wind. We sat on the bank and had fish n chips, Dad met us briefly in his lunch break also. After this Jarrod entertained the kids down on the beach, while the rest of us basked in the sun. I did go for a swim, well briefly the water was quite cold, well I guess to be expected in November, still can say I had a swim though. We packed up after this and headed to the mount shops and bayfair for a little shopping, well mainly for the kids, I didn't spend too much, except a few Christmas things.

This evening I headed to Cam's parents house for a nice home cooked meal. It was great to catch up with the rest of the family and have a glass of wine. Unfortunately I couldn't see them a little more but the trip was quite brief, I'll be able to spend more time next trip I promise.

After this we went to the hot pools for an evening swim, we didn't have much time arriving at 9pm but it was still great, its the small things you realise you miss being able to just do when ever you want. They have hot springs over here in Canada but just not as accessible. You do trade one thing for another I guess. Makes the experience so much better when you can't have it all the time. It was such a great day, so many great things all mixed into one, family, beach, fish n chips, swimming and fun!!

Tuesday Carlene, Nicola and the kids were leaving. It was sad to see them go, had been so nice catching up with you all. We dropped them all off at the airport and after some sad goodbyes waved them off on the plane. Now that you are over you flying fear Carlene I'm sure we'll be able to see you more. I headed out for lunch and a catch up with Jo, today was another beautiful day and hot, Jo was even wearing a skirt and yes I got to witness it. We had lunch and a catch up on the strand at a restaurant, was very nice thanks Jo. After this I went home and had a rest on the couch in the sun, it had been such a busy last few days and I think it was starting to catch up on me. Trina, Jamie and Alexis came over for a visit on their way home from a walk, we sat out on the deck and ate some snacks and had a few drinks. Lucky we had, had some children here over the last week so and there were still some kids toys available for Alexis to play with, she is growing fast and so cute. Was great to see you all again, can't wait to catch up next time.

Wednesday was a relaxing day with Mum, we headed down town Tauranga to do some Christmas shopping and to have lunch, another beautiful day out, I had been so lucky with my time there, the weather and company had been awesome. We cruised around the shops and sat down for a lunch in a cafe, I got to have a pie which was great. I sat in the car for a little while, while mum got some Christmas presents then we headed home. Blair and Dee came over for dinner that night with Jordan, as well as Vanessa and Jarrod and we had a nice roast meal, just what I needed on my last night here, it was yum!!

Today was leaving day, it had been such a short and action packed trip home I wasn't quite ready to leave. I wrapped up some presents this morning and packed my bags, I wasn't very organised at all, very unlike me, I think I thought I had more time than I did, I only just finished packing my bag with about 10 minutes to spare before we had to leave. We headed off to Tauranga airport. Here I was met by Dad and to my surprise Cam's mum and Alley which was nice. Even though it was still hard, it was easier to leave this time well easier in the fact I didn't ball my eyes out haha. I said my goodbyes and boarded the plane.

My trip back to Vancouver when without delays or problems, my connections worked out fine and if anything the timings were perfect, I did have to wait at Auckland airport for several hours but that was ok as there was an A380 that had stopped so I went and took some videos of that for Cam and his new obsession with planes. I finally boarded the plane and to my surprise it wasn't that full and I got 3 seats to myself which was awesome, got to rest the whole way with my feet up, not that I could sleep much anyway.

I arrived in Vancouver about 5.30pm about and hour before I left New Zealand, so funny how that works, caught the train and Cam meet me at the station to help pull my bags, how nice!! Over all a fantastic trip, beautiful weather and company. So glad I could be there for your special day Vanessa and Jarrod!!

Tickets to NZ and Christmas Shopping - 1st Nov - 18th Nov

These few weeks consisted mainly of me getting ready to head back to New Zealand, buying wedding stuff for Vanessa's wedding and buying Christmas presents to take home. It consisted mostly of spending lots of money, but it was fun!!

The second of November I booked my flights to New Zealand for my fleeting 6 days in New Zealand and 3 days flying trip. Even though it was for a short amount of time I was looking forward to it and had already begun counting down the days till I flew out.

On the Tuesday Cam got to go to his first Canucks game at GM place. Apparently it was pretty awesome. I'm guessing it will be the first of many games if possible. Its funny that in this sport there are rules on how you can fight and fighting is actually allowed. Makes for good entertainment according to Cam. I think it just give boys a chance to compensate for something they may be missing. Can't wait for my first game.

The 6th of November we decided to have a Canadian engagement party with some of the friends we had made over here. We headed down to the Lions pub for a few drinks before heading down to the waterfront to a beautiful restaurant which over looks the harbour, Stanley park and North Vancouver called Carderos. It was a lovely evening celebrating our engagement with great food, drinks, friends and conversation.

On the 7th, Lauren, a girl from work was celebrating her birthday at a nice little restaurant in Kits. We decided to head there for a few quiet drinks after having dinner at home. Well a few quite drinks turn into several loud drinks, which turned into a great night of fun and laughter. Really glad we made the effort to go out, had a great evening.

Saturday 7th through to Sunday 9th of Nov, mostly consisted of Christmas shopping, I figure as I will be going home I may as well utilize the 2 baggage thing and save on postage by taking all my presents home. On the Sunday I also found my bridesmaid dress which was very exciting as I thought it was perfect and didn't take too long to find. I just hope it fits in at the wedding with everyone else.

Not much else to share up to the 18th of Oct as the majority of our spare time, when I wasn't working, consisted of Christmas shopping. Its hard to believe we hadn't even reached December and had pretty much completed all of our shopping. I feel I am going to be quite organised this year for a change.

Mostly work and a few drinks and dinners!! 19th Oct - 31st Oct

Well not too much to report for the rest of October. A few birthdays, dinner, drinks and our family having an engagement party for us.

Happy Birthday to all of those who celebrated in October. 10th Oct - Happy Birthday Emily. 16 Oct - Happy Birthday Trina. 20th Oct - Happy Birthday Tobi. 23rd Oct - Happy Birthday Anna. 24th Oct - Happy Birthday Mum. Although we weren't there to celebrate with all of you, we were thinking of you all.

October 23rd was Anna's birthday, a new friend we have meet here in Canada. Anna is from Ireland. We headed out for dinner and then on to our local (Doolins) for a few drinks. Dinner was very nice, we went to a little Thai place in Yaletown. The night got a little messy for some with a few too many drinks and the icing of a muffin all over someones dress as they sat down in it. So a nice dinner, a few drinks and a birthday cake later we headed to Doolins. Unfortunately there was a cover charge and with me having to work at 7am the next morning, I headed home.

Once home we went on skype to chat to our families who were having an engagement party on our behalf, thanks guys. It appears they were celebrating quite well, it is good to know however that even before we are married our families get on quite well. We'll be home in May to celebrate as well with our engagement party (further details to come).

The 30th October Emily, Anna, Cam and myself headed out to a sushi restaurant in Kits. According to them the sushi was beautiful, however my taste buds don't quite understand this. The place however was very bubbly, fun and I did enjoy the atmosphere. After this we were looking for somewhere to have a few drinks however the place we had found wasn't quite the right kind of place so we headed back to our local Doolins. Cam and I headed off about midnight as once again I had to work at 7am, Emily and Anna continued the night away drinking.

A grand surprise!! 17th Oct - 18th Oct

So we had this weekend off. I was trying to plan something the weekend before for this weekend but was having difficulty trying to find a hotel or somewhere to stay. I decided to give up and have a look the following night, however Cam told me that night not to worry that he had sorted the weekend and it was a surprise weekend away. This was very exciting, I love surprises but don't like them at the same time. I mean its nice to be surprised but then you constantly want to know what is going to happen, where you are going to go and what you are going to do there.

Anyway we had to get up super early (I think about 4.45am) on the Saturday morning to catch whatever form of transport we were getting, I had it in my head that we were going on a bus as we were going to the bus station, turns out we were getting a train. I had found out by this time that we were going to Seattle, which on its own was very exciting. Anyway we were lucky that we managed to make the train on time. First of all we saw a car accident, well actually we didn't see one, but we certainly heard it and nearly missed the bus. Then the bus that we got on was supposed to drop us off at a stop were we could get the next bus but apparently that bus wasn't coming this morning. So we decided to get a taxi instead, don't quite know why we didn't do this in the first place, hindsight huh great concept.

So we arrived at the bus depot right on time, after all the formalities of customs etc, we boarded our train in business class. It was exciting first time on a train in ages and first time from one country to another and we were in business class. Turns out economy may have been better haha, it appeared Cam and I had the only seats in the entire business class that were ok, everyone else seemed to be disappointed with everything and anything, ah snobs. We thought it was fine, more room, money off the cafe foods and only a little bit more expensive. We were to find out on the way back the best part of being in business class but I'll share that later.

We didn't get to see too much on our journey to begin with as it was dark and rainy. Throughout the journey the weather started to clear up and we could actually see a bit of the coastline, its quite a nice view. We arrived in Seattle just before lunch time and caught a taxi to our hotel, The Sheraton. It was very fancy and we were on the 32nd floor (I think) with a beautiful view to the space needle and some of the city, we were facing North westish. We even had special access to the club lounge and continental breakfast.

We decided to dump our bags down and go for lunch and a walk through the city. We headed down to the famous fish market, didn't really know what to expect actually, but mostly there are all sorts of stalls selling all sorts of things and then some fish stands.

We sat at a diner there over looking the water and had some lunch. After this we weren't too sure what to do so we headed back to the hotel to go for a swim in the pool on the 35th floor with awesome views. When then only really had enough time to get ready to go out for a few drinks and dinner. I didn't know where we were heading for dinner so just followed Cam. We went to this really nice french restaurant over looking the water, I don't know what it was but I think something to do with women's intuition, and I started to get suspicious about certain things, not sure what or why but I was. We finished up with our meal and headed out for a walk.

We wandered down towards the markets over looking the water. Cam started taking photos of the 2 of us and now I was really starting to get suspicious. It had been raining quite a lot that day so he got down on one knee in the puddles and popped the question. As most of you will probably know by now I said yes. So now we have joined the majority of our friends and are now engaged. It was a wonderful, romantic surprise. Also the beginning of a night of drinking and dancing to celebrate.

                          View from where he popped the question.

We decided to head out to a few pubs/nightclubs to have a few or several drinks to celebrate and ended up staying out for some time dancing and drinking. It was a great evening/night out in Seattle and I'm sure one I will always remember.

Then next day we didn't have any particular plans other than to go up the space needle. We couldn't come to Seattle and not go up this. After having a long sleep in, we went for continental breakfast which was awesome, lots of bagels, toast, fruit, yogurt, slices and pastries. A real continental American breakfast, shame about the crappy coffee. Anyway after this we stored our luggage and headed to the monorail, which transports you straight to space needle. The views from the top were amazing, we didn't have the best weather but better than the day before and there were actually some blue sky moments. I like the way you don't have to take photos through glass up the top of this tower, means you can get some nice photos.

Where the space needle is, was the site of the 1962 Worlds' fair, there is still rides and stalls underneath the needle. None of these were open when we were there. We found this cool fountain though which provided entertainment for a while. The water squirted out of it but you didn't know where, when and how far it would come out. The children found it very amusing and ended up getting soaked. I shouldn't lie I guess, we found it quite amusing also.

We had a few more hours to kill in Seattle before heading back to Vancouver. We decided to head to EMP (Experience Music Project) and Science Fiction Museum. Both very cool museums to visit especially when it comes to music and Seattle. Its basically all about music and pays particular attention to some Seattle born greats such as Jimi Hendrix, Pearl Jam and Nevana. It also has areas where you can play some music, listen to music, listen to people involved in music and some music artifacts. A place I would recommend for those who enjoy music and science fiction (or even if you don't like science fiction).

Now it was about time to head back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and head to the bus station. We decided to stop for dinner on the way back, after taking one last trip on monorail. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much on the train ride back as it was dark as well. We decided to try and get some sleep as I had to work in the morning. Now being in business class works the best once you arrive back in Vancouver, as they keep all of the economy class inside the train while business class can head out and through customs. Which meant we were pretty much at the front of the queue, awesome.

Randoms Days and Events - 25th Sept - 12th Oct

As we have said in other blogs we have had less time over here to be tourists, therefore this post is over a longer period of time and I'll only mention the things we have been up to. We have however found a few friends over here and have been enjoying living in a big city with so many things to see and do. Or so many nice places to go out to for dinner and drinking. It is very convenient living in the center of town and being able to just decide to go out for dinner, walking out your front door and being just minutes away from everything.

Any who, for some reason everything happened to come up at once, the evening after coming back from Vegas we happened to have tickets to Pearl Jam (Sept 25th 09). When I arrived in Vancouver there were so many concerts happening and we didn't have enough money to buy any. I said to Cam if Pearl Jam come, I don't care how much money we have we are going. So of course when the news came that they were coming we snapped up some tickets. Once again the band put on an awesome performance, however not quite as good as the last time. I guess we had real high expectations, it also didn't help that they sung Last Kiss (the worst Pearl Jam song in history). Don't get me wrong still thoroughly enjoyed it, they played for just over an hour and then came back on and did an encore that was the same length. So we got a full 2 and a bit hours worth which is better than most bands now days, and they did do Yellow Ledbetter which was awesome.

As my nursing exam was coming up on the 7th October the next week for me consisted mainly of study and for Cam work. We did manage to get out to one of our local pubs again for a few drinks and to watch a hockey game. Do you think its a bad sign when the waitress at the pub knows what you normally order to drink?? This pub is Doolin's Irish pub, what more could you wish for than a pub that plays sport on the TV's (including Rugby), has live music (which also plays kiwi music at times), and sells alcohol? I think this is why its become our local.

As we finally have two incomes we thought it was a good time to do some shopping. Cam desperately needed work shirts, and I well needed what ever I could find. Its awesome shopping here, I manage to find something I can fit and looks good every time. Cam ended up with about 3 things and I ended up with 2, ha see girls don't always get more things.

October 7th was my nursing exam, unfortunately I had to be there at 7.15 am which meant I had to get up at 5.10am to get the train and bus out to the venue. I had to leave real early as the public transport system doesn't run as often at that time of the morning. The exam runs for 7 hours which is crazy, its so hard to concentrate for that amount of time normally let alone after getting up at 5 in the morning. You do get an hour break in between but its still tough. I must say its the most stupid exam I have ever had to do, we all thought it was stupid, I mean really these sort of questions decide whether or not I am good enough to be a nurse. Hard to say how it went really, I guess I'll see in about another 3-4 weeks time.

The end of the exam called for a good night out drinking. Of course we headed out to our local again (Doolins) for dinner and drinks. What do you get when you have several Brits, 2 kiwis, an Aussie and an Irish girl in an Irish pub??? Chaos!! We started drinking about 4 and by midnight most of us were ready to head home, I know we must be getting older, but to be fair we had been up for a long time and had a long exam that we sat. Had an awesome night out with new friends, pub food and drinking.

The weekend from the 9th till the 12th was a long weekend, the 12th was Thanksgiving, we were very excited to be having our first ever real thanksgiving. The Friday night (9th) Cam, Emily and I headed out for dinner at Sip a restaurant in Vancouver. Places were pretty full being late on a Friday evening so we took what seats we could, which happened to be sitting at the bar in front of the chefs while they were cooking. It was like Hell's Kitchen however the head chef wasn't horrible. Its quite interesting watching to see how they manage to get all meals cooked and out on time together. I had ribs of course which were beautiful, the head chef actually stood there and asked us how our meals were going, we said they were beautiful and the chef that cooked them was actually there to over hear and say thank you. It was fun.

Saturday was Emily's birthday, we headed out for lunch with her to a diner just down the road, we had heard good reviews and they even had the worlds best $5 shakes which we just had to get. The food was great but unfortunately the waitress was the worse person I have ever been served by, she was just down right bitchy, so after telling Emily that she couldn't have a side of half salad and half chips she then we on to tell me that my meal was huge and that I could share my chips with Emily. I think we'll prob go back and try it again, she may have been just having a bad day. After this we went to another one of our favourite places for drinks, this one is called Milestones, its a chain over here. We had a few drinks out then headed home.

Sunday was a great day, but very expensive. Several snow shops were having thanksgiving sales so we decided to take up the opportunity to go out and buy snowboards and boots for the season coming up. We got a bargain, managed to get 2 snowboards and bindings, and some boots for me, for the cheap price of $1000, we had a look for retail prices in New Zealand and we got ours for about 1/3 of the price of what we could get them for over there. It was all very exciting, we couldn't wait to get home to try them out. First we had to cart them on the busy bus home, ah fun times. This evening we were supposed to head out for a night out at a nightclub however plans changed so Cam and I decided to head out for a few drinks, a few drinks turned into several drinks and several pubs, well actually only 3. There are so many places to go here, we decided to walk down Granville street, the main night life street in Vancouver and stop in at a few places we hadn't been to. We managed to find several nice places. At about midnight we decided to head down to the waterfront for a walk, its so beautiful along the waterfront looking out at North Vancouver and all the lights. then we decided to call it a night.

Monday 12th was thanksgiving, our first actual thanksgiving and we were both off so decided to head out for dinner that night. During the day we were going to go to the Capilano Suspension bridge however got down to the seabus and it was going in 25 minutes so decided to head to Van Dusen Botanical Gardens instead. We had been told that it was really nice going in Autumn as all the trees are different colours and leaves are falling. It was beautiful out there and much better for the price compared to the last botanical gardens we went to.

In the evening Cam, Emily and I had booked to go to Four Seasons Hotel for a three course thanksgiving dinner. It was very flash and a great excuse to get dressed up and buy an expensive bottle of wine. It was funny we had just been talking about how most places don't seem to give you wine like they are supposed to with the whole showing us the bottle, letting us taste it etc, but they did here and we even had a fancy stand thing with ice. It was very exciting. Oh and when we got there they lady that showed us to our table even took our coats. The dinner was absolutely beautiful and we ate far too much, well worth it though. It was a nice evening out but unfortunately we forgot to take photos, woops, I guess we were caught up with good conversation and food. We'll have to remember next time. We did however remember to toast to what we were thankful for.