Fiji

Hula Loop-Day 1 ( 34 degrees)

I arrived in Fiji at 5:30am local time. I stepped off the plane and was blasted in the face with hot air-it was fantastic. I was greeted by a Fijian who gave me a shell necklace and then set me up with tour group information. Unfortunately my bus would not arrive until 8am so I had a few hours to chill at the little airport of Fiji. The first thing I did was change into shorts and brush my teeth. It was a long flight although I did manage to sleep for 6 hours.

I met a girl named Rebecca from Wisconsin who was on the same tour group as me-the FeeJee Experience Group. She's going to school in Sydney for 4 months and decided to stop in Fiji first. By the time our bus arrived we were good friends. We were the first ones on the bus and we met our tour guide-Anna and our bus driver Airport. His name isnt actually Airport but that's what everyone calls him. He looked like Jamie Fox.

We stopped by 2 other resorts and picked up a total of 10 people (including myself). The bus was air conditioned (thankfully) and played American music. Airport did turn the channel and played some Fijian music, one song was my favourite (all in English) because it made me giggle over the line, "In the Fiji islands the women are easy and the men are hard...to get, that is how it is on the Fiji Islands." Hilarious.

I got to know everyone on the bus really well as everyone was so friendly. Our first stop was a local market where we bartered over fruit and bought sulus (sarongs) in town. Next we went to Natadola beach (see pic on right) where we went body surfing and our guides cooked us a bbq. There were horse rides we could go on but I wasnt interested. I was so focused on the gorgeous beach. Unfortunately it poured rain on us and we had to retreat to the bus to finish our lunch. We had chicken, sausages (I actually ate one I was so hungry, Warren would be proud) and fruit and salad. It was delicious.

After our lunch we headed off to the sand dunes to go sand boarding. It was terrifying. We climbed up this sand dune and the sand was so hot my feet burned and I didn't think I'd make it but I did. Our boards are actually very small and light, similar to a floatation device you find in pools. I was scared but I went down anyway, making sure to keep my elbows in like Anna instructed. I flew down so fast but at the very bottom I finally started to enjoy it. Nevertheless, I didnt do it again. The boys were much more entertaining to watch, as some tried tricks and ended up bailing at the bottom (see picture of Martinez from Sweden). It was hilarious to watch them and near the end it began to rain again and we ran to the bus with the boards over our heads. I couldnt help but think, "isnt this fantastic?" The rain melts almost as soon as it hits your skin, its so warm there, but it really, really pours. I've never seen rain like in Fiji and I live in Victoria!

I liked that we travelled by bus because I got to see a lot of the countryside, which is green and lush and breathtaking. Sugar cane is everywhere and so care cows, that are randomly tied to the side of the road. They are so skinny I could see their ribs, who has ever seen a cow's ribs? It was odd. Their horses are like that too.

Our last stop of the day was our hostel at Mango Bay Resort. My jaw literally hit the ground when I saw where we were staying. It was gorgeous. Palm trees, a pool on the beach...grass huts-it was like out of a movie. I immediately went and layed in the sun on the beach but a game of volleyball started in the pool so I joined in. Afterward there was a traditional Kava ceremony out on the beach so I joined that. A Kava ceremony is held to welcome new guests into a village. The locals mix kava root with water and then we are required to drink it with a BULA (Welcome/Hi) and then "MOTHAR" which is mother/thanks when we have chugged it. Kava root has been described as their local alcoholic drink but really it has a sedative effect and my tongue and lips went numb after drinking it. What does it taste like you ask? It tastes like dirty water. It looks like dirty water. In fact I made a joke stating that who were we to know? We are just stupid tourists-it could be dirty water and they might be laughing at us. Except that they mix it in a bowl in front of us. It was a neat experience and I looked up in the middle of the ceremony to see a huge bat fly over us. I just smiled.

After dinner there was a crab race in the club (yes, there was a night club). We got to bid on hermit crabs representing countries around the world. I bid on Maple the crab representing Canada but I lost. my friends at my table and I all went in and we bid on and won Kava Power, the crab representing Fiji. It was hilarious to watch the crabs race to be the first outside the circle. We are all screaming yet we have no idea which crab is ours! It was hilraious. Our Kava Power Crab came in second and we won $33, which was immediately spent at the bar on vodka, mango and passionfruit drinks. I was so tired after that (remember all this activity after being up since 5:30) and I was ready for bed. Heading back to our hut, little frogs were everywhere on the path and I had to be careful not to step on any like my friend Alex did. He squished one poor little frog because he made the decision to 'short cut it through the grass.'

All in all it was a great first day in Fiji.

*Fijian word of the day: BULA-welcome, hi, greetings

Hula Loop-Day 2 (32 degrees)

I slept really well and we were up early for breakfast before getting on the bust at 8am. We were supposed to go on a rainforest hike but a cyclone hit Fiji the week before I arrived and so it wiped out the trails (and many people's homes). Instead we took a boat trip up the rive that Anaconda was filmed on and at the top of the river we had a picnic lunch. This was the day it poured rain off and on continuously. I remember sitting on the sandbar with my friends by the river with a waterfall on the otherside and I was eating pizza in the pouring rain and I thought, "this is so cool." It really was. I was drenched but warm and I was sharing this experience with people from all over the world-who else can say they've done that?

When lunch was over (it was still raining) we all got our own inner tube and started tubing down the river. Fortunately the rain stopped soon after we started and the water was so warm. We had a blast but the best part was when we reached the rapids. Have you ever done white water rafting in an inner tube? I had my back to them and when I picked up speed I was like, "what the heck is going on," looked over my shoulder just in time to see that I was headed towards a huge rock! I managed to padde out of the way just in time. I laughed at my friend Alex (from London) as he got caught up in the rocks and scraped his po-po quite bad. We were all laughing at each other and the boys were trying (unsuccessfully) to stand up on their tubes. I unfortunately do not have any pictures of this event as I took my waterproof camera and its undeveloped. Near the end of the trip down the river, our guide warned us not to head towards the waterfall at the end and what did we all do? We really couldnt control it as it started to rain again the water rises really, really fast there because of the amount of rain. We got caught up in the current and we were laughin so hard we couldnt swim to shore. We made it eventually and at no point of our journey were we ever in any danger. It was fantastic.

Of course we were soaked at the end of the journey and we were happy to get to our second hostel in Suva (capital of Fiji) for a hot shower. Unfortunately this was the worst hostel we stayed at. It was out in the middle of nowhere and the pool was green. It was called the Rainforest Tree Lodge. We had dinner where my friend Elena found a huge spider in her meal (they still tried to make her pay for it) and we were entertained by local dancers. I headed up with the Brits (Brianna, Brad, Nick and Alex) plus Martina from Switzerland to Brad and Bri's private room for chats on their patio. There were no lights but the mosquitos are mad there! We also found large millipede's, very cool.

*Fijian word of the day: Vinaka (thank you)

Hula Loop-Day 3 (32 degrees)

Because the cyclones wiped out the bridges between Suva and Rakiraki, we had to backtrack the way we came to reach the other side of the island. It was a torturous day on the bus. I think we spent a total of 6 hours on the bus. At least it started off really well, we went to a local school to see the children (we brought them school supplies as they are too poor to buy their own). The school was very tiny and the children all wear uniforms and were very excited to see us. They sang us songs in english and Fijian. We learned that English is taking priority over their traditional language of Fijian now, although they still learn both. They kids were great and I enjoyed seeing how they were taught. God it was hot that day-no air conditioning in their classrooms and no glass windows-just plastic vents.

Next we hit up a local village where we joined in an actual Kava ceremony (more traditional than at Mango Bay). They made us flower necklaces and although I declined the kava (I was skeptical of the water source) I enjoyed watching them sing, dance and make pottery. After they bake the pottery they cover it in tree sap to make it shiny. They made us all dance with them afterward and a large Fijian woman had her hand on my po-po the entire time. It was a bit unnerving.

On the bus I was in the back with the Brits and I played travel monopoly with the boys. I was winning for most of the game but Brad had a good comeback and cleaned house. It took us 4 hours to play that game! All the little money and tiny houses, it was fun. Brianna was our banker.

Our hostel that night was another gorgeous resort. The bugs there were mad, a giant moth, millipede's, cockroaches, ants and something that looked like a large stick...except that it was crawling across the sidewalk. I let it cross before I booked past it. Geckos are everywhere in Fiji and a little gecko with no tail stayed on the window beside my bed all night. We slept under big fans with no sheets. We had trivia at our table during dinner and my team didnt win but in the entertainment section I got every answer correct.

It was the first day it didnt rain on us and Alex and I talked British vs Canadian history for most of the night. I should note that the food in Fiji is very expensive ($16/ plate) and its mostly American food of burgers and chips. I ended up eating salad and garlic bread or soup as I was so tired of the crappy food. I believe I lost weight in Fiji.

*Fijian word of the day: Sega na leqa (no worries)

Hula Loop-Day 4 (last day of tour, 35 degrees)

The last day of our trip was a sad one, as I had to say goodbye to Brad, Brianna, Nick, Alex, Elena and Martina. They were staying behind. We woke up to gorgeous sunshine like always (it normally only rained in the afternoon) and Brianna and I headed down to the beach early to go snorkelling. I've never been before so she walked me through it. Amazing. That's all I can say. Fish dont mind you and they are bright colours and its just so awesome how clear the water is. At one point I reached the drop off (like in Nemo) and I was pretty freaked out and I swam back into the coral. It wasn't until after I got out of the water that my friend Gareth (British hottie surfer boy) told me how his friend did the same but said it was the first time she considered that a shark could come out of nowhere and eat her. I was horrified as that thought NEVER occurred to me. Luckily there were no sharks or jellyfish and I only got stung by the sea lice.

We dropped my friends off in town and those remaining on the bus (you can choose whether to stay or continue on) headed on the road again. It took us an hour and a half to reach town for lunch, where I found a hilarious sign for the men's washroom. Then another 2 hours on the bus until we reached the mud baths. We were out in the middle of nowhere in a village with cows everywhere. Let me tell you how disgusting it all was. We had to trek through a forest of cow shit (no kidding) to reach this mud hole in the middle of it. I was dubious about going in this little swamp but everyone went in and so did I. It was so disgusting, it was like being in cow-ka-ka up to your knees and the rest of it muddy water up to your shoulders. It was very warm though and apparently the mud is good for you. Mark spread the mud all over his face and then said, "I'm not so sure I should have put this stuff on my face." Someone spotted a floating object and asked, "What is that?" Mark replied, "A floater," to which we all shrieked and started to head out. I was in long enough for a picture (proof) and then I wanted out as fast as possible. I cannot describe how sick it felt to have that gross stuff ooze between my toes-nasty I say! Anna told us there was a hot spring back the way we came to which Gareth said, "that pool with the dodgey looking pipes sticking out of it?" We all laughed again, you could tell everyone was totally unimpressed. I refused to go in the so-called hot springs as it looked like a drinking hole for cows with rusted piped pouring suspicious looking water into it. Apparently it was very, very hot. Rebecca said her skin was burning. I opted out and went straight to the showers. It was the worst experience of our trip, all I wanted was a real shower with disinfected soap. It didnt help that Gareth and Mark were suggesting all the nasty things you can contract from animal feces. Boys.

We ended back in Nadi-where the trip began and everyone got dropped at a different hostel except Julie (Aussie) and Maren (German) were at my hostel. Thank god it was a paradise resort with two pools, a movie theatre, 6 buildings of dorms and a game room. I took a shower and went to bed.

*Fijian word of the day: Uro (sexy, foxy)

Hula Loop-day 5 (34 degrees)

My last day in Fiji I stayed at my hostel and just chilled by the pool. It hadnt rained in two days and I was couting my blessings. Of course I fried myself in the sun and spent the afternoon camped out in my room with my roomates who were also tired of the sun. You have no idea how hot and thick (humid) the air is here. We had an air conditioned room but a thunder storm arose and we lost power with the first clap of thunder, which was so loud and close that our building shook and it sounded like cannons were right above us. It was terrifying actually. One more clap of that and we sweated for 4 hours until the power came back on. Thankfully I had an iPod Touch for which I could watch my fashion shows to keep me entertained. I charged all my stuff up and organized my bag, which was rank from the desperate need to laundry. Towards the end of the evening 3 girls entered the dorm and as soon as they spoke I was like, "Yay, where in Canada are you from?" It was nice to see Canadians. From Ottawa and Toronto they were on the same flight as me the next day so we packed together and caught a cab in the morning. My last experience of Fiji was in the lobby of our hotel checking out and something was tickling my arm. It appeared a gecko had decided to crawl up my arm but being a girl and in a place like Fiji...my first reaction was to fling whatever foreign species that was on my arm-OFF. poor little fella hit the floor quite hard but he's got to give a girl some notice.

Fiji is a gorgeous country and the people are very friends but damn its expensive and the washrooms are the nastiest washrooms I have every experienced in my life. The mosquitos are quite bad too, I was happy to leave and super excited that my next stop was....SYDNEY! Wahoo.

*Fijian word of the day: bili bili (Bamboo raft)

3 Weeks!!

Hello all,

I know, I know, long time no write but I've been very busy-seriously! I leave for Australia in 3 weeks. Eeee, I'm very excited but also a little nervous because there is still so much to do. So far today I've spent 3.5 hours gutting my apartment. The result? A huge garbage bag full of crap, a huge bag of recycling and a very clean and nice smelling apartment. I'm still doing laundry...load #5 (which is huge for me). I dont want to list what else I have to do today because I'm not sure it will all get done.

So 3 weeks and I will be in Fiji. I've signed up for a fiji experience which is a tour group that takes you around the main island of Viti Levu (see pic). For 5 days I will get to spend a day in each major city and enjoy tourist attractions, like visiting local villages, hiking in a rainforest, participating in a traditional ceremony, floating down a river on a bamboo raft, etc. I'll post pics and details after the trip. I'm very excited because never in my life did I think I'd make it to Fiji. To me it always seemed like this fantasy tropical island that was unreachable. Hey, I was a small town girl once. Anyway, the temp is supposed to be very hot and I cannot wait to finally see beaches bluer than blue!

After my five days in Fiji I will continue on to Sydney where I will hope to find a job and a place to live in a reasonable amount of time. I applied for a tax number but I still have to sign up for a bank account. Apparently its pretty easy to get a job there but we'll see what kind of work I find. I'm excited to live in a different country and I cant wait to learn their customs, traditions, slang and favourite activities. Yes, I definately plan to learn to surf and snorkel, I've never done either.

I dont plan to spend all my time in Sydney, I also plan to visit Brisbane, Melbourne, Cairns and any other place I possibly can. I'd also like to stop over in New Zealand but I think everything will depend on my getting a job and place to live and of course (most importantly)-funds.

I'm planning on spending 4-5 months in Australia but it could end up being less or it could end up being more. Who knows but I'm not worried about it, what happens happens. I am going to stop over in Hawaii on my way home, I really want to see Pearl Harbour because I'm such a freak for history. Plus more hot beaches always sound good to me.

Lucky for me my parents have offered to take in my cat. This is huge as my dad really doesnt want me to go and Riley isnt really a fan of anyone who isnt me. All 3 of them will have a little adjusting to do but I think everything will be fine (I'm an optimist). My stuff will go into storage and the rest of my life in Canada will be put on hold until I return.

So 3 weeks...exciting but a little nerve-wracking. I hope its the time of my life and I truly believe that things are what we make them, despite unexpected difficulties. So lets hope for the best and I look forward to seeing who follows me on this new adventure.

Cheers

Graduation

Yay! I'm now an official graduate! On Wednesday, November the 14th 2007 I received my Bachelor of Arts and I'm happy it's over with. It's been a long time coming and now I can finally take a break from it all.

A friend of mine recently posted a note on facebook about her regrets of University life. I'd love to say that I have no regrets but I do. I wish I'd had more of a social life instead of working my ass off all the time. And I dont just mean at school, I always had a job on the side so that I could afford to go to school. Of course, the good thing is that I am completely debt free. I have to give a shout out to my family for all of their assistance as well. I maybe have paid for all of my schooling on my own but they were more than generous in making sure I had a place to live and food to eat. I will miss my friends, sleeping in the sun on the field between classes and the discussion classes but I won't miss term papers, and all nighters pulled to get research done or last minute editing. I always got sick on my holidays because the semester wore me out so I'm hoping I'll actually be healthy and able have fun this Christmas!

I wasn't looking forward to the ceremony but it ended up being real nice. It was a lot more elaborate than my graduation from High School (duh), man that was terrible! But the set up was great, with everyone in their colours. I think graduating in the fall was a blessing. We had a small grad class and no long speeches-it was over in an hour.

My parents flew down for a few days and my grandparents also came down for the occasion. I got some wonderful grad presents but the best part was that I got to spend so much time with my family. They were all proud of me and it made me feel good, like I did something right. The weather was cool but it didn't rain so we got some pictures outside. Unfortunately I was up late playing Halo (I'm so addicted) with Pete the night before so I only got 4 hours sleep. Its cruel to make an anti-morning person graduate before noon! However it's done and now I move on to the next chapter of my life-Australia!

A Fun Night

So Saturday night Jamie and I went to Galey's farm, which is located between her house and mine. Pete and Kristi went to a movie so it was a total 'girl's night.' Galey's farm is set-up every Hallowe'en with a huge corn maze, a train that tours around the maze, a ghost town in the middle of the maze and a haunted house. They also have a huge barn that puts on some classic Hallowe'en horror flick. Jamie was too young to hit up the haunted house (PG13) but there is a kid one in the ghost town. I did go through the 'adult' haunted house last year and it is very well done.

We lucked out this year as the weather was perfect-it was a full moon, no rain and warm for late October. Jamie seemed a bit apprehensive on our first tour of the maze and town and she refused to go in the haunted house. After we'd seen it all though, she decided it was 'all good,' and we ended up going through the haunted house twice and we spent over an hour in the corn maze chasing each other and getting lost. It was a lot of fun. Of course, something like that builds up an appetite so afterwards we sat on hay blocks eating chocolate bars.

Before we had left the house, we decorated it with witches and spider webs but we needed leaves to fill up our pumpkin bags and there were none on her street, they had all been picked up. So we went to my neighborhood where the leaves had been raked into huge piles and were just waiting for pick-up. *I should note that in Victoria everyone is required to rake their leaves and pile them by the street so that a vehicle that I've nicknamed the 'leave sucker upper' can come and collect them. We have a lot of Garry Oak trees here and their leaves do not decompose and rather than have a mess of rotting leaves, the city picks them up. Anyway, so Jamie and I found the largest pile on the block and started to fill our pumpkins. Of course, we decided to have fun taking silly pictures and then we jumped in the leaves. I honestly think the last time I dove into a pile of leaves was back in 'ol PG with my brother...that was a long time ago. It was a blast and we ended up back in my car with bits of leaves in our hair and smelling like nature. Our decorations look great though.

Upon returning home, Jamie still had a ton of energy (rightfully)so I thought maybe we could make up a dance routine to the classic "Thriller" by MJ. I had introduced Jamie to the song earlier in the week and she loved it. So we spent a good 30 mins making up a dance routine-its hilarious. I even put in some classic MJ moves from the video, ah the 80's! Her parents drove up about 30 seconds after I finally got her in bed but they weren't surprised at all to find us giggling in her bed. And I wonder why they dont let me baby-sit her more often...just kidding! Jamie and I had a blast together, we always do. *this picture on the right is my favourite!

Las Vegas

Okay, I know I went to Vegas at the end of April but whatever-I'm behind.

So...I went to Vegas with my mom and we had a blast. The weather there was fantastic and no matter where we were (indoor or outdoor), the temperature was perfectly maintained. Of course, I truly believe mom and I are cold-blooded so it could really never be too hot for us.

We stayed at the Monte Carlo, located right on the strip and it was very nice with huge chandeliers and a great view of NYNY's rollar coaster-we could hear them scream! ha ha. We got there late Thursday night and spent the evening exploring Paris. It was very cool and I love how they paint the ceiling to look like the sky...you completely lose track of time. We were starving so we found a place that made the best crepes I have ever had in my life. It was divine!

We spent Friday exploring all the different hotels. Although I have never been to Vegas before, my mom has several times so I was lucky as she knew her way around. My favourite hotel, hands down, was Caesar's. It was gorgeous and it houses the Forum Shops, where I got to enter my beloved Jimmy Choo store. If you dont know who Jimmy Choo is, please dont break my heart by asking, visit http://www.jimmychoo.com/ instead. It's only the best goddamn shoe store in the world! I was drooling and I think I made the security guard nervous because I was handling all the shoes, ha ha! Of course we didnt buy anything...not when they are $500 (min) a pair. I have to wait until after I win the lottery.

Friday night we went to Cirque du Soleil-KA. It was at the MGM and it was fantastic. The peeps come right into the audience and they are flying around on strings above us and the stage is turning, tipping, spinning, moving-it was so entertaining. Right before we went into the show I bought mom and I some margaritas (we were thirsty after walking in the sun all day) and they were HUGE. There was 4 or 5 oz of booze in them and they were delicious. We didnt eat dinner that night, in fact we were a little tipsy by the time we left the show and we ended up hanging out at Mandalay Bay for the remainder of the evening.

On Saturday morning we saw the remainder of the hotels and spent a lot of time shopping, well window-shopping. Its very expensive in Vegas but they have really nice stuff. We spent the afternoon by the pool in our hotel. It was so gorgeous and I got a bit burned on my shoulders but it was so nice to lay in the sun and then dip into a nice, refreshing pool. In the evening we went to...CELINE DION. I know many people do not like her but I absolutely love her. My mom and I have listened to Celine since she first came out. I remember when I was 9, my mom would play her cd over and over again. Anyway, she performed at Caesar's Palace and she was amazing. Mom bought us the most amazing tickets-we had fantastic seats up real close. Celine came out and took my breath away with the power of her voice. I'm serious, as soon as she began to sing I started to cry because I was so moved by the emotion in her voice and I was so damn happy to be there! Her show was not very long (could be longer I think) but it was worth it. She had 50 dancers perform around her and Celine herself actually danced and did a good job. I was amazed that she could dance and still belt out her tunes without missing a beat. That's a professional diva for you. I will never forget that night, it was fantastic and mom and I had the best time.

On Sunday we were not in a rush to do anything or go anywhere. We wandered the strip and took our time enjoying the weather. My other favourite place there was the Bellagio water show. I could sit there all day and watch the water show, it was very soothing and entertaining. I cant say we did much gamblers, mom and I dont really gamble. We were happy enough to attend shows and sight-see, I dont care much for gambling. But the casinos were very nice and its always fun to walk through them and people-watch. I also recommend the buffets....yummy! So much food and its all very good.

I thought Las Vegas was great but I really wouldnt stay there longer than 3 days. I will definately go again, but I would go to see more shows and to shop- not to gamble. I'm very thankful that I got to go with my mom because we get along well and we both love to travel and see new things. In fact, the reason we went to Las Vegas was because I told my mom that this was Celine's last year in Vegas and that if we wanted to see her-this would be our last chance. I also said that we should make it a tradition that we travel together every 5 years because it was 5 years ago that we were in London together. In another 5 years mom wants us to go to Italy. I think that would be a great trip too.

Happy Days

March is turning out to be a really good month, weather wise and...life wise.

So I am on this new kick to get healthy. I eat way too much junk and I need to cut down. So this week I am doing a 'cleanse' of which I have never done before. This particular cleanse allows me to only eat fruit, veggies and some meat. Its my way of giving up bread and sugar cold turkey. Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving it up forever, just trying to reduce the amount I allow into my system. I am only on day two and its hard but it will be worth it.

I went for another walk on Sunday because it was so beautiful out! I could have worn sandals and a tank top and been comfortable. Of course I took more pictures, the first photo being my favourite. I can't have enough pictures of blossoms. Its currently my desktop photo. I am still running but I hurt my leg on my Friday run so I took Saturday off and then only walked yesterday. I plan on running again tonight.

I am counting down the days until school is over...forever! I have loved going to school over the past 5 years, its been a wonderful experience but now I am ready for something new. I really just want a social life again, I miss that the most. I just have 3 summer courses to make it through...and of course my final two essays! They are killing me because I have no motivation to write them. But I've talked to many of my friends and they all feel the same way. Maybe because its the end of the years and we are so close to being donw.

Of course I plan to travel but I won't give any information on that just yet. I am heading to Vegas with my mom at the end of April and that should be a fun girl's weekend! The last time my mom and I travelled somewhere together was 5 years ago when we met up in London. It was a great time and I know this experience will be just as memorable. We have started a tradition of travelling somewhere together every 5 years. My mom loves to travel, just like me, but my dad hates travelling so its best that we go together. We are staying at the Monte Carlo, which is located beside Caesars Palace, which is the perfect location for us. We have tickets in the Orchestra to see Celine Dion (we have always been huge fans) and I'm so excited to see that performance. All in all, I'm really looking forward to this trip.

So I am looking for a new place to live...what a hassle. My roomie is moving back to Vancouver for the summer and will be gone at the end of April. I dont think my landlords will have me sign a lease for the summer so I plan on moving out for July. I would stay the full summer but as I will not be here to move at the end of July (family vacation) and we all know its impossible to find a good place for September (student rush). I will probably get a one bedroom but its very expensive. Might be worth it for awhile though.

Once again all my photos have been taken by me at the Hillside Golf Course (thanks Matt).

Good Times with Good Friends

Wow, I think this is a record for me, two posts in one week! ha ha, I guess I am on a roll.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I went to Vancouver with Pete, Kristi and Greg to attend a Van Morrison concert. This first picture is the view of BC Place from our hotel room, we had a great view. We went over early in the day so that us girls could get some shopping done. Poor Pete, we must have dragged him into every shoe store on Robson Street. The concert was awesome, Van Morrison had a huge band. I dont think anyone enjoyed the show as much as Kristi and I, although I must admit our enjoyment was only heightened by the large amount of wine we consumed! Let me tell you by the end of the night everything was spinning! The picture on the right is of Greg and Kristi chillin in our hotel room after the concert. Of course, we are all drinking Starbucks!

My roomie's boyfriend Peter lives in Vancouver and he came over a couple of weeks ago and took us out for dinner at Earls...where they proceeded to get completely drunk (I was driving). We ate so much food too and afterward we walked through the Bay center in order to sober them up. Well, if you have never walked through a mall with two drunk people before, let me recommend that you dont! They were knocking over mannequins and makin total fools of themselves in the stores. I mean, from my perspective it was hilarious but they were pretty embarrassed. It was all good fun though.

Saturday night my roomie had a bunch of her friends from Law school over for an ethnic potlatch. There was some pretty incredible food, including Chinese, Mexican and Indian. There were about 9 of us and we ate so much! We played taboo, which when you play with anyone else is crazy fun but when you play with a bunch of lawyers it gets all serious and something simple, like picking teams, becomes a huge event. Everyone was great though and we all had a good time. The night didnt end until 3am but we had tons of leftovers the next day (the best part)!

Spring Walk

Yay! Spring is on its way and I couldn't be happier. I went for a walk to celebrate the new warmth and really enjoyed the fresh air. It was so nice to see the paths littered with bright green buds and to my surprise flowers everywhere! I don't remember the blossoms coming this early last year...it's great! Behind our house we happen to have a golf course...I'm not sure what its called but its lovely and they have trails around and in it so that you can run/walk anytime you want.

My first picture is one of my favourites, although I think all of them are good. I love how the crocuses crowded around the decapitated tree.

I love taking pictures of trees, they have so much character in the way that they have grown, their twisted shapes, symmetry, bark, leaves, everything about them. I couldnt resist this shot because its almost a silhouette and its lovely.

The golf course is not very big, it only takes an hour to walk it. I started running again today and it only took me 30 mins to run the entire course (I am a slow runner but a fast walker). The course is always busy with runners and people walking their dogs. But the trail is good to run on because it is always covered with wood chips (I think they are our recycled Christmas trees) to make for a good surface to run on (not hard). Its funny actually because its almost spongey and when my roomie and I go for walks we like to pretend we are bouncing along the trail. Yes, we are weird but weird people always have fun. There is one thing you must know about me...I love taking pictures of roads/trails. I have a huge framed picture on my wall of the raod to my grandparents old house in the country. They sold the house long ago but I still have memories of the place and I love that they gave me the photo when I moved out on my own. I have always been captivated by roads because you never know what is at the end of them. I call these pictures "the road of life." I believe I have already posted a picture of a trail from another walk on this site, but it was in the summer and this is in the spring. I will have to try and remember to re-take this picture once the leaves are out.

One thing there are a lot of at this golf course is ducks. Well, ducks and geese but mostly ducks. Now, I really can't stand birds. All the flapping wings and feathers gross me out. I am not a bird person but I will admit that they are pretty. At one point on the path there are so many that I have to watch that I don't step on them because they don't watch for you and they don't feel they should have to move. Once when Jyo and I went for a walk there were these kids feeding the ducks and so they were clustered all around and then the kids thought it would be funny to chase the birds. Not good. About 400 ducks took flight directly at Jyo and I...well I screamed and bolted out of there. Brrr, the sound of wings flapping near my head freaks me out! Of course, everyone thought I was a freak! I dont care, as long as none of them touched me. This mallard seemed more than happy to pose for me.

Here is a picture of the golf course (I really must find out what it's called). There weren't many golfers that day, although I am not sure because it was so nice out, and it was Sunday. I also have another picture of a tree. I like how it is right in the path and you have to duck your head to get under it. Its a gnarly old tree and I love how the moss is taking over it.

I would love to post more pictures but I have so many and I don't have high speed internet (yeah I know but the roomie refused to pay more). So maybe when I am at school next time I will download some more photos. I hope you enjoyed them!