British Columbia, yah

Our stay in Vancouver was very brief and it started with a Canucks ice hockey match at General Motors stadium. It was a whole lot of fun, even sitting as far back as you can possibly go. We drank overpriced beer and crappy fast food and then went back to the hotel. Our hotel was the best yet, a little boutique place in downtown Vancouver. The day was spent just walking around and shopping for snowboarding gear for Troy.

It is such a nice, clean city and the people are so friendly compared to NYC. Surrounded by water and mountains the views are unbeatable and the city is pumped for the upcoming Winter Olympics. But man, there are so many homeless people and beggars in Vancouver. We were only there for two nights and one full day and we came across so many. It is really weird because it isn't exactly a grimy, dingy place. I think where we stayed was easy walking distance from the 'bad' side of town so we may have been in the worst of it I don't know.

We then caught the bus to Whistler where we have been for the past few days. It is such a cool snow town and we are having a ball.

Troy is a pretty experienced snow boarder, I am not. So I took a lesson on our first day here and boy did I get banged up. I woke up the next day sore as hell and not in a good 'I did a huge workout' way. It was more lik an 'ouch my coccyx hurts when I sneeze' way. I smacked my head so bad I gave myself a dose of whiplash, all I can say is lucky I was wearing a helmet.

But I blame all my stacks on our Japanese instructor, I couldn't understand her very bad English so I was just having a crack rather than learning technique. So yesterday I hired a hot snowboard instructor called Troy (eh eh eh) to help me master the toe side of my board. And I picked it up very quickly with only a few minor stacks (mind you, even a soft fall hurts my poor coccyx bone in a major way). So I am feeling pretty good about that and having a day off so Troy can do his thing. I will get back to it tomorrow and hopefully some of my sore spots will have healed...

Bye for now, loving the snow but I have to say I am looking forward to some nice hot beach weather.

x
 

Hotel room view

Troy waiting to hit the slopes.

My hot snowboard instructor! Just a random photo I like of Troy.

Me getting ready to fall on my head... I mean, snowboard.

Helmet is not attractive but very necessary in my case.

What, no, I didn't just crash into that barrier....

Suitcase envy much?

Exhibit A.

Troy will be travelling with this awesome Burton suitcase. It was an early Christmas present from the parentals. He is convinced the snow bunnies in Whistler are going to go mad for this..

Exhibit B.

My belongings will be in this old purple suitcase. It was cool when I bought it five years ago.... really.

I was tempted to buy myself a girl version of Troy's at Main Peak the other day. They are almost $300 so I thought maybe that could get in on the action and get it as my Christmas present from the parents. As I ummed and arrrrred over it, Troy made the following point:

'Would you prefer a new suitcase when you have one that is perfectly fine (even if it is damn ugly) or $300 to spend on clothes in NYC?'

Turns out I married the right guy. We left immediately and American dollars for Christmas it is!

Special things

The other day my Mum gave me (via my Gran) this leather passport holder. It was originally my Grandad's.

I hadn't thought about it, but now I am married I have the same initials as him. That makes me smile. Now every time I am at an airport I will think about him and trust me, he is worth thinking about. He is very missed.

I have very cool grandparents, rather than spending their child free years playing bowls, my Gran and Grandad travelled like maniacs in their retirement (Gran is still going to this day! She is so cool). They saw so much together, like us, they even flew to NYC on Christmas night one year. Mum has a feeling though that this holder never went anywhere....

Funny thing is I actually wanted to get one of these for Christmas because when I am at airports I get all OCD about my passport and tickets. This kills getting a new one.

Another vintage item on the packing list is a pair of gorgeous leather gloves that my Mum bought when she was 20 or so. They are so hot. She gave them to me when I was living in Sydney but I never had the chance to really rock them.

Photos don't do them justice...

And so, the packing begins!

PS. My Gran is SO cool, she is probably reading this blog. Hi Gran! Love ya! oxox

We got hitched, now let's go on a sick honeymoon baby!

So yes, my husband (it still feels very weird saying that) and I are just about to take off on our delayed honeymoon. As the old cliché goes, this is the trip of a lifetime for me because quite frankly, I haven't been anywhere overseas except for Bali (which doesn't count because half of the Perth population is there at any one time). At not quite four weeks, it isn't a long trip, but for me it is a bloody big deal.

This blog is killing two birds with one stone. I am planning to use it as my 'travel journal' of sorts because I thought it might be a nice reminder for me down the track and it means that all of those who care can find out how we are doing.

There is a strong likelihood however that I will be having such a freaking fantastic time that I will forget about it entirely, but at least the intention is there right?

So what is the plan? Here is our itinerary (many of you won't be surprised to hear that the details of this trip have all been entered into an extremely sexy looking excel spreadsheet by Troy, but we'll stick to the simple version here):

New York City, USA (OH MY FREAKING GOD!) - Dec 26 to Jan 2

Montreal, Canada - Jan 2 to Jan 4

Vancouver, Canada - Jan 5 to Jan 7

Whistler Mountain - Canada Jan 7 to Jan 14

Vancouver again - Jan 14 to Jan 15

Las Vegas - Jan 15 to Jan 18

Los Angeles - Jan 18 to Jan 21

Home!

So be sure to check in over the next couple of weeks and get mega jealous :) If any of you have been to these spots we'd love some recommendations!

NB: Just in case you were wondering, no I didn't have a cup of tea on my wedding day. That is Red Bull and vodka. ALL CLASS.