Winter Vacation

Sorry dear blog, I haven't forgotten about you! After a very long winter, the weather is finally starting to warm up in Toronto, so I've been spending more time outside trying to replenish my vitamin D stores. I will endeavour to post a bit more frequently in the future.

Now that the apologies are over and done with, I can recount you with the exciting tales of recent months. At the end of February we took a couple of weeks off work to explore western Canada, including Whistler, Vancouver and Victoria in British Columbia, and Whitehorse in the Yukon. It was such a wonderful trip and I'm glad we were able to see a bit more of this amazing country. Over the Easter break we went skiing at Mont Tremblant in Quebec too, which great fun! Here are some select highlights from these latest adventures:

Whistler-Blackcomb, British Columbia
The past nine months in Canada have involved many 'firsts' for me. One experience that I'd been looking forward to with a mix of trepidation and excitement was skiing. Earlier in the year we were lucky enough to join friends for a couple of day trips to the Blue Mountain, two hours north of Toronto. So at least we weren't complete ski newbies when it came to Whistler. We'd both mastered stopping (the snow plow) and were able to make slow, gentle turns down a green run.

At Whistler, we decided that lessons were the way to go (commonly called 'the marriage saver', as it's preferable to have a neutral third party yell at you repeatedly that you're doing it wrong, instead of your significant other). Our extremely patient 72 year old ski instructor Ed made the perfect guide. A local to the area for many years, Ed finally decided to take up skiing at age 55 because of his wife's love of the sport. It turns out that you can teach an old dog new tricks, as Ed made skiing look completely effortless. His repetitive shouts of "arms out front", "uphill hand high", "lean forward", "turn, and turn, and turn" really stuck in my head after the 100th or so time. We both made good progress and I was able to conquer most of my ski-related fear in the lessons. The hardest part was skiing for 5 consecutive days with increasingly sore, tired leg muscles (but it's difficult to complain to your 72 year old ski instructor about that).

The ski trip was organised by a couple of my Aussie friends, so we had a lovely reunion in Whistler village. It's a shame that by 6:30pm most nights I was ready to fall asleep at the dinner table - a full day of skiing can be quite exhausting! I really enjoyed the apres ski experience too - what's not to love about guilt-free indulgence in nachos, hot chocolate and mulled wine after a hard day's work on the slopes?

I'd heard that the population of Australians in Whistler is so large that they're referred to as 'JAFAs': 'Just Another Friendly Aussie' (although the 'F' actually stands for a less polite word. Hi Mum!). We came across the familiar Aussie drawl everywhere, from hotel staff to coffee baristas, ski hire assistants and even the ski instructors themselves!  It was a little surreal at first, but I enjoyed being able to pronounce my name without the North American rounded 'r' sound and still be clearly understood.

Whitehorse, Yukon
When I told a few Torontonians that we were heading to Whitehorse, the responses were very similar. The first reaction was one of sheer disbelief, followed by a grave warning of how cold it can get in the Yukon, and lastly a look of admiration and respect that we were taking the time to experience such a remote part of the country. Several people have commented that we've already seen more of Canada than most Canadians!

Whitehorse was one of my favourite parts of this trip. There was a lot of snow on the ground which looked stunning against the crystal clear blue skies. We had to don sunglasses as we walked along the slowly melting Yukon river, enjoying the sunshine and breathtaking scenery. I found myself thinking "this is Canada" in a way I haven't felt since we were in Algonquin provincial park in early October.

We visited the Yukon Wildlife Preserve for a lovely long walk in the snow and the chance to see a number of Canadian animals, including a pair of distant Moose intent on camouflaging themselves behind a tree. We braved the bitterly cold temperatures (I'm talking -23 degrees Celsius) for three nights in a row to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights, but unfortunately we weren't able to see anything.

We also took a dog sledding tour through a gorgeous trail of rolling hills and pine trees, with the odd set of fresh moose tracks in the snow. We each drove a sled with a team of four Alaskan Huskies (my guys were called Tundra, Tex, Riley and Snickers). After a brief lesson in Husky-speak ("let's go" = start, "whoa-ho" = stop), we took off. It was quite a surreal experience, but very peaceful too.

Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver is a such a nice city, I could easily see myself living there. There's something magical about being able to see both the ocean and the mountains on the horizon. Vancouver is blessed with some beautiful natural spaces, some parts of the city even reminded me of Australia.

We took a lovely relaxing walk along the sea wall, which forms a perimeter between the beautiful Stanley Park and the ocean, with views of  the nearby mountains and Lion's Gate Bridge. Stanley Park provides a lush green escape from the concrete buildings downtown. Venturing a short drive out of the city, we explored the Capilano suspension bridge, a dense green rain forest with waterfalls and treetop outlooks. Granville Island is also a popular tourist destination that hosts a sprawling assortment of restaurants, gift shops and a fresh food market.

Our trip coincided with the WA state election, so we visited the Australian consulate to fulfill our civic duty. The large Australian flag, framed photo of Julia Gillard and kangaroo mural on the wall made me feel strangely at home as I cast my vote in the solitary cardboard voting booth. Lastly, as lovers of Japanese food, we just had to take the opportunity to dine at Tojo's, named after Hidekazu Tojo, the inventor of the California roll. I've never had sashimi quite like it before, it was incredible!











Victoria, British Columbia
From Vancouver we made our way to Victoria via the largest ferry I've ever seen (with 6 decks and capacity for 2000 people and close to 500 cars)! Victoria has a lovely relaxed feel to it, probably due in part to the beautiful spring weather. We took a couple of nice strolls around the town to take in the colourful gardens and waterfront area, with the ever-present smell of fish & chips in the air. A very pretty place indeed.











Mont Tremblant, Quebec
We decided to put our new-found skiing skills into practise at at Mont Tremblant over the Easter break. After Whistler, we were surprised at how quickly we could get from the top of the mountain to the bottom, but I enjoyed taking it easy and cruising down the gentle green runs. It gave us a chance to relax and consolidate what we'd learnt at Whistler without too much physical exertion. We had some great apres ski with three other Toronto expats too. A perfect ending to our Winter getaway.