Prairie Meets Mountains at Waterton Lakes

To see more Waterton Lakes photos click here 
Waterton National Park is in south east Alberta near the border with BC to the west and the states to the south. Beautiful place. Serene mountains and lakes teeming with wildlife starting with buffalo as we entered the park, tons of deer, and the highlight: a cinnamon bear cub in a tree with mum out of sight in the bushes down below. We thought that it was a grizzly, but discovered it wasn’t. Cinnamon bears are light brown in colour and part of the black bear family (not brown bear).  We did a very cool six hour hike into the mountains to Carthew pass. Our starting point at Cameron lake and it’s surrounding peaks were shrouded in cloud.  We walked up beautiful snowy forests passed another lake for lunch with a view of pretty mountains. Steep scree terrain rewarded us with a spectacular 360 degree view at the saddle summit with Glacier National Park (Waterton’s equivalent in the US) to the south and glimpses of prairies to the east beyond Waterton’s peaks. Just before entering Waterton’s pretty townsite the Prince of Wales Hotel had a perch overlooking the lake that I think any Fairmont Hotel would kill for! In comparison, our accommodation was less pretty even though it was beside the lake. We were surprised to see that the National Park campground (the only one open) was pretty much an open field with no character or privacy between sites. Stone chimneyed kitchen huts offered some warmth and shelter, but we couldn’t find any wood at the camp or in town. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the beautiful colours and hiking. *Mush

City Slickers Here We Come!

Time to leave the shelter of Calgary and face the open road and whatever the weather would throw at us now that we were dried out and fuelled to go. First stop was Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump - a UNESCO World Heritage site where the ancient method of hunting buffalo by herding them for miles and then funneling them driving them over very specific cliffs areas. The Blackfoot first nations people (the Plains Indians of this area) hunted this way for nearly 6000 years. The exhibit centre is pretty cool describing the pre-hunt ceremony, the herding process and the jump with interesting archeological evidence. There are also walks around the area of the cliffs and the kill site, though nothing much to see now apart from cliffs that once were originally 20m high are now, after thousands of years of buffalo bone deposits, only 10m high.

Our end destination of the day was a somewhat surprise/short-notice landing on friends of Rob’s who own a ranch in south-east Alberta. Jim and Lauren and their two kids Sophie and Mattias, made us feel super welcome at their family ranch known as Antelope Butte Ranch. Unfortunately, it snowed that night (thankfully we were inside by a nice wood burning stove) which meant there was no harvesting of crop to be done the next morning. But a ranch is a ranch… and there’s always work to be done! Well, the first job of the day was milking Hazel their family cow, of course, for the family fridge. I was pretty excited as I have never milked a cow before despite many school visits ‘to the farm’ when I was a kid in England. Anyway, it was not as difficult as I had imagined although my aim was a bit dubious. It’s an interesting technique requiring one to grip the hand around the teet and squeeze with the fingers in quick succession starting from the index to the pinkie allowing milk to collect then squirt out. Collect, squirt, collect, squirt etc. Who would have dreamt that we would be milking a cow on our trip!

Second job of the day (after Martin helped Sophie build a snowman, of course) was to bring a renegade bull home. City slickers eat your heart out… I have been on a horse probably twice in my life, but Jim was not perturbed (which meant that he could probably do the job single handedly). Anyway, once I got a quick lesson on how to ride a horse, we went in search of the Bull. The ranch is at least 9,000 acres, but Jim knew where to start looking. As we slowly made our way we saw a bald eagle, a golden eagle, and in the distance, a coyote. We eventually found the bull in a field (probably doing his job), but with the neighbours cows who had got out of their own field and onto the more juicier plains of Antelope Butte. So not only did we have to bring the bull home, we had to get the girls back into their own field. By the three of us manouvering in a line towards the herd constantly moving our horses back and forth so that the herd would move towards the gate we were able to get them back in to the correct field! Using the same process we were able to separate the bull from the cows, and with Jim, Martin and I always in constant eye contact with the bull from the rear side we ‘walked’ the bull home and herded him into the corral. The whole experience was amazing and every minute we had to keep reminding ourselves that we were actually doing this. Holy Cow! *Mush

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Dry Days in Calgary

It seemed to keep on raining when we got to Calgary. We didn't care: we were DRY and WARM for the first time in what felt like a loooong time. Heaven! It was great to stay with friends Robb and Nat and their two kids, Abby and Maggie.... not to mention, the fabulous warm, dry roof over our heads! We spent some goofy times catching up with friends Jeff and Alana, and Sean and Emma too. We were reluctant to leave the warmth and comfort, so poor Robb and Nat had to put up with us for another day!

We managed a quick visit with Slim and Michelle on what happened to be their son Zach's 7th birthday.  All the kids were out for a 'Harry Potter' party, so plenty of spells were cast, and potions drank.  Brian and Mel, Martin's friends from Queen's were also there with their 2 kids!!
We spent four glorious dry days in Calgary before moving on.  *Mush

To see more Alberta pictures, click here

Lake O’Hara, British Columbia, Canada

The next four days we spent at beautiful Lake O’Hara.
Surprise, surprise, but more rain!  We boarded the bright yellow school bus bound for Lake O’Hara with a group of other campers.  They limit the number of people that can head up to the lake to 40/day.  This is to protect the natural beauty of the area and to restore a lot of the trampled habitat.  Because of this, we had to book the bus and campsite 3 months in advance, and had been looking forward to it.  It did not disappoint.

The campground was like a little community, with communal cooking shelters/warming huts and a big fire pit where we could all gather when it wasn’t raining. The hiking around the alpine circuits was amazing in spite of the rain. The mist and low-lying clouds added to the atmosphere, and once they lifted, the colours were more vibrant, if anything. The first larches were turning gold too. For those of you who don't know, larches are unusual trees because they are the only pine-needle tree that will change colour in autumn and lose its needles.

Anyway, we had fun meeting a variety of people on the trails and at the campsite. At the end of each day we would take shelter from the rain and cook dinner in the kitchen huts sharing stories of the day’s adventures with other campers. We decided to stay an extra night as there was space due to poor weather, and to our surprise, we found little food packages and farewell notes in our bear locker from friends we’d made whom we'd told. We couldn’t believe it. It made us feel good that people are so generous despite only knowing them for a day or so.

On the evenings that it didn’t rain, we sat around the group fire pit and had great laughs and made smores (again generously donated by new friends who had left that day). I will have to explain smores as they are a very north American thing and we don’t 'do' them in England. They are basically a sandwich that you make around the campfire made with a freshly melted-on-the fire marshmallow with a square of (unmelted) chocolate and placed between 2 graham crackers (biscuits). They can only be eaten whole so you have to cram them in your mouth in one go, and if it's done correctly, the chocolate should melt from the heat of the marshmallow.
We did not want to leave this beautiful place, but know that we aim to come back again, as seems to be the norm with most of the people we met who come back year after year. * Mush

To see more BC photos, click here

Rampart Creek, Icefields Parkway, Alberta

The last couple of days, were somewhat chore days. Laundry, groceries, camp clean-up etc, so we had a late start back down the Icefields Parkway. As it is getting later in the season, a lot of the campsites have closed for the winter, so we were pleasantly surprised when we came across Rampart Creek campground, and it was still open. We had a really nice site backing onto the light blue creek, and chilled out with a glass of wine and backgammon at the river. We have been eating some great meals generally at our campsites, and tonight was no exception. Full bellies to sleep, and yet another night of rain – what is up with the weather!!

Today, we cruised from Rampart Creek to Lake Louise. Along the way, we stopped for yet another hike to Bow Falls, by the lake we had dried out a few days earlier. It’s nice to get out into the wilderness with all these hikes. It’s hard to explain how beautiful all these areas are without repeating myself, but the colours and sights are just stunning if you work a little to get there.

As is pretty common on the drive, you often see groups of cars pulled over on the side of the road and this usually signifies some sort of wildlife. We came across a similar sight on the drive and both of us immediately said “Must not be a bear because all the people are out of their cars”. Well, to our surprise it was a bear – about 15-20 feet from all these people!! What were they thinking getting out of their cars! Some people are crazy, not to mention the effect this type of behaviour has on the poor bear itself. NUTS!

We had booked a bus up to Lake O’Hara for the following day to do some ‘backcountry’ camping, so our camping time in Lake Louise was spent getting all our gear sorted, and pre-cooking up some tasty meals to take to the backcountry for the next 4 days!! *Stub

To see more Alberta photos, click here

Mt Edith Cavell, Alberta, Canada

We spent another couple of days in Jasper.  We really like the feel of this cute town and would like to come back and explore a little more sometime.  There are some great outdoor opportunities in Jasper, including Mt Robson – the highest mountain in Canada.  We did another hike today, but not to the top of Robson or anything.  It was at Mt Edith Cavell, named after the English nurse that helped many POW’s escape during WW1.  I had no idea what to expect of this area, but was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the glaciers and lake at the base.  There was a massive hanging glacier above the lake called Angel Glacier because it had wings.  The entire time we were in the area, you could hear the glacier calving and large chunks of ice falling down the cliffs.  At the lake itself, the water was an incredible greeny turquoise colour and was full of ‘icebergs’ floating around in the lake.  Once again, we did a 3 hour hike up past the moraines and the tourists, passing many little pikas scurrying around getting their winter nests in order.  The view from the top of the hike was very serene.  Looking down on the beautiful icebergs and lake was quite peaceful. After the hike, to pick up the pace, I decided to get my bike off the roof and ride the 13km road all downhill to get the adrenaline flowing – FUN but also a little wet! Earlier that day, we had moved campsites, and instead of taking our tent down and deflating the mattress, we had carried the entire ’mobile home’ to the new site which seemed like miles away.  To give you an idea of the magnitude of the 780 site campground, we had a couple of visitors that night that saw our lantern on and approached us.  Dutch couple Ditmar and Frederik, could not find their way back to their rented RV, as they had gone out earlier for a drink and did not have a map or flashlight with them.  We immediately were willing to help them find their way back, but not before sitting down for a glass of wine with us!!  We were then rewarded handsomely for successfully navigating them home, with a few glasses of single malt whiskey which is Michelle’s favourite!  We had some fun laughs with them, before navigating our way back home for a relatively warm and dry night!   *Stub To see more Alberta photos, click here

Jasper and Maligne

We woke up to even more snow on the next morning.  Packing up the WET tent again, and heading on our way, we continued North on the Parkway.  Stunning scenery awaited us at every turn, along with some wildlife sightings (mountain sheep, mountain goats, elk, deer).  We made stops at most viewpoints, but took some more time at Athabasca Falls.  A few too many tourists, but what do you expect on the Labour Day weekend!  The opaque blue water pouring out the back end of the canyon looked freezing and we felt cold just watching the white water rafting trip start.  The staircases around the falls we really neat as they were built through dried up river channels from the falls.

We had lunch at a nice lake in cute little Jasper, a beautiful little place that looks like a hub for outdoor adventures.  Since we hadn’t showered in probably a week (hey – we are staying in primitive campsites) we cruised further north to Miette hot springs and after a rinse, we spent a couple of hours in the outdoor pools, with the rain coming down around us.  The even better part was…… you guessed it, we got to shower after!  Fresh and clean for another week!  Back to the rain at Pocahontas campsite - we have become accustomed to holing up in our tent playing backgammon and cards at night. 

The next morning, we were off to Maligne Lake up in the mountains.  We didn’t leave ourselves enough time to hike here, but apparently there is one of the best 3 day hikes in the Rockies here – the Skyline Trail.  I must admit, I was not really impressed with Maligne Lake, but I was expecting a particular view of Spirit Island that I could not get to cheaply, and was too far to walk.  A more interesting lake on the way was Medicine Lake, which apparently fills up in the Spring with the runoff, but turns into a series of channels later in the summer.  This is because there is no visible outlet from the lake, but instead there is a network of underground river channels that drain the lake.  It fills in Spring because the underground channels are not large enough to keep up with runoff into the lake.

A short drive back down the valley brings us to Maligne Canyon, the place where the underground rivers come back above ground.  We loved this canyon and took a long walk up and down the length of the canyon.  At some points, the canyon was 50m deep, but probably only about 5m wide max.  Super steep walls, very colourful green mosses and light blue waters filled with glacial sediment.  Pretty impressive, and a highlight of the day.

We camped that night at the overpriced, 780 site campsite in Jasper where we were surprised to see a huge elk and baby walk right through our site.    *Stub

Columbia Icefields

We woke up to a blanket of snow – our first real snowfall and it’s only Sept 6th. After a warm breakfast and a hot chocolate, we set out for Parker Ridge – a small day hike we were planning on tackling. Within the first few turns of the hike, we bumped into a lovely couple that were enjoying the snowy “Christmas Trees”. Turns out Lionel and Elmara were from South Africa and do not see the snow so much, so were totally enjoying the white, fluffy stuff. After parting ways, we climbed to the saddle of the ridge, then up a little higher to enjoy a brisk view of Mt Athabasca and the Saskatchewan Glacier. On our way down to the saddle, we were delighted to see Lionel and Elmara at had managed to make the trek all the way up there. We invited them for hot chocolate at our car after the hike which they said was too good to pass up. They headed on their way up the Icefields, hostelling all the way, and we plan to visit them in Capetown, SA later in our trip.

















We were on a roll, so attempted another hike for the late afternoon. This time up Wilcox Pass to get a different view of the Athabasca Glacier. Very cool views across the valley with the Icefields centre in the foreground and massive glacier behind and above. In this final picture you can see a few dots on the glacier bottom right - these are monster 6x6 tourist buses that explore the glacier. Both Michelle and I had done some glacier walking in New Zealand, so decided that would probably be the more adventurous of the trips, so stuck with our hiking rather than spending the $$ here. We did see some big horn sheep at the top of Wilcox, but only at a distance.

Our final ‘hike’ of the day was a very chilly walk to the toe of the glacier. The thing is massive, and they say at the deepest point, it is actually thicker than the Eiffel Tower is high!! *Stub

Icefields Parkway, Alberta

Martin can’t believe that he has lived in BC on and off since 1994, and never traveled the Icefields Parkway – probably one of the most scenic drives in the world. He had been to Lake Louise and Jasper (towns at the top and bottom of the Parkway) but has never done the 230km (160 miles) Icefields bit between them until now. For me, this will be my second time exploring this beautiful and interesting place.


A wet, soggy start was a sign of things to come for the next few weeks. When the sun finally came out we screeched to a halt and draped a thankfully, quiet picnic area with our tarps, groundsheets and tent. And Bow Lake was a great scenic spot for lunch too!

After that the clouds came and went, and we passed many beautiful mountains and glaciers, lakes and rivers stopping off to do small hikes here and there along the Parkway. At the beautiful aquamarine Peyto Lake we just managed to get out alive from a bus load of Japanese tourists that engulfed us at the viewing platform. We found a little solitude on a small hike away from the busloads, and actually had a better view of the stunning lake. We also saw our first snowflakes of the trip here!

On to Saskatchewan Crossing with views of the Saskatchewan River which comes from the Saskatchewan glacier in the icefields. This eventually feeds Lake Winnipeg – a looooong way away! Mistaya Canyon was pretty cool with its turbulent waters down below and long-ago eroded potholes in the walls and rocks.

The Icefields Parkway passes within viewing distance of seven icefields which are monstrous-sized upland glaciers, and about 25 smaller glaciers. The massive Athabasca glacier was the view we had from our great, but cold, campsite that night. *Mush

Valley of the Ten Peaks

All the packing is finally over (thank goodness) and we are on the road. First real night of camping and we managed to sleep-in partly because all we could hear through the night were trucks and trains, and we needed more sleep. Maybe not the best choice of campsite in Yoho Park! We had cruised to Yoho after spending our real first night with friends Rob and Michelle Nagy in Revelstoke, with deluxe accommodations on their front lawn in ‘Our Blue Heaven’ – their second-hand RV that came with the special name!

What to do on our second day….. how about a nice hike in the Rockies. (A note on translation for you non-Canadians here: a 'hike' is a walk in the wilderness, not a lift from the side of the road!) After sorting our gear, we got our day packs sorted and headed out for famous Moraine Lake, along with what seemed about fifty thousand others on the Saturday of Labour Day long weekend. If anyone has been to Moraine Lake, they know it is a beautiful sight, but FAR too many people. But, as soon as you start hiking, you lose about 90% of the tourists and get some solitude.


I had been wanting to do the hike here for years. We hiked up to Eiffel Lake, about 2 hours of switch-backs and side-cuts from Moraine. Some great views back over the aquamarine glacial blue of the lake, and the Ten Peaks behind. Hence the name of the valley – Valley of the Ten Peaks (which used to be on the $20 bill). We hiked with a couple from Cold Lake, Alberta and their sister from Nova Scotia. It is required to hike in groups of 4 or more, as there is a lot of grizzly bear activity in the area, and the chances of bear attacks to groups of 4+ are slim. A great hike then back to the campsite for some grub, but the rains came and banished us to our tent!! *Stub

Homeless!

Well, we hit the road again today after a scramble to get moved out of our apartment and get organized for storing our gear, packing for our cross-country trip and packing for our main backpack trip to Africa. We drove up to Revelstoke and are on our way to Yoho National Park tomorrow to start camping and hiking! Here is a recent photo of Mt Assiniboine from our hiking trip there in the 3rd week of July. We expect to see more stunning scenery like this over the next few weeks!
We are officially gypsies again!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68022967@N00/4952910783/

'Going Away' Party

Well……what a great party.  Thanks so much to Grant and Kim for their generous hospitality and Ryan for organizing a stellar Going Away party.  Grant and Kim’s place on the beach was done up like a wedding, with tons of balloons with African prints.  Ryan’s tenant supplied the DJ equipment, and Angie’s farm provided the Alberta Beef burgers!!  Thanks to Tracey and Susan, Dana, Paul and Piper for coming in costume.  Of course, what party would be complete without the Tickle Trunk making an appearance and everyone dove in to dress up in many different costumes and wigs.  I think it was when Ryan starting his own karaoke on the mic, when the party really kicked in.  While we were all dancing outside to Ryan’s crooning, there was obviously a different beat being played inside.  AC/DC was cranked and wigs were flying with all the head banging.  One of the most interesting moves, was Paul down on all fours, with Tracey standing on his back like she was surfing.  And of course, Amy was cutting a rug while ‘playing her toy’!  I think Paul tried on every outfit in the tickle trunk, but my favourite was the leopard skin dress and fish net stockings!

Thanks to all who enjoyed our bash until the wee hours.  Kim and Grant, you are fantastic hosts and we know you had a blast too!!  We couldn’t have asked for a better send-off!
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Christmas 2008

Two weeks later, Christmas was suddenly upon on us, but it was relatively quiet for us, with get-togethers or dinner at friends’ homes most evenings. We had our now traditional Christmas tree decorating party bringing Christmas cheer to our little place with good friends. And the tree was PERFECT covered in its mish-mash of ornaments and fond memories! Christmas day itself was very relaxed: after an eggs-benny breakfast we sat in the snow on the beach enjoying the White Christmas, drinking hot chocolate and baileys – looks like it’s becoming a Christmas day tradition for us! Later we had delicious mouth-watering turkey with friends Aaron and Katherine and their family, followed by games… and more eating!

Boxing Day we braved the Sales. In North America Boxing day sales start at 6 or 7 in the morning. Two and a bit hours of freezing cold at 4.30am in the queue was not much fun let me tell you! It had it’s merits - the people around us were nice enough and knowledgeable about electronics, helping us seal the deal in justifying our intended purchase of a new telly! Our current 13 year old telly was going to replace a broken tv for our Big White renters. We had done our research from all the Boxing day flyers out on Xmas eve and knew which bargain we wanted. Once the doors opened only 20 people were allowed in at a time and as we were 19th and 20th in the queue, we were in the first group; we obtained a sales slip for the TV at the door, then headed over to the till. That easy! Even though the whole experience was extremely dignified and this was a big purchase for us, I think this will be my first and last Boxing Day sale. Getting up at some ungodly hour and standing in the freezing (-15C) cold has to be really worth it! Thankfully, Martin and I love turkey and later that day we drove to Summerland (about 45 minutes away) for more Christmas turkey with his Nanny, and Auntie and Uncle. (His parents winter in Arizona). So it was a relaxed and pleasant afternoon, but we were definitely wiped out from our early morning start!

Recent storms have been dumping lots of light fluffy fluffy fluffy snow so we have been enjoying the snow up at Big White - the ski hill. Unfortunately, I was back at work this week while Martin, whose work was closed, skied for a number of days.

New year’s eve was great; a party and sleepover at Nicole’s and Don’s. Quite a few families with lots of kids running around. We had fun playing twister in the garage (Nicole and Don had epoxyed coloured circles onto the garage floor!), but as we’re all getting old , it was pretty tiring. This was followed by endless games of Hula Hoop and tight-rope walking on the Wii. I crashed at about 2am! Martin at 4.30am. * Mush
Photos to follow.

Cuba, Nov 2008

Photos to follow.
For a Christmas present to each other, we went to Cuba at the end of November- a place I’d been wanting to go to for a while. We spent two and a half weeks moving around every 2-3 days. We have been to many countries around the world and discovered that Cuba is not our favourite country - probably because we have a lot to compare it to! We loved the old colonial architecture. Pity it was crumbling and very run down in many places that we went to. Imagining all the buildings restored to their former glory, it would’ve been an amazing place to see. Some towns were very quiet and there wasn’t a lot to do in the evenings, but when we encountered latin music playing in the which we discovered in the evenings just walking around town. We enjoyed going back in time seeing all the rundown 1950s cars - very cool! And the people in the Casas Particulares (like B&Bs) were super super nice to us and we had a great time interacting with them. We also had fun in a place called Vinales – in the countryside with lots of limestone pinnacles. One day we met a farmer, Miguel, who was SO nice. He had a moustache – mo – just like Martin’s, so here they are, the Mo Bros! We don’t speak much Spanish although we tried and managed to muddle through most times. Using very basic Spanish so we could understand, Miguel invited us to his home (shack) for coffee and a handmade cigar which he rolled for us right there and then! We met all his family over the next coming days, and they were super-grateful for the toothpaste, soap and clothes we gave them. On the whole, the people in Cuba in the streets and shops are not as friendly as other people we have encountered in other similarly oppressed countries that we've been to. Of course, they do want your money … so there was a lot of hustling.. "You want taxi?.. You want restaurant? You want cigar?" Like I said, not our favourite country, but we’re glad that we went, and now we can cross it off our list.

September Parties, 2008

At the end of September Martin had his 15 year University reunion so off he went to Queens, Ontario. Meanwhile I went to a breast cancer fundraiser with some girl friends which was a lot of fun, dressing all the same in pink. *Mush

Photos to follow.

Summer 2008

Normally our landlords give us very little notice when they go out of town back to Vancouver, but this summer they were away for 2 months in Europe. This was excellent news as not only would we be able to enjoy the beach whenever we wanted, more importantly, we would be able to plan ahead for BBQs, parties etc with plenty of notice. So throughout the summer we had a number of parties coinciding (or not) with visits from various friends: Paul (whom we met in China), Lisa (from Martin’s high school), and old Kelowna friends, Gerri and Eric. Our summer was excellent because of this bonus and we could invite and just hang out with good friends with the best view in town! * Mush Photos to follow.

July 2008

Photos to follow.
Our summer was not as hot as it normally is here in the Okanagan, but on a rafting weekend in Lytton - about 5 hours northwest from here - we had temperatures of 41C! The trip was great with our friends Nicole and Don and their bunch of friends who we go camping with. We camped and then rafted down the Thompson river in 2 rafts (amongst many others). It was great – we would have water fights with each raft and then try and pull each other off the rafts into the water. It felt really good because it was so stinky hot! * Mush

My new job, May 2008

Towards the end of my contract coordinating the Gala of Hope for the Canadian Cancer Society, I got offered a job at the BC Cancer Foundation. The BCCF is the fundraising arm of the local cancer centre - the BC Cancer Agency, Centre for the Southern Interior - where patients receive cancer treatment and care. To add to the chaos at this time, my permanent residency came through at the end of April. Finally! It was such a relief! Anyway, I saw this as an opportunity, for once I started work, initially I would not accumulate enough holiday to go to England, so I thought I would grab the chance now. It was last minute, but it was great to see my family. My neice and nephew had just grown so much since I'd left a year and a half ago!

Then, two days after getting back to Canada I started my new job. I love it and my manager, Cynthia (far right) is a really nice lady, and the other members of the team pictured here, Rose and Karen, are great. The best thing was that because I'd been a volunteer at the centre right up until Christmas, everything was very familiar to me and I knew so many people. The first few weeks I would get hugs every day from various staff and volunteers congratulating me on the job! It was great! As much I find biology and science fascinating, I feel like I have found my new niche in life. I just enjoy my very people-interactive career now! A far cry from doing lonesome bench research! * Mush

Gala of Hope, March 2008

The Canadian Cancer Society's Gala of Hope was the event that I had been gearing up for for eight months now. Preparation for the black-tie fundraiser was full steam ahead with everything from the band to linen to the food to choose and order. The day itself was very stressful. I don't think I've been that stressed in a very long time. You see, even though I had a committee helping me with ideas and how to do/ask for stuff, it was really me doing everything. Apart from the decor, of course. Sheila and Joan, my decorating girls, did the most gorgeous job ever! They volunteered their time and services to transform the convention rooms at the The Grand Okanagan Hotel into an absolutely amazing ballroom for a champagne reception and 5 course meal banquet. It was stunning, sophisticated and tasteful.

As guests arrived decked out in ball gowns and tuxedos to the Champage reception (sponsored by Mercedes Benz), a jazz trio played in the background, and there was a definite buzz of excitement and anticipation in the air! Just before 7 the ballroom doors opened and there were murmurs and cries at the breathtaking design and style. The banquet dinner with wine pairings was delicious, although I didn't eat much as I was making sure things were running smoothly. The Band, called "The Famous Players Band", were AMAZING - nailed every cover song. So much so, that they sounded like the real thing! In between sets of music and dancing there were lots of fundraising games - diamond rings raffled, trips away to be won - all to raise money to support cancer patients and increase prevention awarenss. The volunteers that helped with the smooth running of the event were fantastic. It was a long evening and we didn't get cleaned up until 3 in the morning. Phew! The next day was a long one too - we had to break down the decor and furnishings and transport home to various locations around town. The whole event was a huge success and we raised $269,000 that night - almost $70,000 more than last year! As you can imagine I was very pleased and very relieved! * Mush

Xmas on our Beach 2007

So it's been a long time since we blogged anything, but this is us on Christmas day drinking hot chocolate and Baileys on our beach determined to chill out and look at the view. Well, 'chill' we did - it was pretty nippy out! Then it was back inside to make our contributions for friends Keith and Amy and Xmas dinner at their house. There were 16 of us in total so it was pretty fun. Great to celebrate with new friends.

After Xmas it was off for some skiing at Revelstoke Resort to stay with friends and to ski the highest vertical descent in North America. There was some good snow and big runs, but Martin was disappointed with missing some excellent snow conditions at Big White, our local mountain in Kelowna. Oh well, can't have it all* Mush

Halloween 2007

Halloween time again and Martin and I found ourselves scratching our heads as to what we were going to be. We were a little out of practice as the last few years we haven't indulged in Halloween frivolities - we were either en route back into Canada at Martin's sister's, or traveling around the world. But do you remember that wonderful wig that I got Martin just before we went traveling?? A very useful item, I know! Well, we were desperate to use that somehow and eventually came up with the get-up you see here. It took us a while to make the amp and microphone, but it was worth it as it was appreciated by many! Kind-of makes it tough to follow next year though! *Mush

Camping again at Sugar Lake

We always have really great times with our friends Nicole and Don and their two girls, so we squeezed a night of camping back at Sugar Lake in October '07. There was some snow on the far distant hills which is hard to see. Great spot for some camp fire times and hanging out. *Mush

Campfire Music at Konkle Lake, BC

It's been a while since we blogged anything, so I've gone back through some photos that we've had on our Flickr site for a while (double click on a photo to get to this), but thought I would match them with a few stories. This camping adventure was back in September 2007, at a really pretty lake about 3-4 hours away from Kelowna called Konkle lake. We were with a mixture of Martin's friends - some who he hadn't hung out with in years. Pictured here are the Doody brothers who Martin used to work with at Western Star in Kelowna. Well I had a ball because they play lots of different musical instruments and love to sing, and we all know how much I hate that! The Doodys taught me to play the spoons and you couldn't stop me playing! I had blisters before too long, but it was worth it! * Mush

Shock! I have to work now!

At the end of August '07 my Open Work Permit arrived quite unexpectedly, and so I found myself able to work. I had been volunteering, as you know, at numerous places around Kelowna and at one of these I got offered a position at the Canadian Cancer Society organising their large black-tie fundraising event scheduled for March 2008. Well, I accepted and soon began rubbing elbows with the more affluent and influential members of Kelowna society. If nothing else, it would serve me well in terms of developing connections in this relatively small town. It was a short-term contract until April/May 2008, and I enjoyed pretty much most of it. I worked hard at acquiring sponsorship which is crucial for anything like this to succeed. And certainly event planning for a charity is no mean feat, especially as it was totally my job and responsibility to make sure it went well! * Mush

CSI Kelowna!

No, not Crime Scene Investigator unfortunately, but Centre for the Southern Interior - a part of British Columbia's Cancer Agency. As I settle into a semblance of a life, most of you who know me know that I am not one to twiddle my thumbs... So here I am volunteering at CSI Kelowna with fellow volunteer, Ron . It's great because I get to meet fun people like Ron, and also feel like I'm doing something worthwhile too. Most of our chores consist of dishing out tea and coffee and big smiles to patients waiting for treatment. I have been doing enough shifts now (about 2-3 per week, each shift is 3-4 hours) that I recognise the patients and have fun - at least with some of them. As you can imagine it is a tough place to be for cancer patients, but on the whole, I think it succeeds in being a very welcoming and upbeat place considering the circumstances. Our job as volunteers is to make a difference and hopefully make the cancer clinic a nicer place to visit.

One of my other regular shifts at the Cancer Agency is working in ACU - the Ambulatory Care Unit - basically where patients come and visit their oncologists before, during and after their chemo treatment. I essentially act as a middleman between the patient and the doctor/nurse (whomever they are seeing). So I keep all the rooms tidy and ready for patients, I greet them, weigh them, show them to their consult room and then inform the doctor they have arrived. I enjoy it because it is challenging and keeps my organisational skills in shape - I have to juggle the logistics of 5 or 6 doctors all seeing their patients every 20 minutes. It's also quite different to what I used to do ... seeing cancer from a different perspective: I've gone from the intellectual challenge of trying to find a cure for cancer - to seeing patients get their treatment - the results of hard work (and blood, sweat and tears) of scientists, like myself! * Mush

It's Alive!!!

Well, one of my possessions left in the Kelowna area is of course, my Toyota Landcruiser. It was living up at Phil McNeil's for over 4 years, and it was tucked away in a back field with the weeds. I went out to see it, taking a battery in tow and some gas. After getting the bees nests out of it (many), and as many spider webs as I could, I threw the battery and gas in, and to my amazement, it started FIRST TIME!!! Sweet!!
So, it is now back on the road again. It needs plenty of TLC now as it is dirty and has a few more holes (rust) than it did 4 years ago. Still a tank though, and reliable.
After the truck, I managed to make it to another housewarming party. Keith and Amy from Site360 had the group from work over to show off their new place. Great times, good food and a special appearance from Tracey's 6 week old Great Dane (very cute) made for a great night and a late night - arrived home at 3AM!! *Stub

Back on the Water

Well, after almost 3 years of being away from the water, I am afloat again! As most of you know I need to be near/on water - and I don't just mean the bath tub or a creek or something - I mean sailing on a boat on a large body of water, like the Columbia river or the ocean. Okanagan Lake is not, of course, the sea, but it is pretty big. When the wind picks up the waves feel and sound just like the ocean. I had been planning to park myself outside the yacht club and try and find a boat to crew on, but just by fluke I found out that a new friend's husband owns a Hobie 33 and he needed crew! So now every Wednesday night I race on the lake and have lots of fun. We generally come first - which turns out to be second after our handicap is taken into consideration. Oh well. Beer flows well, of course, and I am loving being out on the water again. The girls of my crew are a great bunch and we all get on well.

Our first weekend Regatta was in Summerland - about an hour south of Kelowna. By boat under motor-sail, however, it's 4-5 hours. We sailed in convoy with a few other boats to get there. We hit big waves and hailstorms, followed by hot temperatures and gorgeous sunny skies - perfect for cooling off in the water, and of course, obligatory water fights with the other boats. On arrival at Summerland Yacht Club, there were free Pina Coladas, and the delivery crews had more than their fair share of yummy cocktails. Giants Head Regatta, as it is known, was to start the next day so we had to pace ourselves. Needless to say, some were more successful than others!

Onboard our boat 'Celerity' was (left to right) Greg, whom we borrowed from a local Summerland boat, Skipper and owner Peter, Narissa, Leah, and Kristen. The long distance race around Rattle Snake Island was relaxed and enjoyable. The shorter races on Sunday were a little more intense and eventful, including shackles snapping open and sails flapping, capped off with running aground! Despite this we carried on racing and were surprised when we placed third overall!!! So it turned out to be a successful regatta after all! * Mush

Our Place

So here we are finally in our new place. Been here almost 6 weeks now. Most of that time seemed to be preoccupied with unpacking, sorting and purging / getting rid of stuff - something I am not very good at. It is a brand new carriage house - an apartment above the garage, and separate from the main house you can see here in the background. It's a one bedroom and not that big, so hence why we needed to have a good sort out!

The two main windows that you see are our living room (right) and dining area (left). The window towards the back far right, is our bedroom. Our dining room also has french doors (which you can't see here) around the left hand side. They open out onto a great view of the lake over the neighbours low single-story house. In fact, you can see the lake and hills between the cedars and the main house here. As you will have seen already from previous blogs, we have been enjoying the beach when the landlord is away. As you can guess, we're really enjoying our place and the great view, but more than anything, just having a place of our own at loooong laaaaast! *Mush