Christmas Eve! Christmas Day!

Opening the curtains this morning we woke to another snow storm, this time it looked as though it would be settling in for some time. Big snow flakes filled the sky and surrounding areas - meaning it would be a white christmas for us, no matter what happens!

Deciding it was best to avoid the wintery weather, we headed down to the shopping district (Robson Street) to pick up a few small gifts for one another, then to meet up with Kiwi - farewelling her (if her flight gets off the ground!)

We headed back to the hotel and gave our parents a quick buzz before taking a few "touristy" shops in. A night in looked the best scenario (with everything closing due the christmas holiday)

Christmas day came (without presents!!) so we headed in to town to see the famous Vancouver Aquarium - seeing Beluga whales & baby on show - there were a few people in there - but not the usual crowds. Kate wasn't feeling too crash hot, so we stayed for a short while, before moving on to the Totem poles in Stanley Park. A short walk followed - taking us into the early afternoon, but with Kate getting worse by the minute, we headed back to the hotel for a cruisy afternoon and evening - maybe all the rush and energy sapping activities had finally caught up with us!

Granville Island

Another good sleep in allowed us to rest up before embarking on a long day of touring Vancouver. Arriving at the bus stop, we met up with Kiwi, before heading to Granville Island, home to the famous Vancouver markets, for both adults & kids!

With the wintery weather well and truly set in, we had to wait a bit longer than usual for the bus, as they are having more and more difficulty trying to combat the slushy conditions (they don't usually get this much snow here!) Touring throughout the markets, we saw many Native shops, which had some fantastic items - including Inukshuks, Totem poles, carvings, paintings and tapestries, very cool!

A quick bite to eat followed (delicious food!) before we headed into the kids market - it had to be done!!! The bus came again, so we headed back downtown, before transferring onto another bus - which took us to Stanley Park.

The park is massive - with the Aquarium, Totem poles, Christmas lights / train and plenty of walking trails and sights to see throughout. With snow covering most (if not all) of the park, we had many opportunities to do "snow angels" but declined, due to the fact our feet were frozen. It is a different cold here compared to Ottawa - very wet cold - therefore making it slushy. Taking in the park, we wandered around, then jumped on the Christmas lights train, which was put on by the Fire Brigade of Vancouver. The lights were well set up and had many families, tourists and couples wandering through admiring the many different scenes. A good day.

Departing Stanley Park in the early evening, we headed to the Old Spaghetti Factory which was located in the gas town district. A beautiful meal soon followed, before we stumbled up and down the area, stopping at a few shops to take in the "touristy side of things"- so stuffed full of food!

Grouse Mountain & Capilano Bridge

After a lazy morning, we made our way to the tourist information centre, where we met up with Kiwi. Walking through the slushy Vancouver streets, we headed to the Sea Bus, which took us to Grouse Mountain, which stood 3700 feet above sea level. Catching a bus right to the base of the mountain, we then caught a gondola (which could carry 100 people) up to the top, swaying gently each time we passed one of the towers....very cool). The gondola provided us with quite breath taking views!!!

Wandering through the Chalet, we took a few snaps before heading the lookout, where we could see back down the mountain and watch the gondolas arrive, very cool!

A trip to Santa beckoned, with Kiwi, Kate and myself deciding it had to be done (since we were away for Christmas) and Santa was more than welcoming - we were the only adults in the line.... :) Leaving Santa, we got to see some live reindeer (caribou), which were a lot smaller than we had imagined them being. Deciding it was time to get out of the cold for a bit, we headed indoors for a wonderful lunch, that was reasonably priced considering where we were!

Heading back down the gondola, we took lots of photos, before again catching the bus - this time towards Capilano Canyon & Suspension bridge. We had been informed that most of the reserve was closed due to the large dumping of snow the day before, which had frozen, causing very slippery conditions. This did not deter us, as they had reopened the bridge and were in the process of having the paths open for the christmas lights.

With a tour guide giving us background information on the reserve (who owned it etc), we made our way to the suspension bridge, which was 450 foot from one side to the other and 230 feet from the canyon floor. The many trees - Douglas-fir, Hemlock and Cedar filled the forests around us, with lovely snow covered tops - making it a true winter wonderland.

As darkness settled in, the winter lights brightened up the evening. The trails were opened (after a lot of shovelling and sanding) allowing us to wander through the treetops, taking in the beauty of the area.

Kate and Michelle were lucky to see a Bald Eagle glide gracefully through the canyon, in search of some food. It was truly breath taking and they both wished they could have taken a photo!

Time disappeared rather quickly so we decided it was time to head back to Downtown Vancouver (again on the sea bus). A quick dinner at a wonderful Asian restaurant followed, before retiring for a well earnt rest.

The three of us have thoroughly enjoyed this day - considering the weather forecast is looking a bit inconsistent in the coming days, with another 30cm of snow forecast....we'll see!

The finale

With time fast disappearing, we had to catch up with / say goodbye to our many wonderful Ottawa mates. It was a sad week, but one that flew, with many memorable times had out at dinner, drinks and just lazing around the house.

School was probably the toughest to say goodbye to, as the kids and I had developed a very strong bond and neither of us were wanting the exchange to end, but sadly, life goes on! The many teachers that we both got along with were hard to farewell also, but we knew that it was not forever, as we are determined to make it back to Ottawa in the not too distant future.

Our adventure continued early Sunday morning, when we finally locked the front door, leaving behind our wonderful home for 2008! Heather (our wonderful, kind, friendly, helpful and lovely neighbour drove us to the airport - in very chilly conditions....-29 to be exact!) After a short wait, we boarded the plane to Vancouver. Having to taxi a bit longer than expected due to the large chunks of ice sitting on the wings. After a quick spray of "green anti-freeze", our plane took off, leaving the incoming blizzard behind in our wake.

A five hour flight followed, before arriving safely in Vancouver - also encountering a winter storm, very unusual for them to have so much snow. Looks like we'll be having a white Christmas after all! A quick tour of the local area (checking out the local pub, tourist info centre etc), we chilled in the late afternoon / evening, enjoying our wonderfully upgraded hotel room!!! WOHOO!!!

Another week down - leaving us with only a short time left in Ottawa - boy has this year flown!

This week gave us a bit of everything - 45cm of snow, bus cancellations (OC Transpo & school buses = snow day!) and -22 temperatures (making it sooooo much fun to go sliding with the kids on the field), a great way to end our time here!!

The kids in my class surprised me with a MASSIVE black forest cake to farewell me - which was lovely (told them it was a week too early, they laughed!). It is going to be a wonderful final week with them, I didn't realise I would develop such a strong bond with them - a great bunch of kids, that will be dearly missed, that's for sure!!!!

Friday night took us out to dinner with good friends - Leslie and Marc. Driving out to Kanata, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with the two of them - that had the beer flowing freely, the ribs & wings arriving quickly (and the hockey playing in the background, a true Canadian experience). To keep it really Canadian, we again witnessed the Sens lose - quite heavily, going down 5-1 (scoring a very late consolation goal.....) It was great to be able to catch them, as they will be dearly missed!!!!

An early start Saturday morning had us all over town, tying up loose ends and catching up with a few more people before we head off. After a hectic day, we headed out to the Jack Donohue staff christmas function, which was held at Monique's. Most of the staff were there - which was great - allowing us to catch up with people, take a few pics and enjoy the evening. To our surprise (Kate, Michelle and myself) we were invited to participate in a game, titled JEOPARDY EH! Questions related to:

* What we should know (Aussie / Kiwi facts)

* Moosic

* Jack Donohue

* Politics and more

It was quite funny, with Todd supplying each of us with a wild animal call (Kate - duck, Michelle - wild turkey and me - a deer grunt....very funny!) After answering most questions right (and having a few amusing moments with others), we ended the game, with the staff presenting us with a gift and card. It was wonderful.

The drinks continued to flow until late in the evening.

Sunday we met up with Kate's nannying family giving us the chance to farewell them, with the girls, Alex & Sydney giving Kate an ornament for our Christmas tree. We were then continued to be spoiled by our wonderful neighbours on Dundee Avenue, who put together a wonderful afternoon tea / farewell supper, which was lovely. It was great to have everyone in the same place.

It is going to be a very busy / hectic week, but a sad one as well. It has been an eventful year here. There are mixed feelings about leaving, but it will be great to see family and friends (in mid Jan!)

Birthday, Basketball & Beauty

With interviews finally done and dusted, we made our way down to Toronto for Kate's birthday weekend, which also coincided with the CLEE finale.

Arriving in Toronto late afternoon, we caught up with our good friends, John & Tracy Wynde, who we hadn't seen since before summer. It was great to hear their summer tales whilse enjoying a few cold beverages, which soon turned into a great night, with John - the pool shark that he is - dominating me all over the local tables!

Next morning we enjoyed a nice easy breakfast at the Eaton centre, home to Toronto's shopping area. After a quick bite to eat, Kate and I made a very random decision to head to Niagara Falls, to see the comparison between winter and spring (we'd been there earlier this year). With not a lot of snow around Toronto, we weren't very sure what to expect, but as they say, anything can happen around the great lakes!

As we drove towards Niagara, the scenery drastically changed from the greens of the surrounding Toronto area, to a beautiful white landscape. The previous evening had seen Niagara record quite a bit of snowfall - which would certainly enhance the beauty of the great falls.

Upon arrival we stopped at one of our favourite eateries - Applebees - a quaint chain of diners that was cheap and top notch food!!! SCORE!

After that, it was time to rug up and head towards the falls. With the temperature lucky to hit -4, and with the cool mist in the air, it was going to be a long cold walk - but well worth it!!!

Arriving at the falls, the U.S. side was looking great. As we meandered up the path, it began to rain, not your normal rain - freezing rain - causing us to look like large icicles walking down the street...rather amusing when it melted in the souvenir store, where we entered to "heat up".

Taking many pics (snapping away like typical tourists) we braved the cold weather for some fun in the wet. After a few hours, we headed back to the car, but not before heavy snowfall came (they had threatened a "white out" for that evening - but it arrived a tad earlier than expected). Leaving quickly, but safely, we drove through heavy snowfall before being stuck in peak hour Toronto traffic (worse than Melbourne by a mile!!!!!)

That evening we headed out to the final CLEE event for the year, where we caught up with old friends and toasted the Canadians for organizing such wonderful events throughout the year (Wanakita, Ottawa, 1000 islands cruise, hockey night etc). A video presentation was compiled by one of the Aussies, as well as 4 songs - Aussie Jingle Bells, the gambler (re-made for our trip) and the two national anthems, sung with words from our trips....very clever Tracy Wynde!!!

The end came too quickly, retiring to our wonderful hotel. A 4am wake up call by the fire alarm had everyone downstairs in robes, underwear and whatever else they could manage. Three fire trucks and a couple of men with axes (firemen), the alarm had been false.

Sunday morning so Kate and I headed to our favourite eatery of the year - The Pickle Barrel - a lovely breakfast followed, before heading to the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame - where we were able to see sporting memorabillia, play interactive hockey games and enjoy seeing and touching the Stanley Cup....very cool.

The pinnacle of the weekend was watching the NBA game - Toronto Raptors playing the Portland Trailblazers. The Raptors shot out to a very early lead, before Portland pulled back and took out a lead of their own. Dominating the 2nd half, Portland looked home before the crowd rallied, pulling Toronto out of its slump back in the lead with only a few minutes to go. The clock slowly wound down, before a 3-pointer from Portland in the dying seconds destroyed any chance of Toronto winning, defeating them by 1 point....heartbreaking.

The crowd (small, but great) was fun to have around us, as well as the entertainment NBA basketball provides us with. A fantastic weekend - only 1 to go before we leave Ottawa...SCARY!!!!