Hello.
El finished up work yesterday. The skiing is not good any more so we have brought all our equipment down from the ski hill. El went out for a last ski on her lunch break yesterday and was not at all impressed.
She had to dodge dirt and rocks and ski very cautiously. Not fun at all.
We went out for drinks last night and had a good night. Still home in bed by 11pm though. We called the lab and talked to a few people before we went home. It was good to hear their voices.
Today we are bumming around town. We just overindulged at breakfast but it was all good. We had a quick squiz at a wildlife museum which has stuffed animals all through it. Scary and cool at the same time(not little animals like you see in toyworld). The size of the moose and the bears was quite scary. Wouldn't want to run into them in a dark alley.
Hope everyone is well and enjoying their long weekend (sorry those people in NSW-have to wait a bit longer for yours).
We are counting down the days until we get to leave jasper. This time in a week we will be in Calgary. Our last trip to Calgary was cut short so it should be good to have a better look around.
Bye for now
Geoff and El
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Picnic in the woods
Hello everyone, yesterday we went for a walk around 6pm to go out for a picnic. We did the healthy thing and bought some KFC (in french on the same container it is PFK) and went to sit by the river. We sat down near the junction of the Miette and Athabasca rtivers. It is kind of nice now to see the water flowing and not have so much ice in it. We went down and played in the river bed for a while and could look up to see Old fort point(previous blog).
In our walk we saw a few different animals including a wolf, elk and a solitary deer. It is nice to be walking around in a t-shirt instead of having to wear the big bulky ski clothes all the time.
On Sunday night we all went on a moonlight walk up to pyramid bench, which is a small range overlooking Jasper to have a look at the moon rising. We went with "Friends of Jasper" which is a volunteer environment type group. We listened for the different sounds of the night and even howled at the moon to try to get the local wolf packs to answer us back. We looked at the moon and the planet mercury through a spotting scope which was really cool. We could see the craters on both the moon and on mercury.
We all can't wait until the end of this week when the ski hill closes. We will have another week or so and then off to the yukon.
El is on the last 3 days of her job and she can't wait to finish. This weekend we are hiring a car so we will be getting ready for the drive to calgary soon which should be good.
Hope everyone is well.
All the best for now.
Geoff(El says hi but is working today)
In our walk we saw a few different animals including a wolf, elk and a solitary deer. It is nice to be walking around in a t-shirt instead of having to wear the big bulky ski clothes all the time.
On Sunday night we all went on a moonlight walk up to pyramid bench, which is a small range overlooking Jasper to have a look at the moon rising. We went with "Friends of Jasper" which is a volunteer environment type group. We listened for the different sounds of the night and even howled at the moon to try to get the local wolf packs to answer us back. We looked at the moon and the planet mercury through a spotting scope which was really cool. We could see the craters on both the moon and on mercury.
We all can't wait until the end of this week when the ski hill closes. We will have another week or so and then off to the yukon.
El is on the last 3 days of her job and she can't wait to finish. This weekend we are hiring a car so we will be getting ready for the drive to calgary soon which should be good.
Hope everyone is well.
All the best for now.
Geoff(El says hi but is working today)
Monday, April 25, 2005
A Hike in the Woods
Well, from our last post we mentioned that we were going to do a 20km walk on Friday. We found out that there has been grizzly bears sightings on that trail and they were feeding on elk. So we decided not to do that hike!
Instead we walked up to Old Fort Point and did a 6km circuit around the back. We had previously bought some pepper bear spray just in case. We also walked quite slow and made a lot of noise, which is what you are supposed to do to alert any nearby bears. It was a little different to walking in the bush back home, not quite so relaxing when you are constantly clapping your hands, talking loudly and whistling!
Luckily for us we didn't come across any bears. We saw some elk and big horn sheep and a few squirrels. The scenery was pretty amazing as well.
It has been really hot here lately, getting up to 20 degrees most days. The skiing is pretty woeful now, lots of bare patches, streams and many runs are being closed due to the risk of avalanches. I have 3 days of work left now but there is hardly anyone coming skiing now so the days are very slow.
This time in two weeks we will be in our RV, making our way up into the Yukon. I can't wait to do something new.
I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend.
Love El and Geoff
Instead we walked up to Old Fort Point and did a 6km circuit around the back. We had previously bought some pepper bear spray just in case. We also walked quite slow and made a lot of noise, which is what you are supposed to do to alert any nearby bears. It was a little different to walking in the bush back home, not quite so relaxing when you are constantly clapping your hands, talking loudly and whistling!
Luckily for us we didn't come across any bears. We saw some elk and big horn sheep and a few squirrels. The scenery was pretty amazing as well.
It has been really hot here lately, getting up to 20 degrees most days. The skiing is pretty woeful now, lots of bare patches, streams and many runs are being closed due to the risk of avalanches. I have 3 days of work left now but there is hardly anyone coming skiing now so the days are very slow.
This time in two weeks we will be in our RV, making our way up into the Yukon. I can't wait to do something new.
I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend.
Love El and Geoff
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Moving house
Hey everyone, the time has come for us to up and leave our house. Our lease has run out and we have spent the last couple of days cleaning up. Luckily we are only moving next door so there is not too much of a hassle there. We have less than 2 weeks of the ski season left and will soon be moving on.
We have the three of us(Me, El and Jen) sharing a large room in the new house. The room is part of approved accomodation and each room has its own bathroom which is pretty cool. The girls do spend a lot of time in there though. The sunlight now is really different to when we first got here. El and I went out for dinner last night for cantonese and the sun didn't start setting until 9.30pm. If there weren't mountains it would set a lot later.
We will miss the place when we move out: a chapter of our travels is closing but a new one is beginning which is exciting. To have a routine like the one we had for the last couple of months was ok in the skiing and earning money aspects but we really didn't want to get into a rut again.
We will have no more high speed internet from now(at least until we have more stable jobs possibly on the east coast) so that is a bit sad.
I am back to wearing t-shirts and shorts(for those people who have never seen me in long pants) as it is getting to about 12C or so most days. It can still be -8 in the mornings though so I hold off going out until it has warmed up a little bit.
We are planning a 20km hike on friday so that should be really cool. We have to check with the parks office first though to check on bear activity. The animals all seem to be getting a bit more active. One of the big wigs at our work saw a cougar from the chairlift at the ski hill last week which is a little daunting. We might have to get some bear spray for the walk though.
Oh well, best be going now. Talk to everyone soon.
Geoff and El
We have the three of us(Me, El and Jen) sharing a large room in the new house. The room is part of approved accomodation and each room has its own bathroom which is pretty cool. The girls do spend a lot of time in there though. The sunlight now is really different to when we first got here. El and I went out for dinner last night for cantonese and the sun didn't start setting until 9.30pm. If there weren't mountains it would set a lot later.
We will miss the place when we move out: a chapter of our travels is closing but a new one is beginning which is exciting. To have a routine like the one we had for the last couple of months was ok in the skiing and earning money aspects but we really didn't want to get into a rut again.
We will have no more high speed internet from now(at least until we have more stable jobs possibly on the east coast) so that is a bit sad.
I am back to wearing t-shirts and shorts(for those people who have never seen me in long pants) as it is getting to about 12C or so most days. It can still be -8 in the mornings though so I hold off going out until it has warmed up a little bit.
We are planning a 20km hike on friday so that should be really cool. We have to check with the parks office first though to check on bear activity. The animals all seem to be getting a bit more active. One of the big wigs at our work saw a cougar from the chairlift at the ski hill last week which is a little daunting. We might have to get some bear spray for the walk though.
Oh well, best be going now. Talk to everyone soon.
Geoff and El
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Snow is going
Hey everyone,
spring seems to be on its way. The days are getting longer, warmer and it is snowing less. The ski season will be finishing in about 3 weeks and then it will be time for us to move on. We are heading north into the yukon in a motorhome which should be pretty cool. We get to pull over and camp pretty much wherever we want.
Last week we hired a car to go and do some shopping. They upgraded us to a luxury sedan due to the rest of the cars being unavailable. It was cool-it had a sun roof and power everything(see our photos on smugmug). We drove to Hinton, the nearest town to Jasper and went to Walmart and Safeway(two big chains like BigW and Woolies) cause the prices and availability of stuff here in Jasper can be a bit ridiculous.
We put the car through its paces-its good to drive when you haven't done it for so long, even if you are driving on the wrong side of the road here.
El and I are both looking forward to travelling again, too long in one place and you start getting back into the routine again which is not so much fun.
We have to move out of our basement on the 20th of this month, so hopefully we will be moving to the house next door which will save a lot of messing around. Tonight is a quiet night at home-we are hoping to ski tomorrow if it is not too icy.
All the best for now.
Geoff and El
spring seems to be on its way. The days are getting longer, warmer and it is snowing less. The ski season will be finishing in about 3 weeks and then it will be time for us to move on. We are heading north into the yukon in a motorhome which should be pretty cool. We get to pull over and camp pretty much wherever we want.
Last week we hired a car to go and do some shopping. They upgraded us to a luxury sedan due to the rest of the cars being unavailable. It was cool-it had a sun roof and power everything(see our photos on smugmug). We drove to Hinton, the nearest town to Jasper and went to Walmart and Safeway(two big chains like BigW and Woolies) cause the prices and availability of stuff here in Jasper can be a bit ridiculous.
We put the car through its paces-its good to drive when you haven't done it for so long, even if you are driving on the wrong side of the road here.
El and I are both looking forward to travelling again, too long in one place and you start getting back into the routine again which is not so much fun.
We have to move out of our basement on the 20th of this month, so hopefully we will be moving to the house next door which will save a lot of messing around. Tonight is a quiet night at home-we are hoping to ski tomorrow if it is not too icy.
All the best for now.
Geoff and El
Monday, April 04, 2005
Happy Easter
Hey everyone,
Well, I don't know how it happened but it's now April and we have been away nearly 4 months! I can't believe how fast the time is flying! We are now counting down the days until we finish up at the ski hill. They have set a closing date of May 1st, but our hours maybe cut back a bit before that. We aren't too worried either way!
I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend/week. Over here they have Spring Break that runs after the Easter weekend. All week (since Good Friday) it has been a madhouse at the hill. I have never seen so many people queuing for rental equipment! My job was fairly slow (not so many groups booked) so I helped out with ticket sales, and confirming ski lessons. You get to talk to some really cool people but you also meet the exact opposite. :-)
All day Friday and into the night we had a massive dumping of snow in Jasper and up at the ski hill. Going home from the hill was "interesting" to say the least. We were fine but there was limited visibility and a lot of cars had gone off the road into ditches. Yesterday, being a Saturday, and being one the last day of the holidays, and having 23cm of new snow, was CRAZY. hehe So many people!! We weren't going to miss out on the fun however so Geoff and I went out in our lunch break and hit the slopes. It was just beautiful, all the trees were covered in white and the amount of powder was amazing. We had a lot of fun, even if Geoff was convinced to go down a blue (intermediate) run even though he didn't think he was ready for it. It was a bit choppy and he stacked it a few times, but he did well, and now he can say he's done a blue run!! Afterwards we went through some trees to get some "fresh tracks". Your skis sink down in the powder and the tops of our boots disappeared as well. Very cool. I then did a few runs by myself and managed to stack it coming off a chair lift. Quite embarrasssing, no broken bones, but I have a freaky bruise developing. Ouch.
Last night we had a BBQ and said goodbye to some Kiwi friends that had been working up at the hill but have decided to leave early. It was pretty cold to be cooking outside but we managed to do it quick and retreat back indoors. We had been missing the Aussie beer and BBQ thing so it was good fun.
Today Geoff and Jen are working and I'm buming around the house, contemplating whether to go skiing. I think today is going to much quieter up at the hill, so I should get cracking so I don't miss the bus up there!
Talk to you lot later.
Love El and Geoff
Well, I don't know how it happened but it's now April and we have been away nearly 4 months! I can't believe how fast the time is flying! We are now counting down the days until we finish up at the ski hill. They have set a closing date of May 1st, but our hours maybe cut back a bit before that. We aren't too worried either way!
I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend/week. Over here they have Spring Break that runs after the Easter weekend. All week (since Good Friday) it has been a madhouse at the hill. I have never seen so many people queuing for rental equipment! My job was fairly slow (not so many groups booked) so I helped out with ticket sales, and confirming ski lessons. You get to talk to some really cool people but you also meet the exact opposite. :-)
All day Friday and into the night we had a massive dumping of snow in Jasper and up at the ski hill. Going home from the hill was "interesting" to say the least. We were fine but there was limited visibility and a lot of cars had gone off the road into ditches. Yesterday, being a Saturday, and being one the last day of the holidays, and having 23cm of new snow, was CRAZY. hehe So many people!! We weren't going to miss out on the fun however so Geoff and I went out in our lunch break and hit the slopes. It was just beautiful, all the trees were covered in white and the amount of powder was amazing. We had a lot of fun, even if Geoff was convinced to go down a blue (intermediate) run even though he didn't think he was ready for it. It was a bit choppy and he stacked it a few times, but he did well, and now he can say he's done a blue run!! Afterwards we went through some trees to get some "fresh tracks". Your skis sink down in the powder and the tops of our boots disappeared as well. Very cool. I then did a few runs by myself and managed to stack it coming off a chair lift. Quite embarrasssing, no broken bones, but I have a freaky bruise developing. Ouch.
Last night we had a BBQ and said goodbye to some Kiwi friends that had been working up at the hill but have decided to leave early. It was pretty cold to be cooking outside but we managed to do it quick and retreat back indoors. We had been missing the Aussie beer and BBQ thing so it was good fun.
Today Geoff and Jen are working and I'm buming around the house, contemplating whether to go skiing. I think today is going to much quieter up at the hill, so I should get cracking so I don't miss the bus up there!
Talk to you lot later.
Love El and Geoff
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)