Happy Australia Day

Hey everyone,
El here. Today is my Saturday (even though it's Thursday). Geoff is working today and tomorrow at his reception job. Yesterday he was offered another 2 days in guest services, so we are both very happy about that. He may even have a day in ticket sales. :-)
Yesterday we did our bit for Australia Day. There are 10 or so Aussies up at the ski hill so we all got into the spirit of things. We decorated the place with green and yellow streamers and balloons, and put "Hug an Aussie" signs everywhere. I got lots of hugs from complete strangers, it was nice. At lunch time they put on a BBQ up at the mid mountain chalet and few of the braver Aussies did a run down the mountain in board shorts and shirts. hehe
Last night we continued on with the celebrations and had some bundy rum and tim tams. Pity we couldn't do the usual thing and go to the beach, but it was fun all the same. :-)
I hope everyone enjoyed their day off.
And now there is only one more thing to say -
aussie aussie aussie
oi oi oi
hehe.
Love to you all.
El and Geoff.

Slippery

Hi again everyone. It has warmed up to the +ves now and it has been raining. As a result the roads and footpaths are very very slippery. People were ice skating(with skates on) down the main street the other night as all the snow melts, turns to water and refreezes. It was so bad on Wednesday that I couldn't get across one of the streets near our house because as soon as you stood on it you slid straight back to the gutter. El tried to do the same thing on thursday and she couldn't do it either so she stayed at home all day. I slightly stacked it on wednesday with groceries in tow but only fell to one knee-no damage done. I have seen several people falling completely and doing some damage to themselves.
It has not been raining up at the ski hill where we work because of the higher elevation everything falls as snow. The road up the hill is better than the ones in town cause there has been no rain on it ,only snow. It snowed yesterday in Jasper which reduces the ice on the footpaths and roads, but it is raining now so it will be icy again soon. Last night we were going to watch an ice-hockey game but it was cancelled because the other team couldn't get through because of avalanches! We ended up playing indoor mini golf instead.
The highways around Jasper are opening and closing all the time as avalanches and slippery roads are too dangerous for anyone. The highway into British Columbia was closed for more than 24hrs so heaps of trucks were parked in the streets of Jasper.
Today it is overcast and raining here in Jasper and possibly snowing up at Marmot Basin(the name of the ski hill we work at). Otherwise all is good.
Hope everyone is enjoying the heat over there.
We are enjoying the warmer cold temperatures(if that makes sense).
Adios Muchachos and muchachas
Geoff and El

Its snowing(again)!

hey everybody. It is quite warm here by Jasper standards(-4C) and it is expected to warm up over the next week. We survived the cold snap. For three days or so in a row temperatures were close to -40C because of an artic cold front that swept through. For at least a week it should be warmer then it will return to those cold temperatures.
Right now we are in the middle of Jasper in January, a festival that has different things like chilli cookoffs, ski races, dogsledding etc for a couple fo weeks. Yesterday there were a few things on up at the ski hill.
Every monday night there is a community dinner put on by a local group that puts out free food for everybody. Last night we had chicken, rice and vegies. Its good to save a bit of money every now and then. El and Jen are working up at the ski hill today and I'm bumming around town. I hope to go skiing to have a bit more practice tomorrow or wednesday. I think we are going to have a go at curling on wednesday night.
Hope everyone is doing ok. Feel free to email us--> one or both of us gets to our email every now and then.
Goodye for now
Geoff and El

Sent home from work

Hey everybody, I got sent home from work on my first day. Not from incompetence, but because it was too cold. They closed the ski hill for the day for only the second time in 10yrs. It was -34C or so up there plus windchill so it was probably -40C.brrrrr. They sent home 90% of the people that worked there. It was -37C in town this morning. Yesterday I bought a neck warmer thingy that you can use like a scarf. Keeps cold out pretty well.
Handling switchboards is a tricky business. I didn't cut anyone off and didn't give anyone the wrong numbers (I think). Tomorrow will tell.
We have found a place to live. It is a 3 bedroom basement apartment that is already furnished. We will be living there with one of Els friends and possibly another guy from the ski hill. It looks ok and should be fine for the next 3 months.
Just have to find some sheets and stuff to put in it- Jasper has mainly touristy shops so we may have to really look around.
Got to go now and investigate the town for sheets and pillows.
Geoff and El

House hunting

Hey everybody I am now a receptionist/office type person. I will be working at the ski hill for a couple of days a week to start with and then hopefully they are finding a couple more days for me elsewhere up there, otherwise I will look for some work in town. At the moment I work when El has days off so it will evenings when we do stuff together. We will probably stay in Jasper until the end of the ski season(first week of may normally) and then continue our travels.
I have been looking at apartments to rent. Not a lot out there but I think I have found a nice enough place to stay. Will put in applications tomorrow hopefully.
It is not so cold today, only about -15 or so. We have acclimatised so much compared to when we arrived in Vancouver(it was +4C) there. The only thing that really makes you cold is the wind. We are mastering the layering of clothes. In a couple of days the wind chill will drop to the temperature to the -30s so that might not be the best to be out in.
I think the mountains have captured us. We aren't really thinking much of Toronto at the moment because of the scenery and the small town feel here in Jasper. Hopefully we will get along ok but all is good at the moment.
Hope everyone is nice and warm where they are.
Geoff (and El)

Staying in Jasper

Hey everyone, looks like we will be staying in Jasper for a while. El has landed a sales job at Marmot Basin Ski resort which is just outside Jasper. We were supposed to stay in Calgary and see Banff but we made a mad dash to get back to Jasper for an interview at the ski hill. Looks like it was worth it. I am also supposed to have a job for a couple of days a week being a switchboard operator up at the resort. I get to play with phones and talk to people. Pay for either of our jobs is not like what we get being scientists, but it should be enough to get by and not use our savings. We will probably be looking for a house to rent soon.
I am having to amuse myself while El goes up slaving away at the ski hill. When we work up there we can ski for free. Not that it is of any use to me at the moment. I will have to learn to ski first. Hopefully if I get a couple of days a week it will pick up and I will get more work.
We are staying in a house at the moment and are renting the top floor. It has a provate bathroom, fridge and kettle but no kitchen.
We have postponed our trip to toronto until the end of may. At the moment it is more miserable over there than here, and here we have the rocky mountains to look at every morning. I wonder whether we won't notice them by the time we are ready to leave.
The days are cold, as people would expect. Yesterday I had to use an outdoor pay phone for half an hour in a blizzard to change flights and cancel some hostel bookings. My fingers felt like they were going to fall off.
It is still dark at 9am in the morning so it is often hard for El to get up at six to get ready for work. There is a shuttle service that picks her up at the door, so it should be the same shuttle that I will be getting. Whether I have two days a week of work or 4 is yet to be determined.
Hope everyone is not to sad about going back to work. We didn't want to work, but this travel business is bloody expensive.
Hope everyone is well
Geoff and el (el is working today), I am out and about

Calgary

Hey everyone,
Well, we survived the cold of Edmonton and have moved onto warmer pastures.... sort of. We are in Calgary now, and experiencing a mild temperature of minus 15... :-) We found out this morning that we MAY have jobs in the ski resort of Jasper, and have cancelled our Banff trip and shortened the Calgary one as well. Kinda exciting tho, will keep you posted if we actually got them. We have to rock up Wednesday morning at the ski resort and we aren't sure if we will be working straight away or going for an interview.
Calgary seems quite pretty with all the snow around. We went for a walk this arvo around the park near the partially frozen main river. Very pretty. Saw alot of ducks sitting in a non-frozen pond.. they must have insulated backsides or something. :-) Later on this arvy we might head for this Australian pub that we have spotted in our walks. They sell genuine Aussie beers and tucker. There seemed to be a Fosters sign out the front!
Today we also went up the top of the Calgary tower... it is about 500 feet up. A bit woosy compared to the Sydney centrepoint, but still an awesome view.
Hope there wasn't too many bears with sore heads after New Years. Ours was pretty tame, a few drinks in the room and pizza on the run for dinner.
Okay, nuff for now.
Love to you all.
El and Geoff :-)

happy new year

hey everyone, happy new year. We are currently in Edmonton and it is about -30c or so. Bloody cold. We have had a busy week. We went skiing(I went crashing and El went skiing) up at Marmot basin which is about half an hour out of jasper. It was a beautiful day, no clouds and quite warm but the snow is still cold when you spend most of your time falling. I can ski ok, I just can't stop. We have put job applications in to work at the skifield selling tickets or whatever so hopefully something will come of it. We went walking on wednesday out on some trails surrounding jasper. We saw a deer fall off the ice in to the river and disappear. It got sucked under the ice. We couldn't do much for it though. Saw lots of animal tracks through the snow, but still no bears. We had hot chocolate at Jasper Park lodge and lived the high life on a budget. Got so sore from walking and skiing. Yesterday we walked from where we were staying to the bus station in about -20c weather. It was blowing a gale so it felt really really cold. Snow was getting in our eyes and it was like being at the beach when there is a sandstorm except about 60 degrees colder. It was 6am in the morning and we bolted for a 6:25am bus to Edmonton which was delayed by an hour so we didn't need to rush. We got about an hour out of Jasper when the bus broke down in the middle of nowhere. Transmission was stuffed. Waited on the bus with a load of whingers and whiners until a new bus arrived. Eventually got to Edmonton about 2pm, only 2.5hrs late. Got to the hostel and checked in. Pretty yucky, but cheap and ok. Went out to Mexican restaurant for dinner and had beers in Filthy McNasty's irish pub. More like a skatie pub than an irish pub.
Today we are checking out the famous West Edmonton Mall. It is so big- it has a wave pool and is making El homesick for aussie beaches. Also has a theme park and hotels.
Not sure what we are doing for new years tonight. Hope everyone had a good night.
Love Geoff and El