Hi to all. It seems like it's been forever since we last made an update. Apologies to all who like to see what we are up to. We have had a lot of lazy summer days here. High temperatures for the last 2 months, but that's all about to change - Summer here lasts only about 2 months before cooler temperatures set in. Anne has continued to slave away at the Salvation Army, and both of us have been hitting the streets and trails with lots of miles to prepare for the Toronto Marathon. Anne will be walking the 1/2 marathon [View Full Entry]

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The last time I posted, Anne and I were happily skiing our asses off, and enjoying Christmas. Wow. That was a long time ago! Now it's Spring, and all the snow has disappeared from town, and is starting to leave the mountains. It's bittersweet, no more skiing, but now I get to start enjoying the beautiful trails again on my runs. Bitumen can get so boring. Also, I'd like to officially state that I now hate shoveling snow. It only takes one season here to thoroughly get that right out of my system. Even with our wonderful neighbor snow-blowing our driveway [View Full Entry]

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It's been a while, and apologies to all those that are using the blog to keep across our comings and goings. Truthfully, Anne and I have settled into our new routines nicely, with the pace of Fernie lifestyle exerting it's influence over the speed at which we accomplish activities. It's like our pace is as equally influenced by sub zero temperatures as are water molecules. It's above zero today, (1 degree), which brings me up to about typing speed, hence the blog update... :-) The season has been absolutely awesome. Local's say it's the best since 2000. (The one's that ski [View Full Entry]

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Anne and I have been busy as usual. Well, Anne has been slightly more busy than I. She has been doing heaps of charity works - either with the Salvation Army or wrapping gifts for underprivileged kids. In addition to this, she has also been preparing for the arrival of our very good friends Marc, Lena, and Marcella from Melbourne. They are swinging by for 10 days from their holiday's in the US. Oh, and Anne is also preparing for another of her terrific dinner parties. This time with 28 very close friends :-) What have I been doing? Well. As [View Full Entry]

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Anne and I have been relatively quiet over the last few weeks. Fernie is starting to ice over, although there has only been a single day when there has been any snow on the ground in town, in any great measure. Last week we received a few inches of snow. It happened to be the very day I sat for my BC Driving License. Visitors to Canada have only 6 months in which their foreign drivers license is valid. Owning a car also meant that insurance in invalid if your not legally licensed. So I had 6 months in which to [View Full Entry]

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Anne and I are back from our trip to Bulgaria. In fact we have been back for a while now, and as some of you know, I have been somewhat lax in updating the Blog. Bulgaria is a great country, and I would highly recommend anyone passing by to stop for a while. Ideally you should 'stop by' via aircraft. Under all circumstances avoid our route - across the Turkey/Bulgaria border. Whether by train or bus, it's a nightmare. The bureaucracy adds an additional 3 hours to an otherwise 6 hour trip. The conditions of both transports are woeful. Whilst there [View Full Entry]

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After all that traveling, what could be better than being taken out for a 'stroll' into the mountains? We booted up, put the leads on the dogs and went for a 3.5 hour hike with Ian. We have been giving the dogs a liquid form of Glucosamine and Chondroitin, and that has helped dougall's leg immensely. Surprisingly she managed the hike with minimal soreness - not a great deal more tired than Otis. Hopefully she continues to improve, given the cold winter days here. Speaking of those, there has been no snow in town yet. Very disappointing. Although the locals are [View Full Entry]

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A valiant attempt was made at Mount Fisher, but before we got to the 'Saddle', where the narrow path and steep drop offs begin, the weather turned bad and we were snowed out. It's a difficult hike - nearly every step was uphill. To give you an idea, it took 6.5 hours to complete a measly 6.5km. We turned back within an hour of the summit. It will now have to wait until next spring. It doesn't look like the peaks will loose their snow caps now. The weather is getting very cold. Somebody had built a cool Inukshuk, which is [View Full Entry]

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The title says it all - Bulgaria or Bust! Anne and I are off to Bulgaria next week for 10 days. Not a holiday per se, but an opportunity in investing in that country after it gained entry in the EU. We are flying into Istanbul, then taking a train to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Ideally we want a couple of investments and a place to call home in the coming years. I guess this means we will need to learn Russian! Stay tuned for lot's of photo's from this culture capital. Anne and I have been enjoying the benefits [View Full Entry]

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Low cloud hangs over the mountains today, there are no signs of it blowing off. This week, I think, marks the end of those lazy summer days of 30 degrees. Lunchtime and we are not above 10 degrees. Fall - as we locals call it here - has set in. This is what we came for, so I'm not about to whine about the cold. After our trip to the west coast, I was hankering to get back to serious hiking. Just lucky I was, as Ian was preparing a voyage of pain over the labor day long weekend. A Hike [View Full Entry]

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