During the winter months we made a few trips away and went to a few shindigs. One was a meal and drinks ... loads of drinks, at Niamh and Paul's. They were a hard case Irish couple that Nic had met through her work. Instead of potatoes and Guinness which you'd expect from an Irish couple, it was a spicy curry and flaming sambuca shots. Any other memories of the night escape me for some strange reason. Brenton, a mate of mine who I'd met working at both the Flames and at Skystone, his girlfriend Jenn, Nicola and I decided to [View Full Entry]

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I was dreading going from a New Zealand summer to the heart of a Canadian winter. Especially because Christchurch had been having great weather, even reaching over 40 degrees celsius on an occasion, something usually unheard of in NZ. As I disembaked from the plane in Calgary I saw a couple of guys in full black, balaclavas and all and thought 'oh shit, terroists'. Turns out that they were just airport baggage staff. Working in temperatures as cold as minus fifty degrees celsius requires some warm clothing. I feel the cold, so was not looking forward to a long winter. Things [View Full Entry]

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Instead of flying back just for the wedding I decided to stay on for Christmas and New Years and a bit of summer. Calgary winter could wait. The summer was spent relaxing, I had intended to do some work but that fell through. Real shame that. So it was days at the beach, playing tennis with my brother Todd, golf with the family, watching loads of cricket on tv and many other strenuous and stressful activities. Todd was living at home over summer, he plays cricket professionally for Canterbury and then in Aberdeen in the off season. I was stoked for [View Full Entry]

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My friend Callum 'pyromaniac' Patterson whom I went to uni with was to wed his long time girlfriend Virginia 'too nice for Callum' Latimer in December. I decided rather last minute that seeing I didn't have a full time job I should go and see them tie the knot back in NZ. Thus an elaborate scheme was plotted with my mate Brendon 'Bdoggry' Henshaw to arrive at the wedding unannounced. Brendon said that he would be bringing a 'date' so I took on the alias of Elizabeth. I wore it well. The plan went off without a hitch I even talked [View Full Entry]

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We had many miles to cover in a day so started early and got the games cranking early. Nicola's American states jigsaw puzzle came in handy, we quizzed each other on categories like all the east coast states, all the states that start with m, all the states that start with vowels. My american geography improved dramatically over those few hours. Andre got peeved with the ridiculous pre pay pumps at the petrol stations. That's a lot of p's. You have to pay beforehand so it becomes impossible to fill the tank as you don't know how much you need. I [View Full Entry]

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Yellowstone warranted a second day so we headed down to the park early. We first checked out the thermal springs, it smelt like Rotorua if you are a kiwi. The colours were impressive with an array of orange, pinks and greens. Its hard to see how trees can grow in these conditions. I got duped into believing the others had seen a frog in one of the hot springs. I'll get them back one day, maybe at their wedding. The buffalos are humongous and after talking to a guide we learnt that Bison and Buffalo are synonymous, I had thought they [View Full Entry]

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Today, we had found out was thanksgiving in America, Canada celebrates on a different day earlier in the year. We realised that none of us really knew what thanksgiving was. I have just googled it and apparently Thanksgiving Day is ... a harvest festival. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. As we checked out of the hotel we walked passed the kitchen. A large sign read "Hunters if you leave your game in the fridge please put your name on it." For some reason in my head I imagine an old [View Full Entry]

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We were surprised to open the curtains in the morning and see thick snowfall which had obviously been happening for a while. The deers looked freezing as the snow coated their backs. I guess they are used to it. I don't think I could ever acclimiatise, I 'm a hot weather fanatic. Thankfully soon after setting off the snow eased off and eventually stopped. We got over-excited when we thought we saw a wolf, it turned out to be a huskey dog and had a collar. Oops. An hour or so drive saw us arrive at the US border. We parked [View Full Entry]

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Before heading off on a roadtrip, Andre had to go into town and sate his unquenchable thirst for shopping. Every time he plays golf he thinks he should buy a new set of clubs rather than hiring. He'd have a garage full if he was allowed. I think he may have been born with one too many x chromosomes. Once Andre had bought a $500 jacket and we had gone for a tour of Calgary downtown it was time to get ready and head south. Andre and I headed to the airport and hired a Ford Escape 4wd. It was bright [View Full Entry]

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Former London flatties Lisa and Andre decided that on their way home to NZ from the UK they would stop in Canada and spend a few weeks with us. They arrived bearing good news that they were engaged. The big rig popping the question in Holland in a town bearing his last name: Van Sintmaartensdyk. I think I spelt that right. Lisa you better start practising now. Before I tell you about their trip, I need to start with the night before their arrival. Rick, a mate from University, who like Nic and I had a year visa in Canada and [View Full Entry]

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