AT HOME WITH THE FARACI'S

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Our flight to Seattle was faultless and we were both really looking forward to meeting up with Rick and Sharon again. As we collected our baggage we were pounced upon by both of them, Sharon quickly handed Tim a large can of English ale. We were introduced to Ernie one of Sharons old friends from NZ and swiflty the whirlwind that is Rick and Sharon took hold. Firstly Sharon had very kindly arranged a hire car for us at no cost other than the tax and to insure her to drive it back to Vancouver. As Tim sorted out the finer details of the rental I got the chance to catch up with Rick on his new film and life since we last saw them 5 months ago in NZ. Then Tim went off with the boys and Sharon and I took the hire car. This was strange as we have not been parted in so long, very weird. As I waved goodbye to Tim Sharon and I enter the elevater to get down to the hire car floor. As we start our little journey she tells me she has a surprise. I ask if I am dressed appropriately and she then drops it on me that we will be going out in the evening to a red carpet event for the opening of the Vancouver film festival. Ahhh excitement, panic, panic panic, no shoes, no dress and no Tim mmmmm feels strange but great to get an opportunity to do something different. We set off out of the airport and wait for the guys to pass us and we then follow them to a shopping centre. Now Sharon knows I cant spend like I would love to so we quickly set off to find a hairdryer she wants to buy and arrange to meet the boys for lunch. Having brought the hairdryer I indulge in a lovely pair of heels that should match any dress Sharon has for an absolute bargain. We are soon chowing down a very nice buffet and I reat myself to two helping of beef, mash and veg, lovely. Rick has told Tim we are going out and he seems good with it so I relax a bit and we chat about various things that have happened. Ernie has been in Canada for a few weeks and he fill sus in on the surprises and places Rick and Sharon have took him. Within an hour we are back in the car and heading off to Vancouver. After a small glitch at the border where the poor guy is very confused by how many nationalities he has and who wants what we are on our way again. The bridge we take over the water into the area of Vancouver they live offers lovely views of the harbour area and surrounding parks. The day is a little overcast but the sun is peeping through and it is relatively warm which we didnt expect. By the time we get back and put all our stuff away Sharon and I hit her hot tub to relax before we have to get ready. Rick shows Tim his collection of swords and Tim is mesmerised by how many he has.

At this point I should probably explain that Rick has been a bodyguard for many years and has looked after the likes of Pam Anderson. He is also an actor and has recently move into acting/directing of his own film. He is fluent in so many marshall arts that I cant even pronounce never mind spell and he is built like a brick s**t house (cant find any other way to describe him). Sharon is a travel agent and she arranges all of the travel for the many actors that work and reside in Vancouver. Unbeknown to us before this trip Vancouver doubles as America in alot of films as it is cheaper to film there. This pair lead a very different and fascinating life to most and they are two of the most genuine people we have met of this trip. So as Rick is giving Tim his sword show of which there are hundreds all around the house and walls he brings one particular one to the hot tub to show me. As he comes out of the patio door he stumbles and trips. I watch the sword coming right towards me and over the lip of the hot tub I scream, panic, obviously go white and then I realise that it is in fact plastic. Phew....Rick is beside himself laughing as is Sharon and Tim is totally oblivious to what happened as he is still tinkering with the sword rack. After a few friendly expletives at Rick he finally stops laughing and we all share a few beers. Time is moving on and Sharon and I start to get ready beginning with a dress for me. I find one that gets the boys approval and start the fun and enjoyable process fo getting dressed up in evening wear for the first time in 11 months. Sharon is having problems arranging a car for us and the boys are relaxing in the hot tub now. I dont know what happened next as it was such a whirlwind but the pair of us have a few photos taken and then we head off for the car Sharon has booked. I negotiate the stairs in my very high heels and there parked in the street is a stretch limo. Darcy the driver is holding the door open and I am just completely shocked. Dressed to kill and a limo for the night I mean come on, this is beyond all of my expectations I would have been happy with the dress but this is something else. After I finally close my mouth we have more photos and then climb in. We start our journey over to downtown Vancouver and Darcy asks if we would like to go through the park as I have never visited Vancouver before so we take a detour though the park. I couldnt see a great deal as it was dark but it was a lovely experience as we knock back a few drinks Sharon stole from the boys stash. The night was fantastic, starting with a walk down the red carpet where we had our photo taken and then off into the private party. I chatted with many people all of whom made me feel really welcome. Everytime I finished a conversation I would find out that they were a director or head of finance etc... One guy I stood chatting to about fishing in Scotland not that I have ever been but he turned out to be a director and an important guy. Just normal though not pretentious or big headed. After a few hours here Sharon called the limo back and took me to a nightclub, by this point Im rather tiddly but we only stayed an hour before Sharon calls the limo back again. Darcy arrives having been and brought more drinks upon Sharons request and we take the journey back home drinking and playing Kid Rock rather loud. The last 30 minutes of the evening are a little hazy I remember trying to take pictures of the skyline and hardly any of them came out, Darcy came to my rescue when I tried standing on the wet grass in my heels I didnt fall but was rather wobbly. By the time we got back to Sharons we were both rather drunk, Sharon fell out of the limo and Rick was trying to get the pair of us in the house without major accidents (Darcy had called him to ask for help, bless). Fortunately Rick is a big guy and apart from me knocking a sword off the wall which Tim managed to catch before it hurt anyone we got in safe and sound. I remember watching Sharon crawl onto the sofa and aptly passed out in bed a few minutes after.

I woke the following morning only 4 hours after getting to bed and ventured out into the sittting room. Rick and Sharon were up and I could tell Sharon felt like I did. Then the boys had great fun telling us of our anticts, fortunately it was all done in good humour. Note to self: Dont drink with Sharon Faraci!!!! Rick and Ernie cooked a fabulous breakfast including sausage with maple syrup which were surprisingly nice. Dressed and semi alive we set out for the day to visit a place called Whistler, another of their friends Martin came with us he was a brit too. So the entourage now consists of two Kiwi's, Sharon and Ernie, one Candian, Rick and three English - quite a mixed bag!!! The drive to whistler took a couple of hours and we chatted and scoffed painkillers on the way. Whistler was a really pretty town, famous for being a ski resort. We wondered around taking photos and enjoying the warm sunshine when Sharon arranged for us all to go on the Gondola to the top of the mountain for free. Now this is a cable car for all you at home. We started the climb and both Tim and I had forgotten that Rick is not keen on heights so as we climed higher he became more quiet which is quite unusual for Rick. Ernie, Tim and I are loving the scenery, Martin looks less keen with the height and he is quiet too. As we continue to climb we start looking for bears as they live in the hills here. Were also watching the mad mountain bikers coming racing down the hill (once it snows this will be shut) but it looks pretty scary to me. Suddenly I see something black moving and I realise it's a bear. We all get excited by this and we watch the fellow furroging around in the vegitation we pass over quickly though so it was only a couple of minutes. Still we have now seen a real live bear and I was really pleased. As we get to the top Tim, Ernie and I head off to climb the path up the mountainside to look over the valley. Ernie goes us higher than us as we head back down to sit on the heli pad. The views are beautiful right over the town, valley and lake. The air is fresh and clean and with the sun it feels warm and cosy. We go an find the other scoff some chips and then head back down on the gondola where half way down we see bears in the distance with cubs we couldnt quite get them on our camera there just black blobs but that was pretty special too. Once we get back to the bottom we head back to the car and set off home.

Ernie did a lovely BBQ steak for dinner with salad and we all chatted about the day. Tim and I had to plan where we were going to go in the rockies and that took a good hour. Sharon kindly helped us with some hotels and before too long we had a plan of action. Getting a reasonably early night we rose early to get on the road. We said our goodbyes to Ernie who was leaving before we got back and Sharon, poor Rick was already at work. So we left armed with R & S's sat nav to explore the Candian Rockies.

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Photos

The Vancouver skyline
A little fuzzy, sorry!

Whistler town
Looking and feeling worse for wear

Tim, Martin, Ernie and Rick
fooling around in Whistler town