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Published: April 12th 2009
Time to unpack the bags..
We arrived in Whistler early October after 3months of traveling and was looking forward to settling down in our new bacholer suite out in Emerald Estates, that we had organised as we were traveling via the internet (we advertised in the Whistler Pique Newspaper for anyone interested).
Our landlord picked us up from the bus loop as we got off the Greyhound bus from Vancouver. No sign of snow this early on, but the temperatures sure dropped pretty quickly from then on.
Our suite was a cute brand new self contained studio, attached to the home of our landlords above the garage. We paid $950 in rent per month which is a very reasonable for Whistler (where seasonaires are known to pay $1000pp a mth for the use of a couch), so had some luck on our side there. Emerald Estates is a beautiful quiet area, but is a 15-25min bus trip to the village.
Canada is similar to New Zealand in some ways, wide open spaces, mountains/ lakes and rivers. Fresh air and a laid back culture.
Tash A started work ......with Whistler Platnium (property management company) as a concierge/
The bachelor suite..
Cheap/ comfy/ cheerful!guest services, she had it pretty sweet with 40hours a week with split shifts which allowed her to ride everyday if she wanted to. Although she did hate those 5.45am wake ups! Unfortunatly she got laid off in March due to low number of tourists this season due mainly to the economy problems.
She had always planned on re-joining Flight Centre in Vancouver, and within 24hrs she was offered a good position.
I had done a winter Season in Val disere, France and really wanted Tash A to have an opportunity to do a snowboarding season in a foreign country! She had only done 1 week of snowboarding in Queenstown prior to her arrival, but was keen to learn and get involved!!
I worked for the Westin Resort & Spa as a front desk agent/telephone operator, but due to lack of snow and low economy I was only getting 3 shifts a week! And I didnt start working till a month after we arrived, a real killer for the bank account in this very expensive ski resort! I learnt alot but I definitely will not work in the hotel industry again! Working with wealthy, demanding guests is
Starting to get cold..
Whistler Golf Course.. not my cup of tea thanks! ha.
The mountain opened 29th November, it was a very slow start to the season, with not alot of snow and some really cold temperatures. But nevertheless we were out there as much as we could, Tash got the hang of snowboarding really quickly and loved it!
I think we may have been spoilt with the specs of the mountains.. 8000 acres of terrain, high speed lifts and gondys, longest runs 11kms!! - A little better that Mt Ruapehu!! And they opened the Peak -to-Peak gondola which connects the peak of Whistler to the peak of Blackcomb! So unlimited riding opportunities.
We managed to ride at least 50 days during the season! Our jobs both provided us with Season's passes, which was fantastic.
The snow really started to fall in April, with fantastic spring skiing, warm temperatures and fresh powder! yay. Whister/ Blackcomb is a HUGE mountain, acres and acres of terrain to play in for all levels. Awesome fun.
We made lots of great friends here, which made our season turn out so much different! Lots of people to ride with and fun times were had partying. Ski
resorts can attract a big number of young foreigners, in Whistlers case it happens to be Australians, and the majority of the 19-22yr olds tend to be idiots!! So we were extremely lucky to find such a great crew, and know that where ever in the world we may be, we will always keep in touch. Love you guys x
Vancouver will be our home for at least the summer and hopefully through to October 2010 if all goes to plan! I am still to find a job, but Tash A seems to be settled back at Flight Centre... We have an apartment who we share with one other, in a great location that we love..
Vancouver/ Whistler are the hosts of the 2010 Winter Olympic games, are everyone is very excited that the Olympics is coming to town!!
And so the adventure continues..
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