Stampede day had arrived and we had woken nice and early to get a head start but before we go to stampede we went to the farmers market just east of the stampede grounds. There were lots of fruits, veges and some food stalls too. We bought an éclair and browsed the stalls. Looks like a good place to come to when we get our own kitchen. We headed to the stampede and found we had arrived at the Stampede early (10am) so we had a wander around while some of the stalls were setting up and got to see some of the behind the scenes action as they washed and dried some of the animals to be displayed. At 11am the grounds were all up and running. The first stop for us was the BMO ... read more

After our first night in Calgary the next day we went exploring the city, we caught the C-Train to town, checked out some malls and basically got ourselves familiar with the area around where we were staying. One of the malls we visited had a movie theatre in it so we went to see Snow White and the Huntsman, it was a great movie, the movie screen was huge and so was the popcorn and drink, Amanda had to use two hands to have a drink, it was so big. It was relaxing to chill out and watch the movie. The next day Amanda went to where she is going to work and met some of the people she will be working with. The transport system in Calgary is great, you can catch the C-Train to, ... read more

17th June 2012 - Getting ready to go to Canada. Today is the day we leave New Zealand for Canada. After a big rush the night before we are glad just to make it to the airport, it was good having lots of friends and family around to see us off. The plane trip to Auckland was fun and a lot quicker with Rosie there. We arrived in Auckland and waited for check in for our international flight. After 6 ½ hours, KFC twice, arcade games, a hundred laps of the airport and the worlds craziest massage chairs that poked you in places you don’t want to be poked, we said goodbye to Rosie and were off through to international departures. We checked in and boarded the aeroplane to begin our flight. The flight was good ... read more

The next day we went and explored around Darling Harbour, we went to the Maritime Museum and walked through a ship, a submarine and an old wooden ship. We also went to the Powerhouse Museum which was interesting, Amanda tried to ride a penny-farthing which was impossible with her short legs, and there was a clock that was amazing so we waited and watched the demonstration and hearing all about it. We found the Chinese Gardens which we looked through and had some Chinese Tea and Sweets. We went to the Wildlife Park and saw a Koala, Kangaroo, Snakes and heaps more. WE TOUCHED A SNAKE!!... read more

Set a wakeup call last night to wake us up at 6am to go out and watch the sunrise. It was beautiful. Had some breakfast in the buffet and went back to our room. We were pretty knackered so had a nap. After a quick snooze I went down to Connections Bar to the dingbat puzzle and left Shane to nap some more. I then went for a look around the shops and found some scrapbooking pages and stickers and some more souvenirs. At noon I went back to the Connections Bar for a detox and health seminar which was really good. We had hoped to go to a salsa lesson but Shane was still sleeping and the health and detox seminar went longer than expected. We then got some lunch and went relaxing on Deck ... read more