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Published: April 25th 2007
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Grouse Mountain
Grouse Mountain from Vancouver Time for another update of all the goings on here in Vancouver.
There is really only one observation to make this time and that is that Canadian television is really quite average. Although we have only had a tv a day or so I must say that I haven't been all that impressed. Unfortunately we are poor travellers so are unable to splash out on ritzy Cable TV (someone was telling me there is up to 800 channels available, not sure how true that is) so we can only get a handful of channels. We haven't been able to fully work out whats what on each channel yet but all we've seen so far is cheap American shows like "Wheel of Fortune" and "Just for Laughs", as well as ads every 5 minutes. One quality Canadian program that you may have seen in NZ that I actually quite enjoy is "Trailer Park Boys". We saw the movie version of it the other night and it was entertaining enough so if you get the chance, take a look.
Since we last wrote it has pretty much just been business as usual for us although we have had the opportunity
Grouse Mountain
Looking up the mountain and Skyride to check out a couple more local tourist attractions. A couple of weekends ago we took the ferry over to the North Shore then bused up to the base of Grouse Mountain. There we squeezed into the Skyride gondala with 30 or 40 other people and journeyed up the side of the mountain. The top of the mountain was quite busy as it was the final weekend of ski/snowboarding operations which was a little surprising to us because as you can see from the pictures there is more than a little snow left up there and infact it was snowing while we were out snowshoeing. Snowshoeing was good fun and it was really good to finally get out of an urban environment and into the outdoors. Its really cool being able to enjoy the snow in amongst the trees. Makes a change from what we get in NZ anyway. Snowshoeing wasn't as easy as it looks, well not for unco's like Emma and I anyway. I think the final count for going ass over kite was 3 - 2 in favour of Emma. While up the mountain we also took a sleigh ride behind a snowcat and watched a couple
of the nature flicks they were showing, and also had a very scenic lunch.
Last weekend we spent an afternoon at Scienceworld which was pretty fun and just quietly I think we both learnt a thing or two as well.
Last weekend we also finally managed to organise a U-Haul and went round to Emma's workmates place to pick up some furniture for the flat. No more spending the evenings on the hardwood floor infront of the laptop watching dvds while trying to eat a meal balancing on you knee. Now its lounging in a nice comfy rocking chair in front of the idiot box or eating a tasty meal at our dining table.
Vancouver is at the moment in the grip of NHL playoff fever (hence the title). The local team, the Canucks, have just made it through the first round of playoffs by beating the Dallas Stars 4 - 3 in a best of seven series, including a thrilling deciding match that went right down to the wire. Town was pretty crazy afterwards with cars doing laps up and down Davie and Denman Streets tooting their horns for hours, and plenty of excited people on
the street shouting and hollaring. I can only imagine what it will be like if they go all the way. They stumbled at the final hurddle back in '94 and as a result there were out of control riots downtown so I'm sure its going to be an interesting few weeks. The atmosphere around town is pretty cool with Canucks jerseys and caps everywhere and flags hanging out every second cars window. The second round of playoffs begins tomorrow with Canucks taking on the Anaheim Ducks in another best of 7 series (according to the Canadians at work the long drawn out playoffs makes it the toughest sporting championship in the world to win). I must say we are both really enjoying the ice hockey here so we'll keep you updated on the Canucks progress, hopefully they'll be able to do what the Black Caps couldn't and make it all the way to the final.
Our accents continue to be a source of much amusement to some. The other day on the bus Emma and I were sitting behind a guy who was reading a book (and obviously eavesdropping on us) when he put his book down and turned
Grouse Mountain
Snowball fight! to us and asked if he could ask us to do something really weird for him. Intrigued at what this weird thing might be we inquired as to what it was he wanted us to do. He said he was reading a book written by an English author and wondered if Emma would read out a passage from the text for him so could hear what it would sound like in an English accent (this guy was very camp so I'm sure he wasn't hitting on her). He was very disappointed when Emma informed him that we weren't actually English but were infact from NZ. The bus rides are always interesting on the way to work in the morning and on the way home at night. There is always something or someone interesting to keep us amused.
Dad's birthday has now been and gone and hopefully he has by now received his present from us so I guess I can tell you about our brush with fame. Dad is a pretty keen MASH fan and while looking for a gift for his birthday we came across a book written by the actor who played Capt. B.J. Hunnicut in the
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Emma gets close to a friendly bear popular tv series of the 70s. We went back a few days later when the man himself (Mike Farrell) was in store for a book signing. So we met the man and had him sign Dad's book and I must say he was a really nice bloke, and was quite interesting to listen to when he spoke to the crowd. Ok so he's not exactly in the same league of celebrity as Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise, but I'm sure most of us have either grown up watching repeats of the ever popular show, or were maybe even there to see it when it was on originally, so it was pretty neat to meet him. Interestingly, I see that both NZ and Canadian tv are still currently airing re-runs of the show. Not a bad effort.
My work is still going pretty well although the novelty has well and truely worn off. I'm not sure I can see myself sticking with it for the whole season so will keep an eye open for anything else that may crop up, but at the moment I am enjoying getting fit while earning some dosh. Emma says she is already seeing a
Grouse Mountain
The suns reflection off the snow was really bright. difference around the old beer gut and I must say I am feeling pretty good.
Emma is at the moment away at the opera (Tosca) with some of her workmates but I couldn't quite bring myself to join them. However we have recently purchased tickets to An Evening with Roger Waters which we're really looking forward to. For those of you uneducated in the ways of classic rock Roger Waters was one of the main song writers and vocalists (along with David Gilmore) from the legendery 1970's rock group Pink Floyd. We couldn't make his shows in NZ because we were saving money and we missed him in Brisbane while we were there so it'll be great to finally get to see him. Its not until the end of June so its a wee while to wait but this guy is Rock royalty so it'll be well worth the wait.
Speaking of opera, remember in one of the earlier blogs we mentioned "Opera Guy" who is a regular weirdo in South Granville where Emma works, well I finally saw him for the first time the other day and I was most impressed. When Emma fisrt told me about
him I thought "Oh yeah, she is probably over exaggerating. Its probably just a guy quietly humming a few bars of his favourite opera to himself". Well I can assure you there was nothing quiet about it. He looks perfectly normal but he walks around singing at maximum volume. A couple of times he actually had to pause mid stride so he could concentrate all his energy on getting maximum volume. It was fantastic. Most people he walked past didn't bat an eyelid he is such a familiar sight to them all, but I thought he was great.
Anyway, Go Cunucks!
Gaz and Emma.
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I love those maple cream cookies, you should try them if you havent already. Peace travelers