Fernie baby!

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Wow, is the 13th January already?! Sorry about the long time no hear, but the time has just been racing by. Guess it always does when you’re having fun! But now we have unlimited internet access we promise updates will be much more forthcoming!

So where are we? Well we had a lovely Christmas in Wickhamford with Rod, June, Sarah and James where we ate way to much fantastic food and got lots of lovely presents. But of course it went all too quickly. When Ian and Sally joined us Boxing Day night Christmas joy turned into pre holiday excitement and maybe a touch of nervous regarding what was to come.

On the 27th Dec Air Canada got us to Calgary, Canada safely if a little hungry, and miraculously all our many bags arrived. The journey was fairly standard, although somebody must have phoned ahead because the customs man gave us a little interrogation on arrival. After some fast talking we made it through ok! I would love to be able to tell you about the transfer through the beautiful Rockie Mountains but I think I was actually asleep before we even left the airport!

First impressions of Fernie are summed up best by the Transfer driver when we stopped for what we thought was a refuel, Richard asked him where we were: “We’re in Fernie mate, can’t you tell? Look at the snow!”

The driver dropped us off at our house for the next 2 weeks, Johnnies place. We all peered out the windows at a house half buried in snow. Yep, that was it! It turned out to be a wonderful house with sleeping for 8 in bedrooms and room for more if needed.

Sally, Ian, Rich and I settled in pretty quick. Up early the next morning we got ourselves up the hill and on to skis & boards mighty quick. So much snow! And wow the hill is big. The Piste maps do not do it justice.

The next few days were a mix of some ups and downs on the hill. Rich was loving the new board and the piles of snow, but hating the new boots. After a week of agony these thankfully got ditched for a much better pair which are bliss in comparison apparently! Sally’s Snowdome lessons paid off and with an additional 3 days of lessons, she was carving down blacks along with a lovely couple she learnt with, Nina and Craig from Guernsey. Ian was getting well back into riding when an ankle injury took him off the slopes. But after a day of rest he was right back on the board though, riding better then ever. I was doing well the first couple of days, but man have my thighs taken a beating! Craig, Rich and I took a wrong turn on one run and found ourselves on Boomerang Ridge, a run which is a double black on some maps. For none skiers, this means vertical, and with BIG bumps! How I could stand up after that one I will never know!

Along with Nina and Craig who were constant fun on and off the slopes, we were also joined by Andy who is a Fernie veteran. Andy’s going to be doing the ski course with me and after 4 years skiing Fernie he became our unofficial tour guide for a couple of days. Thanks to Andy we all managed to try some runs that scared the pants of us, and had us waist deep in powder!

Sadly we have had to say good bye to Sally and Ian, and now Nina and Craig have gone too. Rich and I have moved out of Johnnies, and are settling into the Lodge, our home for the next 12 weeks. Knowing the flat is rented is a huge relief and once the course starts it will all feel right I’m sure.

So, I hope I haven’t bored you too much. The next update will be much smaller I promise! We are off to Banff tomorrow to catch up with John and Sophie and then it’s back to Fernie on Wednesday to get ready to start the course!

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Photos

View of Fernie from the ski hill
Rich and Ard, enjoying the fabulous views....

Johnnies
And that's only the TOP floor! The rest is buried under the snow!

New Years at the Central
Good food, good company, crap champagne!

The gang
Top left to right: Sally, Ian, Craig, Nina
Bottom Left to right: Andy, Rich, Ard

Black, black or black?
Even the blues out here are black!

Andy's hot tub
Well earned rest in Andys tub.

Comments

[Thalie]

SNOW!!
Wow, how jealous am I! Snow is so far away from my comprehension at the moment. but the desert is alright. And air-conditioning helps too. If you're still coming to Oz let me know when and where you'll be, maybe I can organise a week off to come to Sydney or something. Or I'm still looking for people to be a tourist at Uluru with. Have fun Love Thalie

[Rich Ard]

SAND!!
We are loving it! It's unreal, so beautiful. We are definitley still coming to Oz, haven't booked tickets yet so as soon as we do I'll let you know. I'm not sure about Uluru, money is a big restricter, but we would love to see you in Sydney. We are aiming for begining of May to end of June to be in Oz. Will probably spend the first week with Mum for her birthday etc and then travel up to see Dad and then Grandma in Brisbane. Keep your photos coming, love seeing what you've been up to!

[Sally]

memories
Well here I was Saturday morning contemplating the housework I have to do (I hear you sniggering) and instead I thought I would check out your blog. It's great guys, know you will have a great season there. keep the blogs coming - they will keep me going on the grey Jan days! xx

[Rich Ard]

Chilled
Thanks Sal, I'm guessing the housework doesn't quite match a run off the Elk chair. But it was -33C in town yesterday. Yeah, I didn't go up! Oh and we had our first meal here last night, Beef Lasagne. Yum! First impressions are pretty good so it's is looking up. Phew, close call though, thought I was going to have to cook like every night :) xxx Give Merlot a hug for us!