Bel and Steve in Canada

The Mexican Riviera

2006-10-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

And then, it was off on the Diamond Princess to Mexico with Kirra, Jess and Liza. It was so nice and warm there and the ports we went to were so beautiful... Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. We all had a great time, and were really spoiled - thanks to Liza and Brian! I can't wait to go back and see more of Mexico one day soon.

Vancouver Island

2006-10-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

Next, we went over to Vancouver Island.. firstly to Victoria, then up north to Port McNeil and Knights Inlet. After that we headed over to Tofino and Ucluelet, which were beautiful. We saw grizzlies and sea otters on the trip, and lots of orca whales.

The last month... Alaska

2006-10-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a pretty busy few weeks for me.. I've been travelling to a few new places and seeing some different things. Firstly, I went up to rainy Alaska. The glaciers were amazing, and it was great to see some of the little towns on the inside passage.

Alaska...

C'mon Down To The Comic Con

2006-07-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well for the last week I was busy at a little thing called Comic Con at San Diego. What can I say, in short it was awesome. One of the greatest things I've been to in a long time, I thought I had built it up too much however it was still better than I could have imagined.

The sad thing is it now looks like I will have to fork out buckets of dough to ensure I am able to go in the future.

So I'm sure no one wants to hear me ramble on about it so - On to the photos!!

Here are some shots of the convention itself

Also I know there is a fan out there somewhere to I took a shot of this soon to be released figure:

On top of that, I've got a friend of mine concerned about my alcohol consumption. Or if I'm getting enough of it. Well, all I can say is this gave me the chance to show these Yanks just how Aussies drink.

That's the Bartender still not really believing that I bought one of these things. Apparently I was the first person to actually purchase one....

....So I bought a few.

With all their talk I wasn't able to find anyone who could keep up with me.

Now, lets see who I met while at the convention:

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, writers of the Dragonlance series and the two people I can credit for teaching me I can read books for "fun".

Billy West, the guy who voices a slew of cartoon characters including Fry from Futurama.

Mike Krahulik (Gabe) and Jerry Holkins (Tycho), artist and writers of the site Penny Arcade.

Joss Whedon, the Creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer among others.

Ray Harryhausen, The special effects Genius one of my all time favourite movies Jason and the Argonauts. It was a real treat meeting him, such a nice guy.

Aaand I also met:

Stan "the man" Lee!! If you don't know who he is you can just knick off.

So you can sort of say I had a great time. Something that will go down as a highlight of the trip.

Playland.... Yay!

2006-06-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

We ditched work and spent the afternoon at Vancouver's local amusement park. The rides are about 100 years old, and they have the most ancient wooden rollercoaster there - but it was so much fun! After riding the Mighty Mouse, Scrambler, the Dodgem Cars, rollercoaster, and swingy chairs - we all headed home at about 9pm and the sun was just starting to set.

Pong!

2006-06-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

No, not that Pong...

That pong! We saw our first real live Skunk. it didn't smell that bad, however it wasn't as cute as we're used to.

My Birthday!

2006-05-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it wasn't the same as being at home, but I still had a nice Birthday - thank you to all who sent me your best wishes and came out on Friday. Here are some pics...

Missing Room

2006-05-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

In looking through the photos that Belinda posted for our lovely abode, I discovered that she forgot to put up pictures of the greatest room.

I'm unsure if it is because she is ashamed of it or if it was actually a mistake. However it is my favourite and now here it is for you all to see.

Our Porn Room:

The Bears are cool!

2006-05-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

Around Vancouver, ever since we arrived, lots of bears have been appearing - they are the cutest things - all painted and dressed differently. Eventually they will all be auctioned to raise money for different charities. Steve and I tried to find them all in downtown Vancouver - I don't think we did though :-)

And the best one of all.... Darth Bear

Nearly Homesick

2006-04-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

Looking through old photo's on the Lappy and when you see things like this:

It really makes you miss the Blue sky.

Oops, we broke the washing machine

2006-03-28T19:05:00.000-08:00

Enough said....

It's no Cronulla

2006-03-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

Although a nice escape from the city, Vancouver's beaches are nothing compared to home.

Hmmm, Yum

2006-03-28T18:29:00.000-08:00

We haven't quite gotten used to the food here... there's no doubt we have been spoiled in Oz - everything here is kind of different....

Back to Stanley Park

2006-03-28T18:19:00.000-08:00

We thought we would give Stanley park another go, especially as the weather was so nice on this day. We were also in search of a raccoon that lives in the park - unfortunately we couldn't find him... we found a squirrel and some ducks instead

Home Sweet Home

2006-03-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Well, this is were we spend most of our time now... Haro Street, Vancouver. It's a pretty street, with cherry blossom trees about 10 minutes from downtown. If anyone happens to be in Canada, you know where to find us :-)

Back on the Bull!

2006-03-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

Steve couldn't help himself - he had to conquer the bull.. Ezra had a go too

At the Hockey

2006-03-14T16:45:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally got to a hockey game, the Canucks vs St Louis.... Canadians are so passionate about their hockey, so it wasn't surprising that the game was sold out. The atmosphere there was so amazing - didn't stay that way until the end though, as the Canucks lost the game :-(

Oh yeah... We saw Ben Lee..

2006-03-14T16:31:00.000-08:00

Who would have thought we would come to Canada and within 2 months see Ben Lee here in concert.... all I can say, is that it was sooooo much better than when we have seen him in Sydney.

Nights out in Vancouver

2006-03-14T16:17:00.000-08:00

Since we've been here, we have gone out a few times.. well, more than a few times:-) Here''s some of the people we have met.

Back in Vancouver

2006-03-09T19:33:00.000-08:00

After all our travels, we came back to Vancouver to hopefully find a job and a place to live. On one of our first nights back we went to the Buffalo Club in downtown Vancouver - a cowboy club with a bucking bull you can ride. It was hard to get Steve off the buffalo, you should have seen his legs after the night! (see photo below).

Kelowna and the Ogopogo

2006-03-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

Kelowna is in the Okanagan Valley about 8 hrs from Vancouver. It is situated around a lake, where in the summer they do lots of wakeboarding and other water activities. In this lake, lives the Ogopogo - a sea monster famour in the Okanagan region. We looked for her, but couldn't find her in the lake. We settled for the one in the park.

Big White

2006-03-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

We were only in Big White for a few days,but we managed to go skating, tubing and Steve tried his hand at snowboarding.

Lake Louise

2006-03-09T18:50:00.000-08:00

Lake Louise is so pretty! The lake was completely frozen when we were there, but it dind't stop us from doing snow angels in the middle of it. I have so many photos of steve jumping through the snow there and the Fairmont Hotel was really nice. Our 'fondue experience' was heaps of fun... although the chocolate one wasn't Steve's favourite.

Australia Day - Banff

2006-03-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

With so many Australians in Banff it was pretty certain that we would find some out on Australia Day. With the clubs serving VB and Bundy Rum and showing Steve Irwin, how could they go wrong!

Edmonton

2006-03-08T15:40:00.000-08:00

Finally, the truck room! The Edmonton Mall was pretty cool... lots and lots of shops, a fun park, mini golf, and a waterpark. Of course, we went to the waterpark! But, the truck room in the Fantasyland Hotel was our favourite. Steve still says it was the most comfortable bed so far in Canada :-)

Whistler

2006-03-08T15:27:00.000-08:00

Whistler was such a pretty place! All fairy lights and snow... the mountains were amazing and so high. Steve even went Zip trekking through the forest (see photo below), and we went dog sledding which was heaps of fun.

Arriving in Canada

2006-03-08T13:30:00.000-08:00

January 10th 2006 - the flight over took forever, and with a stop over in Hawaii for a few hours it was even longer. We managed to get a few pictures though... although we looked a lot more cranky when we arrived in Vancouver. After sleeping for a day or so, we decided to explore the city a little.

January 11th 2006 - Our first day in Vancouver - Visting Stanley Park in the rain, we saw some cute little squirrels and went to the Aquarium. The otters were adorable! Above are the famours Totem poles in Stanley Park.

Steve even found somewhere to play cricket!