Happy 1st Canada anniversary to us :)

It's been a while since I posted, so I'll try to catch up with what's been happening.

Last Thursday (21st September) we went to see Snow Patrol perform at the PNE Forum. Getting there was interesting, as we had to catch a Hastings St. bus. Hastings is about the dodgiest street in Vancouver and a focal point for drug use and physical attacks. Nice. The venue itself looked like a disused sports hall of some sort, but it was spacious and not too hot. So let's get to Snow Patrol themselves. They performed pretty well, and the lead singer had plenty of energy. What was a big let down for me was the sound. It was the worst I had ever heard at a gig. The guitars broke up into white noise at any kind of volume, and the bass was awful. The speakers could produce bass, but only at one muddy frequency, so bass chord changes all sounded exactly the same. It was like watching a gig while a convoy of trucks was driving by. I found myself having to imagine in my head what the songs should have sounded like in order to enjoy them. Grrr.

We had visitors too for a couple of weeks - Gavin and Hannah and their little baby Grace. They left last Saturday. It was nice to have people staying again - our last visitors were in May/June. We hung out with them when we could, including a trip up Grouse Mountain. Grace is very cute, and a fast crawler so we had to be ready to grab her at any time when she went for something expensive! Our lounge isn't really baby-proof. There could be a few photos to come from their visit, when I get round to sorting them out.

Yesterday - September 29th - was our first anniversary of arriving in Canada. It should have been the 27th but thanks to Air Canada we ended up arriving two days late. The year has passed by pretty quickly for us, but it has been a great time. When we first arrived we had to endure Winter in Vancouver, and one of the wettest on record at that. It did put us off a little at first. We got to enjoy some winter sports though which was cool, especially for Steph who loves to ski. Last December we moved into the apartment that we live in now, which we still love. Lots of space, a nice quiet area, great views - it's perfect really. Then the summer arrived and we really started to get out and around. We've packed in quite a few trips in the last few months, as you can see if you look back through this blog. I think I have enjoyed this summer more than any I can remember. There is just tons of stuff to do in British Columbia. It will keep us busy for a while yet :)

Today we were planning some kayaking and walking at Deep Cove with friends (which is at the base of Seymour Mountain),. Unfortunately, the weather is crap right now - foggy and grey. So that's probably off and it will be a lazy day instead. We are going out for a meal tonight to celebrate the anniversary - a nice restaurant called Brix in Downtown. Looking forward to it, and to the next 12 months in Canada. So far so good for this life adventure :)

Congratulations Lauren & Woody!

The beginning of September was Labour Day weekend (with the Monday a statutory holiday). It was also the weekend on which our friends Lauren and Woody decided to get married. The wedding was on the Sunshine Coast, which is North of Vancouver. It's surprisingly easy to get to, and took about 2 hours or so including a 40 minute ferry crossing. We travelled down there with some other friends that we have met through work.

So how was the wedding? The setting was beautiful, and the hotel was pretty sweet too. The whole event had a very relaxed feel to it, and wasn't the crazy stressful affair I usually associate with marriage. I think if I ever took the plunge I would try something similar. Even the bride and groom seemed to remain relatively calm throughout, and we certainly enjoyed ourselves (apart from those $%£$ing mosquitoes).

The natural beauty of the place was definitely memorable. Late in the evening we made a point of going out onto the jetty to lie down and look at the stars. For the first time in years I was able to see hundreds of them, and even the faint glow of the Milky Way. The sky is so much more beautiful once you get away from the light pollution of big cities. Another cool thing we found is that the waters along the coast are filled with bioluminescent plankton. Any disturbance in the water causes them to emit a green glow. We spent quite a while messing about with that, waving our hands around in the water and so forth. You could even see momentary trails left by fish as they moved beneath the surface. Pretty amazing stuff.

So all in all, we loved the Sunshine Coast and are definitely thinking of going back there sometime, especially since it is a relatively short journey compared to other places we've been. You can check it out for yourself - our photos from the weekend are here.

Mosquitoes At A Wedding

No, this isn't another idea for a sequel to Snakes On A Plane. Last weekend we went to the Sunshine Coast because our friends Lauren and Woody were getting married. The reception in the evening was outside on the grass which was lovely, until we discovered we were being devoured by mosquitoes. Check out what they did to my feet:



Steph's legs also appeared to be a popular choice:



They itch SOOOOO much :(

Leopards On A Barge

Julian pointed me at this amusing article. Total Film magazine came up with some ideas for rejected pitches for Snakes On A Plane. I like the last one best. Find them here.