6/1/2013 - Fighting the flu

Craig is still sick... and both Nic and I woke up sick this morning too! Delightful.

Nic and I went down into the village to print out her Greyhound ticket home to Vancouver, and we went and had lunch at the Spaghetti Factory before heading down to check out what there was to do in Creekside.

In short, there isn't much to do in Creekside.

We walked down to Nita Lake Lodge and checked out the frozen lake. This is awesome. There was a guy skating on the lake, hitting a hockey puck around. If those who are coming over for the wedding want to see (and maybe even walk on) a frozen lake, we'll take you down to Nita Lake. Nita Lake Lodge is also gorgeous, and a really nice place to have a hot or cold beverage.

Nic and I then went back to our Condo, via the drug store to stock up on cold meds. Nic packed her bag and I went back down with her to make sure she got on her Greyhound Bus okay... which she did. Was lovely having her visit for the last couple of nights.

Tonight finds Craig and I sitting in our condo - we finally got a calling card so I called mum and caught up on what's happening back at home. Craig is watching "Are you faster than a Redneck?" on TV. Good times. Haha. Early night for us tonight I think as we have some wedding meetings tomorrow and some important decisions to make regarding food/menu for our reception.

The "Welcome To Whistler" sign as you arrive in Whistler Village.

5/1/2014 - Friends in Whistler Village

Spent the bulk of the day today walking around Whistler village with Nic while she's up here visiting us. Poor Craig has been struck down with the dreaded lurgy that I had down in Vancouver last week - so he opted to stay at home today. We went down to the village and went to "Peaked Pies" which is an Australian Pie shop that opened up here six months ago. They were so delicious. Definitely recommend for those Aussies who are feeling a little bit homesick. We then walked around the shops for awhile... trying on shoes and looking for a wrap for the wedding for me (VERY expensive up here in the village) - we ate Ice-cream from Cows in -3C temps and got lots of funny looks and comments from people that were walking past us. We then headed back to the condo to put dinner on - but forgot Salad so we had to go back out. In what we had hoped would be a quick round trip took over an hour! Ouch. Came back to a cooked lasagne. :) Ate dinner, went in the hot tub and then went to bed.

Side note - saw that there were some pretty severe storms at home last night - hope everyone is okay.

Setting up the jump for Sunday's "Fire & Ice" show

 

 

 

4/1/2014 - Lazy day

Not much to report during the day - we spent the bulk of the day in the apartment. Got up around 9ish and I ran through some of my BodyJam chorey and went for a hot tub before Craig got up. Craig set up his snowboard for when we finally get up the mountain next week. There's a whole bunch of snow predicted for Whistler from late Tuesday onwards! We also watched some snow sports on TV including ladies and mens ski jumping. Our lovely AussieCanuck friend Nicole (from Brisbane) is coming up to visit for a few days - so at around 5pm we headed down into the village to collect her from Village Gateway. After dropping her bag off at our condo, we walked back into town in search of dinner and had a lot of trouble finding somewhere to eat at 7pm on a Saturday night (so - hint for those who are coming to visit, if you want to eat out it's advisable to book) --- ultimately we found ourselves at McDonalds. At least they had tables and small lines.

 

After that we made a quick stop at IGA to grab some snacks and supplies and came home and watched tv for awhile before going to bed.

 

Hey... I told you it was a lazy day!

 

3/1/2014 - Hiking and photography

Craig and I woke up quite late today. After cooking us breakfast we put on our warm gear and headed down into the village to replace my GIANT Sorel 'Lifty' boots with something a little lighter and a little more chic. After going into several stores we went into Columbia where I found the most awesome shoes ever. I can definitely recommend these winter boots to girls who are looking for something that is waterproof, light and warm.

Before we came to Canada this trip, Craig was googling 'Whistler's Hidden Secrets' and came across the Whistler Train Wreck. He thought it'd be an awesome thing to do and a pretty cool photography mission. It was a beautiful sunny day so we thought it was a good opportunity to do the hike (there's also not too much snow on the ground at the moment so it would be easier). 

We caught the bus down to Function Junction where we got onto the "Flank Trail" which would take us down alongside the Cheakamus River, train line and Highway 99 to the Whistler Train Wreck - in 1957 or 1958 a train derailed south of Whistler and today it is home to 'Spray Art' and is also used by trail bike enthusiasts. It is a 6km return hike amongst some amazing huge cedar trees, waterfalls and the rushing creek. If you can get up here when the paths are clear - we can highly recommend the hike. It was pretty eerie down there.

 

After our hike we walked around the corner to the Whistler Brewing Company for some hot food and cold drinks. Craig tried the grapefruit ale which he said was delicious. While we were waiting at the bus stop (where I was freezing my butt off - Craig took video for everyone to prove how cold I was) we made friends with a local that had just been filmed for a ski movie by a company that won at the Whistler Film Festival last year, and he offered us a ride up to marketplace. Certainly beat waiting around in the cold for the bus which we weren't 100% sure was going to turn up where we were waiting.

 

So, finding ourselves up at Marketplace - we went to IGA and grabbed a few things for dinner and then headed back to our condo.  The temperature dropped quickly once the sun disappeared and I found myself the coldest I have been on this trip so far. While the temps are in the negatives for the next few days (with clear skies) I'm definitely going to be wearing thermals when we go outside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2/1/2014 - Snowy day in the Village

So. I got up in the dark this morning  (leaving Craig tucked in bed) to head to my new gym here in Whistler to do the 9am pump class... I learned that Pump, is not actually BodyPump - despite the fact that the website has the Les Mills description and everything. I'll go down there on Saturday to see if their class is any different... but from what I saw this morning - there were free weights and kettlebells and definitely not the BodyPump format that I am used to. I don't think they should be advertising it that way - it's pretty deceiving. 

The positive out of signing up to the gym for the month - you have full use of the studio when there are no classes on - and the studio has a wooden floor and mirrors. I envision BodyJam practice in my future.

It was pouring rain this morning in the village - it was bleak, and cold. After I came out of the gym and went down and grabbed some supplies from the Marketplace IGA, I caught the shuttle back to the condo. As we turned onto our street, big fluffy snowflakes started falling in the rain. I pretty much ran from the bus stop into the apartment to wake Craig up to tell him the good news that the snow was falling.

I was starving after breakfast so I cooked us bacon and eggs. It took a week, but we finally had some home cooked Canadian Bacon. Mmm.

Craig decided that it was a good time to get out and test the hot tub. Which he said was "invigorating".

Watched some more trashy television before heading down into Blackcomb to grab some veggies to go with the chicken we bought for dinner.

Craig decided he needed to stock up on his favourite beer. If you're coming to visit, we now have supplies in case you're thirsty.

A fair bit of snow fell in the village today (around 5cm - finally turning some things white, even though it might be gone in the morning) - but according to a lady we spoke to in the laundry room, and some skiiers we passed as they walked into the lobby this afternoon - it was dumping up the mountain today - so depending on how we are both feeling when we wake up in the morning, we may go up and have our first day on the mountain tomorrow.

We'll see. There's plenty of time to get up there - and with fresh snow and huge crowds still around from the holidays I have a feeling that the mountain could be quite busy tomorrow.

Below is a video that I took outside our condo this afternoon as the ground started turning white. Very exciting. We hope that those at home aren't suffering too badly with the ongoing heatwave that we're hearing about. Make sure you get into the air-conditioning this weekend - or go and visit your friends who have pools. ;-)

1/1/2014 - Happy New Year

Had a nice quiet day today - helped by the fact that we didn't wake up until 11am this morning! Clearly we had to catch up on some sleep.
 

Here's what it looks like outside our condo. We've got the lodge pool and spa directly outside our balcony. Pretty cool. We're about 10 minutes walk into the village and you can walk down a path and ski directly down to the base of Blackcomb. We also have the free village shuttle just across the street which is really convenient. We sat around the apartment for most of the afternoon just relaxing and watching some pretty trashy tv. What else are you supposed to do on New Years Day when you are recovering from a late night?

 

Around 4.30pm we decided we'd sat around for long enough and headed down into the village for an early dinner.  Went to our good old favourite "The Old Spaghetti Factory" which has great value for money. For around $15.00 each you get hot bread, soup/salad, main course, icecream and tea/coffee. You cannot get a deal like this anywhere else in Whistler.

 

Dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory

We then walked around the corner to talk to my gym "Whistler Core" about membership options for the next month. I've got the opportunity to do BodyPump three times a week up here. Just gotta work out when it suits me best! Very excited that I can keep up with classes in that regard while we are here. Too bad they don't have BodyJam.

 

We then grabbed some groceries and caught the shuttle back to our hotel. I envision that it's going to be an early night tonight.

 

 



31/12/2013 - Traveling to Whistler

Checked out of our Vancouver hotel and caught the Whistler Shuttle up to Whistler.

Our driver (Cliff) was fantastic, hanging up my dress and was excited that we were getting married in Canada. He also pointed out an area of the drive (around Brackendale) where there would be bald eagles. We saw about six! (We saw one on our last trip) - Pretty awesome.

We arrived up in Whistler and got dropped at our lodge. (Again, thanks Cliff). It's super cute. Anyone who wants to stay in Whistler,  you should definitely stay here. It's spacious and gorgeous! (Found it on airbnb.com).

We're in the upper village and are about 10 minutes walk from the village... so we'll need a little notice when meeting up in the village.

So we met up with our Canadian friends Leigh and Cory last night... hung out at their house, ate pizza, caught up and saw in the new year. :-)

Cory dropped us back to our lodge and we slept... until 11am New Years Day. Haha.