Hello again wonderful people
Yet again it has been far too long since I last updated this.
Winter has gone and for the last bit we've had these beautiful long days. I'm sad that there is no more snow, snowboarding, log fires, cross country skiing etc. but the change of weather has brought a lot of new treasures.
We've started mountain biking and a we had the kayaking lesson I mentioned last time.
The Kayaking lesson was great and we're really thinking about buying 2 kayaks, a life jacket for Bagel and hitting the rivers and lakes. Theres a river that runs through Lethbridge and apparently you can see all sorts of wildlife and hidden gems as you wind your way through this small city.
The kayaking lesson was particularly interesting because I forgot my swimming costume.
What I mean is that I usually wear a speedo and then put a pair of board shorts on over my speedo. I had forgotten my board shorts but had remembered my speedo and my rash vest. So you had an overweight redhead wearing a pair of tight tighties and a rash vest – not ayoba! I felt and must have looked ridiculous but was thought it was pretty funny at the time so had a good laugh and then enjoyed a fun lesson.
Cycling has also been fantastic. We discovered the Coulees in Lethbridge. The Coullees are the valleys inbetween the prairies I guess. In this natural playground there is an extensive network of what I assume are man made and animal made pathways. All of which are spectacular for mountain biking.
Usually there is a steep exhilarating downhill along a small dirt track followed by all sorts of wonderful bends and turns, ups and downs, along rivers and backdrops of awesome scenery.
We have done the route 3 times and hiked it once with Bagel.
We have also invested in a bike rack, tow bar and roof rack. Again – poorer but happier.
Bring on Summer!
Another joy about Summer is that the Spaz and the bear are coming to visit us. Have planned an awesome trip through the rockies – from Banff to Jasper to Lake Louise to Canmore to the Calgary stampede.
During summer there are about 18 hours of sunlight. There are crystal clear mountain lakes and kilometers of hiking. There are bears, moose, deer, cougars etc. Should be awesome!
This weekend I'm unfortunately working Friday and Saturday but Monday is a public holiday so I still have a weekend and only have a 3 day work weekend next week!!! It's much easier working when you know you're watching switchfoot, the frey and U2 in a new city in a weeks time!
Other than that Bagel has been doing well in doggy training, we've made more biltong (yum), celebrated Chanteles birthday and have been attracting some new birds with our bird feeder.
Bagel goes to daycare on Monday and has a party. Then I meet him and we have a training class. He usually is so buggered and so hungry after all the playing that he does very well. Have been enjoying it. He is progressing well. Piano lessons start soon.
We've been really getting into our hockey and have been supporting the Vancouver Canucks. They are into the semi finals which is the first time in yonks. During the playoffs a team plays the best of 7 games. Really cool because as the series progresses the dynamic changes, players are pitted against each other and there are all sorts of side plots. There have been some amazing come backs from teams 3 nil down etc. Vancouver usually goes ahead and then lose 1 or 2 but manage to pull it together. Makes for good, exciting TV, lekker!
Last time they lost at this point in a series there were all sorts of riots and looting in Vancouver - hopefully not this time.
Adele and I have submitted our forms for permanent residence and have asked the clinic if they'd like to sign a contract for another yr. I have to say that this was a pretty hard time for me. In the next 6 months we have 3 great friends who are getting married and it saddens me that I won't be able to go to their weddings. Next yr is the same with another wedding that we won't make. The combination of potentially committing to stay here, my brother and awesome friends getting engaged and missing out and what's happening with our beautiful friends and family was a bit overwhelming.
We're still not entirely sure what the future holds but I know that I love South africa, I love Canada, I miss family and friends but much prefer the health system and work here so the future should be interesting! What to do?
I am very impressed by the Da's better standing in the election. I hope that a stronger opposition makes for a better ANC and a better South Africa!
Great news is that we will be home for 3 weeks next yr for Neals and Spaz's wedding. Should be a really good road trip and we hope to see as many of you as possible.
The next trips we're doing are Winnipeg and then the rockies and then Montreal and then New Zealand and then somewhere in South America.
The last trip we did was our anniversary in Victoria, Vancouver island.
You can see a full set of photo's on Facebook.
We both really enjoyed Victoria. Our hotel was in a perfect location in downtown Victoria and we enjoyed 5 days of great weather and site seeing.
There were many highlights but my favorites were the long daily walks, a whale watching tour (minus the whales), a castle, high tea, beautiful parks, a raptor demonstration, looking out over the harbor from our balcony, doing some reading, enjoying a gorgeous city in bloom and just enjoying having been married to a wonderful woman for 2 yrs.
Again there is a wonderful culture of exercise and beautiful walks through wonderful greenery and along the sea. British columbias logo is "super-natural british Columbia" - really apt.
My favorite 3 things were.
1. The Bouchard gardens. These amazing gardens were made by a very passionate, wealthy family. There's a sunken garden, a japanese garden, a rose garden, an italian garden etc. There's this strong aroma of flowering plants and more and more interesting scenery around every corner. It is truly beautiful and I can't imagine someone not enjoying it. Because of the variety of plants the birding was great too. One of the awesome things about Canada is the 4 distinct seasons and I'd love to visit these gardens in each season.
2. We saw a humming bird
3. The one day we walked from our hotel through a park over a hill and down to the sea. From there we walked along a bay, past seaside golf courses, past floating homes and beautiful nature, all the time with mountains in the background. Spectacular. Walked about 14 km and was great.
Interestingly while we were in victoria we passed a marajuana campaign. We were walking and were passing an incredible amount of tie-died t-shorts, braided and dreadlocked hair and a few suspect looking people. When we rounded the corner on about 300 hundred people smoking dope.
There was a man dressed as a giant dagga leaf, hundreds of people sprawled on the lawn and not much overtly energetic going on. I'm not sure if it was a little 2nd hand ganga but a little paranoia kicked in and I quickly ushered Adele on.
Apparently BC has a very high population of weed smokers and a lot of small hippy communitites
Anyway we had a fantastic time in Victoria and loved it. Would love to go back and get into the North part, visiting places like Nainamo and Tofino. Would love to revisit the Bouchard gardens and kayak with killer whales.
As I always say - would be great to hear what's happening in your lives. Usually when I've finished this and posted I get rewarded with an e-mail from some of my favorite people. This is no fun if nobody reads it and I don't get to hear how you're doing
See you soon
Ryan and Adele
