Rockies, Parades, Vegas, Montreal

This is going to be a fairly long blog.  It's been a long month and a bit with a lot to share.  

Summer in Canada is awesome for a lot of reasons.  The days are long and there is a whole ton of stuff to do.  Canadians also embrace these warmer months and you'll find them outside hiking, kayaking, fishing, going to festivals or farmers markets, camping, gardening and doing almost anything to get outside, in a really enthusiastic manner.  I guess when you've got almost 5 months of snow then it makes sense to enjoy the sunny seasons.

I started this blog sitting in Vegas departures waiting for our flight home.

From where I'm sitting I can see a whole bunch of my fellow travelers gambling and drinking in the airport which pretty much sums up Vegas.

Vegas is a crazy, crazy place.  It's a big, loud hedonistic dream (often the embarrassing type you don't share with polite company).  It's built for entertainment baby and lures most into the spending of large amounts of money.

The reason we are in Vegas?  Bob Dylan!  Adele is a huge fan and hasn't been to Vegas so we decided to brave the heat and go see what the Bob had to say for himself (And it was part of Adele's birthday present).

We arrived on a Friday and checked into the Palms casino.  During our stay we had a helicopter flight, gambled a bit, had a fair share of multicolored cocktails, walked the strip and watched the Bob.  Was a lot going on so will highlight a few experiences/thoughts below

1. Vegas is a crazy place

2. Downtown vegas to Fremont street is a 10 km walk.  Maybe you should check with a map before walking this in 37 degree heat.  Adele and I stopped in casinos on our little strip hike and had a few cocktails every now and then.  After a while we ran out of spots to drink and had to hoof it, dry, for a few km (VELLY, velly hot).  Arrived in Fremont and drank the biggest cocktail we could find.  Have a funny tan because we got sunburnt on one side of our bodies – spared where our shadow fell.

3. Bob Dylan is old and raspy but was awesome.  We both really enjoyed his show.  The audience was just as interesting as he was.  Before the show we chatted to a couple who had been to 107 of his shows.  Another chap was chatting to another Bob-afficionado and they where boasting about who had been to which concerts, comparing notes and were getting really excited about the, “ best singer-song writer of our time.  A legend.  One of the best story tellers ever”.  

When Bob came on the crowd of about 2000 people (It was quite an intimate venue) stood up, fist pumped and cheered.  The was a very large portion of the crowd that looked like they had either 1) not left the 70s or 2) were reliving some acid/drug fueled day in the 70s.  Can't really adequately explain it but was very interesting and entertaining.

Bob is doing quite well for a 70 year old fellow who is still touring.  His voice is a lot hoarser and I'm sure he's lost a few moves but it was fantastic watching a living legend.  

Every now and then he would do a knee pump or stand wide stance and swing his hips (Happily his hip didn't pop out).  It was gritty and imperfect but I wouldn't expect a 70 year old rock star to be any different – to me it gave the show a feeling of authenticity that I really enjoyed.  Adele really enjoyed the show and I'm really happy we went.  

4. Took a flight over Vegas in a helicopter.  Was a bit pricey and short but was a fun way of seeing the strip.

5. Don't go swim in a Vegas pool if you have any hang ups about your body.  Spent a while in the Palms pool fulled with hoards of bronzed and toned bodies.  Not really my scene – there was a very large amount of image savvy people clad in very little.  I'm sure if recycled there was also enough plastic to keep Tupperware industry going for a few years.  Also there's no room nor is it deep enough to swim – I love pools but for swimming and don't get it if there's nothing to do but float, flex, ogle or drink.  Was a fun vibe and probably being a bit judgy but not my scene. If you like partying, drinking, have a signed photo of yourself or like dry humping strangers in a pool next to other strangers then go for it.

6. Met a few interesting characters who work in Vegas that have wound up here by some or other chance.  Our driver today had set up casinos in South Africa and spent months in SA.  Was nice to chat to someone who's experienced home.  Must be an interesting place to work.  I'd love to come back and visit vegas off strip to get a feel for how the locals live.

7. If you want to forget your name, be someone else or have almost any experience that money can buy then come to vegas.  Was a fun weekend.  

Funny story:  Every time we've been to a North American airport Adele has been “randomly” selected for a bag check, body scan or gun shot residue/chemical check.  A friend of ours, also with a green passport, has been through a similar experience.  Today for the first time my little criminal was not subject to an interrogation of any sort.  Funnily though, out of the 20/30 people ahead of us a guy just before Adele was selected who happens to be South African and was complaining to his buddy, “Hoekom kies hulle altyd my?!”.

Damn you green mamba, damn you “random” checks.

So that's Vegas.  Flight delayed 20 minutes! So have a little more time before we get going.  Not a lot of photos of vegas because one of us, not Adele, forgot to charge our camera fully.

Where I did not forget to charge my camera or charge a battery was on our recent trip to the Canadian rockies with Claire and Nic.

We were very lucky to have them come visit us for a week.  Had an amazing time.  

They are great, great holiday companions.  Very easy and Nic puts out.  Seriously though, they are wonderful and if you don't know them then you should probably get to know them so you can go on holiday with them – you can thank me later.

More of that in a second.

Just before our holiday in the rockies we joined a friend of ours and his family in Raymond, Alberta for our first street parade.  Mike, who invited us, is from Seattle and is used to parades with fighter jets and giant floats but he promised us a good show (Crop dusters and kids throwing candy) so we went for the fun.

It was well worth the trip.  Raymond is a small place but on this day the town swells from about 2000 to 10000 people.  It's a big family reunion day and people get together to celebrate with their clans.

The parade was awesome!  Funny and awesome!  Verry, very funny!  

Imagine a procession of horses, cars, advertising, cars coming down the road all throwing sweets onto the road and into the crowds as kids run between the procession to collect their candy.  

There was a float for the local jail, a solitary octagenarian on his scooter, skateboarders, a Davey Crocket look alike and other fun and silly items in the procession.  Was a good laugh and a fun day.  One of the funniest floats was a plumbers van with a toilet mounted on the roof and a young boy seated on it, throwing candy into the crowd.

Will post a few pics below.

After the parade Mike showed us around and we had a fantastic family lunch with them.  Was great to be included and will definitely be back to the Raymond parade.  Missed the crop dusters flying overhead so will have to go back next year.

Almost forgot, the parade was to celebrate Canada day.  Don't think it's as crazy as the 4th of July in the USA but they do a really good job of being patriotic.  That morning we had breakfast at one of the other docs house.  Was a fun morning and got to meet a few new people.  They're the kind of people who include everyone, are warm and kind and it was great to be there.  Sang “O Canada” which is their national anthem – getting quite fond of this song.  

Raymond parade

In all it's glory

Child throwing Candy from toilet

The timeline goes like this in case you're getting a bit confused:  Raymond, rocky mountains and stampede (Nic and Claire), Adeles car, week of work, Vegas, week of work, airshow and birding, week of work and finally long weekend in Montreal.

Back to Nic and Claire.  Picked up Nic and Claire at the airport for a week of fun in the rockies.  Drove from Calgary to Banff.  From Banff up to Jasper along the Icefields highway.  From Jasper back down to lake Louise.  From Lake Louise to Canmore and then back to Calgary where we enjoyed the Stampede before they headed off to visit other friends.  

The rockies were wonderful.  Have a whole bunch of photos which will do it much more justice than my words so please check them out on facebook – see link http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150316491245867.390476.532515866&type=1 , will post a few below too.

A typical day would be us getting up early (Usually around 6-30/7), having a bowel of cereal or breakfast if included, going for a hike, having a sandwich or lunch out, having a rest, going for another hike and then having supper or a barbecue.

It's a really busy time of year and we did really well by getting up a bit early and often didn't have anyone hiking with us which was awesome considering that Banff looks a bit like disney land when everyone gets up and running.

Again did a tons of stuff so here is our trip summarized below

Accommodation:  Stayed in a whole range of accommodation.  From really world class backpackers to cabins and lodges.  In Banff we were close to the river.  In Jasper we were a little out of town but had good access to a few hikes.  In lake Louise we stayed at a place on a popular hiking trail and next to a river – had a lekker braai by the river.  In Canmore we stayed in quite a lekker backpackers.

The hiking:  Enjoyed all the hiking.  Was just great to be outdoors with clean air and really good company.  As I said – we hiked in the morning and in the afternoons mainly.  In Jasper we have quite a lot of fun hiking near a glacier (Not on a glacier) where there was still quit a lot of ice – in fact some of the hikes where not open because of the heavy snows this year.  Hiked/Crawled up the steep icy bits and attempted to ski down.  Also hiked to a few lakes in Jasper – Crystal clear and perfect water.

Nic and I swam in almost every lake we came across.  The water was usually incredibly cold and we never lasted that long inside.  The water was clear and perfect though.  Got braver and braver and spent more and more time in the water every day.

Hiked in Lake Louise and Banff to many a mountain lake and up a few mountains.  Spectacular views and scenery.  Also caught the gondola up the mountain in Banff.

I would say we averaged about 6 to 12 km a day +-  Was fun and amazing and can't wait to do it again.

Mountain lakes:  Lots of cold mountain lakes to swim in.  They all were picture perfect and there were bright blue, light blue, turquoise, ice filled, red and all sorts of other wonderful colours.

Icefields highway:  Drove the Icefields highway up to Jasper and back to lake Louise.  Rated by many online as the prettiest drive of their life.  Was really spectacular with mountain and lake vistas.  Drove past and walked to glaciers on the way – hence “Ice”fields highway.

Weather:  We were incredibly lucky with weather.  Had mostly perfect, sunny days.  On the 1 or 2 days that it was overcast and rainy we were lucky to be driving the Icefield highway or doing something that else.

Game, birds and flowers:  We where really lucky with game.  We saw a Grizzly bear, brown bears with cub, a Moose, Elk, white tailed dear, Marmots, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, chipmunks and all sorts of other small furry creatures.  Considering that there are only 300-400 Moose in the park we were incredibly lucky.  I think the only manimal we did not see, that we wanted to see, was a beaver – sorry Claire.

Enjoyed some good birding too.  Often when we go birding our fellow travelers eyes will glaze over and they'll feign some interest.  Nic and Claire were awesome – they (esp Claire) got out the book with Adele and spent good time looking up birds on hikes or sitting next to rivers or lakes.  Claire has a green thumb and we really enjoyed the flowers we found on the trails.  There were all sorts of interesting and wonderful orchids in all shapes and sizes.

Banff:  Busy but very pretty and the town has been designed with mountains seen down all the main roads.  Adele and I got a bit tiddled here in a pub listening to a band singing about getting tiddled – a lot of fun on her birthday.  Banff was also the site of our first swim in the river – maybe the coldest of them all.  Nic managed to get in until the water was somewhere between his knees and his waist and then exited very quickly.

Jasper:  Equally as pretty.  A little less busy than Banff.  2 nights here.  Some great hikes.  Great little places to eat.

Lake Louise:  Stayed in nice Cabins.  First cabin along the walk through a Canyon – really pretty.  Second cabin along a river where we braaied.  Lake Moraine – probably one of the prettiest lakes.  Had an awesome hike uphill to a tea house.  Claire “lied” to Nic about how far a hike was – very funny – Nic had thought it was a 30 min walk when it was actually a 7 km round trip.

Canmore:  Out of the park but very equally as awesome.  Lots of wonderful places to eat – great food and beer in a small micro brewery.  An old quarry serves as a large outdoor pool.  Spent an afternoon swimming with mountain view in all directions and enjoying the locals.

View from top of Banff Gondola

Hiking in Jasper

Scrambling in Jasper

Break time

Glacial water and cold feet

Loved the trees

Wild manimals

Stop on Icefields highway

Dis Koud jong

Morraine lake

Legends

So we had a fantastic time in the mountains.  Cannot get enough of that mountain air and scenery.  Don't think I did it enough justice but trust me when I say, “make friends with Nic and Claire, and then go on holiday with them.  Thank me later :)”

After the rockies we went to the Calgary stampede.  Yee hah!

The Calgary stampede is dubbed the greatest outdoor show on earth and I think it did pretty well in living up to the hype.  We stayed in quite a nice backpackers within walking distance to the stampede grounds which was very lekker and convenient.  I had made a mistake and accidentally only booked for 3 of us so the guy let us double bunk for free – yay!

The stampede was a lot of fun.  Lots of cowboy hats, beer and fried everything – we tried a deep fried twinki among other greasy, delicious delicacies.  

We went to a dog show (very cool), watched Chuckwagon races and a very trippy but fun evening show, enjoyed a few show rides and watched the rodeo.

I think the rodeo was the highlight of the stampede for me.  Lots of adrenaline and very exciting.  Next yr is the 100 anniversary and you'll definitely find Adele and I sitting beer in hand, cowboy hat on head and having a fantapantastic time.

Kitted out for the stampede

Rodeo

Yee ha

So you'd think that this would almost be done but you're wrong.  If you've read this far then you either love us and enjoyed reading this, have nothing to do, are stuck somewhere with an internet server that only gives you access to this page or have read this over a few days.  What ever your reason, thanks for getting this far.  Have already condensed everything and not sure I've done it justice but you're almost there . . . . . you can do it!

Last weekend we spent a weekend in Montreal, Quebec.   We had a really good time on honeymoon in Paris and have been told that Montreal is a very vibey and romantic city.  My hope was that we could have a quiet, romantic weekend together in a new city.

I think that we achieved that.

Montreal was awesome.  It doesn't feel like you're in Canada at all.  When you arrive in Montreal all the signs are in French, everyone speaks French and the tourists are French.  I think Quebec is the only place in Canada that does not need to, legally, have duel language signage.  

Like a country within a country.  

We stayed in the Old town and downtown parts of Montreal close to all the action.  

Old town Montreal has cobble stone streets, is very busy and has a wonderful cafe culture – lots of pavement specials as my dad would say.  The buildings are all old or have to be built in the same style as the other buildings in the area so there is a very old, European feel to the city.  If anything burns down you are not allowed to rebuild.  One of the restaurants have taken advantage of this and use the skeleton of the burnt out building as an outside eating space in Summer.  Downtown Montreal is a bit of old and new juxta positioned and is also very vibey and busy with lots of boutiques and eateries especially on St Catherine street.We found French Canadians to be just as friendly as all other Canadians.  There were 1 or 2 snooty waiters/waitresses who gave Africa time a run for it's money and were a little more rude than we're used to but generally a friendly, awesome city.We spent most of our time walking and enjoying the sites.  These are my 3 highlights

-  On day 2 we walked from our hotel up to the top of the Mount Royal (A mountain in the centre of montreal (Which gives Montreal it's name).  From the top on we enjoyed panoramic vistas over the city and watched people reading, hiking, running, cycling, doing tai chi and generally enjoying this green space.  Interestingly the park was designed by the same designer as Central park.From the mountain we walked down and North East through the city.  We had a tasty lunch and then walked to another park where we relaxed and lay under a tree reading. Then we walked back along the length of St Catherine street through the Village, the largest gay village in North America, through the Latin district and through the rest of downtown.  Was a glorious 16 km walk with lots to see and tons to do.  In summer in Montreal there are a few areas that are blocked off to cars and as such there is a very energetic street culture - wonderful!!

-  Went on an amphibious bus tour through downtown and old town Montreal.  Was an interesting vehicle – not the fastest on land or water.  Learnt lots of fun facts about Montreal like the Empire state building is based on an original building done by the same architect in Montreal.  He liked the result so much that he built the same building, albeit a bit bigger in New york.

-  On our last night Adele and I had a yummy supper in Old town.  From there we walked down the canal as it got darker.  There was a lovely ambience and it was very romantic. Was the perfect way to end of a very wonderful weekend.  Loved you Montreal.  hope to see you again soon.

Old town

More modern downtown

View from Mt Royal over old town and downtown

Loved the burbs

Just for laughs comedy festival

Old town

Pavement culture

Romantic at night

So that pretty much sums up our last 5 weeks.  There are a lot more things to add but I think this has been long enough so am just going to list them in point form. 

– Have discovered Frisbee golf.  There are different Frisbees with different weights and properties for different effects.

– Saw Harry Potter – awesome!!!  Sad that Sally will not have any more adventures.

– Bagel says hi and seems to be happy and still well adjusted.  

– We bought a second car – a little Volkswagen Beatle.  Got it for a really good price and it's a fantastic little car.

– Have submitted all our forms for permanent residence.  Hopefully in 6 months we will be permanent residents of Canada.

– We might buy a house – will keep you posted.  Is the same price as renting but still a big decision and the cause of some stress.

– Chantal and Duncan threw a surprise dinner for Adeles birthday with a few of our favorite people.

– Lethbridge has quite a popular airshow which we enjoyed from a friends garden.  Was awesome.  Last yr there was a crash – luckily not oopses this year.

– Have found a retired fire fighter who takes us birding.  Knows all the spots and has a really good knowledge.  Have had 1 really great trip with him.

– Have made some really good Canadian friends who we spend a lot of time with.  Whether it's the docs at the clinic or Jessica and Steve. Feel like we are starting to have a great network of locals to hang out with and have fun with :)

As far as the eye can see.......

So hi to all you wonderful people.  We love and miss you.  Hope to see or chat to you soon.

Thanks for reading this and let us know what your news is.

Ryan and Adele

Summer is here

Lethbridge is green

Pretty wife

I'm the King.  You can feed me now

A little older since we last chatted.  Again, we have been busy and have lots to tell you.

The first thing that we should tell you is that we are staying here another year.  We have decided and the clinic has accepted our request to stay with them for another year.  After that?  Will have to see what happens.

I have to say that I'm a bit two minded at the moment.  On the one hand I'm loving our lifestyle, my patients and this wonderful country.  On the other hand I miss all you Safas terribly.

Have also been looking at buying a house.  Prime here is 3 to 4 percent.  Would cost about the same as renting.  Just need to find a property that we will be able to resell if needed.

After my last blog we made our way up to Calgary and then Winnipeg on our live music run.

In Calgary we saw Switchfoot.  The venue was at the university and it was pretty awesome to see an international, grammy award winning act in a venue much the same size our school hall at hilton.

We were right against the fence, right next to a big speaker and right near all the action.

The great thing about our spot was that we had uninterrupted views of a very cool and energetic band.

Down side is that the every time there was a loud wail or note, or in fact any sound, belted out from the speaker system I could feel the pulse through my jiggly bits.  It left us feeling a bit wobbily.

We resorted to chewing our tickets and making improvised earplugs which helped and we had a fantastic concert.  Small and intimate venue with a band that knows how to rock the party that rocks the party.

As a result of the concert Duncan developed some nasty tinnitus in his left ear.  The tinnitus lasted a total of 3 days before resolving.

After Calgary we woke up very early and flew to Winnipeg (Manitoba – check).  

We arrived in Winnipeg a bit tired and a little grumpy.  It was a dark and rainy day and we were all a little jaded.  We decided to catch a bus to save money and I think we were all  starting to doubt our choice of weekend destination.  It didn't help that a 20 something Canadian girl asked us, “what are you guys doing in Winnipeg, nothing happens here?” 

The bus trip was a little interesting and for the first time in Canada I felt a little uneasy.  I'm not sure how to describe it but was sure the granny next to me was packing a Glock and was waiting for a reason to use it.

The rest of the day was much the same.  We chose all the dodgy roads, all the dodgy malls, all the dodgy spots.  

We walked down to The Forks, a really pretty spot and had a fantastic supper so the day did get better but I remember lying in bed thinking, “ Holy crap, what are we going to do for the next 3 days”.

As with most things in life we woke up the next day and Winnipeg did a 180 on us.

Duncan and I decided to rent a car to expand our reach a bit and as we walked there, and as we drove back in our rented car, the sun came out and  Winnipeg started looking amazing.  

The river glistened, children sang and little old ladies retired their Glocks and danced in the puddles.  Too much?  Seriously though, that's what it felt like.

The next few days flew by and were awesome.

We spent time looking at bison, watching birds, going for long walks, had pub food with life music and had a very lekker time.

One of the highlights were the Manitoba legislative buildings.  A mix of roman, egyptian and greek architecture.  It was beautiful and interesting.  The tour guides are all doing holiday jobs and were incredibly helpful and informative.  We lucked out and arrived on an open day so all of the tourist sites were free and open to the public.

Legislative buildings with Mani and Toba.  Get it - Mannitoba.  I didn't - a little embarrassing for me :)

Another free site was a replica fort.  We watched a guy make some tools in a fire and had an axe throwing competition.  Funsies and interesting!  Adele did ok with the axe throwing – I think I've got slightly less than a 50 percent chance should I ever piss her off and should she be wielding a throwing axe.

Life just got more dangerous

Winnipeg turned out to a be a gem and we had a great weekend.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely U2 and The Fray though.  We got there later than we had hoped (An hour before) but still managed to get into the “golden circle” along with other people who'd been waiting for 8 hours – felt a little guilty about that.

The stage, our spot and a very polite Canadian crowd made for a very pleasant concert.  We were wedged between the 2 stages and the revolving bridge passed over us – frikkin awesome.  

I have to say though that some of Bonos dance moves were a bit suspect.  If Bono was not Bono then he probably would have looked like a tool.  He did look like a tool but he's Bono and he pulled it off (Still threw my bra at him (Which reminds me of a story about a poor guy who's mom bought him a shirt with breast support at Hilton – what kind of cruel parent does that to their child at an all boys boarding school?)).

Fray

The edge as he went over us

So Winnipeg was great.  Sorry for the initial bad reviews but we loved it.

Had another adventure with Gavin 2 weekends ago.  Went South of the border to East Glacier National Park.  We needed to go hand in a slip that we get every 6 months to make travel easier to the USA– means that we don't have to get finger printed, probed and questioned every time we cross the boarder (Damn you green passport).

Ate at the most amazing little diner.  Felt like something out of a movie.  Did part of the 'Highway to the Sun' road but could not go the full way because parts of Logan's pass are covered in 30 feet of snow.  See this link - http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm - is pretty cool, you can watch as they clear the road (The red part is still covered in snow).

Glacier national park is much like waterton and is magnificent.  We spent the day on mountain parks, hiked to a waterfall, saw some deer and enjoyed crisp, fresh air.

Along the mountains and roads a lot of snow was melting and there were hundreds of waterfalls.  I'm not sure if I'm doing it justice so here are some pics.

Diner East Glacier

Wowzer

Crisp and clean

Trusted wife and car

Double wowzer

A big part of our lives this last bit was the Stanley cup.  You know – that thing that happened before those riots.  We have made friends with 2 Canadians from British Columbia – Steve and Jessica.  They have a Vancouver shrine in their basement with all sorts of jerseys and memorabilia.  They're the kind of supporters that change what they're wearing or might not invite you back if Vancouver loses.  

We had a great time with them.  Watched 4 games with them and unfortunately shared in their pain when Vancouver lost.

It's a great feeling to put on a jersey and feel accepted into a club.  Can't wait for next season.

Even though I support a reasonably sized beer boep (still trying to birth it) I do not drink a lot and by the end of the Stanley cup my liver was shouting, “WhY!!!  WHHHYYYYY?  why?”.  Poor guy we had a lot of fun and he took a fair amount of abuse.

So that almost brings me to the present.  I'm sure that I'm missing out a bunch but I'm trying to make this an e-mail that you might want to read in less than 3 sittings.

This last weekend we watched dragon boat racing on Henderson lake.  Also fun and next year Adele and I are going to enter a team, and win!

Getting ready for oar? for war? for paddle?

Pretty in pink - the day is for support of breast cancer

What's wrong with this picture

Seriously?!?

Good way to spend a day

On the Saturday I went fishing with 2 of the docs in our clinic, Dave and Terry.  We gave Terrys new boat a spin.  I did not get any pics but this is the most awesome fishing boat I have ever been in.  What ever you might want in a fishing boat (should you want one), well, it has 2.  Had a great day on Police lake.  It was a bit windy and there was not much fish caught but the water was clear, the company was great and there was a wonderful chop and shimmer to the water with the rocky mountains as a backdrop.  Every time I have a wow moment in this province it is super-ceded by another.

The Docs are also awesome.  Have been very lucky with our clinic and they have all been amazing to us.  Have been fishing a few times with these guys and they are always fun, informative and ignore those moments when I'm hooking myself or falling out of the boat.  

So blogging done for a while.  2 days and we're on holiday.  3 days and it's Adele's birthday.  3 days and Spaz and Claire get here.  3 days and we have a week in the rockies.  I'm getting so excited!!!!  I can't wait for you to get here guys.  Hope this week flies.  Hope you love this country as much as we do.  

Love to you all 

Ryan

On a somber note I just wanted to send a shout out to one of the most interesting people that I have ever known and one of my favorite people of all time.  Ritchie, it's 2 years since you left us this week and we miss you now as much as we ever have.  There is still a giant hole that we would choose to never fill.  Love you and hope that wherever you are you're laughing.  

:)

Running with wolves and fernie ski weekend

Nothing to blog today but have 2 clips for you.

1.  Have invested in a bicycle attachment for Bagel.  Lots of fun for all of us.

2.  One of our many ski days last Winter.  Loving these long, sunny days but missing the snow.

Hope you enjoyed.  Chat soon

How a now

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

Of bagels, bartholomeu, Vancouver and the best news imaginable

Hey, Hey

Has been a little while since we last blogged.  A lot has happened since the last blog and me thinks this may be a long one.

I want to start with the best news ever :)  My little brother, friend and proprietor of awesomeness is engaged to his Mary, my friend and soon to be sister-in-law.   I cannot adequately tell you how happy I am for them!   I really wish that I could be there with you both to celebrate.  Mary, you've been a part of our family for a long time but it'll be nice to make it official.  You guys are fantapantastic!

Hopefully the Dermans will be in Canada this December and we can all celebrate together then.
One place that both our families would definitely enjoy is Vancouver.
One of the many perks of working in Canada is that there is an allowance for medical courses and conferences.  The annual amount is 2500 dollars and can be used for all sorts of things including computers and courses.
So  the four of us decided to travel to Vancouver for a dermatology conference and make a weekend of it ( essentially a free weekend with us getting a lot of really good practical knowledge for our practice.  Yay!).
Vancouver, I feel, might just be my number one favorite city ever.  To me it's a mix of Cape Town and New York but the people are a lot friendlier.  So friendly in fact that whenever we were confused for more than a second a friendly Canadian was at hand to direct and guide us (I love these people).  At one point one of the uniformed workers for the sky train told us how to spend 3 dollars on the train rather than 8 dollar ticket price - where else does that happen.

Views from revolving restaurant

Anyway I'm gushing again.  It's just an awesome place.  Very green and very vibey.  It has a nice combination of new and old with clean, interesting streets and treed, green spaces with seaside walks and mountain views.
Mountains and culture and sea and interesting shops and wonderful people equals overwhelming awesomeness (yes, probably abusing the word, awesome,   but  Vancouver really deserves the superlatives ).
Some of the highlights of the weekend included drinks in a revolving restaurants with beautiful panoramas, long walks daily, walking around Stanley island in the rain, the clock in Gastown, watching the Canucks in Vancouver and spending time with the wife and friends.

Our hotel

My personal favorite was our walk around Stanley park.  Adele and I enjoyed a 12 kilometer Sunday walk in the rain around this wonderful park.  Apart from the fact that my rain jacket was a little less waterproof than I thought, it was spectacular.  We enjoyed the birds, their culture of exercise (tons of runners and walkers despite the rain),  views of the harbour and nature, totem poles and more and more  and more beautiful scenery.  Kayakers and rowers also kept us company as we made our way around.
To be honest though I thought everything was awesome and I can't wait to come back.

One of the benefits of going to Vancouver was that we got to spend an hour in the Calgary Ikea the day before our flight.  (Love Ikea)
I've been looking for a chair to sit and read in.  We have a really nice couch downstairs but it's right in front of the TV and I always find myself watching TV instead of other activities.  I really wanted a chair to read and play guitar in.   So we scoured Lethbridge and had not really found anything that we really liked.   Eventually after much deliberation we decided to get 2 wooden and canvas chairs from Ikea.
Now we each have our chair upstairs placed in front of our bay windows so we can read, watch birds on our bird feeder and spy on the neighbours.
Adele thinks that it's a bit creepy to sit there and watch as our neighbours go up and down.  I usually ignore her and say she's being silly, usually while hiding behind the curtain so the neighbors can't see me watching them.  Not creepy at all!

Bagel started training as I mentioned in previous post.  Sorry Kim, Cobus and Frederik but the dog trainer (we call her the dog whisperer) says that Bagel is in fact a prodigy and that he should be entered into competitive agility training.  That's my boy.
Bagel has done really well and through a process of essentially stuffing him full of treats he can now (almost) sit, stay, lie down and come when called.  Adeles says that the stay command gets better at the end of the lesson because he's so full of treats that "stay' requires the least amount of effort.
Before the first lesson the dog whisperer asked us to cook a few hot dogs to reward Bagel.  It took all my power not to wet myself as the trainer then proceeded to throw pieces of wiener on our carpet.  Some of the drills required bagel resisting the urge to lunge for food and if he did she would cover the food with her foot and push the Vienna into the carpet.  Why so funny?  Adeles face was priceless!  Evey time a piece of wiener was squelched and juiced into the carpet Adeles eyes got bigger and bigger.  The whisperer went into the kitchen to get something at one stage and Adele lent over to ask me, "is this was really happening" - was too funny!
Bagel has become so good at lying down that when I pull out a treat, open a cupboard door or glance in his direction he automatically hits the ground, tail a wagging.  Silly prodige!

On other news I am trying yet again to lose some weight.  I know you've heard this before but this is the year that I birth my boopensie.  So far with a combination of weights and cardio I've managed to lose a few blocks of butter.  Hopefully in a few weeks I might be in sufficiently good shape to post picture of my washboard ab.  (yes ab and not abs, baby steps people).

Tomorrow we are doing a Kayaking lesson.  Other than that we have no major plans and plan to catch up on some admin this weekend.  We are going to start the process of permanent residence this weekend.  This was if we do decide to stay for a while we can maybe get our hands on that blue passport.
Next week is our 2 year wedding anniversary and we are going to Victoria on Vancouver island (not the mainland like the last weekend.).
It is supposed to be magic in Spring and we're both really looking forward to it.  Hopefully we will get in some whale watching and we may even Kayak with killer whales.  (That sounds like less of a good idea when written out).  Adele has been kind enough to buy me a seal suite and has splashed out on some extra life insurance for me.  What a good wife she is!

On a final note I was the subject of an April fools joke the other day.  When Duncan arrived at work I thought I'd be funny and told him that the computer system was down.  Probably not as effective when my computer was logged in just behind me.
Some of us had a good laugh at my expense and then  we carried on with work as usual.  About half an hour later I was sitting with a patient and heard Duncan yell," help, help, resusc, Ryan help!".  I almost tripped over my feet to get out the door to help.  All the while I was stressing about our first Canadian emergency and all the possible negative scenarios.  I was hopped up on adrenaline and didn't really notice Dorothy or Duncan smiling at me.  I just saw a patient on the floor lying against the bed with very poor access and seemingly unconscious.  I tried to get in next to the patient but there wasn't enough space so I pushed the bed in the room out of the way.
It was at this point that the patient chose to open his eyes and smile at me.  Duncan then shouted April fools and looked very pleased with himself.
He got me.  He did a really good job and I say Bravo Duncan, Bravo!  Do not close your eyes or sleep easy my friend, I am plotting my revenge mwahhahah hhahahh mwahhh hahah!!!!

Thanks to my wonderful wife for 2 awesome years.  Congrats Neal and Mary and I wish you so much happiness during this wonderful time.
Again, we miss you all and can't wait for you to come visit.

Oh and I almost forgot.  We have a new friend.  Adele and I went to a park in search of owls the other day.  Instead of finding an owl we found Bartholomeu.  Bartholomeu is a porcupine.  But he is unlike his South African cousin and climbs trees.  This is one of the strangest and most wonderful animals that I have ever seen.  We have been back many times to visit our friend always with that warm feeling of recognition and happiness when we find him.
Below are a few snaps of our sharp witted fried, Bartholomeu.

Hugs and kisses and lots of good wishes.
Ryan and Adele