Canada, Oh Canada

Whey hey! The sun is still shining! It's been fantastically sunny and warm here, and looks like its going to stay that way until the weekend. Now this may not seem like particularly important information, but it means that we'll be able to arrive in NZ with corking suntans...ho ho ho...Jo & I have both developed a glorious arrangement of strap marks on our shoulders & I still have the whitest legs in Christendom (I have had to stick to long trousers since I foolishly shaved my legs in Mexico and apparently in doing so removed some vital UV protection layer causing immmediate uber-sunburn - foxy). Or it could be that my face is rosy from the gallons of red wine I have consumed whilst travelling. Who knows?

So. Canada. After our compulsory day of mooching about on Tuesday we were whisked off to visit cousin Nick's mum, lured by the promise of fish & chips by the seaside. Familial duty completed we duly headed off to the beach, parked the car and began scanning the menu of each & every fish & chip shop in the area. Eventually we chose one and proceeded to royally piss off the small & brusque Chinese lady who worked there by umming & aahing and then ordering an extremely measley meal between 5 of us. After a brief wait and her barking at us that our order was ready, we headed to the beach only to discover that the tide was in and there was no beach. Oh well. There was a nice sunset though. On the way home Cindy (Nick's wife) insisted we visit a local ice-cream shop where we were faced with the mind-boggling choice between 208 different flavours. Jo gamely tried the chocolate & chili (quite a strong afterburn), whilst I sampled balsamic vinegar (okay, but I couldn't handle a whole scoop full), avocado (suprisingly nice) & tequila & lime (yum). We also tried the durian ice cream. For those of you none the wiser, durian is a legendary Asian fruit that is supposed to taste delicious, but smells so bad (like a rotting corpse) it is banned from public transport. This is backed up by the fact that it is the only ice cream that they keep firmly lidded. Now I can tell you that it is an acquired taste. It is yatch.

Finally I chose peach, plum & jasmine (v. v. nice) & Jo opted for purple yam (v. nice).

The next morning we were awoken by Cindy pummeling on our bedroom door and asking if we wanted to do the Grouse Grind. You may think this sounds like some 60s-esque dance fashion, but it is in fact the trail that runs up the side of Grouse Mountain (approx 1000m), and is similar to day 2 of the Inca Trail but significantly shorter. Of course we said "yes!" and after a hearty breakfast we headed off. 1 hour & 45 minutes later, and extremely sweaty, we reached the top. Once there we rewarded ourselves with burgers, beer & a quick look at some grizzly bears (they are quite big) and caught the cable car back down. The afternoon mainly consisted of lazing about, followed by bbq-ing and then off up the hill with a bottle of home-made seabreeze to watch the fireworks (which were made more entertaining by the teenage boys whose drive we were watching the fireworks from being shoved out of the door in drag - by their babysitter - and then having to beg to be allowed back in).

Today was more lazing about in the back garden (it was way too hot to do much else), interrupted by a quick trip to buy on sale shampoo at a local salon, and then off to Costco to search for bargains. This time we only spent $140 (Jo bought some cheap ski gear), which is quite restrained. Tomorrow we're heading into town with Becky (14 year old cousing kid) to check out the Virgin Megastore, followed by pizza, putting Becky on the bus home & Jo & I going to see Aimee Mann. Great!

Then only Saturday to go before we have to get on the plane to NZ...but you'll be glad to know I have already made the executive decision to carry on blogging from there (presumably I'll have to be nice about the in-laws...or change names to protect the innocent). Bet that cheered you up!

laters gators!
S
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