An insider's view of our apartment

Thought you might like to see some pictures of our apartment - or "condo", as it is officially - apparently it's only an apartment if all the units in the building are owned by the same person, or group. Condos are individually owned by lots of different people. Or so I think.

We're on the 10th floor of a 20 floor building, with a Starbucks underneath us, and our building has a gym as well, and carparks underneath. We're right in downtown Vancouver, and it probably looks more boxed in in the photos than we actually are. From the lounge and deck we have views over the tops of most of the surrounding buildings, so it's not bad.

Please ignore the big blue mattress in the lounge - we had someone coming to visit that day!

Seattle

I was originally going to a concert in Seattle, the Billy Joel & Elton John concert - but a week before it was announced that it would be postponed as Elton was sick. We headed down to Seattle anyway, as we hadn't been there before. We drove down Saturday morning, and back Sunday late afternoon. Including time at the border, it's about 4 hours. The border crossing is pretty tedious - there was a lot of waiting around.

A lot of people go down to the US to shop for the weekend - things are quite a bit cheaper there and there is more selection. There is an outlet mall halfway between the border and Seattle, which we stopped at for a spot of shopping, and noticed that half the license plates were from BC, and half were from Washington! The funny thing is that there are dollar limits on what you can buy if you're only away for a short time - essentially if you're only away for 24 hours, you can legally only buy $40 worth of stuff. Which is of course, ridiculous. So most people wear their new stuff, and take off all the tags, so as not to be charged any duty.

Truth be told most of our time was spent shopping, but we did also go to the Pike Place Market - I couldn't wait to see the Pike Place Fish Market, which I'd learnt about at Flight Centre in NZ. The guys that work there are amazing - it's all about choosing your attitude, and they all love working there. The fun thing is that they put on this show, where they throw the fish around - if you look closely in the photo, at the top in the middle you can see the flying fish! It was fantastic to go here after learning about them a couple of years ago.

We also made our pilgrimage to the first ever Starbucks - it started in Seattle back in the 70's. They've kept the original logo at this branch, and the original signage, which has morphed a bit over time. We also discovered that NZ has more Starbucks than Australia.

Coffee culture is limited over here to Starbucks, and the Canadian equivalent, Blenz. It's not like at home, where you can get decent coffee most places. Even at places that do a decent brunch will come and pour your coffee out of a pot. There is another chain in Canada, called Tim Horton's, but they don't serve soy milk. They have a long way to go in the coffee area. Blenz is nice, but even they have big vats of coffee sitting there, which are very popular, and are just a "coffee". God knows how long it sits there for......

I also don't think they get the whole soy thing. Many's the time when I've ordered soy and ended up with a big dollop of whipped cream on top of my coffee. When I say something, they just scoop it out and you're left with the remnants........ good!

Exploring Vancouver

While John was here we also used the time to explore the city a bit more and get out and see a bit more. The colours are beautiful in the Autumn/Fall - this is a photo of a Sugar Maple, taken from our balcony. They don't change colour evenly, before they lose their leaves, causing the traffic light effect - so pretty.

Luckily we had a beautiful day to explore - they're becoming few and far between now that the weather is cooling - it rains most days now, and apparently will do so for the next few months. I now own gumboots, as well as snow boots! So it was very nice to get some blue sky.

We came across this HUGE totem pole at Vanier Park, just over the bridge from downtown. I'm not sure if they're normally this big, but it was so tall - that's me standing at the bottom.

We also took in a hockey game - that's ice hockey for all you back in NZ. Hockey is to Canadians like rugby is to Kiwis - except even more so. The Vancouver NHL team are the Canucks - and they play around 3 times a week, so seeing as they're on so much, people live and breathe it. Whereas I guess with the All Blacks, they may only play every second weekend or something.

Tickets to the Canucks are around $70 per ticket for the basic tickets - sitting up in the gods - so we went to the Vancouver Giants, which is the next level down. Most of the players are around 16-19 years old, and still play around 3 times a week. We really enjoyed the game, and will go again at some point. There are quite a few fights - and the referees won't break them up until they hit the ice, so they can go on for a minute or two!

Halloween

Considering we've been here just over 3 months now, it's obviously been a while since I've posted. Oops. So many times I've meant to sit down and blog, but haven't - apologies to those that have kept asking!

It's been a busy couple of months - we had a visit from a friend, John, from NZ for 3 weeks, which meant we were out a lot more than normal, and we all got to experience Halloween as well - I'd heard it was big over here, but WOW.

I've never been one for fancy dress, not even as a little kid, but I have to say I'm a bit of a convert. It was a lot of fun - and 99% of people out that night were dressed up - you were odd if you weren't! And it wasn't just the night of Halloween - the lobby of Nic's apartment building was even done up!

The variety of stuff available to purchase was huge, so many different decorations, costumes - even for your pets. Collars, pet jackets, you name it - you can get it. They're big on pets here - you can get strollers for your tiny dogs, dogs can go into shops.... in our apartment building there are a couple of big dogs - german shepherd size - they must take up half the lounge!

Lots of little kids were out trick or treating during the afternoon - so cute in their little costumes, lots of ladybugs, fairies, ghosts, etc. Some of the adult costumes were very inventive - we saw a whoopee cushion, crayola crayons, jesus, where's wally, amongst others. Some people had obviously spent a lot of time and money on their costumes!

It was a great experience, and a lot of fun!

Settling in

So we've been in Vancouver for over a month now, and beginning to settle in. Our apartment is pretty much all furnished now, with Andrew satisfying his technology craving with the purchase of a 40" tv, home theatre speaker system and a Playstation 3. We've also bought a new bed - king size, which is the same size as a super king at home - which is amazing, and lovely to finally sleep well. We also finally got our cable, internet & phone hooked up - so I'm loving the tv selection and trashy girly reality shows. Yay!

Vancouver, being on the west coast, is home to some gorgeous sunsets - and when the clouds are right, they can be just stunning.

Work is going well for both of us, and we're getting in to a routine now - although now with everything pretty much set up, we're looking forward to using our days off to relax and explore, something we haven't had a lot of time for since we got here. It won't be long before we get endless rain and freezing temperatures apparently, so we should make the most of the next few weeks. We're aiming to go to a (ice) hockey game in the near future as well. We're also off down to Seattle at the beginning of November - I have a ticket to the Billy Joel & Elton John concert, which I'm very excited about!!

The sooner I pick up the accent over here, the better - I have a tough time talking to clients on the phone sometime, some of them just have no clue what I'm saying, which makes for interesting conversations! Face to face it seems to be fine. Mind you, there are some funny Canadian ways of saying things - "rule", "cool" and "school" often become two syllable words - "roo-all", "coo-all" and "skoo-all".

Highlight in the newspaper last week - the name of a Mountie chief superintendent - "Dick Bent". What were his parents thinking??!!

Kelowna & the Okanagan

Friday afternoon we took of with Nic & Daragh for the long weekend - it was a public holiday on Monday as well as Nic's birthday. We were heading for the Okanagan, and staying in Kelowna. It's the heart of BC's wine area, and right on a big lake. Kelowna is about 5 hours drive from the centre of Vancouver, and mostly highway all the way so you can do speeds of 120km/h or so most of the way - so we didn't get there until about 9pm. As Andrew and I checked in they mentioned that there was a comedy night on next door, so we went along to that, which was great!

Saturday morning we headed north, to a place called Vernon, which is on the north end of the lake. There is also another lake up there which we heard was really pretty, and you could see it had potential, but as the weather was so overcast and threatening rain, potential was about it really. Still, pretty countryside. In the afternoon the boys went and had a round of golf, while the girs went shopping. Nic & I came across some really cute little shops, little craft shops and cafes painted in cool colours. The boys finished, and said it was an awesome course - despite not being able to work out how to reverse the golf cart, so instead of asking, they just got out and pushed it whenever they needed to reverse!! The thing about boys not asking for help or reading instructions is so true!! That evening we went out for dinner and a couple of drinks.

Sunday and it was time to hit the wineries. Nic & Daragh have been here a few times before, so they knew where to go - the first one was in a really pretty location, overlooking the lake, but I didn't like the wine so much - but free tasting was alright! The next one was really nice - Mission Hill Vineyard. Beautiful location, on a point overlooking the lake in both directions, and lovely grounds. Good wine too, which helps! Then I suddenly realised that this was where Jillian had brought Jason on her hometown date (the Bachelor, people), and that made it even better! Yay!

Next it was on down to Penticton, at the south end of the lake. The weather had packed in and poured down, but we managed a bit of sun over lunchtime, which was nice - a lakeside cafe, across the road from the "beach" - imported sand by the lake! I think the rest of us by this time were all wineried out, but Nic was still going strong, so it was off to another two. Most overlook the lake, so it's nice to sit and dream away anyway. On the way back up the lake to Kelowna there was a big thunder and lightening storm over the lake, so we stopped and the guys tried to get photos of the lightening - both failed. That stuff is quick. In the evening it was out for a nice dinner in anticipation of Nic's birthday the next day, at a cool little wine bar.

Being a bit further east, we managed to get some good licence plate hunting in. Those of you who have had the pleasure to travel with me, especially in Ireland and the US, will know of my passion for spotting different states/provinces/counties. This has now continued in Canada. Obviuosly, being in BC, we get a lot of BC plates, but also the odd Washington one, being close to the border. However we've also seen Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario - in fact, we have an Ontario plate in our building, and Nic has a Quebec plate in hers - very fortunate. One of the highlights was seeing the highly sought after Saskatchewan (spelt without googling the name - becoming a true Canadian) plate in Kelowna. And then seeing another one on the drive home - double whammy! I'm still on the hunt for the northern ones, and the maritimes. I can but dream.....

Moving in

Sunday was moving day - we got to move in to our own apartment! First we had to go and pick up the van, which was almost an hour's bus ride away. As most leases here start on the 1st, everyone moves out/in around the last day of the month. So moving vans/trucks are hard to come by. We were lucky to get one at such short notice, even if it was an hour away! Then we went to Nic's friend's place, as they had a bed there for us to pick up. What we didn't realise is that it's a double - which, for us, may as well be a single! Andrew's feet pretty much hang off the edge and touch the floor - so not sure how long we'll last without getting a new bed. Considering we had a super-king in NZ, a double is a big adjustment! But, it's free, and in good nick, so it'll do for now.

Then it was off to Ikea -the holy grail. Oh how I love it there. We got most of our stuff from there and spent 4 hours there - which I must say, Andrew coped very well with. By the time we picked up our stuff from Nic's place, we unloaded and started to set up. All of the Ikea furniture comes flatpack, so it all needs assembling - which we took the next two days doing! It's quite time consuming, especially when there are drawers involved.


We also had to do things like go grocery shopping, as we had no food, and there were a few more bits and pieces we realised we needed. The other great news we had on Monday was that Andrew was offered a job, which he accepted - so within two weeks of setting foot in Canada, we've managed to move in to our own apartment, and both land jobs! YAY US!! He's got a job with a mining company, so it'll be a change from working with an insurance company - still in I.T.

I started work on Wednesday, and had the first part of the day in training. The systems here are quite different, so I'll have a lot to learn, but hopefully shouldn't take me too long. I'm just going to dive in next week and hope that people will be patient with me!!