Canada Exchange 2000

See our April weekend in Victoria.
See our Lake Louise Adventure.

We arrived safely in Vancouver at 12.40 pm on the 20th, 20 hours after flying out of Brisbane. The weather was cool and wet. A shuttle bus picked us up from the airport and delivered the Joneses to their hotel. After a long rest I organised rego and insurance ($1000!) for the Voyager and picked it up from the parking garage. It drives extremely well, even on the wrong side of the road! I have discovered why it has remote engine start, it is nice to warm up the car before getting in. Everyone is in good shape and very pleased to finally be here.
Met Rick Smith and his family for dinner on the Friday night. They are a lovely family and we were disappointed that we are not going to spend more time with them. Maybe we will get together back in Oz in 2001.
The drive to Vernon took us through some breathtaking 'winter' scenery, even had to avoid a deer crossing the road. However much of the driving also took my breath away. We were very relieved to finally get to the house in Vernon after almost 7 hours of nervous driving. Lucky for us the conditions were "good". We certainly have a beautiful place to live for the next 12 months with spectacular views from every room. There is snow everywhere and looks like a post card.

Two weeks have passed and have barely had a chance to take a breath. The weather has been very kind.....not too cold, and it has been clear every time we have ventured up to beautiful Silver Star Mountain. I am enjoying the snowboarding, but spend the rest of the week recovering from Saturday's adventures. The town of Vernon is full of beautiful sites and friendly people. We have been overwelmed with their hospitality. Even the students at Fulton High have given me a warm reception. The longggg lessons are still taking a bit of getting used to. Since arriving we have seen the Winter Carnival parade, been to nearby Kelowna for shopping and site-seeing, watched snow sculpturing, done lots of tobogganing, and generally socialised with the Vernonians.

Last weekend was a busy one. Saturday, February 12, I ventured up to the slopes for more punishment, while Kylie and the boys stayed in town to watch the Winter Carnival Parade and see 15 hot air balloons take off into the sky. We all had a great time at our respective activities, but I was still recovering from mine well into the week. On Sunday we all went back up to Silver Star to see the results of the snow sculpturing. They were real works of art as you can see by the pictures below.

February 19, we loaded up the Voyager and headed North to Revelstoke. The weather was beautiful once again so the roads were clear and the scenery spectacular. Revelstoke (population 8000) is 143 km from Vernon, just off highway 1, on the way to Banff. It is on the Columbia River and surrounded by the Monashee Mountains. The area receives more snowfall and is cooler than Vernon. Yards around town and the rooves of houses still had 2 to 3 feet of snow on them. We found out that it is quite a centre for heli-skiing and CAT skiing. CATs are big snowmobiles that can take up to nine skiers to the mountain tops so that they can enjoy skiing virgin, powder, snow. We are not quite up to that standard yet, but it sure sounds exciting. We enjoyed two nights at the Powder Springs Lodge and a day of skiing and tobogganing at the Powder Springs ski fields. It was a great weekend, only dampened by snow falling on the way home making conditions a bit slushy. It will definitely not be our last visit to Revelstoke.

March already! Not much action lately apart from frequent visits to Silver Star Mountain. We have even ventured up to the Star on a couple of nights. It is like a fairyland with all the lights, very enchanting! The snowboarding skills are improving steadily. Looking forward to the Spring Break.
I am enjoying teaching at Clarence Fulton Secondary School. It is a fairly new school with very modern facilites. The staff and students are friendly and helpful. The Capernican timetable took a while to get used to, but I am finding it quite good now, especially since I am on a spare half the day this quarter. Things will become more hectic during fourth quarter when I go back to teaching all day. The system involes the students taking eight, one term courses (two per term), during the year. Staff teach seven of the eight blocks. The lessons are long, 150 minutes with a 15 minute break in the middle, but there is plenty of work to cover. The students are quite motivated as there is continual assessment. Quizzes, homework and common exams all count towards a final grade at the end of the quarter. It is nice to only be required to plan for one or two classes each day.
Hopefully there will be lots more good photos to come after Spring break.

You can still reach us at this email address.
If you have already checked out the following pictures you can go straight to some new ones.

Here is a picture of me on the slopes......I wish!

Here are some other photos! (Click on the picture for a larger image.)
This is a photo of Nathan and Hayden at Silver Star Mountain, and a view across Lake Okanagan.

Here are some of Silver Star Mountain.

And the boys checking out some ducks.

This is the sleigh that gave us a ride and some of the snow sculptures.

Click here for more pictures.

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