My Bro's Wedding

The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy so it may take us a little while to catch up with the Blog entries. Firstly, and most importantly, my brother got married last Friday. The wedding was perfect and everyone had a brilliant time.

Pa and Ma

I don't wear a suit very often so I though the occasion should be documented

The wedding was in a meadow overlooking the township of Banff, not a bad spot.

The Bride and Groom

Biking Highwood Pass x 2

This weekends Canadian adventure was something a little different, biking Highway 40, Canada's highest paved road. Highway 40 is closed every winter to allow a free migration route for the various critters, this weekend marked the last weekend before it was reopened to cars. While it is not a long ride, just 38 km, the trip to the pass is an over 500 m gain. On Saturday Aleisha and I headed out and set a rather leisurely pace. The scenery was amazing and we even managed to spot a Black bear and cub.
For some reason I decided that once wasn't enough, so on Sunday I did the trip again but this time with Karl (not my bro but a friend from work). The pace was a little quicker but the ride was just as good. On the way up we spotted a Grizzly on the side of the road, thankfully he was happily munching on Dandelions and didn't pay much attention to us.

The slow climb

Aleisha enjoying biking

The Mountain Bike rack on the pass

The trip down was the best part

Karl and myself at the pass

Yamnuska

On Saturday we had our first true Canadian hike and it was a good one. A lot of the peaks still have snow on them so we are limited to the front range for a few more weeks. On the plus side the front range is a short 30 min drive from our front door. Saturdays peak was Yamnuska, which translates to Wall of Stone, when you see it the name seems fitting. The hike was a bit of a scramble in sections with a few interesting points and the ~800m gain was a little tiring. The trip down was a little quicker as we descended down a massive scree slope. Unfortunately one of the group took a pretty big fall after gaining too much speed down the scree, luckily there were no broken bones, just wounded pride.

Yamnuska 2240m, thats 12m higher than Mount Kosciusko and without the chairlift.

Looking over the edge of the main wall.

Aleisha and the view from the 3/4 point.

In Canada this is called scrambling, its so much more exciting than walking down a fire trail in the Blue Mountains.

Car camping Canada style

Last Monday was the Victoria Day (Queens Birthday) holiday so Aleisha and I headed out on our first Canadian car camp, the destination was just south of the township of Jasper in Jasper National Park. We took a scenic route via the Icefields Parkway, which turned out to be one of the most spectacular roads we have ever driven down. We were also lucky enough to spot a Black bear and cub on the side of the road, hopefully all our future bear encounters are as uneventful. Sunday was spent doing a couple of day walks and generally relaxing. Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse Sunday night and the snow set in. On Monday it was still snowing so we decided to take the "safe" route back to Calgary via Edmonton, as this would avoid the high alpine passes and hopefully most of the heavy snow. In the end we didnt avoid the snow and to make matters worse we woefully underestimated the distance. So about 700km later, after some of the worst driving conditions we have ever seen (not to mention the worst drivers, we saw two trucks that had rolled and about 6 other cars that had gone off the road) we made it back to Calgary.

The Icefields Parkway

Black bears

One of the many glaciers that flow from the icefield.

Doing the tourist thing on the Glacier

Not all the Canadian animals want to eat you.

Out and about

The last couple of weekends have been a little more relaxed than our Easter break, just a few short trips. Last weekend we had another attempt at snow shoeing and this weekend we checked out Lake Louise. There is still a fair bit of snow/ice on the trails and the weather gods have decided that spring is over and winter is back, so I dont know when hiking season will begin in earnest.

Easter Crucifiction

Over the Easter long weekend Aleisha and I had the pleasure of accompanying Karl and Jo on a Alpine Ski Touring trip to Egypt Lake. While it was only 12km to the hut, the combination of >20 kg packs, rental gear and our poor fitness meant that the first day was a 8 hr crucification. Thankfully on the second day we rested before being reborn on the third. All and all a great trip, very character building.

Healy Pass

Egypt Lake from the pass

The guides (Jo and Karl)

The Hut during a dump of snow on the second night

The four wise wo/men

Some bugger stole my bike

Just as we were beginning to think that Calgary is safer and nicer than Sydney some f#*ker goes and steals my bike. Stupidly enough we also hadn't organised insurance yet so it looks like I am going to have to get use to walking to work for a while...

Skiing

With winter apparently coming to an end there is just a few weeks left in the ski season. So this weekend Aleisha and I decided to check out Nakiska, one of the local ski fields less than an hours drive from our front door. The skiing was great and it was great to be back on the slopes. We also learnt a valuable lesson, when hiring a car to go skiing always make sure the back seats fold down or else it may be difficult to put skies in.

View from the top, well as far as the chair lifts went.

Aleisha takes on the "black diamond" run.

New Toy

Since Calgary drivers do not to actively hunt and enjoy maiming cyclists, unlike their Sydney counterparts, I have decided it is time to get back on a bike. The massive and excellent bike shop (Bow Cycles) just down the road from us had a ridiculous sale today so I picked up this beast of a bike for 1/2 price. Its a Specialized Hardrock Pro Disk with 100 mm front shocks and hydraulic disk breaks.
While the drivers may be friendly the roads are still covered with ice/snow so I guess there is a good chance that I will still end up hugging the pavement in the near future. I think I will go and buy a helmet tomorrow...

Snowshoeing

With the weather warming up (its now above zero during the day) Karl took Aleisha and myself out on a bit of a hike to Chester Lake. Of course as there is still lots of snow about hiking becomes snowshoeing, which turned out to be quite a fun experience.

Karl our tour guide, he wasn't very knowledgeable but I guess you get what you pay for.

The end result of trying to run with snow shoes through deep snow.

After a while we got the hang of it (photo thanks to Karl)

Mt Chester (3054 m)

We like Canada

Calgary

After almost 2 weeks of sorting out crap we can almost call Calgary home (for a year at least). Thankfully the rental market in Calgary is not as crazy as in Sydney and finding an apartment, sorry condominium, was a breeze. I think in the end we got quite lucky and got quite a good deal. The settling in process has been made a lot easier by the fact that the place is fully furnished. Aleisha managed to pick up a sweet job in downtown working at an optometrist. Best of all its Mon-Fri 9-5 (the pay is also pretty good) meaning we have every weekend free for adventures.

Our condo - check out the gas fire, no more slumming it like a poor student.

Our front yard covered in a fresh dump of snow (BBQ included),

The Bow river is just a stone throws away. Of course as it is -20 at the moment the river is kinda frozen over and as Uni is up a hill I cant skate to work.

Some people from Sydney might not know what this is but in Calgary they are called cycle paths. Apparently Calgary has ~700 km of them.

The snow here isnt that wet crud you get back in NZ or Oz its real snow.

Tasmania

I know this blog entry is out of chronological order, deal with it. About a month ago when the temperatures were touching 40 C in Sydney Aleisha and I were in the lovely temperate climate of Tasmania. The trip was a mix of tramping and road tripping through the northern part of the island. We spent 3 easy days tramping in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park. I guess 2 of the days were easy, it was heaving down with rain on the last day and I some how managed to get a leech stuck in my eye (sorry no photos). Apart from my close encounter with a leech it was a nice trip.

The Walls

Camp day 1: No sleeping in puddles tonight.

Artistic attempt

This photo needs a little explaining. Walking into the Walls National park we came across an old trappers hut. Outside was a hollow tree trunk with what I though was a old possums tail nailed to it. It turned out that the possum was very much alive, he just like to sleep there (he was still fast asleep when we came back 2 days later).

One of the truly great features of Tasmania is the wildlife, we manage to see; Wombats, Tiger Snakes, Echidnas, White Lipped Whip Snakes and lots of leeches.

Canada

The blog has been a little neglected of late as we have been preparing for our big move. Thankfully the waiting is now over and we have finally arrived in Calgary. The weather gods were kind as it was snowing and only a mild -10 C. Our Macpac down jackets have finally been tested and seem to prevent frostbite. More updates will follow when we finally get an appartment and internet.

New Zealand

The Christmas break was a little busy for Aleisha and I this year but it was great to be home again. I had a conference in Christchurch in mid December, the conference was a little dull but it was still good to catch up with friends and old colleagues again After that I was up to Auckland for Stefans stag party, I cant remember much but I sure felt rough the next day so I assume it went well. Aleisha then flew into ChCh and we had our first Christmas in NZ for 5 years (One of the many benefits to getting married is that you can enjoy twice as many Christmas dinners).
On Boxing day Stefan and Claire flew down from Auckland to join us for some tramping and 8 long hours of driving later we arrived at Glenorchy Airport. The planed trip was a tramp known as the 5 passes, which was mostly off track with no huts and takes ~5 days. As time was going to be tight we decided to cheat a little and hire a helicopter to drop us off at the start of the walk and save a boring day trip walking up a river valley. The helicopter ride was amazing, certainly better than walking! The tip didnt go exactly to plan, bad weather caused us to spend some days stuck in the tents using up our walking time. We all decided to take the safe option and not try to rush the trip, sadly it meant we had to change the trip and walk back out.
The change in plans meant we got out a day early and we ended up spending New Years in a hotel in Omarama. New Years day we drove back to Darfield and spend the day attempting to dry out all our kit.
Feeling refreshed, the next day Aleisha and I headed up to Wellington to spend some time with my Grany and Nanna. The fun and excitement didnt end there though, and a couple of days later we headed to Auckland for Stefans and Claires wedding on Waiheke Island. The wedding was lovely and the weather perfect. We even managed a little time for R&R before flying back to Sydney.

Are we insane?

The end of MOvember

I think everyone is glad that Movember is finally over and my dirty moustache is finally gone. In the end I managed to raise $545.40 which made the embarrassment worth it. I would like to thank everyone who donated and everyone else who didnt make fun of me.

Movember

This year I decided to throw away the small amount of dignity that I had left and grow a Mo, for a good cause of course. While the initial progress had me having second thoughts, the second week gave better results and its now becoming a passable Mo. I have been pleasently surprised by the number of donations that I have received with my total already over $200. To check out the Mo progress see the link. If you would like to sponsor the Mo and support a great cause then please follow this link. Remember you can only make fun of the Mo if you sponsor me.

Goodbye Hulk

Well all good things must come to an end. With us heading to NZ for almost a month over Christmas and then off to Canada soon after it was time to goodbye to the Hulk (our car). Unfortunately we picked a poor time to sell with petrol prices coming back to earth and the economy hitting the shitter meaning the selling price wasn't great. But to be honest the Hulk wasn't without its faults (climbing too many mountains and fording too many streams) and I doubt we will be buying a Hyundai again anytime soon.