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We waited til 2am on sat
15th before our Air Pacific flight took off (we were given meal vouchers, funnily after 3 hours of waiting and
20 minutes before we boarded – people were running to the plane with paper plates of food!) (this was the tomorrows
dinner… if you see what I mean…?)
We then arrived in Honolulu
back on the Friday. We had to de-plane, be ferried to customs on a bus, go through security, then walk back to the plane and
reboard.
I then flew to Vancouver.
Snow.
Brilliant.
The whole city was under a good few centimeters of fresh snow, and my snowboard and gear was winging its
way out from merry old Englandland in the good and capable hands of Dr. Adrian Hugeass M.D., my mate Ade.
My Aunt picked me up from
the airport, it was quite something to see a member of my family again. (My Grandmother, Aunt, Uncle and cousins, and new
second cousin all live here, hence the visit). It really felt like the end of my travels, more like returning to a second
home, I know the place and I know the people… no Lonely Planet.
But, a little sheepishly,
my visiting would have to wait. Ade (Howser) and his buddy Chris arrived the next day for 10 days of fun in the snow at Whistler
Blackcomb (North America’s largest Ski area, apparently…!). We stayed with my
Bro who, since I left home, has emigrated to Canada
and, very handily, bought a home in Squamish, 45 mins from Whistler.
It then became apparent
that Howser (Hughsie) thought I was a jinx. I thought I had just brought the nice and warm weather from Fiji (along with a few belly rumblers). The snow melted and
it started to rain for six days. Everywhere I have been snowboarding in the past 10 years has had its worst weather in recent
history….what can I say, I am very warm hearted…
But we still had mucho
fun, and even benefited from the good PR stuff they had going; half price lunch, we got a whole days skiing for free, and
two free lessons – and we got to wear these neat plastic bin bags to look super cool!
I was just happy the snow
was soft, not solid ice like in NZ (eh, Dan?). We had a great few days, getting very soaked, but also progressing quite a
bit. We played in the terrain park (which had reasonable sized jumps to learn on, not the big whoppers of the Remarks!).
We had a good few nights
in the Shady Tree, and an interesting evening in ‘town’ on Hughsie’s and Chris’ last night. And then
it was time to bundle them back on the plane, a short but very fun trip!
Sure, I was sad to see
them go….. but on the other hand, Cathy (my Bro’s friend) was going
to go to Big White Ski Resort and asked if I would like to go too.
Big White!! I am trying
to go there anyway, that’s where Sammy Sam is!! Acacia Sammy is spending her second season up at Big White and we have
been planning to meet up for about 7 months, I think, but I had no way of getting there. Until now!
So Cath and I loaded up
her little red jeep and set off into the Rockies.
It was great. Her cousin,
Neil, owns an apartment right in the thick of the skiing which he offered to us, Brill! After a day of phone tag I found Sammy
Sam – Yipppeee, great to see her again! And good timing to, this was her last week before flying out to NZ, and she
had quit her job purely to play on the mountain!
| How do I get out of here? |
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| How did I GET here?!? |
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| Sammy makes an appearance |
The three of us had a great
time, and, although it was still the worst conditions Big White has seen all season….. it was still bloody brilliant
to me!
Neil came up for the weekend,
and then it got serious. He showed us his mountain! We spent a great couple of days in Neil’s ‘back yard’
– the areas out of bounds, we skied and rode in the forsested bowls beyond the pistes, in powder zipping and winding
through the trees, on routes that six years of experience had honed. Great stuff. Thanks Neil!
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| YaaaaaaHHOOOOOOOO !!!! |
We had a couple more fun
days with Sam, on the slopes, and in Snow Shoe Sam’s and Raakels. But then, as is always the case it was time to say
goodbye. It was an outstanding few days.
Cath and I returned to
Vancouver.
Now I could get down to some serious visiting. Perfect timing, as the Flu Quarantine on the Nursing Home where Nanna stays
was just lifted. So I went to visit her. I had a great visit, she was on an occasional good day, and was awake and listened
to my stories, and chuckled and chatted. I was very lucky to catch her so alert.
Then from one end of the
scale to the other, Wendy, my cousin, had booked me in for Nanny duty for Tom, my little first cousin once removed, while
Maarten was off on work travels.
We had a great time, Tom
and I! On the swings, in his Excer-saucer, and with his little piano, and all
sorts! But can he ever dribble!
| He has a brilliant middle name |
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| William |
I decided to replace my
broken camera with a new fangled digital contraption, and this turned into a bit of a mission. But eventually I chose and
got a nifty little machine – so now I can wow you all with more pictures (the ones previously were courtesy of Neil,
Thanks.)
I had another brilliant
visit with Nanna a few days later. Quite exceptional, as the next day she was extremely weak and frail. So much so that all
the nearby cousins may our way to see her in the afternoon. That evening she died, with my Aunt by her bedside.
It was an extremely peaceful
release, she was 99, a good innings by any standard! And a very special time to be with my family.
I spent the next few days
with John, my cuz, and Wendy and Tom, and Jen, my other CuzZen, flew in from Toronto - another pleasant re-acquaintance.
John had planned a trip
to Whistler with a few Uni friends and invited me along, oh twist my arm then…
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| Beautiful (the scenery, not John) |
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| I think there is a mountain....over there |
We went up for a couple
of days and had brilliant fun. No new snow, but it was lovely and sunny, and we found a brilliant jump. Just call me Will
‘360’ Miller….well, maybe Billy347.
I spent my last few days
in Vancouver hanging out with my Cousins, playing Motorcycle Madness and Thief, and watching The Office with John (and emailing),
playing with Tom and Wendy, saying bye to Jen, cooking for everyone and shooting cowboys with my Bro and his friends!
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| Wild wild west ..of Squamish |
But my flight ticket said
it was time to go. I was extremely reluctant, I had really had a great time, I shall be back sooner rather than later, I hope.
Thankyou all for a fun and special time!
So I said farewell, to
my Fam, and almost felt like I was traveling again – for I was on my way to Boston, via LA. But I had realized LA is quite close to
San Diego, I know three lovely ladies in San Diego…
let me out for a few days please!
I arrived in LA, and had
a surprisingly hassle free exit from the airport. I immediately jumped on a train to San
Diego, with the hope of seeing Monica, Lucia and Valeria, the mothers of Bobby Dazzler! (I had only
emailed them the day before telling them that I was coming…)
And brilliantly they were
all free the next day (except Val works in the evening) and the weekend! And to top it of, it was Val’s birthday on
Saturday! But of course I knew that... and had planned my whole visit around that…
So on Friday a huge black
BMW rolled up to me and I was greeted by Charlie’s Angels, Val, Luc and Mon, and introduced to the newest member of
the clan, little Olivia, Monica’s daughter!! Little cutie!
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| Good to see the San Diegans again |
The girls then took great
pride in showing me their city. I only had four days with them, but we crammed a lot in! We went rollercoasting, wandering
around the museum buildings in Balboa Park, rollerblading along the harbour, had HUGE
margaritas in the Old Town,
very Mexican.
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| Chin Chin |
We watched the Oscars, and we celebrated Val’s B’day, at Luc and Mon’s Parents house –
what a gathering! About 5 birthdays were celebrated, all with in the past week, it was great. There was a feast of real Mexican
Tacos, being freshly prepared outside, plenty of Coronas and tequila, with salt and lime on every table. A very close and
friendly family, it was great fun to join in, thanks for having me! Happy Birthday Val!
And of course, I could
not leave before watching the infamous video! If Val was going to have that camera glued to her face for our entire European
trip, it was the least I could do to watch it – I couldn’t wait!!
It was brilliant watching
our whole Contiki tour again, it really made me realize how much I miss you Contiki guys, and what a brilliant trip it was.
Astounding that it was over two years ago now! Yikes! But worth the wait to see the footage of ‘That Night’ in
Venice!!
HA Ha!
And again, all too soon,
it was time to leave. But I am supremely grateful I managed to see the girls again, Thanks Lucia for letting me sleep on your
lumpy duvet!! And thanks to all (four) of you for a brilliant few days!
So, after a train ride
back to LA, and a bizarre night in a weird hostel where I had to wake up at 4:30am without an alarm (I still don’t know
how I did it!) I trundled my way to LAX, and caught my plane to Boston (after having a personal search and a pat down by
the security, they were a bit dubious of my juggling balls!)
There was even more snow
in Boston than Vancouver!
And I had sent my snowboard
home with my Brother – poop.
But I wasn’t here to snowboard, I was here to visit my best buddy from School, Little Mister Jim (Garth)
and his Marvelous wife, Hilary. Even though I had been switched to another flight, and been delayed, we all arrived at the
airport at exactly the same time. They took me for a nice meal and then back to their condominium (teehee). Aaah it’s
Larry Graaason, supersmash to see little Gimli dwaaf and Hilarious again ( Trans: It is most enjoyable to be reunited with
my friends Garth and Hilary) It a shame Hows could ne make it, oh well, eh?
Jimll (Garth) had even
taken time off work, so a couple of days later he took me up to New Hampshire, to the mountains, where there is even more
snow. ‘And what would you do there?’ I hear you ask, ‘Hiking??’
No sir! No hiking in this snow – its Snow Shoeing time!! Its now a far cry from the old tennis racket strapped
to your foot, but it is still just as comical!
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| Anyone for tennis? |
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| Oh.....I've fallen |
We had a great day Hiking
up the mountain (a wee were), very peaceful and tranquil, in between our fits of hysterics. And it was COLD – it was
10 degrees… but then I realized that was Fahrenheit, it was minus 12 degrees in real talk!! Brrrr – my sandwich
for lunch had frozen!
It was a brilliant day,
in fact it was…. Wwwicked.
Then the next day we bundled
into the car, after Marv (Hilary) had finished work, and headed back up to new Hampshire. We had been invited to go skiing with some
of Marv’s colleagues, Michelle, Cathy, Julie and Peeeterrrr, staying at Michelle and Cathy’s brilliant house.
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| Handsom |
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| yummy |
We had a great day of snowboarding/skiing
at WildCat
Mountain. Mister (Garth) and I speeded and zoomed around, I even taught
him a thing or two (like how to jump up, twizzle about 168 degrees, then slide of your face for 20 meters and swoop to a stop!
Impressive!)
A good day was had by all,
despite how good the night before had been aswell!!
The next day I was introduced
to yet another snow bound sport - cross country skiing!
We got kitted out with
hire stuff in someone’s front living room, and I donned my handsomely bright yellow boots, and headed for the tracks.
It was amazingly pretty, and very bizarre to be shuffling along on very narrow planks. They did help, for sure, but they gave
everyone a highly entertaining, peculiar little sweeping toddle. It was a fun morning.
Then after some soup and
homemade bread, put on by the ski lenders, we drove home via Hilarious’ parents for a quick visit and a pizza. Nice
to see them again!
Mister (garth) had another
couple of days off work, which we seemed to spend juggling (so much so that he now had tendonitis in his hands!). We were
going to go snowboarding again, the approaching blizzard did not detract us, nor did the loss of my goggles, nor the loss
of the car keys. Finally the flat tyre put an end to our outdoor pursuits, possibly a good thing, because when the blizzard
came, it was a stinker! So we juggled some more.
So now both Garth and Hilary
(Gimpy and Marvelous) are back at work, and I am home alone finally managing to update my webthingy (while running rampant
round their empty house, flushing cutlery down the toilet, putting jelly in their underwear draw and stapling their shoes
to the ceiling).
And so that brings me up
to date, which is a relief, but also extremely sad. This will be my last ever update of my travels, as this is my last day
of my travels. That’s right, tomorrow I clamber on another plane…..and go home.
It has been Eight hundred
and sixty nine days since I left. I can’t begin to tell you what a great time I have had (well I suppose I just have
really..) I can’t believe how many fantastic people I have met. (Actually how fantastic the many people I met were!)
A lot of people ask me where my favourite place has been. I can’t tell them, because I have realized – it’s
the people that make the place - you guys. Thankyou to all and everyone who I have spent a little or a long moment with,
who have made my trip what it was – I was just along for the ride! Thankyou…
… and goodbye.
Jeepers, that was bit melodramatic,
wasn’t it!
I will see some of you soon!! I’m on my way home!!
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| It might take a while though!! Boom boom! |
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