We attempted to find some worthwhile gifts at the souvenir shops, as we’d so far been very unfortunate in this department, but continued our losing streak here. Soon after we departed for Vancouver, a whopping 40 minute flight, and arrived just after lunch in the rainy city. Surprisingly today it wasn’t raining… but it was overcast, with temperatures in the low positives, so there was certainly every chance that it might. This didn’t affect Tori and I, as we spent the remainder of the day and afternoon inside the airport terminal – between food establishments, souvenir shops and the airport Fairmont hotel. Nat, Tess and Ed decided to catch the Sky Train for one last visit to the city centre, so they disappeared until just after sunset when they returned, not having managed to catch up with Michelle, Dave and the girls, who had been in Vancouver for a few days now.

Having a room at the hotel was a welcome convenience – especially because of the seemingly super-comfy beds (in comparison to the previous week at Big White) – and most of us managed a shower and a change of clothes before the evening crawled too far along. It wasn’t long, however, before Ed had checked the last bag through for the rest of the journey, and we were checking out of the hotel (before even spending a night), ready to clear security and head to the gate. Our flight wasn’t scheduled to board until 11:10pm, so after meeting up with the girls and Dave, we proceeded to attempt one last shopping spree, only partially successful, and spent the remainder of the wait exploring the rather deserted international terminal.

We boarded the plane and departed a little late, at just past midnight, due to a requirement to de-ice the plane before takeoff, but we were soon on our way – 14 (and a bit) hours of confined spaces and fairly average movies this time around. Luckily the flight itself was uneventful, other than a few bumpy sections across the tropics, and all concerned managed to secure a few hours sleep – certainly a few more than the flight over. The food wasn’t particularly exciting, but nobody seemed to care a whole lot due to the overwhelming exhaustion that the group was feeling. Just after 10:20am we landed in Sydney, cleared customs and immigration with all nine bags in line, and made a rather incident free transfer to the domestic terminal. This was the final stage of the journey, thankfully, after a trip that had technically started on Friday 27th January and was now ending on Sunday the 29th. We indulged in a little Australian coffee (and a beer or two) before boarding our final flight, then were on our way home.

We reached Adelaide just after 2pm and were relieved to finally be home after a mammoth day. Unfortunately the weather was quite hot and humid – not a good mix after spending the last month in below-zero temperatures – but it was certainly better than the plus 40s in the weeks before our return. Both parties completed the journey without injury, and without losing luggage on this final leg which was a welcome relief. I’m not going to detail any further than the airport, for fear of starting to document regular, everyday life – I’m certainly not going down that path on an everyday basis.

After just over a month of adventure-filled days away, this marks the end of the 2011/12 Canada Ski Adventure. Take a look, one final time, at some of the photos from the last few days, and thanks for playing along at home (by reading, commenting, and generally making us feel loved). I do intend to be a little more proactive on the blogosphere in the coming months, but certainly don’t expect a day-by-day, blow-by-blow rundown of our everyday lives… they really aren’t that exciting. Come back every now and then though and say hi!

Until next time…

On the way outside we bumped into a friend of Tori’s who had flown into Canada just the day before, and spent another 15 minutes chatting here. Meanwhile, Ed skied another run to check the conditions, and returned a little colder and whiter than when he’d left. Regardless, we headed out with hopes of improvement as the afternoon rolled on, and skied many of the same runs as the days before. Because there had been lots of fresh snow both overnight and during the morning, most runs were fairly thick, so this provided a few additional challenges than had been there the last time we’d come through this area. Despite the thicker snow, Tori was feeling more and more confident, and started skiing through the trees behind Ed and I. This ended in a few small stacks, but it was a new spin on the runs we’d skied before. We continued skiing here until around 2:30pm, getting a little colder each run with considerable wind on the chair ride up. When we got too cold to be outside we skied one final run down to the Happy Valley Daylodge, where we’d had a close encounter the day before. Luckily today there weren’t any undesirables on the run, and we finished our day (and stay) without incident and without injury.

Although they were serving lamingtons and meat pies at the Happy Valley Daylodge this evening, we took a different route and had dinner at 6 Degrees – the same location as Tori and I had eaten at last night – but tonight we went with everyone. They had some Australian-ised specials, which many of us indulged in, but it was nice to have one final proper meal before our day of travel tomorrow. Dinner was (mostly) enjoyed by all, with the exception of a few minor complaints, and we returned to the apartment to spend the remainder of the evening packing our bags for the journey home tomorrow. Although this was surprisingly a lot less painful than we first anticipated, we managed to gain one extra bag since arriving here at Big White, so the transfer down the mountain tomorrow is set to be even more of a difficult puzzle than it was on the way up.

Tomorrow marks our last day here in Canada, and most of the day is set to be spent in and around airports, airplanes and other forms of transport. It’s set to be a (very) long day, and although it’s certainly sad after a month in the Great White North, it’s certainly going to be a nice change to sleep in a bed with a mattress worth more than five cents. We took a few photos today, but not as many as yesterday due to the slightly less impressive weather conditions. Take a look here, and make sure you stop back for one last time (for this time) in the next few days to here our travelling adventures (or hopefully lack thereof).

We decided to take a break for lunch, and instead of our usual routine of eating at the main part of the village, we decided to meet Nat and Tess who had been down at Happy Valley on the ice rink. For the first time this stay, we skied down a long (but beginner) trail which would take us all the way to the base of the mountain, and the Happy Valley Daylodge. Unfortunately on the way down, a number of inconsiderate boarders buzzed past us at a ridiculous pace, yelling to get out of their way – I decided I’d had enough with inconsiderate boarders and returned a few words as a result. Tori had been a little uncomfortable with the lack of control and consideration shown by others on the beginner slopes since we’d arrived here (they should all be ‘slow zones’, according to the rules), so it really wasn’t fair to just let yet another close-call slip under the carpet unchallenged. Although the boarders continued past us at a ridiculous speed, we were soon to find that they were waiting at the bottom of the slope to confront us about this little intrusion of their precious mountain.

There were quite a number of words exchanged, and many in-your-face moments had, but luckily no physical contact occurred. Their argument consisted of two main points: 1. They were local, so it was their mountain. We needed to get lost. And 2. When they shout to get out of their way, we needed to do so. A solid case, as you’ll understand. I considered taking a photo of them so we could effectively report them to mountain staff and have their passes revoked, but with a touch of fear for the safety of my camera, I decided this wasn’t such a good idea. A nearby liftie pretended to show some interest, but nothing happened as a result. We were a little bit rattled with their stupidity, and so decided to head back up to the main village to eat lunch – perhaps we should have stuck to our original routine? Nat and Tess decided to join us, and although we did file a complaint, there wasn’t much that could be done without some form of evidence and/or an accurate description of the douchebags. Let’s just hope that they decided to go home and get a job (or something) so they won’t be around tomorrow.

While we took some time inside to indulge in a warm meal, the snow continued to get heavier outside, so on returning to the slopes, it was very much a whiteout. The winds had picked up a little from earlier in the day, and although the snow conditions were quite favourable, we decided to have an early day after skiing a few more runs. On returning to the room, we had a lazy afternoon on the couch and watched as the sun slipped below the horizon – well, assuming it wasn’t cloudy of course.

Tonight Ed, Nat and Tess headed down into Kelowna for a local hockey match. Tess got a little snap-happy while there, so I’ve put up all the photos, but you can decide for yourself as to how many tickle your fancy! Tori and I ventured downstairs to a small restaurant called 6 Degrees where we had perhaps the most amazing meal of our entire stay here in Canada. So much so that we’ve already booked again for tomorrow – Australia Day. Both the food and wine was very much enjoyed, as was the company of the two tables either side of us; Tori continued to feed her addiction of talking to strangers, although we did meet some interesting people. In the end we managed to spend just over three hours at the restaurant – much longer than expected – and found our way back to the apartment at nearly 10pm. The hockey crew didn’t return until 11pm, but after a huge day everyone headed for bed very soon afterwards.

Tomorrow is our fourth and final day here at Big White – not sure what the weather has in store for us, but hopefully a little less chance of confrontation. Take a look at the photos from today – quite a few scenic shots, and a million hockey ones, but enjoyable all the same. Hope the weather has come back to some resemblance of bearable back home!

Just after 10am we ventured into the village with members of both crews, where we met up with Ed and Tess who had decided to take a break from skiing. The weather conditions had further deteriorated from earlier in the morning, with visibility now down to only a few metres plus nasty winds to go with it. Although the temperature wasn’t too bad, the winds made the conditions just nasty so we were quite glad to be inside. We stopped at Beano’s for a coffee and a hottie (for the girls), then did a quick window shop of the local stores (not finding anything worth purchasing unfortunately) before saying our goodbyes to Michelle, Dave and the girls. They were off to Vancouver today for a few days of rest and relaxation (sightseeing and other touristy pleasures), while the rest of us continued here in the snow. Luckily they had no trouble with their bags (unlike us), and were soon making their way down the mountain. We made a quick stop at Central Reservations to complain about our bedding, but no luck here. On the way back to the apartment we stopped at the Big White Bakery (which was scarily like the Seventh Avenue Bakery for those playing at home) for a quick meal.

The weather hadn’t improved as we made the short trek across the village, so we decided to spend today indoors, once again. Tori and I managed a hot tub, which was outdoors, however, while Nat and Tess headed to Happy Valley (not the one in South Australia) for some ice action. I’m not going to stretch this out to make it seem like we had an exciting night because we really didn’t – dinner was in-house, and we spent the rest of the evening on the computer or in front of the TV. Exciting lives we lead I know. There are only a few photos from today, but some worth a giggle – check them out here. Hopefully tomorrow should be a little more exciting for us and you, but we’ll just have to see what the morning brings. Until then, have fun!

Before too long, Tori and I were on the slopes – Tori very much enjoying some boots that actually fit – heading to the base of the mountain. Unfortunately we found a bit of a crowd down here, unlike Silver Star during the week which had been a complete ghost town, so decided to head for another part of the mountain on reaching the top of the Snow Ghost Express. We skied a few runs, constantly avoiding the out-of-control snowboarders that seem to plague every ski resort ever established, before Ed and Tess caught up with us purely by chance, and we decided to all head in for some lunch (a little earlier than normal, but considering we’d started earlier than normal this seemed reasonable). Nat met us in the village, and we enjoyed the slightly quieter-than-normal crowds we’d stumbled upon as a result of our early stop (by early, of course, I mean around midday…).

After lunch the four of us skied a number more runs before heading to the Black Forest area where we met up with Michelle, Dave, Emma and Bronte. Tori skied her first blue run over here (that’s the second difficulty up for those playing at home), and then followed this by her second, third, fourth and fifth of the same (different runs, mind you). Although the weather had closed in for most of the morning, we were treated by blue skies and sunshine for much of the later afternoon we were outside, and we skied right up until 3:30pm when the lifts closed. A big day of skiing, which in the end, was enjoyed by all.

Dinner tonight was in-house – cooked by chefs Nat and Ed – and soon after this Tori and I ventured to the Mega Snow Coaster, Big White’s version of snow tubing, with Emma, Bronte and Michelle. Although both Tori and I, and Emma and Bronte had been tubing at Silver Star only last week, we hadn’t managed to go tubing together, so tonight was as good as an excuse as any to head back out into the cold air and brave the elements for some crazy winter evening action. Although the tubing is enjoyable here at Big White, with two more runs than the Silver Star version, the Silver Star offering is probably slightly more enjoyable (and exciting) overall. We stayed outside until nearly 9pm when the tub park closed, then made our way back up the gondola to the hotel with the girls.

Overall, today was a tiring day, but enjoyable at the same time due to the good conditions and company. Let’s see if we can manage at least an extra hour of sleep tonight in an attempt to be at least coherent by this time tomorrow. If not, a few more days like this and my ramblings are going to deteriorate into more rubbish than normal! Take a look at today’s photos – there are quite a few nice landscape ones, as well as some action ones too when the sun came out. Enjoy!

Other than this slight luggage dilemma, and the lack of fresh air in the back of the car meaning we were feeling just a touch motion sick, the journey was uneventful. I didn’t manage to take any photos on the road, which is strange for me, but we were stuck behind a large advertising decal on the side of the car, so I can’t imagine the photos would have turned out anything like ones we’ve taken before. In fact, if you’re desperate enough to see photos of what this journey looked like, the photos from last year will suffice. Because of the gravel and salt on the roads, everything takes on a dirty brown look in winter, so without the tall snowy trees lining the highway, everything just looks like it needs a bit of a hose down. Some nice scenery nonetheless, but a little more ‘pure’ white would be nice.

We arrived at Big White, just outside the town of Kelowna, around 12:30pm. In true Big White style, however, the room wasn’t ready (I’m convinced this is a ploy to get arriving visitors to spend money in the village while they wait), so we found ourselves a nice quiet spot to grab some lunch while we waited. Lunch was mostly enjoyed by all, and by the time we left the restaurant the snow was coming down heavily outside (that blue sky didn’t follow us, by the way). We didn’t have to wait too long before our accommodation was ready and made the short hike across the slope to the hotel. Luckily our 14 (or so) bags were brought across by Big White staff, but the ridiculously long access code did halt us for a few seconds as we tried to open the door. While the room was spacious, the terribly outdated furniture and fittings made for an interesting reception by all parties concerned. To top it all off, the bed is probably the worst bed I’ve ever encountered – sleeping on a kitchen bench would actually be like floating on air in comparison. Regardless, we all angrily settled in while Ed, Nat and Tess headed back out to collect some supplies for the next few days.

As the afternoon passed by we witnessed the aftermath of a rather nasty multi-car collision on the road out of the resort (which we could see from our window), then soon after headed out for some dinner. Tonight we headed to the Moose Lounge, at the base of the village gondola, as we were planning an evening ice skating session with Michelle, Emma and Bronte. Luckily the snow had stopped falling as we prepared to head out into the chilly evening, so the conditions were much more enjoyable. In the end we skated right up until just before the rink closed at 9pm, with no major falls (or injuries) and a good time had by all. The girls were far more energetic than they should have been at 9pm (and after a whole day of skiing), but nonetheless we made the journey back to the main part of the village with only a minor amount of screaming, dog barks and crazy behaviour on the gondola.

On returning home, I managed to get myself locked out of the building as I waited for Nat to come down the stairs – little did I know she had gone another way, so when I went to see what was taking her so long, the door slammed behind me, and without a code, I was stuck. Luckily Tori rescued me a short time later, and we headed for bed soon after getting in. Who knows how many seconds of sleep we’ll actually get tonight, but I’m hoping more the 60…

Check out the few photos from today and see the ice skating action!

Tess decided to spend our last day here on the pond, so Ed, Tori and I hit the slopes to finish the week off with a ski. We tried to avoid the Silver Woods area after the slightly steeper than expected run a few days back, so headed straight to the Comet Express – unfortunately we found a considerable queue resulting in a 10 minute wait. Although this wasn’t as bad as Whistler can get at busy times, it was a system shock compared to the ghost town we’d been experiencing the last few days. Unlike in Whistler, however, the Australian influence here seems to mean that people just push to get to the front of the queue, making it a rather undesirable experience overall. Regardless, we headed to the top and finished some of the runs that we had only started a few days before.

Because of the wind, and the rather frustrating “I’m God’s gift to snowsports” skiers and boarders that seemed attracted to the mountain on the weekend, we didn’t last long before stopping at the Town Hall Eatery for lunch, meeting Nat and Tess who had come in from the pond. Luckily the Town Hall wasn’t too busy, but the queue for food was certainly the largest we’ve seen. We didn’t stay inside too long, and soon were back out in the windy conditions, battling the crowds for a few last runs before we called it quits. Tori took a few stumbles along the way, but far less than the days before, although everyone was certainly getting quite tired by the end of the day. A close call happened just before we stopped for the day, where a young girl skied straight over the front of Tori’s skis, not even attempting to stop or turn around once she’d nearly added another hit to her counter. The worst part was the that mother, skiing some distance behind, didn’t bother to mutter a word as she skied past – the proud owner of an out-of-control terror. If I could recommend anything, it would be to avoid Silver Star on the weekend. No questions asked.

Before too long we found ourselves skiing the last run of our stay here at Silver Star, perhaps a little trickier than what we should have done at this stage during the day, but were back at the accommodation soon after. Luckily the TV had been restored while we were out, so our usual afternoon activities resumed with a few added minutes of shut-eye on my scorecard. Tonight we headed back to the Bulldog Grand Cafe for dinner, and managed to narrowly avoid a confrontation with an agitated Australian family (bloody Australians!) who had been waiting for a table without a reservation while we skipped the queue and sat right down thanks to some forward planning on Nat and Tess’ part. Dinner was enjoyable, but with everyone feeling a little exhausted from another big week there was a tense moment or two. On returning from dinner we packed our bags, ready for one more location swap tomorrow.

Take a look at our final-day Silver Star photos here, or, take a quick look at the summary video (containing the images too) below! Here’s to hoping we might see some blue sky next week, just for a day even!

It was right on 1:30pm when we arrived at the snowmobile hut to get geared up and ready to roll – this involved getting a new pair of ski pants, jacket, helmet and boots. Ed and I had learnt our lesson last year when not using the loan gear, and found ourselves smelling of petrol for days after – so today, loan gear was the go. It wasn’t long before we were onboard the snowmobiles and on the road, heading to the Silver Star backcountry. The ride started with a short tunnel under the road (a very tight squeeze!), but soon we were away from any form of road and following only a few tracks covered in thick snow from the few days before. Tori started cautiously, but by the end of the tour this was definitely a thing of the past.

Craig, our snowmobile tour guide, decided to take me on a little off-road adventure while Tori sat and watched, but this only lasted about 10 seconds before I got stuck in the powder, in need of a dig out. It wasn’t too long before we were back on the trail and heading for the first powder field, ready for us to cruise about. We soon continued along until we reached a second, much larger, powder field where Craig let us run up in amongst the trees and open areas below. Tori decided to head on perhaps the longest trail around the area, and we lost sight of her for a good few minutes until she reappeared behind us, and drove straight into a tree. Luckily it was a small tree, with a lot of bend, and no damage was done to her or the snowmobile (luckily for my $500 bond), and we didn’t even have to cut the tree down as we do when Ed drives.

From here we headed off along a series of trails – some far less travelled than others – and found our way to a Vernon Snowmobiling Association hut where the plan was to light a fire and warm up just a touch. Luckily the weather wasn’t so cold today so we actually weren’t very cold, as on arriving we found a group of snowmobiling locals who had already built a fire and were enjoying the conditions with a beer (or two) in hand. We didn’t stay very long and instead headed back our to the trails and found our way to a third and final powder field, complete with a small racetrack with some man-made corners and bumps. Because of the thick cloud cover it was already starting to get dark before we made the short trip back to the snowmobile hut at Silver Star – it was also starting to snow heavily, so luckily the village shuttle picked us up and returned us to the hotel in much less time than it would have taken to walk.

Although the snowmobiling had been tiring, we decided to continue the outdoor/extreme theme and made our way to Tube Town – Silver Star’s snow tubing park. Ed, Nat and Tess had headed into Vernon this afternoon to watch a local hockey match, so it was just Tori and I sliding away on the equivalent of pool tubes, down some very slick runs. The tubes are completely free from any form of control (including stopping), so the runs utilise a thick cover of hay to stop the sliders once they reach the bottom. As the snow had continued to fall all evening, there was quite a considerable cover of new snow on the runs making them very speedy indeed. We spent a good hour in the elements before stopping at the Tube Town Cantina (cue Star Wars cantina tune…) for a quick bite before heading back for a few more runs at Tube Town.

On our final run down, either the runs had become even faster than before, or the staff member at the top was feeling a little more energetic, but Tori and I ended up skidding straight over the hay, up the slope, and crashed right into the inflated barrier at the end of the three runs – hitting it with enough force to actually disconnect it from the air supply, resulting in a fair amount of deflation. This alone is worth watching today’s eight minute video for, I guarantee it. After this rather exciting last ride, we headed back to the hotel for a good relax before heading to bed. Tomorrow is our last day here at Silver Star and we’re hoping to get out and spend as much of it as possible on the slopes again.

Take a look at today’s photos, check out the video below (once it finishes uploading and processing for the second time, thanks YouTube for taking forever… apparently about 30 minutes away), and let us know if you laughed just as hard as I did a number of times there!

Ed, Michelle, Dave, Emma, Bronte and I headed out for a cruise and soon found ourselves amongst the trees – Bronte keeping pace up front, while Michelle and Emma took it a little more carefully behind us. Skiing through the trees is certainly the slower way down the mountain, but it’s a bit of fun where not too many others venture. We only managed to ski a few runs, however, before we found our fingers, toes and faces (in my case) freezing over. We decided to stop for lunch and met up with Tori and Nat at the Town Hall Eatery. The whole village was just as quiet as every other day so far – almost dead – and the cold weather certainly wasn’t bringing out the skiers in any serious number. We didn’t stay inside for too long, after a bit of a slow start, but we did stay just long enough to get some feeling back in the extremities.

After lunch we headed to the back-side of the mountain, taking the longest run of the resort, Eldorado (8km long). Although it was an amazing run, as always, my choice to not wear something covering my face turned out to be a silly move, and certainly by the end I was definitely feeling the effect of the -20C air temperature plus a fair amount of windchill coming from the speed we were doing. Regardless, we continued skiing until the runs closed and we got (very nicely) kicked off the mountain, then headed back to the accommodation to warm up and relax. Victoria had explored the option of snowmobiling for tomorrow, but as there were only two of us interested they strangely couldn’t guarantee that a tour would be run – strange that we could be handing over some serious dollars, versus them not getting any at all – but that’s a challenge for tomorrow. We did see a tiny mouse outside the back door, obviously intrigued by the left-over barbecue scraps left behind by Ed a few nights ago, but that was about the most exciting thing to report.

Tonight we ate in, again, and had a relatively quiet night. Emma and Bronte had dinner and a movie at Star Kids, so Tori and I spent some time catching up with stories from Michelle and Dave along with a few nice glasses of wine. Once the girls returned, everybody headed towards the bedroom as tomorrow is Crew2′s travel day, while we are set to spend yet another day outside (either doing one sport or another). It’s strange that today’s post has ended up shorter than yesterdays “nothing happened” one, but I guess that’s a result of not describing each run we did in so much detail that you fell asleep – there are a few photos to make up for it, but unfortunately the cold wasn’t playing nice with the battery. Our fingers are still crossed for some blue sky, at some stage soon, but we’re not holding our breath. Tune in tomorrow for more tales of adventure and intrigue. Or just another “here’s what we had for lunch”… only time will tell!

The forecast was for -23C, but for most of the day the temperature sat at about -24.6C (if you asked Ed). We took this as a good opportunity to rest our (slightly) aching bodies, and save ourselves from having to wear 62 layers of clothing just to survive until lunchtime. Instead, the only time we left the building was to dash between the back door and the hot tub. Unlike other days, Tori and I started our day with a hot tub. Ed decided not to join us, but instead began building his version of a snowman – using a shovel and a hi-viz vest. The vest, apparently, was only to be worn by the chief snowman maker, but the fact that he found the vest under mounds of snow suggested otherwise. The air temperature was so cold outside that being in the hot tub meant that hair well and truly froze, unlike other days where it had only started to freeze over. We managed to waste a good thirty minutes outside in the water before calling it quits and heading back for a spot of all-day television viewing.

Tess spent a bit of the day at the pond, while Ed and Nat ducked out for a brief spot of grocery shopping around lunchtime. Tori and I had a fairly productive day indoors, completing a few outstanding tasks for things back home, but other than that, no real excitement to report. As the day wore on, we continued to enjoy a huge jumble of TV genres and watched as the sun set as quickly as it had come up (assuming, of course that it had come up at it’s regular pace – we didn’t actually see it come up…).

As night fell (by about 5pm), Michelle, Emma and Bronte stopped over for a visit after a day on the freezing slopes, bringing with them a rather tasty ‘snow celebration cake’ which they had baked. We all decided to make the most of the opportunity and ate dessert before main course tonight. Their week is coming to an end here at Silver Star a little before ours, so we spent some time making plans for their last day of skiing tomorrow. Dinner for us was pizza – luckily delivered – and was most enjoyable.

Following last night’s brand new episode of Glee, tonight we were entertained by a brand new episode of Criminal Minds – big news for people who had spent most of the day watching old episodes of pretty much everything. Although nobody had been particularly active today, everyone had a fairly early night in anticipation of hopefully slightly more activity tomorrow, even though the forecast is still for a maximum of -20C.

Although there aren’t many photos from today, and certainly no scenic ones, there are a few humorous ones which you should take a look at. Hopefully we’ll have more interesting stories for you tomorrow – but until then, have fun!