Chad Is Everywhere

We're here in Vancouver. Still. We're not supposed to be but we are. Thanks to Air Canada, and the most snow in Vancouver in over 7 years. All I can say is watch out for flying spanners. There's nothing like throwing a few spanners into the machinery to ruin the plans. We had it all worked out yesterday afternoon. Not an easy situation when considering that we had to: - fly to Calgary Tuesday at 12 noon, - get shuttle from airport to hostel accommodation (which was not booked yet) - Wed afternoon car hire with drop off in Banff Thursday. We'd drive to Nakiska for the Wednesday night. - Thursday I start work, while Craig would drive to Banff, return car, pick stuff up off ex, and then stay in Banff the night to catch early Friday bus back to Nakiska. As complex as it sounds things all worked in theory. And then Air Canada called with the news. They had canceled our flight. The plane scheduled doesn't like too much snow. Next available flight they could get ...

There's no business like snow business.... Well it's snowing in Vancouver. And not like the travel guides describe it 'as it snows in Vancouver but never settles'. This snow is settled. And it's not stopping any time soon. And its now officially cold. And it's only going to get colder cause unless something happens tomorrow I'll be up at Nakiska Ski Resort working there for a while. Yeah, of all things I've ended up getting that ski job. Doesn't pay anything but hey it's not about the money. I'll be employed by the mountain so have subsidized accommodation, and a ski pass for 5 mountains. The biggest issue for anyone thinking of working the ski fields is the accommodation issue. Only negative is that I've been hired as Trail Crew. Yeah, I that means I'll be shoveling snow. Oh well it should be fun, at least for a bit. And I'll get to ski, and ski, and ski. In the few days before the snow CJ and I didn't do anything ext...

I thought I'd update peoples with news on the broken nose. It's all but healed. Every day I find it harder and harder to successfully achieve the homeless look. The broken nose with black eyes gives one such a head start. Last week I went to the specialist here in Vancouver. They weren't so keen on re-fracturing the nose to re-align it. There was a 1/3 chance it'd be back to normal, a 1/3 chance there'd be only slight improvement, and a 1/3 chance of no change. The alignment is only slightly out up on the bridge. Now that the swelling has gone I can feel the difference. I'm left wondering whether it'll affect me during hayfever season. For the moment it just gives me a whole new point at which the glasses can sit. If I find it annoys me, or I have trouble breathing then I'm ok to go get it fixed while I'm here. But it can be fixed later. I'm not so keen on the alternative. That being to find a psycho with a right-hook to re-align it. Anyw...

After several days of threatening finer weather the day has again turned nasty. Oh well. Last few days I've been kept busy with applying for jobs, and then showing CJ around town. Then sometimes its just a case of getting out to avoid cabin fever. We managed to hire some bikes today and have fine-ish weather for the entire ride around Stanley park. But true to form it rain on us as we walked back to the hostel. In my last post I mentioned that I'd add some more photos. Anyway here goes for those waiting: First off we have False Creek and the view to Yaletown. If anyone had of subscribed to the Chad Holiday Fund prospectus then the Fund Manager would be making executive decisions from here. Unfortunately the fund closed under-subscribed and the manager therefore still resides at the hostel. The other photo is that of North Vancouver. This area north of Vancouver is where the locals go to ski after work. On the news front CJ leaves in a couple of days. The Nakiska Ski...

Hey all Not much news to report here really. Oh, except for the fact I may now end up working the ski fields after all. Well the issue is to ski or not to ski? This whole concept is due to my frield CJ who until Saturday was at Lake Louise. Basically he's now going through a crisis having had his girlfriend call off their relationship a week into their working ski holiday. Not a good situation so he got out of there. Anyway it seems that CJ has organised a job up at Nakiska and has strongly suggested I join him. And well I'm now at one of those pressure junctions where I'm just under the gun. The Do I or Don't I? Without there being any harm I've applied. Nothing ventured nothing lost yet. They may come back and say there is nothing suitable for me and they're not interest. Meanwhile for all you back home just to make you jealous, we're having to drink bottled water. There has been too much rain which has over run the water supplies and made it a bit...

SIN'ing is a hobby of the backpackers who arrive here in Vancouver. It seems that every 2nd Australian arriving here seems to spend their first day at the office where there Social Insurance Number's (TFN equivalent) are issued. The others who don't SIN are on their way to work in London after doing a ski trip. Which leaves the question. Just how many Australians are left back home? Seems that the reports that 1/3 of ski resorts near Vancouver are stocked with Australians is not far off the mark. Every day it seems that another boatload of Australian refugees are off to the slopes. Perhaps they'll succeed in their quest of finding snow. Which brings up the other statistic I heard today. 1/4 of all the people who go to the ski fields to work as an instructor or in a skiing related job end up with some sort of major injury. ie broken limbs, knee reconstruction, torn muscles etc. Apparently between this and the fact the Australian univeristy year recommences in F...

Well the news is I'm in Vancouver. And with the arrival into Vancouver comes the good news I have better internet access to write to people. And more importantly ability to post photos of the trip so far. The first photo is that of Hananuma Bay. It's the prime snorkeling spot of Honolulu. A short 30 minute bus ride around from Waikiki. We visited here the day before I left. Yeah I snorkeled with the broken nose. It was only slightly uncomfortable to do so. There was no way I was letting the nose finish off my stay in Hawaii. The second photo is that of the Pearl Harbour memorial. The Americans have made the memorial a national park. Or well its run by the national parks service. Therefore its actually free. The memorial was a picture presentation and then boat ride out to the site where the Arizona sunk. All free. I like free. This was about an hour long bus ride out from Waikiki. Good for the fact it only cost $2 to get there. Bad for the fact it was an all stop...

This was the email I sent just after my being attacked in Hawaii. For all to read... ...................................... Hi all Thought I might just update everyone with news. I'm still in Hawaii. Leave tomorrow. Question for you all? What would you think I was doing Thursday night? If you answered, spent 4 hours in the emergency room of a Honolulu hospital then you'd be right. Why was I at the hospital? Well the story goes. Me and a few of the backpackers thought we'd go out that night. Started at a cocktail bar, moved to a another area of Honolulu. Things were going great. Well about 1am in the morning our unofficial group leader decided we had to move on as the club would be closing soon. So on the way out I decided to do the touristy thing and take a photo of the club we were at. Outside there was a big samoan bouncer, a id card checking girl, and some random guy standing there chatting up the girl. Anyway the girl decided to be funny an...

Well as I've only just started this blog let me first start with the trip in review. There was the Auckland stopover connection. After which I made it to Honolulu. For simplicity reasons I'm going to just post the original emails for people to read if they haven't already. Plus it'll help with continuity of the story so far. .................................. Thought I'd just send off a quick email to say hello from Hawaii. Today was a terribly stressful day. I got up about 9am. Walked along the waterfront for an hour or so. Did nothing for a bit more. Oh and then baked in the sun for a while. The beach is ok. Water was good. Although it is not a surf beach here. and tehre is coral beneath the foot. once you get out into the water. How does everyone else's day compare? Sadly though it hasn't been all beer and pretzels. I've had a set back. And I'm not happy. My Camera died. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH! Yes again. And yes it...

Hey All, After encouragement I'm changing over my writing style to a blog instead of group emails. If you'd like to keep up with my travels then may I recommend that you select to subscribe to the updates. That way you'll get emailed notification when I've posted an update. Anyway enjoy. Chad