CA: The One with the Snowshoes

(Yes, I am aware how ridiculous the main picture of this post is. Yet it was too perfect an opportunity to pass up?)

 

It is prudent, I believe to wish you all a Happy New Year’s, despite the belatedness of the extended courtesy (sixteen days at the time of writing; most likely longer by the time this is actually posted).

So, we are now in 2018. A scary thought, as it technically signifies that I’ve been in Canada since 2016. I’ve always done a cheesy post of my top picks for the year (linked here: https://nzmeandering.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/ca-the-one-with-the-highlights/), so we’ll have less of that, thank you very much.

Now that the New Year has struck, and struck hard, I have to finally begin planning what to do with the remaining months on my visa. As of now, I have ten months left. Only ten months. It may seem like a long time, but the fourteen months I’ve been here so far do not feel like fourteen months. I’m sure ten months will creep up on me at an unpleasant pace.

But, yes, the time has come for me to move on from Vancouver. To leave behind the selling of watches (preferably forever) and venture off into the unknown. In April.

Okay, so there’s still quite a while to go, but as I said, time seems to be flying. I would not be surprised to wake up tomorrow and find it to be March. That may be a slight exaggeration, as tomorrow is most definitely the seventeenth of January, but you get the gist (I hope?).

Come then, I take a wonderful holiday/vacation with my family to Mexico, then fly on to Cuba to meet an old friend from Toronto. Then, who knows? I haven’t planned that far ahead. Like I said, I really should start that…

 

But enough about future plans, you want to hear about the here and now! For the recent past, in the case of this late-than-intended post. So, New Year’s. What did I do? I got drunk. What else is there to do? Enjoy people’s company in a civilised and sophisticated manner? Please. I may be an adult but I’m still not that much of an adult.

No, instead, I drank at home with my roommate and another friend, then we went to a friend’s house and proceeded to drink even more before and after the clock struck twelve. My night ended at about four in the morning, I believe? Quite an achievement for me, considering I usually find myself struggling with anything past midnight.

New Year’s Day was spent recovering. I wasn’t that hungover (honest!), but a lack of sleep does not agree with me.

All in all, I would call that a rather successful New Year’s. There was no drama, no tragedy, no worrisome way of starting 2018. It was just nice, plain and simple. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it was calm, but it was relaxed. There we go, that’s my summary.

 

Onto the one notable thing I have done since my last post! As some of you clever ones will remember, last post I mentioned snowshoeing. This did indeed end up happening. Though, as I found out, snowshoes are a lot weirder than I thought.

Okay, so I didn’t actually wear them. And honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t those things. Go on, do it. Google “snowshoes”. Then you’ll see just how weird they are. So I went ‘snowshoeing’ in just my walking/hiking boots and managed very well without making a fool of myself. Of all my flaws, a lack of balance is not one of them.

My friend and I took her dog for a trip up to the snowy peaks of Mount Seymour, well known for its snowboarding and skiing slopes. Of course, we could not go snowboarding or skiing with a dog, so instead we took a hike up the appropriately named Dog Mountain.

Yes, there were a lot of dogs. Most were friendly I’ll admit, but there were a few unfriendly ones, too, who made for an interesting dilemma when faced with a narrow path and an over-energetic dog on our part. Still, we managed, wading through snow, up icy slopes and down slippery steps (exaggerated, yet I’m sure you can let me off).

The view from the top of Dog Mountain was … temperamental. It was a very nice day, down on the ground. Mostly sunny, the past few days of rain nothing but a distant memory. On top of the mountain, the rolling clouds made it very difficult to get a decent picture of the opposing peaks of the other mountains (Grouse Mountain, I think? And another one I always forget the name of). But try we did, and succeed we almost did.

 

I also fed some birds. Mum, it is your job, your mission, to identify this bird, because I have absolutely no idea. All I know is that it hated the seeds I tried to feed it, but loved the weird Asian food I ‘borrowed’ off the Asian tourists depicted in picture number two.

And yes, picture number one was a perfectly timed capture of the surprise once I’d given up hope of a bird ever landing on my hand. Patience is a virtue, apparently, one that I sorely lack.

 

Very little else to tell apart from that. Work continues, grows duller by the day. But dollar is dollar, and dollar means more exploring and adventuring. Overall, I’d say that’s worth it.

We’ll have to see when the next update is! Hopefully when I next do something exciting …