Olympic happenings

During the Olympics there is lots going on around the city. There are marquees with the games being projected on that anyone can go to watch, and places that are different nations houses (pretty much just massive bars), free concerts, but there are massive lines for them so we haven't actually gone to any of them yet. We have however wandered around the city and seen some things.

We saw the Canadian Jump Rope team (look how fast her feet are!)

Some Natives and their art (thats actually what they call them)

This wasn't for the Olympics but we went anyway, it was a candy store with so many flavours of Jelly Bellys and so many colours of m&m's

And also we went to the NZ welcome party sponsored by Icebreaker. Sam met Larry the Lamb

So did Blake, but he wasn't so keen on him

And Sam also met John McBeth!!

We saw some Kapa Haka

Exciting. It made us feel like we were in NZ. They also had a band playing kiwi essentials such as Blue Lady, Why Does Love Do This to Me?, and of course Whaling.

Hopefully we'll get to do more Olympic things, and see some bands etc. Its pretty happening around here, we'd better get in on it.

FLAME ON!

hello readers, last night we had our first overnight shift at work & it was really good. this picture shows sara & i drinking hobo speed. it demonstrates our commitment to wide-eyed excellence.

as you may know, the opening ceremony was yesterday & it went off without a hitch. there was a big firework display in the harbour which we could easily see/feel from our house.
we have just been for a walk through town & it is BUZZING!

some people aren't so excited about certain aspects of the olympic games & today they staged a protest. some of the protesters got the wrong memo or something & dressed up as ninjas & wrecked & vandalised some store-fronts and properties, which, if you are to make a point about money being wasted, doesn't make a whole lotta sense. eh. these are some repair trucks.

we also visited the olympic torch which was very crowded but a grand sight!

Almost Olympics!

Yesterday we got to catch up with Blake, and he gave us 2 passes to watch him train this morning. So this morning we went out to the Pacific Coliseum to see him.

There were lots of gates and security to get through, and no one had seen our 'friends and family' passes before, but they let us through anyway. But they did make us go through a metal detector which I guess is something. The stadium was decorated to look nice and pretty and Olympic themed.

Blake was pretty speedy,

but he had some blade troubles which he dealt with pretty casually.

After Blakes training, the Japanese team had their turn. They had pretty sweet outfits so we took photos.

New Zealands is the best and least cheesy by far. Australia's is definately the worst.

This is the heat for Blakes first race.

This is a Mountie protecting everyone. I liked his hat. You can tell Mounties from Police because they have a stripe on their pants.

Then we went to work and it was time for the Olympic Torch to come up the mountain. Sam got confused and ended up with this on his face.

Every one got pretty excited and shook bear bells. Including me.

Then the torch went past. It was a suprisingly big flame, which explained why the torch bearer went on the tram roof, rather than inside. It was also quite lucky, because due to an Olympic miricle it snowed. Hard. And visibility was pretty low.

Some people had better views than others.

The Olympics are getting pretty close, only two days til the opening ceremony. During the Olypmics we have to dress in things supporting our countries. If anyone has any suggestions on what we can make/buy to wear, let us know because we don't have anything really!

Olympic Schedule

Today we got our olympic schedule.

DEATH!

Snow!

Last night it snowed 11cm at Grouse! It didn't make much difference, but it looks a bit nicer. It didn't snow on all the runs so I don't know if we'll get any busier, but at least its less slippery on the way to the rental store!

A bit deeper than the last feet photo I took

I'm about to get snowballed

View from the backdoor of rentals

What it looks like in rentals

On another note, before work we went to the market on Granville Island again and met these guys. I don't know if they're poodles that are unclipped or some kind of cross but they were really cute. People here love to have dogs even though its the middle of the city, they especially love dog breeds with funny names like cock-a-poo

Sam making friends

These were some of the treats for sale. YUM

Hopefully the snow keeps up and its nice for the people who visit for the Olympics. Not far away now!

Whistler Blackcomb

Last Monday we went to Whistler with some friends we work with. It was super fun. Our mountain has had pretty much no snow apart from a few cm's the snow machines have made, so is pretty rocky grassy and icey. Whistler on the other hand, which is where most of the outdoor events of the Olympics will be, has had lots of snow. It was so soft, it was like falling in feathers. It is apparently the best mountain in the world for skiing and snowboarding and we definitely agreed. It's also really massive. It takes about 20-30 mins to get to the top of the gondola and green runs which is about 2/3 of the way up and about an hour to get down from there. And there are TWO mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb. They're joint together by the peak to peak gondola which is pretty high up and has really good views. Also, you can spend the whole day on the mountain without going on a chair lift which is good because I'm rubbish at getting off at the top. You can snowboard right into the village below where there are a bunch of bars and places to eat and plenty of places to buy souvieners. Intrawest, who owns the resort missed a payment and now its up for sale, so if anyone has a few dollars you should keep this in mind.

This is as we arrived in the village.

Getting ready to head up.

The view from the learners area (1/3 of the way up) up to the top of Whistler.

In the learners area: Glenn, Caroline, Me, Kinta, Sam (Dean, Kintas boyfriend was too skilled for the learners area so isn't in the photo).

On the chair lift in the learners area. I got off without falling down! Yay!

Sniffle station.

Dean navagating the trees. Sam did this run too, but didn't look as professional so there aren't any photos of him.

On the peak to peak gondola.

The view from the peak to peak. You can probably see the curvature of the earth because it's so high up.

The top of Blackcomb, after exiting the peak to peak gondola.

We'd like to be able to spend a bit more time at Whistler, but it's pretty pricey, and we'll have to wait until the Olympics are over, so I guess we'll wait and see whether or not we make it up there again.