Birthday surprises!

I turned the big 29 this weekend. I didn’t make any plans to celebrate my birthday because the Joepinator insisted that he had it all under control. Joepinator loves surprises. This is why I keep his gifts and birthday plans a surprise for him every year even though I am usually dying to tell him. I hate surprises. Joep loves surprises. So he plans a surprise for me every year. Did I mention that I hate surprises?

It is really hard being someone who hates surprises. Why? Because people who love surprises insist on surprising everyone and if you don’t like surprises you appear ungrateful. I’m not ungrateful. I love that Joep wants to do something nice for me. I just like to know what that something is in advance so that I can plan for it. Control freak? Anyone?

Anywhooooo – This year was similar to the many other birthday’s I have shared with Joep and incorporated Joep telling me throughout the week that he had a surprise and me getting concerned about what was in store for me.

I had nothing to worry about … this time ;p After a great dinner with the girls on Friday night I awoke on Saturday prepared for anything that Joep had in store for me. I was allowed to sleep in while Joep collected the car for us. Upon his return he packed our bag for the day and off we went.

First stop? Mikey & Anne-Marie’s house!! This was a great surprise because as you all know by now these 2 are one of our all time favourite couples. After packing the cooler into the car and piling in Joep announced that we would be going to Camp Fortune to go zip lining! This resulted in a great deal of excitement on my part. I have been dying to go zip lining since we moved here! For those of you who don’t know, zip lining involves climbing into very high trees with a harness attached to you and then climbing between these trees on wires OR attaching your harness pulley to a wire and zipping between the trees. It is super fun! It is also a little bit of hard work but totally worth it.

The drive out to Camp Fortune was uneventful apart from the extreme levels of excitement, loud music and various dance offs that occurred (I am not exaggerating …) and the high energy levels continued when we reached the camp and got harnessed up for our climb!

The next couple of hours were spent climbing between, hanging from and zipping across tree lines. It was just as much fun as I had hoped it would be!!

And the excitement didn’t stop there. After finishing our zip lining course we got back in the car and drove down to Britannia Yacht Club. A friend of Mikey & Anne-Marie’s whom we met at the wedding has access to sail boats that he takes out regularly. Mikey mentioned this to Joep when Joep was arranging for them to join us for the birthday festivities. Joep’s response to this was ‘I don’t want to impose … but I do’ and so we were invited along to go sailing!

This was incredible news. I LOVE going sailing! The weather however, was not on our side. Autumn is almost here and the weather is not as consistently good as we have gotten used to … having said that, we’ve had a good 4 months of incredible weather so I cannot complain! We had high hopes of the weather changing and the rain passing over, these hopes were continuously heightened by weather man Mike’s reassurance that it would pass over … he was correct! As we enjoyed a delicious picnic lunch under the marquee prepared by the Mc el Moth’s the rain passed over and just as we were all contentedly full we were able to head out on the water.

It was a great afternoon of sailing. The wind was good enough that we could pick up some speed. Our captain was more than competent and the company was fantastic. Joep spent a large portion of the afternoon sitting on the bow of the boat entertaining all of us with various random comments and raps about being on a boat with his flippy floppies … I don’t know. It was funny though! We had SUCH a great afternoon!

And the surprises didn’t end there! After sailing we headed back to Casa J&J for a birthday poutine feast! Trevor and Cindy joined us and Cindy played bar tender despite being pregnant … what a good sport! A-M and I made the most of her hospitality while the boys played games. At midnight Joepinator brought out a great birthday cake complete with candles for me to blow out!! By this stage things were starting to get out of hand and the blowing out of the candles proved more complex than one would imagine. Noone minded.

Birthday cake was eventually consumed and we all enjoyed my first few hours as a 29 year old before calling it a night at some stage in the early hours of the morning.

Sunday – The day of my ACTUAL birthday was spent recovering from the night before. I can’t bounce back like I used to. It must be old age.

It was worth it though. What a fantastic start to my year as a 29 year old. The last year has been one of the best one’s I’ve ever had. Moving to Canada, experiencing brand new adventures with my best pal Joepie, getting engaged and getting promoted. Not a bad year! I am intrigued to see if 29 can top it!

Joepinator you are a star and it was the best birthday ever. I couldn’t have planned it better myself!

An Addendum to the Mother Ship Blog

I was back at work today after my week off and regaling my new pal Katie about how fun the week was. I then told her how excited mother ship and I were to have seen a beaver at Niagara. She was very surprised that this occurred so I showed her the photo.

It’s not a beaver. It actually doesn’t look much like a beaver at all. There is a beaver picture here for everyone’s information however I fear most of you already know what I beaver looks like. Our animal sighting was a ground hog which I feel is JUST as exciting as a beaver … kind of.

Anyway, I stand corrected. So does the mother ship coz she also thought it was a beaver. But in our defense, we are from Australia and therefore are not familiar with North American animals. Lets not forget that I thought chipmonks were fictional animals that only existed in cartoons until I saw one for real here. I'm sure you're all judging me now and wondering how on earth I manage to remain gainfully employed however I don’t think most of you could tell the difference between a wallaby and a joey kangaroo so I feel it is not right that you judge me for my lack of animal knowledge.

Plus NOW my mother ship blog ties in very nicely with the Freezing, Curling & Tubing blog … ground hog day. Perhaps we met Wiarton Willie! No further adjustments to my other blogs are necessary.

The Mother Ship Lands in Ottawa!

Lynn Delany is one of the best travelers I know. I have been abroad for 4 years now and she has made it to every single place I have lived in. This includes 2 Amsterdam apartments, 1 Venlo apartment and now a home in Ottawa. Go Mother Ship!

Last Friday I woke up full of glee at the thought of the mother ship arriving at 5pm that evening. Work was hectic and a minor mishap resulted in me having to stay late at work. It could have been a total disaster however at 3pm I received a phone call from an unknown number. When I answered all I could hear was an Irish accent announcing ‘I’m on the plane and I’m in Maine’ … huh? ‘I’m on the PLANE and I’m in MAINE!’ Yes mother ship. If you repeat it loudly I will understand what you are talking about. ‘Listen to me! I’m ON THE PLANE! And I’M IN MAINE!’ … I remained silent after this last one in the hopes that mother ship would go on to explain what on earth she meant. Thankfully, she did.

Her flight had been delayed, then there was a problem with the radio forcing them to fly over Greenland resulting in them landing in Maine to refuel. She would then fly to Phili where she would connect to Ottawa but she didn’t know what time she would arrive. Aykarumba. I was then tasked with the job of figuring out when exactly I could expect the mother ship to arrive.

Thankfully this was the only hiccup of the visit. Mum arrived Friday night full of beans despite the long journey. We took her back to the apartment where we pigged out on Irish biscuits courtesy of Nanna Dunne and whiskey/vodka courtesy of the mother ship. After a good long catch up chat we hit the hay in preparation for showing mum around Ottawa on Saturday.

Saturday rolled around with glorious Canadian summer weather once again! We enjoyed a delicious brekkie before hitting the streets to show mum Parliament Hill and go for a wander around the markets. After taking in all the sights we decided to treat mum to a delicious Canadian lunch … Smoke’s Poutine! You should all know about this from the Canada Day blog. Mum loved it as much as I do. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Poutine consumed we ditched the Joepinator and headed out for some wedding dress shopping! I’m sure you’re all thinking that it’s a bit early to be dress shopping BUT we had good reason. I want the mother ship to help me pick out my dress and who knows if we’ll get another chance before the wedding so we made hay while the sun shined. And FYI the haymaking was a huge success!

After a bit of dress shopping we stopped to enjoy some coffee and cake before heading home to the Joepinator for some afternoon beverages & snacks in the sun on the balcony. The good life! Saturday night we headed out to enjoy the local cuisine in the market. Mother ship sampled the cocktails (This green apple splash is delicious!) and we enjoyed some great chats. So nice to be reunited!

Sunday morning saw us up at a respectable hour, enjoying a bite to eat and then hitting the road for Montreal! As mentioned previously, Montreal is just a stones throw away from Ottawa so we decided a day trip would suffice. Upon arrival in Montreal we wandered through the old town to find a nice lunch restaurant. Mission accomplished. We had a delicious lunch on a patio (thank you Canadian summer) before wandering around town for a while taking in the sights and trying on some local fashions … by local fashions I mean hats made of random Canadian animals. Mother ship made us rub noses while doing this. I don’t know why. But it was worth doing to see how giddy it made her.

After enjoying the city we drove up to Mont Royal which we had grand intention of climbing so that mother ship could see the view. As we began our climb we came across a squirrel and I would like to note that mum was excited about it as I always am. I feel this justifies my continued excitement over squirrels, raccoons and chipmunks (which I didn’t actually know were a real animal until I saw one here … true story.)

Sadly, the Canadian summer failed us as we stood admiring the squirrel and a few drops of rain began to fall which mum decided was a sign that we shouldn’t go further. It was a good call because as we got back to the car the heavens opened. Good call mother ship!

We arrived back in Ottawa late in the evening after a leisurely drive back and enjoyed a lovely meal at Casa J&J before hitting the hay early in anticipation of an early start on Monday.

As planned, mum & I were out the door early on Monday morning. A girl’s road trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto was in order! The drive there was surprisingly uneventful. Mother ship appreciated the fact that I am nervous enough on the roads here without her grabbing the panic bar, squeezing her eyes shut and screeching ‘Look out Jennifer!’ every few minutes so she agreed before we left that she would refrain from doing that. I was dubious but she was true to her word and had only 1 minor slip up the entire trip. This is impressive. Believe me.

We spent the drive to Niagara engaged in some fantastic chats and laughs whilst drinking Tim Horton’s coffee and eating tim bits. We’re so Canadian! Upon arrival in Niagara town at lunchtime I got us a teeny bit lost but it didn’t matter coz the falls are big enough to find and let me tell you, when we first glimpsed them – Mother ship was excited! I was glad that they were as impressive as I remembered from the trip Joepinator and I made! We were both chomping at the bit to get out and see the sights so we parked the car quickly and headed for a bite to eat.

We managed to snag a sweet table with a view in on of the many town restaurants and enjoyed a great meal (jeepers we seem to have eaten a LOT during this trip!) … before heading down to the falls. They were breathtaking. After taking a few pictures we wandered up to take a ride on the Maid of the Mist – The standard tourist boat tour that you see on all movies / tv shows about Niagara.

I’m not going to lie to you – I was not super duper excited about going out on the boat. I thought it would be nice to do but wasn’t dying to do it. Once again, I was wrong. Mum & I bought our tickets and walked down to the boat. On the way down we were lucky enough to spot a Canadian beaver! The two of us were equally excited about this! Shortly after this we were handed our blue ponchos to wear on the ride … the excitement levels rose and we began to get giddy. When we got onto the boat with a big group of people in the same outfits as us we got even giddier.

When the boat went out into the middle of the falls and we were blown around and drenched with water from the falls we were uncontrollably giddy. What a hoot! We really enjoyed the ride and the giddiness set in for the day.

After the ride we walked back to the car in our blue ponchos. We didn’t take them off for a very good reason – The Canadian summer failed us again and it was raining. Pouring in fact. Torrentially. Which made us giddier than ever! Having said that, mum loved that poncho so much that I’m not sure she would’ve taken it off even if it hadn’t been raining.

We made it back to the car soaking wet only from the knee down (where the ponchos didn’t reach) and headed off to check out Niagara-on-the-Lake … another spot Joep and I also visited. The rain had let up again so we were able to wander through the town to find a nice restaurant (yes, another one) where we intended to get only a drink but ended up getting a light dinner. Don’t judge us. We’re on holiday.

After a lovely dinner we drove the last leg of our days journey to Toronto. By this stage we were both pretty pooped but managed to find the hotel, get the car parked and check in without any major issues … whilst still enjoying a few random laughs. Unfortunately we were too tired to do anything but veg out when we got checked in but it was worth it for the great day we had!

We were once again up early the next morning thanks to a call from home wanting to chat with nanna. Lucky they called though because it allowed us to get an early start on our tour of Toronto! It was a scorching hot day and we managed to walk the length and breadth of the city before lunchtime. Included in the tour were a few shopping stops and, of course, food stops. As the afternoon rolled in we contemplated our options – more touring around Toronto or air-conditioned comfort of the car … we chose the latter.

It ended up being a fantastic choice because it meant that we could take our time driving back to Ottawa, which meant that we were able to stop in Kingston for dinner. Yes yes yes, you all know Kingston the original Canadian capital city. No more history lessons necessary in this blog! The thing is though, when Joep & I were in Kingston is was -30 degrees. When mum & I were there it was +30 degrees. What a town! Kingston is surely a summer town. And the restaurants! We didn’t take long to decide where to eat because we were hungry (I’m as surprised about this as the rest of you are …) but there is a huge selection of great looking restaurants in Kingston. We’ll be going back for sure.

But home was beckoning so after eating we drove the last leg of our journey for home. We were exhausted! So much sight seeing jammed into a short time frame but so worth it for the memories … and the laughs!

Our plan for the last few days of mums visit was based entirely around R&R … &E (yes, that is E for eating). Oh and shopping. Because mother ship is a big shopper. Joepinator pleasantly surprised us by arriving home early from a work trip on Wednesday morning so the 3 of us had a great time for the last few days.

Not an enormous amount to report for these days other than they were as fantastic as all the preceding days. Oh one more highlight, on mum’s last day we were headed for lunch and Joepinator took charge of restaurant choice. It was, hands down, the best meal of the trip. The food, the canal views, the service and of course, the company. Way to finish things on a high!

It was with a heavy heart that we dropped mum to the airport for her flight back to Dublin … We miss you already mum! Can’t wait for the next visit!!

Typhoon at Jen & Joep's

Joep & I have been dying to get a dog. We’ve been talking about it for ages and getting closer and closer to actually taking the plunge. We realize that this is not a rational decision given that we are not exactly settled down yet and that we live in a small apartment but all that seems irrelevant when you really want something!

A colleague of mine, Allison, and her boyfriend have a gorgeous golden Labrador puppy called Ty(phoon). He’s a toddler and he is 6 months old so he is all paws and no body and he is full of energy. Allison and Dan went away for the weekend last weekend and we had offered to dog sit. We were hoping that Ty would wear us out and then we wouldn’t want a dog anymore …

This goal was not entirely met …

When out walking with Ty you are guaranteed that pretty much every person you pass on the street will stop you and want to talk to you whilst petting your dog. We all know that the Joepinator loves to be the centre of attention so needless to say, he loved walking with Ty. In addition, we took Ty out a few times to restaurants in the market and sat on a terrace with him. He would lie beside us while we ate and bask in the glory of all the people walking by stopping to pet him. So again, Joepinator was happy to get attention and I was happy to be eating outdoors in the good weather.

We also took Ty down to the river where he had his first taste of submerging himself in water whilst chasing a stick. I’m not sure who enjoyed that more – Joep or Ty. Either way it was a lovely way to pass the time on a balmy summers afternoon in Ottawa!

These are all the wonderful things. Then there were a couple of things that were not so wonderful. Firstly, when you live on the 10^th floor, your puppy can’t just be let out to go to the toilet. You have to go down the elevator with him and take him out. Ty pee’s like 10 times a day. And he does lots of #2’s as well. Plus with the #2’s you have to bag it up … I did not like this task. However, to counteract this negative let me say that I am quite sure I could train Ty to walk to the elevator, push the buttons and get outside to do his business without any human assistance. Its not hard. And dogs are smart. I am sure I am not over extending my dog training abilities here …

The next semi negative thing is that at nighttime Ty didn’t like sleeping. In fact, on the first night he cried for ages before eventually nodding off at 1:30am. He then woke up a 4am for a toilet break. That was not fun. And after his toilet break he wanted to play. Joep took charge here. Then at 6am I took over and Joep had a nap. By 7am we were wondering how all those parents who have constant sleepless nights do it … sleep is important to us. I don’t know if that will ever change.

I did, however, find a solution to this crying and moaning problem. Joep says that it is not good parenting. I don’t care. Here is my solution. I found that if I let Ty do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to do it then everything was fine and we didn’t have to have a fight. So if he wanted to crawl into bed with me at 4am … I helped him get in. If he wanted to sit on my lap on the couch even though it meant I couldn’t see the tv, I let him. Joep was not a huge fan of this strategy. I didn’t mind because I had Ty and he loves me no matter what … as long as I let him do what he wants.

This methodology of letting your puppy do whatever he wants works splendidly unless you are outside the house and other people are judging you. So on Saturday night when we went to Mikey & Anne-Marie’s house for a lovely evening of chatting and playing games and drinking wine (What? You thought that we had a grown up evening without wine?? Ha! Clearly you haven’t read the other Mikey & Anne-Marie related blogs!) I pretended to be a good mum and Ty pretended to be well behaved. It was exhausting. So on Sunday morning we reverted to our old routine of Ty being the boss of me.

Joep, on the other hand, is going to be an incredibly good dog owner/father. He is full of discipline and certainly knows how to show who is the boss. I was very impressed by this and relieved that in the future I will get to be the good cop to his bad cop in disciplinary discussions.

So after 4 wonderful days of dog walking, poop scooping, face licking and no sleeping we returned Ty to his rightful owners. Now I’m not going to lie to you, on our last day with Ty I did start to regret all the things I let him do because I was worried that I had untrained him and his owners would be mad. Thankfully it appears that Joep’s strong discipline counteracted my free spirited approach to parenting and from all accounts this week Ty is as good as usual. Phew!

All in all the weekend met its goal. Despite the fact that we LOVED having the puppy around and I loved being able to force something to give me cuddles and kisses whenever I wanted them, the simple fact is that we really like to sleep. And to go out without having to organize anything. You can’t do that with a puppy. So we will keep being grown ups and not get one just yet. Who knows though … maybe in a little while …

Some Knot Tying

After our whirlwind tour of Calgary & Banff we were pretty worn out and glad to relax at home for a few days. The relaxation was relatively short lived though because on Saturday we were headed to the nuptial celebrations of Mikey & Anne-Marie.

As you may have gathered from other blogs (see “Bonsai” or “Canada Day”), these 2 are a pretty hilarious couple and we thoroughly enjoy hanging out with them because things have a tendency of getting out of hand whenever we get together. This works for us.

We knew that the wedding was going to be a good time when, on the Thursday before the wedding, we went to the post-rehearsal dinner drinks. We had been in Calgary until the Wednesday so we had missed the first half of the week and it appears we missed a lot. A lot of people had flown in from out east for the wedding. As a result, a lot of people weren’t working all week and could party all night. And there you have it. “Weddingfest 2010” was born. We thought we were going for a few quiet drinks to meet a few wedding guests before the big day. We had no idea we would end up flying around the dancefloor and taking shots of tequila on a Thursday night! Friday was relatively painful as a result but boy were we looking forward to the wedding!

So on Saturday afternoon at 4pm Joep & I were running late to the ceremony (despite the fact that it was less than 5 minutes walk from our house). The weather was gloriously Canadian summer hot and as we arrived at the church Joep announced that he had forgotten to put on deodorant and therefore we would need to go home in between the church and the reception. Fine.

The ceremony was beautiful! Anne-Marie was looking completely sexified in her gown and Mikey had cleaned up nicely for the big day too. After the vows were exchanged and we had enjoyed a few chats with friends we headed for home to ‘freshen up’ as we put it to our friends. A brief stint at home during which time I washed, dried and ironed Joep’s shirt (best housewife ever … I’m sure I could win an award for this) we headed across to the Plaza for the reception.

Penthouse floor, panoramic views of Ottawa and the river, glorious summers evening and great company. This was quite the show! The wedding reception was a hoot. Joep was paying full attention to everything that went on and making many mental notes of things to remember for our wedding. It is the most concentration I’ve ever witnessed. In the end he got a very good idea of what the whole ‘bridal party’ thing means as well as the ‘bridal table’, ‘MC’ and how the speeches should work.

On that note … the speeches were hilarious! The maid of honour went first and I really felt sorry for anyone who would come after her because she was seriously, side achingly funny. Then the best man arrived. And was just as funny! These people were seriously prepared to entertain us. I appreciated it.

I could go into intricate details of the entire night but I think that it is sufficient to say that the food was great, music was fantastic, groove shaking was a hoot and bride & groom were as wonderful as anticipated! The highlight of my evening has nothing to do with any of this. My highlight was that after midnight there was poutine buffet. True story. Poutine. Buffet. Heavenly. I helped myself to more than a couple of servings of this before we had to call it a night and head home (me complaining the entire time about how full I was).

Mikey & Anne-Marie are now married and therefore much more grown up and mature than us but we are quite sure that this will not stop them from misbehaving with us every now and then. We hope not anyway. Oh and now we have lots more idea’s to steal for our wedding … wonderful!!

The Calgary Stampede & the Icefields Parkway - A mini-vacation

The Calgary Stampede – It is advertised as the worlds greatest outdoor show. We decided to see what all the hype was about! Friday morning after a long 4-day working week we found ourselves in Calgary, Alberta. A mere 5 hour flight from Ottawa. Upon arrival Greg and Amy, who were coincidentally on vacation in Calgary at the same time met us.

Seriously, from the second you get out of the plane it is cowboy country. Everyone has full cowboy boots and hats not to mention other cowboy-esque apparel. We were more than a little bit excited!!

After a quick pit-stop at our hotel to drop off our bags and put on our own cowboy gear (at this stage it only included checkered shirts and boots) we headed off for a looooong lunch in the glorious sunshine. We spent the afternoon enjoying cocktails and food and checking out all the latest cowboy fashion trends before heading to a store to kit ourselves out in similar gear. A good amount of time was spent picking out the best possible hats and … trying chaps on Joep. True story. I really wanted to buy them for him. They looked HUH-LAR-EE-OUS but alas he felt silly in them and didn’t want to have them. Boo. So we stuck with the bare minimum – Hats. Joep looked goooooood. This is me saying this, not him, although he said it a lot as well.

After gearing ourselves up we made a quick pit stop at a local rugby match (which Joep thoroughly enjoyed watching!) before heading to the Stampede grounds. First stop – the ticket booth to get some tickets to the chuck wagon racing!! We were there just in time and managed to avoid the irritating Aussie backpackers who were spending a lot of time loudly asking people how many beers they could buy inside the Stampede grounds (there are not many times that I am embarrassed to be Australian, this was one of them … I wasn’t alone. Another Aussie couple, mistaking Joep & I for a Dutch couple, meekly told us ‘We’re not all like that’ as we stood near them. I very quickly informed them that I too was an Aussie and therefore could attest to the fact that we are not all massive bogans. Thank goodness!).

Tickets purchased we headed into the arena. Now I am sure that most of you don’t know the ins and outs of chuck wagon racing. We didn’t either. And I’ll be honest with you; it was hard to figure it out by just watching it!! Here is a brief description (thank goodness for Wikipedia!) … A chuckwagon was originally a wagon that carried food and cooking equipment on the prairies of the United States and Canada. They would form a part of a wagon train of settlers or feed nomadic workers like cowboys or loggers. In the chuckwagon they would carry a stove and tent equipment etc.

In chuckwagon racing, chuckwagons are raced around a figure eight barrel obstacle. The racing team consists of the chuckwagon driver and two to four "outriders" who load the stove and tent poles at the start and must finish the race with the chuckwagon. So basically, a few guys throw a stove and tent into the back of the wagon then everyone jumps on their horses and races around the track. Oh and you lose points if you knock over one of the barrel obstacles or drop your stove/tent. It is complex. It is also very exciting to watch. We lost our minds for the next couple of hours cheering for various teams and trying to figure out the rules. It was hilarious!

After the winners of the chuckwagon racing were announced we were faced with a decision. Go to a pub or stay for the evening show?? We threw the options around for a while and then decided to stay for the show. Given the size of the stage they were setting up we figured it would be pretty good. We were NOT disappointed! The show was incredible. Picture Circ du Soleil mixed with world championship motor cross racing, plus hilarious stand up comedians and throw in famous Canadian pop stars to boot. Add in a few young kids performing ‘Kinderen voor Kinderen (for the Dutch) / Johnny Young Talent Time (for the Aussies)’ type performances and you have what was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. I am not exaggerating. It was so interactive and so diverse! To prove that I am not exaggerating about how good this show was let me tell you that Joep & I barely spoke for the entire show except to say things like ‘OH MY GOODNESS!’ or ‘THIS IS INCREDIBLE!’ You get the drift. In addition, at the end of the show Joep told me that it was so good that he almost proposed to me again. Adorable! That is how good it was.

By the time the show was over it was late and we were exhausted so we decided to end the night on a high and wandered the streets to home. The streets were jam packed with crazy cowboys enjoying the stampede. Words don’t do this justice.

Saturday we were up bright and early and headed directly to the Stampede. It was rodeo time and we didn’t want to miss out on tickets! Tickets purchased we made the most of the Stampede grounds and managed to stumble across the World Horse Shoeing Championships. This might sound random. It was random. It was also very interesting watching blacksmiths make horseshoes from scratch and fit them to horses in a set time frame. It is hard work! I have much respect for these men. Oh and it stinks. The smell of a hot horseshoe burning onto a horses hoof is not delicious.

Championships over we wandered around to check out some of the livestock and to learn how to best train your horse (you have to ride with your legs … don’t pull on the mouth. That is a no-no.) before heading for the fast-food stalls. I ate my first ever corndog. It was gross. For those who don’t know who this is, it is a hotdog wrapped in breadstuff and deep-fried. It tastes like a heart attack. Not in a good bacon-ator way either. But I’m glad I tried it because I won’t die wondering.

Food consumed we were off to the rodeo! Oh. My. Goodness. Grown men staying on bucking horses and bulls for 8 seconds and getting points for it. It was incredible. And do you know what the prize money is for the winner? You will never guess this. I am thinking about taking up bull riding after hearing this. Or at least encouraging Joep to do so. The prize money is $2 million. That is not a lie. $2 million. Just for sitting on a bull for 8 seconds. I reckon I could do it. It looked pretty easy.

That is not true. It looked frickin’ petrifying! But it was 150% entertaining! We were glued to our seats for the next little while, except when it started to rain so we had to move to the undercover seats. What a show!!

Rodeo over, we headed out to enjoy the Stampede grounds again before heading home for a midday nap. We met up with Greg & Amy again for a lovely meal before attempting to find a mechanical bull for Joep to ride but everywhere was crazy busy (Saturday night at the Stampede … to be expected!) so we ended up giving up pretty quickly.

Good thing we did because Sunday was a big day! The World Cup Final!! We had decided, upon advise from our hotel receptionist, to head to a bar called Melrose Place so we were up and dressed in oranje nice and early. Arrival at Melrose Place showed that others had the exact same plan. As we got our first beers of the day and found a spot to stand Joep announced that he thought he knew a guy nearby. He wandered over to see if he was right and … he was!! Matthijs, a friend of a friend of Joep’s was at the same bar as us with his Canadian wife whom I met at Joep’s Nijmegen Cuban party a couple of years ago. What are the odds?? Matthijs was there with a few other Dutch guys who were also with Canadian ladies so they invited us to pull up a stool and make ourselves at home. We didn’t need to be asked twice!

We all know that the outcome of the match was not a good one. But let me tell you – We had a heap of fun. So much so that some Spanish supporters came up to us afterwards to tell us that we should be proud of ourselves because even though we lost we were the most entertaining people in the bar. So the boys felt happy again and we were all able to continue drinking and eating and celebrating. Shortly afterwards we headed off to Matthijs and his wife Kyla’s house for a bbq (hospitality galore!). All in all it was a great if not, somewhat blurry, day and ended our Stampede adventure on a high!

Monday morning we were up early to head to our next stop on our mini-vacation. The Rocky Mountains. We were both so excited about this and after 1.5 hours of driving as we headed into the mountains we were both blown away. Once again, words don’t do it justice. Banff National Park is one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. Mountains and lakes and waterfalls and all of them totally untouched. It is phenomenal.

We arrived in Banff earlier than anticipated (10am!) and so settled in for a coffee while I researched what we would do. We had already decided that we would do the Plain of Six Glaciers hike on advice from our ‘Once in a Lifetime Trips’ book and I then found a great hike up a glacier further up the mountains!! Realizing that we had not packed for ice climbing we made a quick pit stop at an outdoor store to pick up some winter clothes. Lucky we did! We then drove to Lake Louise for some hiking.

Lake Louise is picturesque to the nth degree. Seriously. It doesn’t not get much more perfect than here! We spent some time taking in the beauty of the area before beginning our hike. When we began the hike it was somewhat clear but looking like it could get colder so we each put on long pants and a long sleeved jumper. It is a 5.5km (one-way) hike and reaches elevation of 2100m. Many of you who know me will now be wondering if, since moving to Canada, I have gotten really fit and started training for things like this. I haven’t. But for some reason, whenever I am on vacation I suddenly think that I am super fit and capable of tackling any kind of difficult hike. Why? I don’t know. You’d think I learned my lesson at Cinque Terre. I didn’t. And this hike was way harder than Cinque Terre. Yikes!!

But I am proud to say that I made it all the way to the top!! Not only did I make it but I made it even though half way up it started to pour with rain (we took shelter under a tree with an Australian couple who were on their way down and told us that we were almost at the top … liars.) – Then when the rain subsided and we began hiking again I didn’t even stop when it began to hail big hailstones. I’m laughing as I write this. I don’t know why we didn’t turn back. It was freezing and we were not dressed for this hike. It was slippery and steep and cold. But we persevered. And when we were approximately 300 meters from the summit I threw my one and only tantrum and proclaimed loudly (with what I believe included a smidge of foot stomping) that I would not go on if the summit was not around the next bend because this is no fun Joepie. This is not a vacation! The summit was around the next bend. Phew! We then sat and played a quick game of backgammon (Joep thrashed me) before making it back down the trail in what I believe to be record time!!

Needless to say we were exhausted. This exhaustion did not stop us from marveling once again at the beautiful scenery on the way back to Banff. Semi-lie – I slept a lot on the way back. But Joep woke me when he saw deer on the side of the road so that was exciting!!

We arrived at our hotel and were more than a little bit impressed by how beautiful it was. And by the fact that there was a big spa in our room to soak our aching muscles!! After a bit of recuperation we made our way down to the town for a big long dinner. Heavenly. Followed by an early night. Glorious.

Tuesday morning we had to be up early to make it to the Athabasca Glacier by 10:40am (a 3 hour drive) for our glacier hike. The drive along the Icefields Parkway (between Banff and Jasper) is pegged as one of the most beautiful drives in the world. It is. There is no doubt about this. It was fantastically beautiful. As we drove along marveling at how lovely it was … it started to snow. True story. Middle of summer in Canada and it was snowing! We started to get a little bit nervous about how well equipped we were for this climb!

Luckily we had nothing to worry about. When we arrived at the glacier we were fitted out with boots, clamps (for gripping the ice) and snow clothing to wear over the top of our winter clothes. Problem solved!

The glacier is approximately 6 km long, covers an area of 6 km², and is measured to be between 90 metres and 300 metres thick. According to tourist guides, travel onto the glacier is not recommended unless properly equipped because hidden crevasses have led to the deaths of unprepared tourists. Exciting!! We couldn’t wait to get up there … although I did have a brief pang of ‘Hmmm’ when asked to sign a waiver stating that if I hurt myself or died on the glacier it was my own fault. Yikes!

The hike was incredible. It was snowing bucket loads while we were up there, which actually made the climb somewhat easier but made it even more difficult to see the ice and therefore the holes. We were instructed to follow step by step behind our guide and we took that seriously. He was incredible and gave us heaps of lessons on ice travel and on the impact of global warming on the glaciers. All of this was very interesting but my favourite part of the tour was when he stopped us, crept forward a few metres with his ice pick, stopped and then called us one at a time to come and look at what he found.

It was a ‘melt well’ which is essentially a seriously huge hole in the ice created by a bit of melting ice that finds a crack and wears it down. This hole was big enough for a few people to fall down at once and dropped 16m straight down before beginning to spiral. That in itself was pretty incredible. But even more than that … if I had been walking on the glacier all by myself there is no way I would’ve seen that hole until I was inside it. True story. It was pretty incredible!!

After a long trek on the ice we made it back to the car all in one piece and with one more incredible memory under our belts!

We then headed up to Jasper to check out the remaining leg of the Icefields Parkway and to find some delicious lunch. Both goals were met. We briefly checked out Jasper (and decided Banff was definitely the better town to stay in!) and we pigged out on amazing Cantonese food … who woulda thunk it!!

Shortly afterwards we headed back to Banff stopping a couple of times along the way to check out the sites including the Weeping Wall and a number of incredible lakes. We were back in Banff just in time for our shiatsu massage … much needed. Two days of serious hiking had wreaked havoc on our muscles so a deep tissue massage was just what the doctor ordered. Except that we were both a bit giddy. So for a large portion of the massages we were in hysterics laughing despite our best efforts to remain serious. Laughter is good for the soul!

Massage over we decided that, despite our mammoth late lunch, we wanted a long dinner too. So we headed out to the town to enjoy an incredible Italian feast! Satisfied, we called it a night.

Wednesday morning we woke up without the alarm and, after packing all our new clothes (winter and cowboy …) we checked out and enjoyed an incredible long breakfast in town. We then headed up to the sulfur springs in the mountain just behind Banff town where we vegged out in the warm outdoor baths for a few hours. Heavenly.

It was with heavy hearts that we headed away from Banff and back to the airport. What an incredible few days! It was so great to get away from it all for a few days!! Having said that, it wasn’t so bad to get back to the real world considering that both of us had great news from work awaiting us upon our return to Ottawa.

And so ends another great Canadian adventure! It was, once again, one of the best trips ever (a recurring theme!). Our Canadian ‘to do’ list is starting to dwindle!! But never fear, there are more adventures to come J

Canada Day!

The first of July every year is a Canadian national holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the Constitution Act, which united two British colonies and a province of the British Empire into a single country called Canada.

We’re really starting to enjoy the multi-national existence that we lead. January 26 we celebrate Australia Day, April 30 we celebrate Koninginnedag and now July 1 we celebrate Canada Day not to mention last years mammoth Fourth of July celebrations we were lucky to partake in! It is so interesting to experience the different ways that nations have of celebrating their existence.

Actually – scratch that. They pretty much all celebrate in the same way. Street parties, concerts, fireworks, food and booze in abundance. Canada was no different in that regard. What was different however was the fact that Queen Elizabeth was in Ottawa for the celebrations!

We were lucky enough to be residents of Ottawa for the Canada Day celebrations. Not only because the Queen was here but also because Ottawa is apparently the best place to celebrate Canada Day. Having now experienced it I do not doubt this for a second.

We began our celebrations when Mikey & Anne-Marie arrived at our door at 11:30am. We started the day with a leisurely stroll down Rideau Street towards Parliament Hill. Now, when I say leisurely stroll I mean picture Prinsengracht on Queens Day or Sydney Harbour on NYE. It was packed with people out enjoying the festivities. There were buskers galore, concerts and even a skateboarding competition out on the street. We happily strolled along and noticed the crowd getting progressively thicker the closer we got to Parliament Hill.

As we neared Parliament Hill it became close to impossible to walk. Why? Because Queen Elizabeth was on her way! The streets were half closed and security was there in abundance so we joined the masses and waited in excitement for the Queen to go by. She went by in a flurry of fancy horses in a horse drawn carriage with the Duke. It was actually quite breathtaking to see! When she was safely on stage the streets semi opened again and we moved onto Sparks Street to check out more buskers. We were not disappointed and were entertained for ages watching the street performers. After a while we headed back up to Parliament Hill and were lucky enough to sneak in onto the lawn just in time to see the Queen speak!

I’m as surprised as the rest of you re how excited I am about this. I never thought I cared about the Royals. Turns out I am a huge fan who is incapable of speech when the Royals are in sight. Strange. After standing in awe until the Queen announced ‘God bless Canada’ and went on her merry way, I was able to enjoy the festivities once more.

Sights seen we headed back towards Casa J&J for some beers and snacks. On the way we hit up the newest restaurant to open in Ottawa. Its not a restaurant. It is a poutine take-out place called Smokey’s and it is the best. For those of you not familiar with poutine (have I already told you about this? Skip this part if I have …), it is a delicious mixture of hot chips, gravy and cheese curds. It sounds gross. It is not. It is delicious! And Smokey’s offers a range of different flavoured poutines including pulled pork & bacon

(which Joep ordered) and sausage (which Mikey ordered). Hilariously, when A-M & I were in line to order there was a woman and her family in front of us. She kept exclaiming excitedly about the different things on the menu only to be bitterly disappointed when her family reiterated to her continuously that it came on top of poutine. For example: Mum – ‘Oh nachos!’ Daughter – ‘Yeah but it comes on top of poutine mum.’ Mum (*disappointed sigh*) – ‘Oh.’ Mum – ‘Oh butter chicken!’ Daughter – ‘Yeah but it comes on top of poutine mum.’ Mum (*disappointed sigh*) – ‘Oh.’ I’m not kidding. This went on for ages. It kept us entertained as the queue moved slowly along.

Poutine purchased and sampled, we headed back home for refreshments on the balcony. I really cannot explain in writing the buzz on the streets so you are all required to imagine Queens/Australia Day at the height of its craziness and apply it to all scenarios discussed in this blog.

We spent the next little while soaking up the rays and the beers on the balcony before grabbing our bikes and heading to a bbq at friends of Mikey & A-M. On the way we passed many bbq’s where people were playing various games. Ours was no different! As the boys set about playing a game of washer toss, us ladies enjoyed some lovely conversations and refreshments. It was a hoot! It was also lovely to meet so many of the people that we’ll be with at Mikey & A-M’s wedding in a couple of weeks!!

An exorbitant amount of time was spent enjoying the hospitality of Adam & Elyse until we realized that the fireworks were soon to begin! So the 4 of us once again mounted our bikes (P.S. J&I were LOVING the reminiscent biking after a few drinks through crowded streets … awww Amsterdam!) and headed back towards the Market where we were lucky enough to have snagged a spot on a friend of a friend of a friend’s rooftop terrace!

The fireworks were actually pretty impressive! So was the company despite the late hour of the day. We spent the next whiiiiiile up on the terrace soaking up the atmosphere before our mammoth day was called to an end and J&I biked home for some much-needed R&R.

All in all I must say that our first Canada Day will be a tough one to top! We had a blast!! This is further supported by the length of recovery time I needed. Having said that, Friday was a semi work day so there has been plenty of recovery time.

In addition, the days following Canada Day have been pretty conducive to R&R. The sun has been shining every day and yesterday we even managed to bike to the beach for some chill out time in the sun! This city keeps surprising us … in the best way possible!

So Happy Birthday Canada! We thoroughly enjoyed sharing in the festivities!