Well, the snow has fallen but the local longboarding crew doesn't stop just because it's a bit cold. With temperatures hitting negative figures, we bombed a local hill until our fingers were numb and our feet were tingling.

I finally felt confident enough to hit the hills with the big boys, although I trashed my shorts and put my gloves to good use. Of course, no one else was dumb enough to wear shorts, I was just trying to blend in :)

Another fun, if mental, day.

 

As I said in an earlier post, the local Longboarding scene is huge in Vancouver and the locals are big on organised events. Striker, I don't know his real name, likes to organise a toy rally every Christmas for the local kids. The toys are deposited at the local t.v. station headquarters, and every longboarder is asked to bring along a $5 gift.

I turned up with a couple of water pistols, not expecting much, but Striker and a few others turned up in Santa costumes and we skated through the middle of Vancouver! 40 skaters, going through red lights, overtaking cars, stopping traffic and generally having a whale of a time. Luckily Canadians are very easy going, so even the cops were simply laughing along. I can't imagine what would happen if we tried this through the city of London!

We finished off with a cruise around the seawall, Stanly park. A fun filled and exhausting day.

 

 

CTV headquarters, delivering our presents.

Striker

 

Downtown

Stanley Park

 

 

Striker, exhausted after a long day.

The Sunshine Coast is really a summer destination, but we took in a few of the local sites (secretly hoping not to run into a grumpy bear that had forgotten to hibernate)

 

Secret Beach, not so secret with a great big signpost.

 

 

 

 

West Canada is the home of longboarding, so I figured that I had to partake whilst in the homeland.  So I picked up a board from the Landyachtz factory and practiced standing upright.

In Vancouver, the longboard community is very strong and they have a great number of organised events. For the winter, this is a weekly "Saturday Session" where they bomb hills and slide corners. I was lucky enough to be around for the first one of the winter so popped along only to find out that I was the oldest by a good ten years and seriously lacking in the ability department. (The first person I talked to was "Scoot", the current world downhill champion)
So I took out my camera and watched the carnage.

We "bombed" about 4 hills, spending around 30-45 minutes at each spot before it became too "hot". Combined with the amount of weed being smoked made this feel like a bit of a dodgy endevour, but it was worth it for the good laugh I had.

I also found my dream car, "The Eh Team" van. Awesome.

I rented a flat on the Sunshine Coast, in Vancouver, for a month as a place to relax and generally have a good time. The apartment was the top half of a house and was pretty fantastic looking, the views were spectacular and the location was handy for the shops and restaurants. The local fish restaurant, Smittys Oyster Bar, had a special surf 'n' turf which I'll never forget, amazing steak and lobster.

Unfortunately we had the landlady from hell, who wouldn't leave us alone and complained about the amount of electricity we were using (in the middle of winter?)

Anyway, it was a great location but we were very glad to leave at the end of the month.

 

The view

 

The Lounge

The local transportation

 

Whilst James, Jac, George, Poppy and myself were taking a walk along Kitsilano beach, we came across a reporter about to do a live weather report. Well, before we knew it she had roped George into appearing with her on the live broadcast.

We were in a mixture of shock and hilarity. Brilliant.

Jac and James managed to get hold of the footage later, something to be used later in his life when he's a professional cyclist?

Halloween in North America is obviously a big thing and I was stoked to be around for it. George and his best friend, Evan, went trick or treating and it was hilarious to see their faces once they realised that free candy was in the offering.
George was in a fireman's outfit, courtesy of Granny Annie, and Evan was Bob the Builder.
By the end of the night, the two kids were barging past door openers and shoveling fists full of candy into their carrier bags, but they looked so cute that no one minded.

Then, once George had gone to bed, we shared the candy between us, fully aware that George will have forgotten by the morning and that "it's bad for him anyway"
I briefly felt guilty, but the chocolate was too good. :)



George preparing to go out



George and best friend, Evan



"Give us Candy!"

The flight over was fantastic, lots of good food and a few good movies. Canadian Airlines is really friendly, even if they don't exactly have to best facilities.

Jac was there to pick me up from the airport and I was led to my new home for a few weeks, the basement of Jac and Jame's house. It's an apartment in itself, totally self contained and fabulous! A short walk from Kitsilano beach.
Meanwhile, Kim had gone to Sydney to be with her folks for a few weeks whilst I set up some accomodation in Vancouver.

Jac made me extremely welcome and it was great to have some sibling time together, hopefully I didn't get in the way too much as George and Poppy mean that her life is pretty hectic!

We had great walks on the beach, the weather really turned out well for the time of year, and George impressed me with his new bike. That boy is fearless and I can't wait to see how good he's going to be in a few years, especially with a mad keen mountain biker for a father.

Anyway, here's a few shots



George, the cyclist



Granville Island

Still smarting from the paintball over the weekend, I'd organised a last drink with the London kitesurfing crew. Cousin Julia also turned up with her new bloke and it was great to see her.
A nice turn out indeed and it was a good opportunity to spread some thanks for making me feel extremely welcome whilst I stayed in London. I'll definitely miss this crew and I'll be looking them up next time I'm back in Blighty.



Julia!



Fred, Josie, Adam, me



Alan, Me, BA



Kim and BA

Andrea was kind enough to share a few Paintball vouchers she'd picked up through work, so Kim and I were happy to go along with Holly, Joe and lots of Andrea's friends for some paint mayhem.

Kim and Holly turned out to be slightly psychopathic, putting Rambo to shame, whilst the rest of us shot some, got shot some and generally had fun.

All in all, a good laugh.



Kim and Holly, "the calm before the storm"



Adam and I, "running scared"



be afraid



Joe, wondering what he's got himself into.