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?