Merry Christmas from Scott, Nancy and Sam

A Merry Christmas from Scott, Nancy and Sam.  We hope you and your family have a fantastic festive time this year and we wish you health, comfort, and prosperity this holiday season.  Season's Greetings from Vancouver Island.

Last Adventure to New York

I'm back on the blog.... it has been too long and there is no excuse, just the pressures of work.  One of the happenings since I last updated the blog is my trip to New York to stay with Neil and have Ross join for a visit.  Neil has been living in New York for the last couple of years thanks to a role with Citigroup - yes, he is one of those evil bankers that brought the world to its knees in 2008.  However, at the end of December he returns to the UK to be reunited with his family and a job in London; so this was the last adventure for the three of us to be together in New York.

As you can imagine fun times were had by all.  I arrived a couple of days earlier than Ross and had the opportunity to experience the city at its best with a pre-Christmas feel.  I walked the city and saw all the major sights, including Time Square, Wall Street, the United Nations building, Madison Square Garden, the NBC television studios, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge and even managed to find time to pop into Mercedes-Benz Manhattan.  One disappointment was not being able to take the ferry over to the Statue of Liberty, as the recent super storm Sandy had meant it was closed to tourists.

The evenings were spent with Neil looking for places to dine and chat - some of the topics of discussion being how to fix American politics, which including gun control (how apt following recently incidents).  On the Friday, Ross took the bus up from Washington DC to join us and Neil recommended a great Italian place for pizza and drinks.  Saturday was a day of walking and touring the west side of New York including the Highline and a wharf of shops.  The time together was spent chatting and making jokes at each others expense, the main focus being Neil's obsession with pink trousers (as you can see from the photos).  The final day was spent walking across the Brooklyn Bridge in the rain - great cityscape views but the weather got in the way.  The trip highlighted the fact that as always life is improved by sharing it with great friends, but New York certainly provided an amazing backdrop.

Nancy and Sam Maui Beach Holiday

As mentioned previously, Nancy and Sam flew out to Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands for a two week holiday.  They joined up with Wendy, Scott M and Laura-Dawn for an enjoyable time in the sunshine.  I have been receiving regular updates of their activities and fun, including a variety of photos - which I have included in this blog post.  Everyone is having a great time and Sam is loving the beach.

Sam and his Lego

Sam and Nancy are in Maui for two weeks and arrived safely last night for their holiday on the beach.  Sam continues his global trotting travels with this trip, especially as this is his second holiday to the Hawaiian Isles.  In their absence I have a peaceful and restful time at home to catch up with work and errands, including the blog.  So I thought I would share a recent photo of Sam enjoying his lego, he has shown a real joy in lego construction.  Look out for Maui photos soon.

First Haircut

Sam's curly hair has the been the source of much debate, as it has never been cut and Nancy has stopped me from having his curls cut.  For some reason, the ladies in Sam's life believe that the curls are very cute and cannot be removed as they may never come back.  However, whenever his hair gets wet especially at swimming classes it turns into "rat tails" and Nancy admitted that going to Maui on holiday she didn't want to be embarrassed by the rat tails.  So yesterday saw Sam shears get sheared!  As the photos showed the best method to cut his hair was following him around with a pair of scissors, while he is distracted by toys.  Job done and Sam even received a certificate.

Pumpkin Patch

The end of October in North America is dominant by the holiday of Halloween, which means that many of the houses are decorated with ghoulish and spooky items.  One of the mainstays is pumpkins that are then carved with faces.  Nancy led the charge and showed us the best place to go for fresh pumpkins.  The local farm, Mitchells, had a pumpkin patch with a large selection of the orange fruit and we let Sam loose to go and choose the one for our doorstep.  As you can see from the photos, Sam thought this was immense fun and made his selection from kissing the pumpkin.  We also discovered that a pumpkin is not a vegetable; it's a fruit! In fact, it's a berry.  Pumpkins belong to the family Cucurbitaceae, which includes cucumbers, melons, squash, and gourds.  We took our pumpkin home and Nancy's Uncle Peter came round the very next day to deliver a carved pumpkin as a gift for Sam.  It was an impressive effort and many thanks to Uncle Peter.

7.7 Earthquake Rattles BC Coast Last Night

This morning Nancy woke me to inform that there was a violent earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale.  The quake jolted British Columbia's north-central coast Saturday night, frightening residents and forcing many to temporarily leave their homes for higher ground ahead of a possible tsunami.  Tsunami warnings were issued for the North Coast, the Haida Gwaii islands, parts of the central B.C. coast, the coast of Alaska and as far away as Hawaii.  However, early Sunday morning the warnings were downgraded to advisory status, meaning evacuations were no longer necessary, and they were cancelled altogether a few hours later.  Residents near the centre of the quake said the violent jolting lasted for up to a minute, but no injuries or major damage had been reported.

UK Flying Visit

On Monday, we stepped off the plane from London Heathrow after a 10 hour flight - this was the conclusion of our week's trip to the homeland.  It was fun packed, friends and family filled week.  The holiday started with the flight from Vancouver which should have been relatively easy, as Sam is now a seasoned traveler having flown to a number of places already. However, this did not turn out to be the case as he screamed for the majority of the flight - which probably made us the most hated passengers on the flight!  However, once we were off the airplane we enjoyed our trip.

During the holiday with our rental car we visited Odiham, Milton Keynes, Lavendon, Finmere, Crondall and Hartwell.  It was great for Sam to visit the UK for the first time and see close family and friends in person, as opposed to being on skype video.  We visited a number of local parks, playgounds, walking routes and of course bought a few home comforts at the shops to bring back to Canada.  Good old Marks and Spencers provided a need for additional luggage for the return flight.  We want to thank everyone that we met up with, who provided all the warm hospitality and welcomes.  It is the little details that you remember, such as Sam and his cousin Annabel hugging each other goodbye on the last day, all our friend's children sitting around the table for lunch or meeting a dog called Sam that became Sam's friend very quickly.  We had a great time visiting and the trip was only possible because of the people.  Enjoy some of the photos and thank you.

Parksville - The Return Visit

For the second weekend in September with Autumn rushing towards we took the last opportunity of this year to head to the beach.  As per one of my earlier blog posts we visited Parksville in August and had a relaxing, enjoyable visit, so this time with Wendy we thought we would have three days of relaxation.  The last days of Summer didn't disappoint us, as we managed to get to the beach in great weather. Sam loved the water pools and the wet sand - totally enthralled by the sea shells and beach life.  We even managed to keep his sun hat on for a while.  One of the afternoons included a dip in the nearby swimming pool and Sam just wanted to play with the inflatable beach balls.  Good relaxing weekend and now for the Autumn.

Saanich Fair in the Sunshine

I know, I know.... it has been a few weeks since my last blog post.  No excuses except for being busy at work and so I am playing catch up. 

At the beginning of September, our little family headed to the local Saanich Fair.  It turns out that this fair is one of the oldest in Canada and this year it was celebrating its 145th year.  The Saanich Fair included a number of farmyard animals, agriculture equipment, musicians, entertainers and even pie-eating contests.  Our visit coincided with beautiful sunshine and Sam was fascinated by the various animals - horses, chickens, ducks and cows, as you can see by the photos.  However, the key highlight for Sam was the orange coloured tractor - he didn't want to leave the drivers seat!

Parksville Mini-Holiday

We took advantage of a long weekend, last week, to experience nature at its best and visit friends who were camping in Parksville.  Parksville is a definitive British Columbia summer town, which is about an hour and half drive north of Victoria. The beaches on the south-central coast of eastern Vancouver Island are the stuff of a California dream vacation.  However, there is a difference, Parksville's postcard crescents of golden, hard-packed sand beaches are smoother, broader and caressed by gentle Pacific rollers.  Sam loved the long stretch of beach with all the wonders of sea shells, water pools, seagulls and crabs.  The evening entertainment was a camp fire, singing camp songs, eating smores and knocking back frozen drinks.  On the final day, we went to the Parksville sandcastle venue - where international artists had built magnificent sandcastles for the viewing public.

London 2012 Olympic Torch (in Victoria)

I took the opportunity from one of our suppliers to bring into the dealership a London 2012 Olympic Torch.  A local businessman had purchased one of the torches to import it to Victoria and allowed us to share it with the staff.  Everyone got a chance to hold it, pretend to be a torch bearer and get their photo taken. 

Also it was a prime opportunity for me to mention to my Canadian colleagues how well the GB Olympic team has been performing in London.  Nearly 60 medals in total and 26 golds - what an amazing result, especially when Canada has only won one gold medal!  Just a shame I've had to watch the NBC American TV coverage - as there is serious bias towards the American athletes and not enough of the GB team success.

Victoria Petting Zoo - Goats Galore!

On a recent trip into Victoria we took Sam to visit the local Petting Zoo, when there is a variety of different animals and birds on display.  The goat pen is the highlight of the facility, with all the goats and billy-kids running around where the children can touch and feed them.  Sam was straight in there with the goats - no fear, despite a few of the older goats being larger than him.  The Zoo also had a number of roaming peacocks, which were magnificent in their display of colourful feathers.  A number of piglets were born shortly before our visit and so Sam was up close and personal with the baby pigs.  He didn't quite understand the joke about bacon!

Simon Whitfield Olympic Send Off

Three Point Motors, Mercedes-Benz Canada and Victoria's enthusiastic triathlon and cycling community sent Simon Whitfield off to the London 2012 Olympic Games last Monday evening in appropriate style: with a bike ride along Victoria's scenic waterfront.

More than a hundred local cyclists had a chance to socialize and ride with the world's most decorated Olympic triathlete who will be representing Canada at his 4th Olympic Games in London on August 7th.  The event started and finished at Three Point Motors in Victoria, and the Mercedes-Benz dealership, where I work, pulled out all the stops to make the occasion memorable.  After the event, my staff and I had the chance to personally chat with Simon and hold his medals. 

It was also announced the next day that Simon would be the flag bearer for Canada at the Olympic opening ceremony.  Good luck to Simon, but he is up against two British brothers who are the favorites for the triathlon.

Congratulations to Scott and Laura-Dawn

On Saturday 7th July Nancy, Sam and myself were in Vancouver to attend and celebrate the marriage of Scott M and Laura-Dawn.  It was an intimate affair with close family and friends with standing room only for many of the guests during the ceremony.  It was great to share it with some many close people of Scott and Laura-Dawn and this was followed by photos in Stanley Park.  Then an enjoyable dinner lead into a night of drinking, chatting and dancing - good times had by all.  Many congratulations to Scott and LD and to all their future happiness!

Record Sales Month (Again) June 2012

My team and I are still clearing up the paperwork and completing deliveries from June sales, but it was an excellent achievement by everyone to break the all time sales record for Mercedes-Benz cars at Three Point Motors Victoria.  We sold 34 new Mercedes-Benz cars in the month of June - not bad for only my third month in the job.  In addition, we sold a couple of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Vans and twenty used cars, proving we were not a one hit wonder in May.  Another pleasing point to make is that we beat all our local competition - number one in market!

Virginia and Ocean City Holiday

It has been a few days since our return from the East Coast of the USA, having spent a week with Ross, Laura, Beth, Ryan, Abby and of course the H-Unit (Henry).  This was also the first time that Sam had the opportunity to meet his cousins in person and not over Skype.  To get to our destination we had to take three different flights over a twelve hour period, which was a daunting prospect with the active, walking Sam.  However, we shouldn't have worried as Sam slept most of the flight time and was too busy charming people in the airport to be upset.  The only drama was when he "face-planted" into a glass screen at Toronto airport creating a nose bleed... with our embarrassment only heightened by half a hospital team of medics and doctors appearing to look at Sam.

Once we arrived into Washington with Ross, Laura and the kids our fun started as all the kids got on famously with each other. There was sharing of toys, playing on the Nintendo Wii, watching of YouTube videos, walks around the local area, water fun at the swimming pool, visit to the local playgrounds and of course watching Kung-Fu Panda for Henry.  After a couple of days, we loaded up the cars and headed for the beach on our road trip to Ocean City, Maryland.  Laura had arranged a rental condo big enough for all nine of us within walking distance of the beach.  As you can see from the photos, everyone had a top time down on the beach, in the ocean and along the broad walk.  We were blessed with good weather and sunshine, except one day when thunder showers kept us inside.  The overall low light was the disappointment of watching the England national footy team losing again on penalties to Italy in the Euro Championship.  Although it was great to share the experience with Ross in a pub, the sort of thing we did when we were younger, back in the UK.  A week certainly wasn't long enough and we all wished we could have stayed longer.  Good times!

BTW - Happy Canada Day for 1st July for everyone out there!

On Our Summer Holiday

We have packed our suit cases and ready to head to the airport early in the morning - 5.25am flight from Victoria Airport.  We step on the airplane that we then take us to the East Coast for our holiday with Ross, Laura and the kids.  Look out Virgina here we come and Sam's first meeting with his USA cousins!  More blog posts with photos of our trip to come in the near future.

Sam's first Mercedes-Benz

Sam and Wendy found time in their busy schedule to visit me at the dealership on Saturday afternoon.  After much deliberation and negotiation, my sales team selected the ideal first Mercedes-Benz for Sam.  As you can see from the photo, he loved the performance, style, aerodynamics and of course the beeping horn.

Come On England!!

The Euro 2012 football tournament has kicked off and it is being hosted in Poland and Ukraine.  The England football team had their first match today, playing against the French.  There is low expectations for England due to player injuries, suspensions and a recently appointed Manager - Roy Hodgson, who in a previous role was the Fulham Football Manager.  I had to be in the office this morning and so missed the game, but as you can see from the photo this did not stop Sam (and Nancy) from enjoying the game.  England got a one, one draw!

Touch a Truck Event

Pictures are worth a thousand words.... as you can see Sam started his day in a stretched limousine, drinking and having a fun time.  However, as we all know this sort of behaviour can soon lead to trouble and Sam soon found himself behind bars, in the back of a police car!

This was followed by his namesake "Fireman" Sam getting a taste of being a real fireman with the local fire department.  Getting to use the fire hose, driving the fire engine, using the equipment and getting sprayed with the water canyon.

These was two of the fun experiences we had as a family at the local "Touch the Truck" event - where a number of trucks, commercial vehicles, fire engines, military vehicles, ambulances were available to sit in and touch.  The fire engines were certainly Sam's favorite.

Record Sales Month for May

I am now exactly three months into my new job, with the first month being for training and transition.  So May was my second month in full charge and one of my main goals is related to the Sales Department achieving their monthly targets.  We not only achieved our target but we managed to equal the highest sales result in the dealership's history.

The picture shows my glass board where all the deals get recorded and as you can see we went way off the bottom, in order to capture all of them.

Stories from Tofino

Nancy, Sam and Wendy have arrived back from the scenic frontier of Tofino.  Everyone is full of stories of beach visits, BBQs around an open fire, hikes through the forests and views of the ocean.  As some of the photos show, this was the first chance for us to utilize the new back-pack for carrying Sam - he really enjoyed the ride and the expeditions into nature.  The trip was clearly successful as next year's Tofino holiday is already being planned.  Also Sam's confidence in his walking has significantly improved since I was last with him, as he is now taking steps all over the place.

Tofino Trip (without me!)

Nancy, Sam and Wendy have headed up the Island to a place called Tofino.  Tofino is a gem of a place secluded on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.  This area boasts one of British Columbia's most prized nature reserves, Pacific Rim National Park.  Tofino offers the chance to experience pristine wilderness as well as beaches.  The weather is perfect with wall to wall sunshine and so the only thing missing is me.... as I have to stay and work.


Looking forward to seeing all the photos from the trip and hearing the stories.  I keep getting email updates and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

Nancy Blog Post - Part 2 (May 2012)

We are into a long weekend here in Victoria and the sun is shining.  In fact, it has been for the past week and we've had any outings to the park, front lawn and beach.  Sam particularly loves the beach and the pictures go some way to prove it. Scott enjoys the front lawn and spending the afternoon playing with Sam and reading while Sam naps.   Sam finally has developed an interest in books and sits down frequently to read/look at them.  His favorites so far are Cuddle (thanks Clare H!) and a picture book of various animals.  I am trying hard to learn all my animal noises now - what noise does a giraffe and rhino make?  Sam has also made great strides on his walking this week. After a few steps weeks ago, he wasn't interested but this week he finds it very amusing to go from person to couch and vice versa.  He is slowly building his confidence up.  Here are the photos for all to enjoy.

Happy Birthday to Nancy

Firstly, thank you to Nancy for filling in for me on the blog with her recent blog update.  It is also Nancy's birthday today - Sam and I are wishing her all the birthday joy for her special day.  It is a family day as I have taken the whole day off.  Sam and I were up early, leaving Nancy to have a lie in.  After breakfast and the window cleaner entertaining Sam we all headed to play school.  This was my first time at this venue and it was fantastic to see Sam in his element, very active, climbing all over the place, up and down the slide, banging drums and chatting with his buddies.  He face was full of fun and wonderment.

Last Sunday, I took part in the Times Colonist 10 KM run in Victoria and this is the third year running that I have attended this event.  Without any training or proper preparation I managed to complete the course in sixty minutes. This was about five minutes slower than my time in 2011, so a little disappointing but encouraging that my latent fitness got me across the finishing line.

I better go now as we need to go and open Nancy's birthday gift from Sam and myself (a new IPad).  One of the first photos taken on the IPad is included.

Nancy's Guest Blog Post

Lucky readers - you have a guest blogger!

Scott has been unable to update the blog as he's putting in the hours at work and when he's home, Sam is the priority.  While Scott is "bringing home the bacon!", Sam and I have a routine of play groups, music class, playing on the front lawn, and playing with new friends Ryder and Grayson.  We have been welcomed warmly into toddler life in the area and Sam is thriving.  He's a social kid who loves being out meeting new people and experiencing new things.   Just yesterday, he took his first unaided steps and now is keen to walk everywhere with just holding onto one of our hands.  Hopefully he'll develop his confidence soon as Scott and I are getting lopsided backs carrying around 29lbs all the time!

We are looking forward to some upcoming trips.  Sam, Nana and I are off to Tofino for a week in May and then we are all off to introduce Sam to his lovable American cousins in Virginia and the ever adoring Auntie Laura and Uncle Ross!  Sam enjoys seeing them every week on Skype, especially Chelsea the cat, but a week full of constant playmates will be the best.

Anyways, here's what you really want - Sam pictures! Enjoy!!!

April Fools Day!

Happy April Fools Day everyone!  This means that I have got through my first month in the new job and officially take on my role from Monday morning.  My sales team had a little induction ceremony for me - when I completed and signed off my first vehicle deal, the sales person involved cut my tie.  (Luckily I had time to exchange for a cheap alternate tie from a local charity shop).

I thought I would also take the opportunity to share some recent Sam photos, as he is over 13 months old now, on the verge of walking and his first understandable words are "dog" and "again".  He also recently had his one year health check-up, including five different injections.

Island View Beach Walk

With our new home on Vancouver Island we are taking the opportunity to explore the local scenic areas and nature walks.  This is especially important as Sam seems to enjoy the outdoors and meeting the wildlife.  Last weekend we walked along the Island View Beach walk, which is featured in the photos with the rainbow.  On Sunday we also wandered along the pier in Sidney with the highlight of watching crabs being caught by the locals.  This is a far cry from our downtown, city lifestyle in Vancouver!

Back in the Real World of Work

It has been nearly two weeks since I started my new role and I can now understand Emily's frustration with long retail hours.  Sunday was my first full day off since starting as General Manager and General Sales Manager, so I made the most of my day off with Nancy and Sam.  It was a pleasure to spend time with Sam when he is not in his pajamas! Although the days have been long so far, the job is proving to be interesting and challenging, but most importantly I am enjoying it.  Getting photos of Sam being sent to my Blackberry keeps a smile on my face during the day, especially as he is getting up to a variety of different activities now... as the photos show.

Ross provided the biggest laugh of my day off though, as our weekend skype call was to the theme tune of Minder.  For the Canadians and people too young to remember, Minder was an early nineties English TV show about a wheeler-dealer of used cars - a loveable rogue if you will.

Three Years in Canada

Today is the third anniversary of my arrival to Canada - three years and counting, eh! This is significant milestone as it means that I can now start to apply for my Canadian Citizenship an gain duel nationality.

This also coincides with the start of my new role at Three Point Motors in Victoria with the first few days going well and looking forward to the new challenge ahead.

Sam 1st Birthday Party

Where has the time going? Sam has reached his first birthday and we celebrated it on Sunday with a party. A small gathering of people joined us to eat cake with Sam and help him open his presents. He was lucky enough to have not one, but two birthday cakes (one being a Diary Queen Ice Cream cake!). Some of the highlights were clothes from Virginia, the Fireman Sam outfits from Granny and Grandad in the UK, the Noah Ark toy set from the Player Family and of course a cuddly toy from Uncle Scott. Also he now owns his first pair of shoes in preparation for future walking. Sam enjoyed the cake a little too much and as the photo shows looks a little guilty afterwards... although it was extremely tasty. Sam would like to thank everyone for his gifts and cards that arrived from around the globe.

The weather proved to be poetic as it snowed, exactly a year to the day when we were rushing to the hospital with Nancy in labour. That fateful night in 2011 also provided snow and a slightly worrying time for the car journey.

New Zealand Roadtrip - Part 2

To conclude our blog post on our New Zealand trip here is the second part. We arrived into Queenstown which is the adventure capital of the country and filled by thrill seekers. We involved ourselves by taking the cable car to the top of the nearby mountain for spectacular views of the area. I made use of the lunge track and Nancy prepared herself for paragliding (one of her things to do on her 36 things list). It took Nancy a little while to convince herself to complete the tandem paraglide, but once onboard she enjoyed the relative (compared to skydiving) gentle ride down to the ground. It also turned out the instructor was from Canada and worked at Grouse Mountain. Sam and I were very proud and impressed that Nancy completed the paragliding.

After all the excitement of Queenstown, we took a flight up to the North Island and landed into Rotorua for a days visit. The city is known for its geothermal activity, and features geysers - notably the Pohutu Geyser at Whakarewarewa and hot mud pools. This thermal activity provides Rotorua with a distinct sulphur smell, not the most endearing thing we experienced in New Zealand. We visited a local Maori village which provided a guided tour of the thermal activity and did the traditional war dance of the Haka. This was certainly a highlight of the trip for Sam who was transfixed by the dancing and singing performance.

Next and final destination on our trip was Auckland, which is the largest populated city in New Zealand. We did have our worst experience with hotel accommodation (Kiwi International Hotel) in Auckland, but that aside we did journey up the Skycity Tower. At 328 metres, it is the tallest man-made structure in New Zealand and offers breathtaking views for up to 80 KMs in every direction. At the observation deck of the tower, Sam took the opportunity to sit on the glass floor in the observation deck and we watched people complete the Tower sky jump (another mad activity for thrill seekers). We ended our holiday by meeting up with some friends from Vancouver for a few drinks and Sam meet up with his buddy Lucas. All that remained was our long flight home (3 hours from Auckland to Sydney and 14 hours from Sydney
to Vancouver), although Sam certainly enjoyed his business class seat.

New Zealand Roadtrip - Part 1

We are now recovering from jet lag having returned to Vancouver Island following our New Zealand road trip. Our best intentions to update the blog along the way were dashed by a lack of quality internet wifi on the South Island. Now that we are home we can share some of the highlights from the last two weeks of our trip, which are in two blog posts.

After leaving Christchurch with our rental car we headed west across the Island and in the opposite direction were the competitors of the Coast to Coast race. This is where the race competitors traverse the South Island of New Zealand from Kumara Beach on the Tasman Sea to Sumner Beach on the Pacific Ocean. The competitors cycle 140 kms, run 36 km (including a 33 km mountain stage that crosses the Southern Alps) and kayak 67kms of the Waimakariri River through the Grand Canyon of New Zealand, the Waimakariri Gorge. The winners usually take ten and three quarter hours to cover the 243kms. Crazy people if you ask me, but we passed the leading guys on their bikes.

After a few hours in the car, dodging the cyclists we arrived into sunny Hokitika which had the most fantastic beach. We enjoyed our packed lunch and Sam crawled around naked chasing the local seagulls. Back in the car we reached our main destination of Franz Josef, this is where the magnificent Franz Josef Glacier is, which is widely regarded as the gem of New Zealand's West Coast. The next day we ventured out to walk some rough terrain to reach the face of the glacier, which we achieved with Sam in his stroller. We received a number of quizzical looks from other people of the trail. We followed this up the next day by visiting another glacier (Fox Glacier) which was about 23 KMs south of Franz Josef. Both glaciers provided amazing views in all directions - mother nature at her best!

From the glaciers we drove for a few hours to reach Te Anau for a nights stay and the next morning we drove to Milford Sound - a fjord in the south west of New Zealand. It has been judged the world's top travel destination in a recent international travel survey. Rudyard Kipling is quoted as calling Milford Sound as the eighth Wonder of the World. We took a boat ride out into the fjord and traveled out to the ocean, en route we experienced the amazing waterfalls, dolphins jumping out of the water and sea lions. That evening (with Sam asleep and being looked after by Nancy), I took the opportunity to visit the Te Anau Glowworm caves. After disembarking the boat, I joined a nature guide that accompanied a group of us into the caves which have been carved out by the force of the river that flows through them. The result is a twisting network of limestone passages filled with sculpted rock, whirlpools and a roaring underground waterfall. Deep inside the caves, beyond the roar of the water, we were taken by a small boat into a silent hidden grotto inhabited by thousands of glowworms. In the subterranean darkness, they produce a glittering display similar to thousand of tiny turquoise neon lights. An extraordinary light show.

New Zealand Road Trip part 2 post will appear shortly....

Arriving into NZ & Landing in Christchurch

We had a full day of traveling to leave Sydney and arrive into Christchurch, New Zealand. A bus from Bondi Beach to the nearest train station, two trains to Sydney airport, flight to Auckland and then another flight onto Christchurch - situated on the South Island of NZ. At this point, a special mention for Air Zealand - I have been on numerous flights with different airlines over the years, but Air Zealand comes up top. Nancy wanted to mention that the business lounge had a dedicated kids room, full of toys. While the flight itself was made easy due to very attentive staff who even provided an extra seat in business class for Sam to sleep on and the endless flow of champagne was a nice touch.

Anyway, back to our travels we arrived into Christchurch about 7pm local time and made our way to our motel room. Our bus driver gave us some of the local highlights and provided us with some of the recent history relating to the earthquakes Christchurch has suffered. The city has experienced over 10,000 earthquakes since 4th September 2010 with the largest (and most infamous) earthquake last February. This shake was very shallow but rated as a 6.3 magnitude directly under the city centre, which resulted in claiming 185 lives and caused serious damage to thousands of buildings. According to the local newspaper, Christchurch was hit by five significant after shocks between 7pm Wednesday and 6pm Thursday, this week! (Extra note... just as I finished this blog post we experienced an after shock for ourselves).

Today, we wanted to see the city for ourselves and so we walked around the nearby Hagley Park with a very English styled Botanic Gardens, including a rose garden, ducks and a playground for Sam. We then toured the local museum which had interesting exhibits relating to NZ dinosaurs, local Maori culture and expeditions to Antarctica. We then wandered to the city centre to find the earthquake damage zone - an area that has been cordoned to the public for health and safety risk from the damaged buildings (see photo). We did then see a set of shops that have been restarted in metal shipping containers as temporary accommodation. Our general view of Christchurch is that it was quiet, almost a ghost town, which I suppose is understandable given the circumstances. Next is the start of our NZ road trip, as we pick up a car and head to the Pancake Rocks and Glaciers....


P.S For Kris, note that Sam is wearing his Vancouver Canucks t-shirt proudly in one of the photos!

Last Day In Sydney & Walking the Bridge

After much debate Nancy convinced me that completing the Sydney Harbour Bridge walk was a once in a lifetime experience and so my last day in Sydney involved a bus trip back to the city centre from Bondi. I checked in for 9.25am for the "Bridge Climb", which is a 3 ½ hour guided journey to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The climb took me along the outer arch of the Bridge on catwalks and ladders all the way to the summit, 134 metres above Sydney Harbour. There were about 1400 steps as part of the climb, but it was certainly worth it as the opportunty to witness 360 degree views of Sydney, including east to the Sydney Opera House, west to the Blue Mountains and the Harbour city surrounds. This was an expensive experience but was something to remember.

Next stop on our holiday is Auckland and Christchurch, New Zealand.

Hanging Out at Bondi Beach

Nancy's internet research found us an amazing place to stay at Bondi Beach, literally overlooking the ocean and the famous stretch of sand. So for three days we have an ideal location to explore this beach community, our initial impression is that the Bondi area is a bit "hippy" but relaxing place to stay. The weather has been windy, which is perfect for the surfers, less so for keeping a sun hat on Sam. Bondi Beach is one of Australia's most famous beaches and among the world's most well-known beaches. The beach is roughly a kilometre long and is patrolled by life guards who make swimmers stay between the yellow and red flags. There was even a prime-time television show about these life guards and what they have to deal with from the beach-goers on the TV last night.

Yesterday we walked along the sea wall from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach, this was approximately 5KM in length. As you can see from the photos, this provided some spectacular views of the ocean and coastline. The only downside was the the number of steep steps that we had to carry Sam and his stroller over. We returned on the bus and ended the day trip with a gourmet burger, Sam had the perfect view of Bondi Beach and the passing traffic. We then walked along the length of the beach at dusk (with the stroller) to get back to the apartment.

The Start of Our "Down Under" Trip

We have been in Sydney for a few days now, after our near fifteen hour flight from Vancouver, our first hotel was in the downtown area. A twenty minute walk took us into the heart of the all the action and to the classic Sydney tourist locations. On the first afternoon in the rain, we made a beeline for the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House - both were amazing places to visit and photos don't quite do them justice. Also en-route we toured through Hyde Park and Botanical Gardens.

Day two involved a significant amount of walking and utilizing public transport, especially the harbour ferries. The sunshine broke out so it was ideal to see the Darling Harbour area, including Dragon Boat racing, The Rocks market, the Observatory (situated on a hill with an exceptional view of the bridge). We then took a ferry over to Manly to chill by the beach. Sunday involved a relaxing morning, followed by another ferry ride to Watson's Bay, which is recognised as Australia's oldest fishing village, having been established in 1788. We toured along the cliff-side walk for views back to Sydney city centre and out to the ocean - Sam slept through most of this.

Next stop is Bondi Beach, where we have an apartment booked for three days and I will post again with more photos.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles to get to Sydney, Australia

Just a quick blog post as we are using a local internet cafe in Sydney with no wifi access in our hotel. We should be back online tin the next day or so as move to a different apartment near Bondi Beach. So we arrived safe and sound after using planes, trains and automobiles - car to the ferry, ferry to Vancouver, flight to Sydney, metro train to city centre and our legs to the hotel. Flight was fine and Sam was at his best for nearly 15 hours - the other passengers in business class even commented how fun/cute he was on the flight.

First couple of days in Sydney, we have toured all the classic sites in the city - including the harbour bridge, the opera house, ferries in the harbour, Manly Beach, the Rocks, Sydney observatory, a local Aussie pub, etc. We have a bunch of photos but we will have to share them another time when we have more time and Internet capability.

For now we are safe and sound, enjoying our selves "down under" (in spite of a little sun burn). We are off for another day of sight seeing, trip to the beach and water park for Sam.

Happy Birthday to Ross + Sam Photos

Firstly, Happy Birthday to Ross, many congratulations and best wishes for your 33rd birthday. Great to hear that the homemade lasagne and apple pie made your day. For everyone else - enclosed are a few recent Sam photos. We all head to Sydney on Wednesday and so the next blog post will be from the other side of the planet.

A New Chapter is About to Begin....

It has been a little while since my last blog update and the reason for this is that we have been planning a big change in our life and future lifestyle. I have accepted a new job to be the General Manager for the Mercedes-Benz dealership in Victoria, Vancouver Island. So our little family is making the move from Vancouver to the Island and the last few weeks have been a period of transition. We have exited our downtown apartment with the majority of our stuff now in storage on the Island. Also I leave my current role at Mercedes-Benz Canada on the 25th January and then I will jump on the ferry to join Nancy and Sam. With one chapter of our lives closing, the future brings a new chapter and different opportunities.

We also have five weeks together before I officially start my new role on 1st March and we are taking the opportunity for a holiday. So on 1st February the three of us are getting on a flight to Sydney, Australia. We are spending five days touring the sights and sounds of Sydney and then we fly onto Auckland, New Zealand. We have two weeks to complete a road trip around New Zealand before returning at the end of February. It is an exciting chance to see two places that Nancy and I have wanted to experience for a long time. Of course we will update the blog and it is going to be interesting to see how Sam does on the long flight times to other side of the world.

2012 Arrives

With a happy birthday and a happy new year all at the same time, it is time to welcome everyone to 2012. We hope you all had a good festive season and the new year has started well for you. It was a very relaxing time in Vancouver at the end of December with Sam on fine form. Not much too report so just a few photos from our year end.