We're with Bob! Your help is needed

As many of you know Nancy's father, Bob, was diagnosed with Lymphoma cancer (actually two types of Lymphoma) early this year. Since his diagnosis, Bob has been undergoing a regime that includes an experimental chemotherapy cocktail. This cocktail literally didn’t exist a few months ago – so we can attest that medical research is producing advancements that benefit current and future patients.

So it only seems fitting that Nancy and myself contribute to this ongoing research into lymphoma. Accordingly, a small group of us, including Bob, will be participating in the Light-the-Night fundraising 5km walk in Victoria, Vancouver Island on 24th October.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation and sponsor my participation, please make a secure online donation using your credit card by clicking the following link:

http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=697185

If you would like any further information please let me know. Thank you for your support.

Stroll round Fort Rodd Hill

With the great summer weather continuing over last weekend, we ceased the advantage and went for a local walk on the Island to visit Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse. This is a National Historic Site which is a coast artillery fort built in the late 1890s to defend Victoria and the Esquimalt Naval Base. The Fort includes three gun batteries, underground magazines, command posts, guardhouses, barracks and searchlight emplacements.

The waterfront sites at Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse are extremely photogenic, especially with the scenic backdrop of the Olympic Mountains in neighbouring Washington state. The Strait of Juan de Fuca offered a wide variety of ships, from small sailing vessels, to enormous cargo ships, and close proximity to the Canadian Navy base with military craft of several different nations at close range.

Grouse Grind - 2830 steps!

My challenge training took an interesting twist today, as I completed the Grouse Grind. You are probably wondering what the Grouse Grind is....

Often referred to as “Mother Nature’s Stairmaster,” the Grouse Grind is a trail that winds it's way up the side of Grouse Mountain. This is the mountain that is directly opposite our apartment and makes up a large proportion of the view from our sofa. More than 100-thousand hikers a year take on the challenge of the rugged terrain and steep climb, up an approximate 56 per cent slope (30°), which starts at the Valley Station of Grouse Mountain and finishes at the Peak’s plateau. In length the Grind is 2.9 KMs or 1.8 miles, the elevation gain is 853 metres or 2,800 feet and the summit is 1,127 metres above sea level.

On average this hike takes up to an hour and a half, however, the official record to date for men is 26.19 held by Michael Simpson, set in 2007. I was happy in simply completing, but managed a respectable time of 1 hour 11mins for the total of 2,830 steps. Although I was spurred on by a couple of young kids passing me on the way up!

The Challenge is On!

Following the successful Anthony and Scott weight loss challenge (combined loss of 42 pounds) prior to the wedding of the year, it has been agreed that the next challenge is the fastest 10KM run before 1st May 2010.

The group of contenders includes, Nancy, Scott M, Ross, Emily, Kris, me and of course Anthony.

The rules are simple:
- Need to complete an official, timed 10KM run before the 1st May 2010.
- The timed result needs to be on offical paperwork from an organised run or from the organisers website.
- The FASTEST TIME wins the challenge!

A handicap system is available to those who want to use it and is based on their BMI score. Enclosed is a link to a BMI calculating website http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/. This is purely optional.

Eyes of the prize - major bragging rights are awarded to the winner! Also a few people are asking for a betting book to be run on the winning time, so we may look into this at a later date and donate any winnings to a cancer charity. An embarrassing punishment for the loser has also been mentioned in passing and so we will see how that develops over the next few weeks.

So if there is anyone else you wants to join in the challenge then please let me know, however, if you just want to watch our progress keep an eye on the blog for updates. Furthermore, you can track our run training via the blog through the Nike widgets on the right-hand menu bar. These track the distances run in training and related timings.

Anyway, enough of the talk for now and down to the training (minus the ice cream). See you all at the finish line! Good luck and eat my dust.

Friday Night - Keane Concert

After a busy week at work and the Vegas trip, Friday night saw us taking in a concert with the English band Keane. This was Keane's third concert from their tour of North America and it was a privilege to see them in such a great venue. The Centre for Performing Arts was high quality in its seating, accoustics and view of the stage and we felt really part of the atmosphere. It also helped that the lead singer, Tom, was on fire - full of energy and adrenalin for the occasion and really got the audience going.

Keane tracks were on our wedding reception playlist, so it seemed apt that the concert tickets were one of my wedding anniversary presents to Nancy earlier in the year. Turned out to be an enjoyable gift with both of us coming away looking to rediscover albums by Keane. Although, this was the first of two concerts for Nancy this weekend as on Saturday she went to see Neil Young, Sheryl Crow and various other artists at Ambleside on the North Shore.

Sin City Trip

It has now been a few days since our return from Las Vegas, aka Sin City, and we had a great visit with the clear highlight spending time with the new Mr and Mrs King. We enjoyed Vegas to its maximum including shows, bars, gambling, swimming, beaches, dining-out and M&Ms. The newly married couple are certainly enjoying their honeymoon travels across California and we heard all about San Fransisco, Yosemite Park, drive through Death Valley and Grand Canyon.

Once we met up with Emily and Kris, we all headed for the -5 degree ice bar, which could have proved a trauma for someone with small finger syndrome! Despite this, we had a real laugh in rented coats, drinking vodka cocktails from ice glasses and even a quick drink from an ice statue of a lady's chest (not quite sure what that was doing there). On Sunday morning, we enjoyed a gospel brunch with was as much food as we could eat at the House of Blues, but the real entertainment was from the gossip band which got the crowd on their feet and even on the stage. This set us up for the day with lots of energy and we then toured the strip, including the M&M brand store - I think the colourful pictures tell their own story.

That evening the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show called Love, was simply spectacular! The show combined the best of the Beatles songs with amazing acrobatic displays. There is no easy way of describing the content of the show, but suffice to say that everyone thought it was a fantastic highlight of Vegas. This was followed by us walking back to the hotel and admiring the Bellagio Hotel dancing water fountains - check out the video for the full experience, shot by my video assistant Emily.

The next day saw us relaxing at the lazy river and wave pool at the Hotel, followed by a late brunch and Kris discovering the joy of maple syrup on pancakes and bacon. Sweeeet....! We then popped along to the Little White Wedding Chapel which seemed to be in honour of Elvis, with the realization that you could get married at the chapel drive-thru. We all decided that it wasn't the best place to renew our wedding vows on this particular occasion. Dinner later that night was at a Rainforest restaurant, which involved sitting very close to a noisy elephant (I will leave the rest to your imagination). The remainder of the trip was spent drinking, eating, gambling and swimming until we said our farewells in the hotel lobby - with Emily and Kris heading onto LA and us returning to Vancouver. Good times!

Sitting at Vancouver Airport... Next stop Vegas

Well, not quite... we have a stop over in Seattle on the way through to Las Vegas. However, the important thing is that we have cleared US customs and currently sitting in Vancouver Airport awaiting our flight. Exciting times ahead and really looking forward to see the new Mr and Mrs King for some fun and gambling.

Vegas, Baby!

With Emily and Kris now officially on their honeymoon road trip in California, the days are on countdown for us to join them in Las Vegas.

We are looking forward to four days in the entertainment capital of the world and especially spending time with the new Mr and Mrs King. Although, Kris and I need to ensure that we do not come home bankrupt, thanks to our wives gambling!

BC Lions Suck!

Last Friday evening, prior to the skydive, Nancy and I went to our first Canadian Football League (CFL) game at the BC Place, which is one of the major indoor stadia in Vancouver. I had never heard of CFL until moving to Vancouver, but its the Canadian version of the NFL that the Americans play only there is less players on each team and fewer teams in the league. It is the second most watched league sport after the NHL in Canada. We watched the BC Lions play the Winnipeg Bombers with split loyalties. As you should, we were cheering for the local team but Bob wanted us to support his team from Winnipeg.

The game itself was fun to watch when there was action on the pitch, but it was too stop/start and absolutely no flow to it. There were numerous interruptions in which the cheerleaders felt obliged to do a dance and wave to limited effect on the crowd. The play was slowed further by some guy in a red outfit that seemed to be in charge of syncing the game with the television commercials. However, the highlight of the whole experience was heightened by watching a colleague of Nancy wearing a Bestbuy mascot costume and attempting to play football (aka soccer) with fifteen other mascots in the half-time interval. The outcome was hilarious with mascots tripping over each other.

Bob was extremely happy with the overall result as the Bombers won 36 to 10 and the Lions got their arse kicked again this season. Based on the performance I don't think the BC Lions will be winning any trophies this year. Also not sure that we will be frequenting future games, but another experience ticked off our list - I think Nancy's facial expression says it all!

I jumped out of a plane on purpose and survived....

Yes I did it! I jumped out of a perfectly good plane in order to fall to the ground a rapid velocity and what a thrill it turned out to be. Don't get me wrong, I was wracked with nerves doing a tandem skydive especially when the side of the plane opened up at 10,000 feet. I'm not ashamed to say that there was nearly a code brown alert when my instructor shoved me towards the open door and we literally fell out of the plane in open air.

When I first arrived there was a couple of groups and I joined a stag-party of four guys, all of us were first timers and had fear etched onto our faces for the length of the briefing\ training. And when I say training, I mean lying on a chair and sticking my legs and arms in the air! After being suited up and harnessed, we were bundled into the plane and flown to the altitude of 10,000 feet. It was a great view, but none of us were enjoying it.

The only way to describe the feeling is when you reach the top of rollercoaster, start tipping over the edge in anticipation of freefall and your heart is in your mouth - multiplied by a thousand. When I pushed out of that plane it was exhilarating and scary all at the same time and the freefall lasted for about 40 seconds. The instructor informed me that we reached maximum velocity after a few seconds and plummeted at a speed of 200 km/hour. Then suddenly the ripcord goes and the parchute opens, the next thing I know the feeling of weightlessness is replaced by immerse pressure around my genitals as the harness yanks us upwards. The next five minutes is all about gliding down to the ground in a very calm, relaxed manner and as you can imagine with a awesome view of the world below. Landing was simple as I just kept my feet up and let the instructor do all the hard work.

The first question family and friends have asked is "would you do it again" and I can confidently reply that I would (but maybe not for a little while).

Whistler - Day Two

Day two at Whistler was last Sunday with the highlight being the two of us completing ZipTrek. This involved Nancy and myself being harnessed up and sliding down five different zip lines on Whistler mountain, through the forest and over the rushing glacier river. Nancy was especially nervous as she has a slight fear of heights and we were over 200 metres off the ground in the tree canopy. Furthermore, when we were not zipping through the air at up to 50 km per hour then we were crossing the area on treetop suspension bridges. The ziplines on the Ziptrek Bear tour were between 200 and 1100 feet (60m to 330m) in length. As you can see by the photos and video clip we had an fantastic experience and even managed to zip along the last line upside down! However, there is a more advanced tour called Ziptrek Eagle which involves longer and higher zip lines reaching up to 80 km per hour, and is a must for a future challenge.

With the exciting, adrenalin rush out of the way by lunchtime we headed back to Whistler Village for a spot of food. On the way back home to Vancouver we popped in to see Nancy's gran - Betty and then collapsed on the sofa at the end of the day. All in all the weekend in Whistler was fantastic, but we both agreed we need to revisit it in the winter time when everything is covered in snow.

Whistler - Day One

In between the extensive traveling around Canada with work, last weekend, Nancy and I managed to visit Whistler up in the local Mountains. This turned out to be a fantastic trip that saw us complete a number of exciting activities, plus we got to stay in a top-class suite at Whistler Creek. Thanks to Nancy, we found a Vancouver-based couple renting out their suite at Whistler for a bargain price with access to all the facilities, including hot tub, steam room, gym, swimming pool and games room.

After a evening of relaxation on the Friday night which involved pizza, beer and a hot tub dip, we spent the early part of Saturday afternoon watching the 2nd Annual Cheese rolling contest. This involved watching a number of Canadians almost kill themselves chasing a round block of cheese down the side of the mountain - lots of fun was had by all contestants and spectators. Check out the video to see the carnage.

We then headed up the mountain using the chair lifts and then experienced the Peak to Peak cable car ride between Blackcomb Mountain and Whistler Mountain. This newly opened attraction boasts three world records, including the longest free span cable car ride in the world, and I have to say it was certainly a spectacular view of the nearby glacier. Once at the peak of Whistler we took another chair lift to the very top of the Whistler Mountain and we were literally on the top of the world at 7156 feet or 2181 metres.

And all this was just day one of our trip to Whistler, more to come.......

Travelling around Canada

The last week has seen me traveling the length and breadth of Canada with work. I left Vancouver last Wednesday for Winnipeg, which was a 3 hour flight, and the very center of Canada. Winnipeg in the province of Manitoba (which is the home of Bob's family) didn't really offer much, except for 1970s architecture and a huge postal office.

My travels then took me to Regina which is in the province of Saskatchewan, where we have a great Mercedes-Benz Dealer, but the town did not offer too much. I then drove from Regina to Saskatoon, which took two and half hours, but on the straightest and most flat road I have ever driven. There was no distinguishing features of this road except for its flatest. The only interesting moment was the sight of Mount Blackstrap, which was a man-made hill created from rubbish and old tyres for the purpose of skiing! Let's just say I would have been highly disappointed if I had booked a ski-trip to Mt Blackstrap - more of an hillock than a mountain. Saskatoon had a scenic centre, with a little castle over a river, however, the rest of the town was similar in style to Regina and Winnipeg. Flying back to Vancouver on Friday, we visited Whistler for the weekend and more blog entries on that to come.

This week has seen me take a ferry ride to Nanaimo - yes, where the famous nanaimo bars come from, although I didn't get a chance to taste any on this trip. On the way to down the Island to Victoria I stopped off at Bob and Wendy's for an excellent lamb chop. On returning to Vancouver on Tuesday evening, just in time for an early morning flight to Calgary. Wow, I'm knackered just writing the blog ariticle, but I am certainly seeing all the different parts of Canada at the cost of Mercedes.

Congratulations to Mr & Mrs King

With over a week gone by, the new Mr and Mrs King have had time to settle into their new lifestyle as a married couple. Ever since the 31st July at 1.30pm, Emily officially joined the King family with a gift of a bible and a pair of scissors from the Reverend. A fantastic day was had by all with everything going to plan, even the British Summer weather provided a chink of sunshine. All the wedding speeches were fantastic and one of my particular highlights were the goldfish bowls, complete with real, live goldfish as the table centerpieces.

I'm still coming to terms with the fact that my little sister is now all grown-up and a married lady! Once again congratulations to the happy couple.

Celebration of Light... aka Fireworks!

Since 1990, Vancouver has been home to the Celebration of Light. This is an international pyro-musical fireworks competition that has attracted the world’s leading fireworks designers and is seen as a highly prestigious event. The fireworks festival creates an exciting display where spectators enjoy the latest explosive techniques and the most innovative fireworks materials are used as different country teams compete to be crowned the winner.

After a busy work day, Nancy and I wandered up to English Bay to sit on the seawall with the ocean waves lapping. At 10pm the Canadian Team's fireworks started to the theme and soundtrack of the Wizard of OZ and I have to say I was very impressed for the 30 mins. This was no ordinary fireworks display due to the scale, number of fireworks, noise and sound track plus the huge number of onlooking boats and yachts in the Bay. It turns out that over 10% of the Vancouver city population came out to watch the fireworks. My photos don't quite do it justice, but I can assure you for free entertainment is was fantastic.

Weekend in Kelowna

Wow - it has been a busy ten days! Oh how I long for the days of no to-do lists, endless sofa sitting and limitless free time.

Since my last post, I have spent 6 days in Kelowna, which is approximately a four hour drive from downtown Vancouver, completed four more rounds of golf, watched wildfires, pop across to Edmonton, squeezed in a bit of work and finally finished writing a business plan!!

Most importantly, the trip to Kelowna was a fantastic experience with wall to wall sunshine at temperatures in the mid-thirties. Following, a week of working at a Dealer event with MB and the golf, Nancy joined me at the hotel for a weekend of relaxation and fun. We visited three local wineries and vineyards, including Mission Hill, which I discovered was where our wedding wine was from. Following a wander round the town centre and along the beaches, we enjoyed a trip out on a speed boat on the lake. This proved to be immense fun, especially with a couple of dips in the water to cool off from the afternoon heat.

While out on the lake, we noticed a plume of smoke from one corner of the lake which gradually developed over the afternoon. As you can see by the photos this turned out to be the start of the now infamous Kelowna wildfires, which resulted in over 17,000 residents having to be evacuated from their homes. From the waterside this was an impressive sight, but I have a great deal more respect for firefighters as I could only imagine the battle on their hands. Even now, as I write, the fires are not fully under control and there are still people staying away from their houses. For us we made it back to Vancouver safe and sound, which only a two hour delay on the return journey due to closed roads.