No Sleep Till Sunrise

I keep hearing its now 2011 but still Im not sure I believe everyone. Of course the fact that each day of this new year is not spent soaking up the sun in the coromandel surrounded by family friends and amazing atmosphere would be the main halt on this realization. Instead Im back to work (normal everyday all year work, not fun loving summer work) its below freezing every single day, my entire world is covered in snow and still my darling family is a million miles away! BUT I was lucky enough to leave 2010 with a bang and the last few weeks of the speedy year were pure magic!

But you are going to have to patient, there are simply too many photos and stories to tell you everything in one little post....so lets do it in steps- 1) Whistler 2) Vancouver 3) Calgary/Banf 4) back in NYC for New Years.

1) It started by meeting my much missed much loved beautiful NZ friend Vickie in Vancouver and after one night spent in an intense dodgy hostel with the remnants of a half way house (our lock on the door was our fridge pushed in front, although it was fair to say it was the perfect chance to have a good old, stay up all night giggling, catch up) then off we went to Whistler for some fun. and Fun it was! Sure only one day was spent up the mountain ( due to lack of funds) while Vickie attempted to re teach me how to board "ummmm lets just go straight down that first run, you dont want to muck about with the beginners area" agreed. and for the first part of the day I coped been thrown in head first rather well. Pity i cant say the same for the second half of the day.

The rest of our time in Whistler was spent thoroughly inspecting every single bar by night and making a million new friends and by day traipsing through the village shopping and enjoying good food.

Dining out amongst snow and fairy lights with the gondolas in the background (our transportation to and from our accommodation)

Scrummy baileys hot chocolates 

A huge thankyou also to Matty who was the best host for our stay in Whistler! Matty stayed up in staff accommodation and allowed us to take over his lounge plus helped us score a cheap day up the mt. Totally added to our Whistler experience seen as we could literally strap on our board in the backyard and use the gondolas to get down to the village- Magic!

xxxxxxxxxx