Partying in paradise

So I've been struggling to sit down and write this week's blog not because of lack of inspiration, but I have simply been far too busy and important! No, not really, probably just a combination of laziness and great summer weather to be honest. It's pretty tough to be all dorky on the computer when you can be outside in the sun. Thankfully my skin has finally shed its scaly translucent luster and is somewhat normal once again (if only momentarily!).

In other news, this week my work hosted an island themed picnic in Stanley Park on Wednesday afternoon so we all got to leave the office at 11am and spent the afternoon eating, playing games and learning Hawaiian and Tahitian dance. Despite my inherent distaste for dancing, it was actually pretty fun. The other great work news is that I had some really positive feedback on my work from the big boss and he wants me to apply for a full time EA position coming up in September. Hooray!

In Steven-work related news, last week he spent four days in the Northwest Territories at a place called Yellowknife, where his company owns a local plane business. Tough for some! Interestingly, his boss warned him to check the weather a day or two before he left just to make sure they weren't expecting any freak snow storms (in the middle of summer!!) It's actually the place where they film the TV show 'Ice Road Truckers' ... if you've heard of it... (basically it's a show about truckies that have to drive these big semi trailers over ice covered roads - yep, exactly what it sounds like!). Anyway, he had a great time and was apparently quite a novelty for the locals!

So last weekend was Dave's birthday and his girlfriend Liz invited a few of us to her family's cabin at Loon Lake - approximately 5 hours drive north east of Vancouver. Needless to say we spent the majority of the five hour journey making jokes about how crazy this would be back home - driving five hours to Bundaberg to celebrate a friend's birthday when we often balk at driving an hour or less to the coast! The major difference between the drive from Vancouver to Loon Lake and the drive from Brisbane to Bundy is quite clearly the epic scenery - I was completely in awe of the grandeur of the mountains we drove through - impossible to describe but they completely dwarfed our car and made me feel so small. Even in the darkness their majesty was humbling. My mesmerisation was briefly interrupted twice - once when we spotted a baby bear (that's #2 for me, #4 for Steven - dammit!) and then when we almost hit Bambi's mother who ran right in front of our car (much to my relief Dave broke well in time).

Our view!

The Loon Lake house

Some scenery on the way home

More scenery on the drive home - note the snow still on the mountains in the middle of summer!!

Before we even made it to Loon Lake we had a little trouble culling our 'essential items' for the two day trip. With Steve planning to fit in some training, plus groceries and alcohol, we had pretty much packed the entire contents of our tiny little house. As most of you would know I do enjoy a good list and I try my utmost to incorporate this list making habit into every facet of my life - holiday packing is no exception -

Nat's stuff

Nat's comprehensive list

So when I arrived home on Friday afternoon, I had to laugh when I noticed my list making had managed to infiltrate Steven's conscious stream of disorganisation -

Steve's stuff

Steve's comprehensive list

Loon Lake is incredibly gorgeous and unbelievably peaceful. It was well and truly the most relaxed place I have visited since I have been in Canada. When I thought it couldn't get any better, it well and truly cemented itself into my good-books when I spent Saturday morning eating breakfast sitting beside two friendly ducks and a brace of ducklings! Alvin, Simon and Theodore even joined us for lunch later in the day! I was so impressed with the chipmunks and I couldn't believe how tiny (about the size of a large mouse) and quick they are in real life! 

My little duckling friends

Very tame wildlife!

The view - pretty impressive!!

The beautiful Lola - token lake house dog

Chippy!

Feeding the ducks

More chippies!

So cute - check out their cute little hands (paws?)

Saturday we spent doing a whole 'lotta nothing and it was fabulous! With gorgeous sunny weather and an average of 27 degrees, we made the most of the cabin's prime lake location and chilled out canoeing and lazing around on inflatable pool toys, with a few beverages for good measure. Dave was also thrilled with his present - a BB gun (apparently they're illegal in Australia) - and so were we - taking turns shooting empties balancing precariously in various locations (I gave it the 'ok' after confirming the bullets were biodegradable and no animals were or were ever going to be harmed in the activities - this BB gun was purely for beer can related fun). In case you're wondering - it was a requirement of the weekend that we wear our party hats for the duration of our stay!

Steve sucking it up before diving into the chilly water

The Dave's go for a paddle on the pride floaty!

Chilling in the lake

Dave tries his luck with the BB gun

The poor beer can copped a beating

A pretty accurate shot!

It was me of course ... or not??

Dave - the birthday boy

Dave shoots Dave with the BB gun - he asked for it!!

Saturday night was made complete with an open fire, pavlova birthday cake, and my first ever s'mores for dessert! (s'more:  a traditional nighttime campfire treat popular in the United States and Canada, consisting of a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker). Liz was amazed at how excited one person could be - she clearly does not understand my love of chocolate and/or other sweet treats!

Delicious pavlova cake

Pavlova cake cutting FAIL

Campfire!

Taking cool campfire photos with the fancy camera

S'mores!!

Sunday was a little more depressing as we all realised we'd soon have to make the five hour journey back to Vancouver. The sombre mood in the car spoke volumes of the wonderful weekend we had enjoyed and was briefly interrupted as we made our way through Whistler on the way home and thoughts of our upcoming Christmas festivities started to creep in. We had a sneak peak of our accommodation and I have to say I am pretty excited!

We're preparing for a fairly quiet weekend in the lead up to our next big trip - Cancun! Steve's training is coming along well and I hope to have a nice summer wardrobe sorted out soon ...

Until next time...

Sunset at English Bay