Our first visitors & The Great "Crossing-Off"

Well I guess to start, first and most important is the fact that Grand Final day is not the same when it begins at 10pm. I blog to take my mind off it but I am sitting here pining for my annual viewing of the entire Grand Final day coverage -  from the North Melbourne Grand Final Day Breakfast at 8am through to the terrible pre-match entertainment and the post-match news bulletin. Yes, I'm a complete sucker for Grand Final day. I could use this as an excuse for the sudden and unwelcome onset of my homesickness but we all know that's a big lie. Our first visitors to Vancouver have come and gone. They left this morning and it makes me a bit sad.

I have no doubt the onus is on me because I had looked forward to mum visiting for so long that she (and Chrissie, as it turns out) seem to have come and gone in a split second. Morose whinging aside, it was great to have them around (if only for a short while) and I think I can speak for all of us when I say we thoroughly enjoyed our weekend in Whistler!

So by now everyone knows about the big surprise. It was great to see Chrissie and I'm glad Mum had someone to tour San Fran & Vancouver with, as she's getting on a bit now (just kidding Mum - love you!!). Really, I had no doubt that Mum could handle herself traveling alone but it's always nicer to share the experiences with someone else too.

Our first official visitors to Vancouver

Steve, being the chivalrous man he is, drove the three of us to Whistler on Saturday morning for our three day weekend of adventure (Ziptrek & white water rafting) and luxury (The Fairmont Chateau, Whistler).  I must admit, after three days at the Fairmont I was getting used to being called "Ms. Conroy". We were lucky enough that a Fairmont (Gold) room was the only room available (how convenient!!) and we enjoyed three gourmet buffet breakfasts in a private dining room as well as a bathroom the size of our Vancouver unit (I may be slightly exaggerating), a huge flat screen tv, fire place, king-size beds, access to the hotel jacuzzi, sauna & pool,  robes, slippers and a selection of fancy tea (Mum's favourite!), hors d'oeuvres daily at 5pm (Chrissie's favourite) and unlimited hot chocolates prepared on request (my favourite!).

A gourmet breakfast is not complete without a hot chocolate!

I'm saving the cream on my nose and chocolate on my lip for later...

Our room

Our weekend was fairly packed (I like to stick to my schedules!!) but I am so glad we had a nice hotel to go home to, particularly on Sunday and Monday when the weather turned nasty - cold and rainy - which meant we spent a lot of time browsing through the Village shops for grand-kid gifts, child gifts and ghetto-wannabe brother-in-law gangsta hoodies (yes Ben, I'm looking at you!) for all those chilly 25 degree evenings at footy training in Cairns ;-). Oh, and I also spent a lot of time standing around, waiting for Mum & Chrissie to do their tag-team toilet trips scheduled every five minutes. So that's what I have to look forward to post-children in another 10 years' time!! Can't wait .... !! We had also planned to do the Peak 2 Peak Gondola but after waiting around to try and squeeze it in before our white water rafting (they had a lightning warning), we only made it up the Whistler Gondola and got stuck in the gift shop at the top where it conveniently began to snow (!!). We didn't end up having enough time to wait until they gave it the 'all clear' so we had to miss that. Although we did get the snow and we also saw a black bear so all was not lost!

A beautiful day in Whistler!

A stealthy little chipmunk caught carrying his own body weight in nut.

Even though I'd done it before, Ziptrek was so much fun and Mum was of course the star of the group, being the eldest and clearly most adventurous (although she didn't go upside down, she did let go with both hands on the final line - go Mum!!). Chrissie and I (who both went upside down P.S!) never heard the end of how cool and adventurous our Mum was from everyone on Ziptrek and in our white water rafting group. My favourite part of white water rafting was that our guide was Napoleon Dynamite. The similarities (in looks and mannerisms) were uncanny! Napoleon did a good job though, so none of us fell out and we all had lots of fun (me especially as I sat in the back so Mum & Chrissie copped all the splashes!). My only criticism was that the whole adventure was far too short. Although Napoleon told us that if we went any further down the river that we'd end up plunging to our deaths so I guess I had to settle.

Ziptrekkers

Zipping

Approaching our next line

Mum is WAY excited about the next line

Mum zipping!

The rest of the time was spent taste testing various cocktails, spa-ing it up and generally "playing ladies". I'm pretty sure Steve was happy he made the decision not to join us.

Taste testing Skinnygirl Margaritas.

Who invited the Collingwood supporter?

Fairmont dinner & cocktails

The most annoying part of the trip was undoubtedly the bus ride home! As per usual I was stuck sitting in front of a special individual - namely the old man with an unwavering appetite for photos of landscape through bus windows, also featuring the back of my head. Honestly, he sat in the bus for a good half an hour (1/3 of our trip time) taking photo after photo with his little digital camera perched on the top of my headrest. The clicking started to get to me after the fourth photo within 10 metres. Seriously, how good can photos of road and tree through the front of a bus window actually be? Not to mention my glorious, un-brushed hair.  The first few times I tried to be gracious and attempted to move my head to the side, but once he starting resting the camera on my seat, my patience dissipated. So now I can't quite decide how I should feel about the fact that the back of my head will be forever featured in some stranger's holiday album.

Of course during their stay we also made sure Mum & Chrissie got the lowdown on the places they had to eat at - we did Guu (Japanese), Wings (speaks for itself), Lolita's (Mexican), Marble Slab (Ice cream), Central Bistro (delicious) & Rain City Grill (modern/seafood) and we made them do Cactus Club & La Brasserie (for the chicken & gravy rolls). I also managed to eat a third of the chocolates they had purchased during their San Francisco trip ... I have no idea how that happened ...

Finally, after providing free breakfasts (of perfected oats & berries) and accommodation for four nights, I put them to work - counting and rolling our shrapnel....

Not really, I didn't have to ask - I just came home one day and they were voluntarily doing it (weirdos). Kristen & Alex - if you're interested I think we collectively managed over $30 (in 1, 5 and 10 cent coins) - once I cash it I'll send you a cheque for $15 ;-)

So what does all of this mean? Well, it means that I can now declare that The Great "Crossing-Off" began two weeks ago and my list of things to do while we're living in Vancouver is looking a little worse for wear. I'll have to start brainstorming again in the near future. The latest to be crossed off? ... Whistler, eat at Rain City Grill, Deep Cove (we did this for my birthday weekend), white water rafting & Ziptrek. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check.

And, in four days we're about to cross off yet another ... Ironman World Championships (Kona, Hawaii).

Now I can also confirm some other good news - I have signed a contract for a permanent position in my current workplace, in a better job, and officially start full-time on Monday. This means more money and some great benefits, but unfortunately less ability to take vacations on a whim. Boo.

Stay tuned for more Tales' installments ... in the form of my Cancun critique.

Happy Grand Final Day! Go Cats! (off the record please)