Hey guys! So yes from Australia to Canada. From hot to cold. From familiar to unfamiliar.
I flew into Vancouver airport, passed through immigration and made my way to an air b n b I had booked downtown.
The apartment was nice, very nice and was good location because I knew I had to be downtown to sort out phone / bank ect / sin number.
I then got on a bus from Vancouver to Kelowna. After I spent a week in Vancouver sorting out banks, phone, sin numbers everything to allow me to begin working in Canada. I stayed in Kelowna in a cheap hotel on the highway. In the morning my landlord picked me up and drove me up the mountain. Where he showed me the house and how to work and use everything. I was the lease holder for my house.
That was the beautiful house I got to stay in during winter. Thank goodness all these houses are built for the cold, and they have heaters in every room of the house!
That was the view from our breakfast bar, beautiful to wake up to every morning and take in the breathtaking views.
If you want to get an idea, how much snow we really get. Take these two photos to compare. Taken at the same spot on the breakfast bar, one just a couple days arriving here and one photo months later.
Ahh learning to snowboard. Well I have never wakeboarder, surfed or snowboarded before so I really don't know what I was thinking!
But it was great because I worked for the mountain, they offered free lessons to anyone who worked for them.
So the first week I took 5 lessons, so they could teach me how to ride my snowboard. I have always been a sporty girl, so being anxious I wanted to hit the higher slopes.
This is where I would ride down early in the morning to catch first chair. I was very diligent on catching first chair, I have always been a morning person, and what is a better way to start your day then ripping it around on your snowboard.
This would always be my post shred breakfast. Toast, avocado, organic eggs (because canada's eggs are so bad) Yum, I love avocado.
This was our xmas staff party, was a very fun night, we did get pretty drunk and we found this photo the next morning. We thought this guy was santa. Hah it was the 72 year old snowboarding instructor!
I found santa that night eventually!
Meeting all our new work colleagues who after the ski season we would all be best friends.
Family dinner, ribs at the local restaurant Blarneys.
So because we lived in Snowpines, most of the time we would pre drink at our house before we endured a 20 minute / 40 minute hike (depending on how much you had to drink) to the local pub Sams.
It was perfect, we would drink and be drunk leaving the house, the hike would sober us up for security at the door, and then it would be a cheap night!
Crazy night at Sams includes, dropping your drink, finding some new accessory, getting a blurred photo and dancing on the picnic tables and falling off!
I was always given a lot of sh** for drinking G & T's but I loved them. It was good because when everyone was out of alcohol they were never interested in drinking my bombay gin.
The best Christmas present ever. My brother flew over from New Zealand to come shred the Canada pow with me! Although I had only been practicing for a month, he was ten times better then me.
We used to do this run called Whiskey jack multiple times in Blackforest because it was a good gradient for my skill level at the time.
Lift lines at biggie on boxing day after everyone had unwrapped their presents.
Thank goodness I was working this day.
What Australia day looks like on a mountain full of Aussies. Big white is probably 80% Australians, 11% kiwis, 3% germans and 6% Canadians. Hence why Australia day is the biggest day on the mountain, I reckon.
On Australia day back home, its tradition to grab a pack of beers and sit at the beach and sink a box of beers with some good banter and good weather. So we do the same here in Canada, just a little different. We all wake up, go for an early first chair ride all in a big group.
Head home, put some Aussie attire on and head back to the kangaroo run. Most of the Australians are snowboarders and kangaroo run is full of moguls. Probably the worst run for moguls. Then we hand out tim tams before we shred the moguls in bikinis and board shorts. Many of us taking stacks and eating sh**. Still a great day.
We all then stick all our boards in the snow, sit back on some hand built seats out of snow, and watch the hostel rail jam. This is when people do tricks and flips of hand built jumps. Most of us just sit back and drink can after can while the dj never stops the tunes.
The girls!!
This is me shredding Revelstoke, super steep mountain.
Travelling to other mountains is probably the best part of the season. It challenges you, new courses, new runs, new snow, new trees. I went to 4 different mountains. Red, Whitewater, Revelstoke and Sunpeaks. I loved seeing other mountains because it was good to compare it to biggie. I was still happy with my choice being biggie. The terrain I love with all the tree runs.
I loved doing tree runs, so I loved black forest and was probably the most satisfying thing was seeing my skill level get better from the start of the season to the end of the season when I would do the same runs.
Bluebird day with the girls
Don't get me wrong, being up on a mountain for 6 months can get super isolated and claustrophobic. So myself and a friend booked tickets to New York. Well she asked me if I wanted to go to New York and when the tickets were $400 return I couldn't say no!
It was probably a trip I will never forget. It was my first vacation I had ever taken for myself in my whole life. It always triggered myself to travel and see a lot more. Because money can't buy memories or experiences. I enjoyed New york so much, although it was colder then the mountain. I was so happy I took my snowboarding jacket.
I brought my stabiliser at my favourite Photography store in USA! I remember as a kid looking at this online shop in the states, dreaming of being able to buy the equipment from there. But they never posted to New Zealand.
Thank you biggie, for 6 months I will never ever forget. Incredible in an understatement !
If you wanna see my experience is a 3 minute video, check it out here.
