From the Coast to Canmore

With a week until his job started, we decided to drive back to Victoria in a single day to tell our very nice landlord that we were very sorry but we were not going to be staying like originally thought.

Nine hours later we arrived back at our little apartment in Oak Bay, exhausted and drained from the trip. We informed our landlord of the sudden change and Lewis’ job offer and she wished us well.

The very next day, we packed up what little belongings we had accumulated in our time in Oak Bay - a green whistle kettle that Lewis will never part with and a vintage bike for me – and after a delicious dinner with our North Saanich friends we began our journey back to Canmore.

In a matter of days we had completely flipped our semi-planned life and landed feet first amongst the mountains of Canmore.  Thankfully, upon our return we loved it even more than we remembered and knew we had made the right decision.

Within a week of arriving back and staying in two rather shmeh hotels, we had found an apartment in the Three Sisters area, a lovely little area based at the base of, you guessed it, the Three Sisters! They are three prominent mountain peaks that can be seen from anywhere in Canmore.

On our first night in the unfurnished apartment we camped on yoga mats in front of the fireplace and thought it would be a novelty. That was until Lewis wouldn’t hush about his back and ‘how it was so much more uncomfortable than camping’. This admittance was worth it actually as it means I may be able to postpone camping a little while longer!

And so here we are. In a top floor, west-facing, two-bedroom apartment with an amenities building that includes an indoor and outdoor hot tub, steam room, pool tables, bar and very well equipped gym.  Find an apartment: Tick!

Vancouver Island

So the long silence has been for good-ish reason. It has been a whirlwind the past few months and it is hard to know where to begin. I guess where we left off?

After our delightful skiing adventure in Whistler, we jumped on a ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, Vancouver Island, where we stayed with fantastic family friends in what can only be described as the most stunning coastal house I have ever seen. 

Based in North Saanich, their home’s back garden actually led out onto the ocean. It was phenomenal. In the three fabulous weeks we spent there we saw a myriad of wildlife from the comfort of the beautiful deck. There were bald eagles regularly visiting the trees a mere 50m away, sea otters flapping about the boat 20m from shore, a massive sea lion killing a mighty big fish just as close and many a seal floating past looking for its dinner.

Not only that, but on the way to a stunning hill walk we actually drove behind another bald eagle trying to lift a dead raccoon from the road and fly off. I have put the video of it below. There are just some things you never expect to see and this was certainly one of those moments.

During our second week, our wonderful hosts had arranged to visit their children in San Francisco so asked if we could please dog-sit while they were away for five days. It was a no brainer. We were delighted to look after their home and their lovable, bounding, energetic, thinks-he-is-human dog.

Everybody meet Kula.

Crazy Kula would take us on walks and show us new areas of North Saanich (whether we wanted to see them or not) and was hilarious to play with. He often came and lay down next to me while I was doing Pilates or Yoga and I think he must have thought he was pretty good at it as after a while he would push me over and roll around showing off.

During those three weeks, with a little influence from the amazing climate and a lot of great stories from our hosts, we decided that we wanted to stay in Victoria and test it out. Amazingly we found a gorgeous little lower lever apartment just minutes from Oak Bay that we could move in to immediately and that was how we came to stay in Oak Bay… for two and a half weeks.

Vrooming Through Vancouver

Holy cow it has been a crazy few months!! I guess the fun and the surprises are just beginning!

Towards the end of November, Lew and I set out on the very first jet-set of our adventures. We flew into Vancouver for a long weekend... from London...
It is safe to say the flight was almost as long as our stay but my goodness it was worth it!

We landed in the chilly land of maple syrup and maple leaves and just about fell in love (as was hoped) from the get go. From the waterfall to the jellyfish floating past us in the airport we were welcomed by all - even the immigration officers who we had been told to fear.

Hop, skip and a sky train later we arrived in Downtown Vancouver. Oooft. Hello big glass buildings and Gucci store! We tottered for ten minutes and arrived on the doorstep of our hotel - The Empire Landmark Hotel and we were in luck, as we got a gorgeous balcony room on the 32nd floor with stunning views over Stanley Park and the west coast.

Over the three short, but glorious sunshine days, we managed to cram a lot in and tried our hardest not to let jetlag set in- although I did attempt to get Lew to have meaningful conversations at 4.30 in the morning with me as I was failing to keep jetlag at bay. Seems his sleep talking is really coming on leaps and bounds as he doesn't remember a thing about it.

Downtown is fantastic and we strolled around Stanley Park while there was a half marathon going on. We were thrilled with how sporty and outgoing everyone was, we cannot wait to get super fit and take to their lifestyle!

Of course we did the tourist thing and did a lovely hop-on hop-off tour with the Vancouver Trolley Company with two of the funniest guys we have heard. Not only did they tell us some fascinating details about the history of Vancouver we also got an insight into the hilarious gossip we may become interested in.

As with all trips they are over too quickly, but we can be very thankful that this was just a little teaser session... we are returning in February for the first 5 month stint.

I am so excited, I know Lew is too, but I am almost bursting with anticipation and cannot wait to just get up and go.

In the meantime we must sort health insurance, pack our belongings, give old stuff to charity, cancel direct debits, set up Canadian bank accounts, buy a car, apply for an international driving permit, sort flights..... and the list goes on.

But my goodness, am I raring to go.