One Second in Whistler

June 17, 2016June 17, 20161 Comment

I have loved this app, re-watching the little clips always puts a smile on my dial. I just mashed our first four weeks of Whistler life and it’s a nice reminder how nervous I was in the beginning and how life is steadily improving here, day by day.

However, I seemed to have forgotten my camera and miss having actual photos to look over. I started work last week also, which makes it a little more difficult to pick up my phone all the time. So, please enjoy my last One Second Everyday video … for now.

Ahhh Whistler, I’m so glad we picked you.

Hanbel.
x

Home Sweet Home

May 23, 2016Leave a comment

Well, this is home. I’m not mad about it at all.

Whistler is a pretty speculator place. Yes, it’s touristy, and yes, Australians flock here, but it’s for good reason. No matter where you turn, you are greeted by mountains, creeks and astonishing views.

We’ve hit the ground running here, Andrew went straight into his course from the moment we arrived (he’s training to be a mountain bike coach, for those who don’t know). I’ve been lucky enough to crash with Tash and Blake (friends from home), which has made life so much easier.

I have also been lucky enough to score a job in Whistler already, working for a company who organise holiday rentals, activities, restaurant bookings etc. for higher-end travellers. I start in a couple of weeks and am actually pumped to get back into full time work.

In the meantime, I’m taking myself on small hikes and rides, checking out the village and just hanging out with my new besties!

Being a tourist town, life is a little more pricey up here. Groceries in particular, are really making me a sad panda. Though, we have found one perk. 1.5L of red wine for $15. So we might just live off potatoes and wine from now on…

Why do I always pull this face?

The mountain bike park opened up this weekend, and the village has been flooded with riders in all shapes and sizes. We’ve enjoyed a couple of afternoons in the sunshine watching them all come down the hill. The kids who ride with no fear, flying down the trail, are so incredible to watch!

On Andrew’s day off we took the bikes out to a smaller, cross country style area. Even though my lungs got a huge shock, it felt sooooo good to be back on the bike!

Just this morning I took myself off to Lululemon’s free yoga session, and later today we’re going to hit up a Farmer’s Market down the hill. There’s always something happening or something new to discover, which is helping us all stay positive while performing the arduous task of finding somewhere to live. Whistler housing is insane, there are not enough houses to go round, and we’re struggling a little at the moment. Finger’s crossed something pops up soon!

Just gotta keep that zen 😉

Happy yoga vibes,
Hanbel.
x

Canada Eh

May 18, 2016May 18, 20167 Comments

You have reached your final destination.

Cannot begin to tell you how incredible that sentence is. Not that we were travelling for that long, but it does make a big difference when you finally arrive in the country you plan on living in.

We hit Van City on Thursday, and headed to Kitslano to crash at our friend Carla’s spot. Kits is a suuuuuper cute area to stay in, right on the “beach” (I use this term loosely), nice little strip of shops and cafes, and only a 5km walk into Downtown.

The main purpose for hitting up Vancouver was to get the admin side of life sorted, which we smashed out in half a day! We got our Social Insurance Number plus great deals on a sim card and bank account (Virgin Mobile and CIBC if you’re wondering). The banking system is so backwards here, they still use cheques, have only just begun using internet banking and most of the bank will charge you for internet transactions.

Once we finished the boring things, we took advantage of the sunshine and hit up Stanley Park. After the longest wait for an average burger (there are always downsides to travel), we grabbed some bikes and road the seawall.

The ride was so flat and the bikes were amazing to ride, 14km went by so quickly.

This cool kid.

The sunshine continued through Saturday, and with Carla not working we had a buddy! With a car!
After an amazing brunch (following from Perth traditions) at The Oakwood, Carla drove us all out to Lynn Canyon to walk around the falls and NATURE.

Doing this little walk has gotten me so excited for living in Whistler, hiking and riding every day!

Rewarding ourselves with ice cream, naturally…

Our little group headed into Gastown in the evening, for drinks and dinner. I managed the dinner portion before taking myself home with a mother flippin’ cold. NOT HAPPY.
Gastown is very cute though, old school-style gaslamps on the streets, cool little restaurants and bars down alley-ways. I hope the others enjoyed it to it’s fullest!

We took Sunday a little easier (easy like a Sunday morning, some would say) due to my stupid sickness. Not wanting to waste the whole day though, we did a quick visit to Granville Island for chicken noodle soup and pot pies.

The markets are gorgeous, full of fresh fruit and vegetables. We, however, were drawn to a different kind of dessert;

We had to try a maple donut in Canada 😉

After this I basically retreated to the couch for the rest of the day, but we did manage to watch Eurovision and laugh uncontrollably at the outrageousness. This made me feel a little better 🙂

Hi Canada! I like you, I think we’ll stay.

Hanbel.
x

It’s the Final Countdown

April 26, 20162 Comments

Andrew and I have had a countdown going for quite some time now. This is the trouble with planning so far ahead, you plan really early and start a countdown 25 weeks ahead. This morning, however, we got to write the words “0 days”…

It’s here!!

Having said that, I still can’t find myself feeling overly excited. The past couple of weeks have been so busy, full of last minute tasks, moving out of our beautiful rental, packing and storing, final catch ups with friends and family.

Part of me wishes that we’d never leave this place

Not to mention this small, little, insignificant event we had on Thursday;

Andrew’s sister’s wedding!

I was lucky enough to be not only included in the wedding, but to be a bridesmaid. We spent two days getting nails, hair and make up done, eating delicious food, drinking Veuve and laughing together. It was a beautiful ceremony, full of love and tears (the groom set me off, I blame him entirely!) and family bonding.

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We also got to stick around long enough to celebrate my Dad’s 60th birthday. We spent an afternoon drinking wine and beer in the sunshine, surrounded by family and partners. Dad had two cakes placed in front of him (one of them being a Princess cake!) and he looked like a 5 year old on Christmas morning. It was the sweetest thing to watch.

So, despite the small stresses and very busy days trying to organise our lives and keep our folks happy, we’ve enjoyed our last couple of weeks in Perth immensely. And I know as soon as we’re all packed, bikes taken apart and are en route to the airport, those butterflies are going to be fluttering pretty hard.

On a different note, we recently watched the movie “Chef” [it’s fantastic, please watch it immediately] through which I discovered this super fun app called “One Second Everyday”. I started using it exactly one month out from our big adventure, so please let me share with you our final month in Perth:

I’m going to miss Perth and my people far more than I’d like to think about right now, just know that I love you all and this decision to move has nothing to do with wanting to be apart from you. We’re just so ready for an adventure.

I’ll catch you guys on the flipside, thank you for reading and speak to you from LA!

Peace out,
Hanbel.
x

Just Can’t Wait to Get on the Road Again

April 7, 2016April 7, 2016Leave a comment

It’s all happening. For reals this time. We have less than three weeks left in Aus, and are getting our house packed up. Our backpacks are almost ready to go, our furniture all has a home to go to, our small things are sold or snuck into Mum’s cupboards.

19 days and COUNTING. The excitement is finally starting to kick in, but it never really hits until you’re sitting on that plane. In the meantime we have been in action mode, trying to get everything done before fly out day. It’s kind of insane the amount of things two people can accumulate in such a short space of time.

This is what we’ll be reduced to, and I’m so excited! Also, look how organised this kid is, I can’t even believe how neatly it’s all folded.

I never thought I would find such joy in empty cupboards.

Though we still have a seemingly never ending to-do list, we are making good progress! All that’s left to do is final paperwork, moving the big pieces of furniture and to celebrate our going away with our nearest and dearest.

Plus adding our heights to this… 😉

[our faces post-swap meet. Exhausted, but stoked to get rid of so much stuff!]

Wish us luck please, though I’m hoping we won’t need it…
Hanbel.
x

The World of Hanbel

Working on Living that Dream

Tag: canada