Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas and Happy 2012

 

Our year 2011 started good and well of in Sun Peaks, were we worked the winter season for the resort. Our second jobs in Canada, after working in the Ginseng farm in Kamloops for the months October and November. On the mountain we were both employed at the Sun Peaks Lodge, Norman doing the laundry and Angie in the kitchen.

It was great to have a part time position in the ski school as well!! Thanks to Ian Logan for all his good inspirations during all the training sessions. That gave us a very good idea of how skiing is educated in Canada. The winter would not go and when we left in April there was still tons of snow left.

After Sun peaks we took a little time for a short road trip. It first took us to Banff, a very cosy town. The next 5 days we spend in Edmonton with our Tour Guide Don Vinge!! Thanks Don, we had a wonderful time with you. Don showed us Edmonton in one day by car, he took us to some museums and guess what…to the Oper! Tosca was our first oper in Canada and a great experience.

After Edmonton we drove over the pass to Jasper and skied Marmot Basin for a day. After it was cloudy for the biggest part of the day, the sun came through at our last run and gave us a better picture of the hill.

We drove via Highway 5 back to Kamloops, finally seeing some fresh greens here and there. There were although still lots of snowmobilers enjoying the rest of the snow.

Our next stop was on the way to Vancouver at a friends Horse ranch. Donna, with who we worked in the Ginseng farm, has a few horses and a big barn for riding. We spend the day helping feeding the horses, giving some medication and cleaning out stalls.

We although had to continue to arrive in Vancouver on time. We met up with Courtenay and Thomas and Meg and Dave and spend Easter with them. Seeing a bit more of Vancouver and spending Easter with these wonderful friends.

Of course our weekend was all planned. We were able to meet up with Robyn, Jim and Mitchell, our landlords from Sun Peaks. Another good Easter dinner and this time we saw things from above! Jim took us out in his plane! From Boundary Bay Airport, to Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, Harrison Lake and Chilliwack back to the Airport. Thanks Jim and Robyn for the fantastic winter season, and hope you are having another great winter in Sun Peaks!

From Vancouver we went back to Kamloops to pick up our bags and drove to Easter Seals Camp for the first time to drop of some luggage. With our climbing gear we drove to Penticton, to go climbing at the Skaha Bluffs. We had beautiful weather on the way, the first real spring feelings in Creston. It was a lovely drive, taking the ferry over Kootenay Lake to Nelson and through the area where lots of wine grows. Climbing was great! After this short holiday it was time for a new adventure!

And we both think this was THE experience of the summer: Easter Seals Camp Horizon. Julie and Brandon hired us as the Ropes and Recreation / Counseling team were we instructed all campers on climbing wall, giant swing, high ropes and accessible high ropes. How great to give these campers (children and adults) some of the best moments of their year. And for most of the campers the only week in the year that they can really be THEM!!! Thanks Anna, Brandon, Julie, Blaine, Adam and the rest of the awesome summer staff for this wonderful summer experience. Bragg Creek is a very beautiful place on earth and during our bits of free time we explored lots of the area, hiking, and running, mountain biking and climbing! A very great event was the Banded Peak Challenge, were we took Elisa in the Trailrider up the Banded Peak. Thanks to all the sponsors that donated some money!

After the summer ou next destination was Fernie. Also here we have been very lucky to meet all these wonderful people. Don and Regina, thanks for all the help and support. You guys are always great company and we hope to have a lovely winter with you.

Via another contact in Bragg Creek we got to know Jenny and Kirk, were we will be staying the winter time, working in their Beaverlodge! These two great personalities have many of the same interest. Their son Tucker keeps us fit with racing around and hiding in his little fort! Great to see him growing up and developing all new skills! We also have two new dog-friends, Lily and Digger.

Wait a second…we have more than two dog-friends in Fernie! We spend lots of time with Jake (Don and Regina’s dog) and in November we stayed with Louis (Lynn and Marcelin’s dog). Nice long walks made us very familiar with the great outdoors around Fernie.

The months of September and October we renovated a house that Jenny and Kirk bought and could just finish it before 4 young people moved in per November.

We already had a good dump of snow so we both look forward to have our first runs on the hill.

Christmas will be probably busy; the Bed and Breakfast will be full of guests!  So Christmas will be celebrated here in Fernie. We know that Easter Seals Camp has their yearly Christmas camp, but we might not be able to go there this winter.

I hope everybody is so far healthy and fit and will continue this in the New Year. We are not sure what we will experience in 2012 yet. We of course hope that everything will work out with our visa, so we can stay and work the winter in Canada. Next year summer we will be probably heading back to Europe, to see our families and maybe settle down for a few years. But there are still lots of adventures waiting for us here in Canada, so we hope to be able to travel before heading back.

We have not been sending out lots of messages at all times, sorry for that. But we definitely talk and think a lot about all the wonderful time we spend with you guys.

Thanks for all the great moments and thoughts and we hope to stay in touch in the future!

Merry Christmas   ~  Froehliche Weihnachten   ~  Vrolijk Kerstfeest

                                 Angela & Norman