Yes Man - The Outdoor Adventurer
Trip Start
Oct 06, 2010
1
4
77
Trip End
Mar 14, 2011
Where I stayed
Jamie and Mel's Pad
Squamish, British Columbia, Canada
Saturday, October 9, 2010
My flight from London to Miami was made more pleasant by Judith the German lass, who just happened to be heading for La Paz to begin her 6 month South American trip. So that's a contact in La Paz sorted.
A draw back of my cheap round the world flight ticket is that I had to turn a nice 10hr flight to Vancouver into a 24hr mission via Miami and Houston. I never have and still don't like American airports and their airlines suck as well. On my 2 hr domestic flight to Houston I got a sandwich and a drink. On my 5 hour international flight to Vancouver I only got a drink. Go figure??
Still that's enough of a rant, its on to Vancouver. It a nice place from the short time I've had to look around. Lovely waterfront which has sea planes landing in it. Lots of green areas and a pretty relaxed feel about it. I spent my first night in a hostel before being picked up by my cousin Jamie. Along with my Aunty Bronwyn and Mel's mum Chris who arrived the day after me we headed north to Squamish to Jamie and Mel's new house.
Day 3 I found out was action adventure day. Mel took Bronwyn, Chris and myself up to the Whistler Blackcomb Mountain bike park. We were now in a part of the world where everyday language consists of rad, wicked, fat, sick, awesome, sweet, giddy up, big up and super narly. And moves in the bike park include a tail rip, double cab and an off axis 360. The bike park itself is fantastic and the fact that I hadn't been on a bike in years didn't stop me from getting fired up. I was certainly excited when I saw the names of the bike trails. Crank it up and B-line weren't so bad but Heart of Darkness, Crack Addict, Frieght Train, Devils Club and Upper Angry Pirate left me feeling a little nervous. We had a fun morning in the park and there were no major wipeouts.
After lunch we did what all backpackers normally do and headed off to the Scandinave Finnish Spa for an afternoon of R&R and a full body massage. It was heavenly and just what the doctor ordered (especially as my body is still aching in places that I hadn't felt before, a day later).
The action didn't finish there. Next we were off to dinner at Sachi Sushi before attending the red carpet event of the world premiere of TGR's (Teton Gravity Research) new ski movie. It had the standard craziness of adventurer skiers going off massive mountains that you can only get to by helicopter. Pretty cool but these guys are completely nuts.
Whistler is a truly magical place.
YES MAN - The Outdoor Adventurer
As a result of this day of outdoor action I've decided follow the lead of the Yes Man, Mr Danny Wallace. While on my travels if anybody offers me the opportunity to do any outdoor/extreme adventure activity I will say YES. (provided it doesn't conflict with my travel plans) I suspect its something in the air up here that has inspired me to make this potentially life threatening decision. Only time will tell...
Its thanksgiving this weekend in Canada so the turkey will be cooked and wine will flow.
Tootle Pip for now. I hope you enjoy the photos and videos of the trip so far.
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Comments
Jon, the girls and I liked the spa! But want photos of your new hair!!!