Goodbye “Goodbye Perth Hello Canada”

Wow – that was a mouthful.

I don’t think anyone is checking here anymore because I am back in Perth and I imagine everyone has lost interest! However, this little corner of the internet has meant  a lot to me over the last year and a half, so I wanted to finish it off properly. I know I said I would post photos of England and Ireland, but too much time will pass before I can do that and I want to close this chapter now. Everyone who reads this is a facebook friend, I am sure, so you can see them all on there.

So here I am, after 16 months living in Canada and traveling around North America and three weeks in Ireland and England, back on the same couch that I wrote my first post.  It feels partly surreal, yet completely normal to be back (which I know doesn’t make much sense). I am so glad I have this blog to look back on, otherwise I think you would have a hard time convincing me I was ever away.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope it was as fun to read as it was to write. If anything, it means I don’t have to bore you all with a 20,000 photo slideshow now I am back!

A quick update.

We are still alive and I still remember this little corner of the internet but we have been very busy with family in Manchester over the last few days. I will update this space with photos from Ireland and from our time in England before I finish “Goodbye Perth Hello Canada”, but I can’t guarantee it will be done before we hit Perth.

When we get back, I will be unemployed so I should have lots of time to do useless things like update the blog.

New York (take two).

This time in New York has been a lot more relaxing than last time, as there isn’t that frantic race against time to see all the main touristy stuff. We have been able to wander somewhat aimlessly on the streets, get in a spot of shopping (someone needs to fly over here and physically restrain me from buying more stuff that we CAN NOT GET HOME) and spend some more time in places we glossed over last time like the West Village and Greenwich Village.

Last night we dressed up (Joel bought a Calvin Klein suit at the outlet stores in Seattle and it has been a struggle to get him not to wear it), and headed to the East Village to a little Italian restaurant on Bleecker St called Bianca. It was a hole-in-the-wall type of place, with the tables all squished together and the best Italian we have ever eaten – exactly the sort of restaurant you go to New York for.

We spent today at the Guggenheim in the morning, and the American Museum of Natural History in the afternoon -  art for me, dinosaurs for Joel. I wish I could upload photos from the camera onto my Mac, as the ones with Joel in front of the dinosaur skeletons are amazing. There was also a fantastic exhibit on the Big Bang Theory – Joel spent a lot of time explaining the calculation of light years to me, while I smiled and nodded. The AMNH is brilliant – we were there for four hours and barely scratched the surface.

Tomorrow, we pack up and head to Ireland. Fingers crossed for us people – let’s keep the amount of airports we need to re-pack our suitcases in down to one.

 

Beers, books and burlesque (well, let’s be honest – boobs). And New York!

Our week away with Em and Dan flew by in a blur of beer tasting, browsing book and record stores, eating too much (including some amazing vegan food – traveling with a vegan has its perks), a spot of outlet shopping and a random burlseque show that was actually more strip show than it was burlesque.

It was the best farewell to our time on the West Coast of North America – relaxing and lots of fun. We arrived back in Vancouver on Sunday night, and after checking into our hotel (that felt very weird after living there for 15 months) we went to Rogue Brewery for our last ever half price pizza night and said goodbye to Vancouver, and to Em and Dan who were leaving to the UK the next day.

First thing on Sunday morning, Joel and I trekked to the airport for New York. After a mad re-pack at the baggage drop-off at YVR and sneaking the world’s largest amount of hand luggage onto the plane (I was pretty sure we would bring down the plane), we finally got to New York.

I love love love love New York. It is so nice to have been here before, and to have crossed the touristy things off the list. We spent today wandering the streets of West Village and Greenwich Village, and picked up Joel’s bass. He is currently hugging it while lying on the bed. I am pretending not to notice.

Saying goodbye. And hello!

We no longer live in Vancouver. That seems a strange sentence to start with, but it carries weight – emotional and physical weight (you should see the luggage we are somehow going to travel around the world with). We packed up the car for our last hurrah around the west coast and headed off this morning.

Anyway, I need to backtrack a bit. On Friday, Joel and I both finished working. My work put on an open bar for everyone down at the local pub, and Joel joined after his work drinks. It was such a great night – it is funny, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the relationships we missed so much while we were living in Vancouver but not much thought went into the relationships we were gaining. On Friday night, I was kind of hit over the head with it – repeatedly. That may have also been the amount of vodka consumed.

As always, there wasn’t much time to be too sad as our lovely friends from Sydney – Emma and Dan – arrived bright and early on Sunday morning. After attempting to sight-see (it was so cloudy and rainy, they didn’t believe us when we said there were mountains at the end of the street) we gave up and headed to the pub for Super Bowl Sunday. In fact, it was the same pub as my work drinks, so it felt like I spent the whole weekend in the same spot, drinking vodka. Not a bad weekend, really!

After some sightseeing on Monday (thankfully the sun came out, so Vancouver didn’t make liars out of us), we are now in Whistler. Em and Dan are attempting snowboarding right now, and I am catching up on some emails, the blog and I am about to crack open a new book. The perfect start to our last holiday.

Things we have done so far this week:

• Moved semi-successfully from one apartment to another. I say semi, because judging by the amount of trips we had to take to get our stuff over (4), we probably need to have another cull. Which is really just mean, as I already donated a whole box of clothing to the many homeless of Vancouver. I am slightly unhinged at the moment, so I can’t be held accountable if I rugby tackle a homeless person who happens to be wearing my cropped black and white, double-breasted  jacket I bought in Sydney that I can’t get home because of our luggage allowance…Ahem.
• Very painfully kept turning up at jobs we have both mentally checked out of. So far today, I have read a wedding blog Lara sent me, kept myself updated on the cyclone in Queensland and wrote this post. 2 and a half days left.
• Booked all our flights and accommodation for the next 5 weeks! And are thisclose to booking our excess baggage through an air freight company. It’s all happening! 
• I have said “it’s all happening!” an average of about 12 times a day. Joel has the emails to prove it.
• Also, I have left my phone at home everday this week. Not that relevant, but really annoying.
• Organised our Superbowl party! When I say organised, I mean made sure we all know when to turn up at the pub and work out who to go for. I think it’s ‘green’.

Just because it would be a crime not to share this…

My manager was going through the professional photos from the Christmas party, came across this one and sent it to me:

There are no words.

You may need to click on the photo to get the full effect…trust me, it’s worth it.

Endings.

We move out of our apartment this weekend (well, Monday). By Sunday evening, everything that we are keeping will be sorted into suitcases and bags and everything else will be donated or thrown. It feels so strange dismantling our lives (again), and although we still have one week left, moving out of our home this weekend signifies the end of us living in Vancouver.

Although I feel sad and excited and scared and sleepy (it’s a sad fact – most big life changes make me want to curl up and take a nap. I am like one of those fainting goats – google it), I mainly feel a great sense of accomplishment.  We actually lived overseas! Crazy.

Five favourite meals.

Well, what do you know – I could think of another top 5 post. Meals may seem weird, but the beauty of food is that is isn’t always what you are eating, but who you are eating with or what you are out celebrating (even if it is just celebrating surviving another week without work).

1. Half price pizzas on Sunday at Yaletown Brewery. Our first apartment was on the same street as Yaletown Brewery. Our time in the first apartment was our hardest time in Vancouver – we were both looking for jobs and running out of money, so we were spending a lot of time in a little apartment, going stir-crazy. On Sundays, we would trek down the road for half price pizza – just to get out of the apartment and to celebrate another week we were still here. The prawn and pesto pizza is to die for, and made Sunday a day to look forward to.
2. Arixi, Whistler. Pauline was really keen to go to this restaurant so we took her and Jess for her birthday. I think this was one of the only meals I had where I actually posted pictures of the food on my blog  – says it all really.
3. Chipotle! I am pretty sure this is the unspoken reason why Joel and I keep holidaying in the States. Chipotle is the best Mexican takeout ever. In fact, Joel spent Sunday trying to recreate Chipotle burritos in our kitchen for when we get home. He succeeded – they were amazing.
4. A brewery in Portland (I can’t remember the name…). This included mac and cheese, beer infused creme bruleee and one smashed Joely who had been beer tasting all day – the ingredients for a perfect dinner. Our weekend in Portland together was one of my favourite weekends away -this dinner was the perfect end.
5. Texas BBQ. Granted, I didn’t love this as much as Joel did. If Joel was forced to choose between me and Texas BBQ he would sit and think about it for awhile. I don’t think it was so much the BBQ, but rather the Texas heat and the smell coming from these run-down BBQ huts that combined to make something so, well – Texan, that you couldn’t possibly be anywhere else.

Snow.

Today I woke up to big fat snow flakes drifting past the bedroom window. Admittedly (wow, that is how you spell it…) it looked a little more impressive on the 16th floor than it did down on the wet streets of Vancouver. This is what it looked like in Burnaby:

And that is a coyote, for those wondering what a coyote looks like. See, entertaining and interesting – this post just ticks all the boxes.