Brigid's Travel Diary

Friday, 18 February 2005

Location: HOME, Australia

hey hey,

just to close of my diary i thought i would write one more entry and let everyone now what i have been up to for the past 2 weeks. i arrived back to australia two days ago and its great to be home.

Just a summary
we left whistler on the 3rd and spent a night in vancouver. the next day we went to san fran via calgary. in san fran we went to alcatraz, the crookedest street in the world, the famous gay suburbs, went shopping in the 60's area and did a bike ride of the city and the golden gate bridge. it was heaps of fun but it was not a very good idea to bike ride around the 49 hills the city is built on. after 3 days in san francisco we caught a bus to LA with a scary mexican drive who we think had only driven a bus once. In LA we meet up with mum and dad which was really good. we did a walking tour of the stars houses, saw the hollywood sign, the kodak theatre (where the oscars are), the mann chinese theatre (where the stars hand prints are), walked along the walk of fame, went to venice and santa monica beach and did alot of shopping and the best of all went to disneyland. after 4 days in LA we left for Fiji. we arrived at 4am and the heat was unbelievable. we really struggled. we were so used to the cold, we thought it was hot in san fran when it was 12 degrees. we got the local bus into Nadi town and had abit of a look around before getting our boat transfer to the island, beachcomber. we stayed here for 4 nights and had a good relaxing time. we met heaps of nice people and caught up on our tans (i got so burnt its ridiculous). one night bechtel and i entered into a dance competition which we ented up winning. as the prize we won 2 tickets on a seafari, a day criuse. it was great. our destination was an island called "castaway" to go snorkelling for the day. this was the island were the film "castaway" with tom hanks was filmed. but before we got there we had to go to a neighbouring island village to ask the cheifs permission to go to castaway (make sense?) so we arrived at the village and had a welcome ceremony with the tribe leaders. we then went to a shell market on the island and visited the villages school. thats about it.

so there you go. check out some of the photos. thanks for everyone who checked this site out and left me messages.
see you when i am looking at you.....hopefully see everyone soon

over and out

Luv me xoxoxoxoxoxox

Friday, 28 January 2005

Location: WHISTLER, Canada

Hello hello hello,
Once again i am going to begin by saying i am sorry for not updating sooner.

Since last time i wrote a few things have changed in whistler. Instead of being to cold to snow it is now too hot and it just keeps raining. Its been raining for at least 2 weeks and there is almost no snow left in the village. The peaks of both mountains are getting a bit of snow but the freezing level is really high. Its been so hot here, in the last week the coldest it got was 3 degrees.

So because it has turned really bad and the forecasts predict rain for another week we figured that there is no way that we can get enough snow the rest of our time here to make it worthwhile so we are packing up early and going travelling. Myself and two of my bestfriends, Elly Daley and Jane Bechtel, have planned a trip to California! So i have quit my job, which was really sad and we leave in 4 days when our accommodation runs out. We are spending a few days in Vancouver then flying to San Fransisco for 3 days then catching a bus to Los Angeles where we are meeting up with mum and dad which will be awesome. We spend 4 days in LA before flying to Fiji to defrost before coming home on the Feb 16th. Just in time for me to pack Kate up and send her off to College and move myself into our new house before uni starts for another year.

The biggest event of the season occured this week. It wasn't the world snowboarding championships or the National Brotherhood Ski conference or Whistlers gay and lesbian week it was AUSTRALIA DAY. Whistler is know to be over populated by Australian and its true. They call us JAFA's (Just another friggen Australian)

I had heard rumors for the past two months about how good Australia day was over here, however everyone thought that due to the poor snow conditions and not too many people around, it may just be hype and not nearly as crazy as many of the stories i have heard. The Longhorn Saloon is the place to go on Australia day, and we had been told by many that you should be lining up at the door no later then 7am if you want to get in. We definitely should have listened to their advice!

Everyone woke up at 8:00am and started getting kitted up with anything australian that we could get our hands on. The guys all had "Australian Skiing Team" shirts on that we made and we littered ourselves with australian flags, tattooes and bandanas! Elly, Caro and I made shirts that said "Boggabillas bobsled team" printed on them, with jeans and toes socks with thongs. The thongs turned out to be a bit of a problem in the snow. Elly and I tobboganed down the moutain to the bus stop so our feet didnt freeze. At 8:30am we decided to set the record for the earliest beer bong in history and all the guys had two each while the girls enjoyed a glass of champagne. The bus ride into the village was sooo funny, we all sat up the back and started bellowing out our national anthem with pride. Soon enough all the girls up front joined in and we had a full chorus line of crazy aussies. I would love to know what all the other normal people on the bus thought of us..

As we rose up the steps next to the bus stop we got our first glimpse of the line outside the longhorn. The rumors rang true and the line was at least 100 metres long.. and every single person in that line was sporting a flag or anything they could find that was green or gold. As soon as we joined the back of the line we found a footy in the line and started up a game of touch in the middle of crowd which was awesome fun however somewhat short-lived as our fitness levels wouldnt allow for a longer game. We all sang some more songs in the crowd, i think i heard Waltzing Matilda at least 20 times that day. Fortunatley, Elly and I spotted my good friend Brendan Nyst almost at the front of the line, so in true aussie spirit we skipped the 1hr+ wait.

On entry everyone received a ticket for a free meat pie (was made of a grainy mince rather then gravy like the aussie ones but good none the less!) and we also discovered that the bar had imported cans of VB for day (I didnt actually have one as i am not the biggest fan of beer and they cost $6.25 per can or $40 for a 6 pack) but it made us feel at home! After half an hour, all of our friends were in (about 25 of us) and we headed straight to the dancefloor where we stayed for the remainder of the day. The played the most awesome music - started off with about 4 hours of purely australian music with the likes of AC/DC, Jet & Midnight Oil. And finished up playing the top ten of Triple J's hottest 100! When 'land down under' by men at work came on everyone went crazy and screamed out the lyrics with pride. However the highlight of the day was undoubtedly 'The Voice' by John Farnham. At that stage all our friends were on the four podiums and everyone was screaming out the song which was awesome fun and soooo funny. Altogether we have over 600 photos and video recordings of the day. Bernie, a guy i am living with, has downloaded everyones photos and we are making a huge DVD of them all.

Anyway, I must go. We have so much to do before we leave. I am actually really doing to miss this place. We have all gotten into a routine and its like leaving home again. But all the same i cant wait to get home and see everyone again.

To everyone keep safe, Have fun and i will see you on the 16th!!!!!

Luv me xox

ps. parts of the australia day memoir were taken from adams page........

Thursday, 13 January 2005

Location: Whistler, Canada

Hello Everyone,
Well I am sorry i have not written an entry for a long time but there really is not enough news to report everyday. Each day is pretty similar. Everyone either works or goes up the mountain. I have, however been posting photos...if anyone is checking them out.

The most exciting news to come out of Whistler this week is we have moved into a new house. Its actually more like an apartment. It is right on the mountain, is ski in ski out, has 4 hot tubs and pools, a playstation (that actually has not had that much use, we thought it was cool but thankgod everyone has realised that it is cooler to go snowboarding rather than playing a snowboarding game.) Anyway my point is this place is amazing and everyone is so jealous. There are 7 of us in this place that sleeps 6 but its pretty big so its not that bad.

ok where i left off. New years was pretty disappointing asusual. I worked. Which was good in the way i got paid alot. Bad in the way i could not go out. I still made it to a house party at 1.30am...Which was not bad considering there was no sign of everyone going home just yet. We stayed at this house party until 2:30ish until this underground carpark party started. So a few of us went there...it was a very interest place. it was kind of a secret but everyone knew it was there. It was on the 4th level and as you were going down the lift you could hear the music. On the 4th level there were a few Dj's playing in the corner and everyone was just dancing. It was really fun.

Since new years it has only snowed here and there and the village has been really quite. the 2 weeks after christmas are apparently the worst two weeks of the year according to all the retail stores. We moved out of our house in Creekside and unforuntely kicked out as the lady was abit worried about 7 girls living in ther for the next 6 weeks. So we spent sometime couch surfing from friends places to places. Finally Adam scored this awesome place, using his very good arguementive skills he talked the landlord into an awesome deal for us until the end of the month. So we moved in a few days ago and have been living life to the full since.

I have just had a few days off work so i was able to try snowboarding for a day. It was a lot of fun and a good laugh until the next morning when i woke up and i felt like i had broken every bone in my body. I went back to skiing the next day b/c the guy i swapped skis with didnt like skiing as much as i liked snowboarding and decided to go back to boarding.

We had a girls day up the moutain the other day were we just decided to ski by ourselves. We went to the very peak of the mountain where is was snowing extremely heavly and we could not see a thing. It was very scary trying to ski down when you could see where you were going and you could not feel any part of your body b/c it was -20C + wind chill. very crazy experience.

I am currently at work. I have be here all day. They trust me now so i got a key to the store and my manager always takes time off now. I am really enjoying it here. I am developing a liking for all this fur which is very bad and very expensive. I get everything a reallly good prices so I am going to buy a pair of ear muffs, gloves, head warmer, and some fur shoes called Mukluks which i am sure i will get alot of use out of them back on the Goldie.

I have posted a few new photos. i still have more of me trying to snowboard so i will post them asap.

Whats news from you all at home? I am so jealous of everyone about to head to noosa. I cant wait to get home to the heat. I have struggled to handle the recent temperature decrease. Last week it dropped to -15C in the village + wind chill that can make it drop up to another 10degrees. FREEZING

Anyway keep the messages coming and i will try and keep the photos and entries coming.

Love you all.
Love me xoxoxox

Tuesday, 28 December 2004

Location: Whistler, Canada

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
I hope everyone had a great christmas. sorry my message is late. My christmas was pretty fun. I worked christmas eve then had a few ppl over to ours. On christmas day we opened our presents. My secret santa was emily and i got a red hat...perfect. And i also got a massage from adam and a really cool vest i wanted.
Elly, Adam and I then went to 11am mass...we didn't quite make it to the 8am one. After mass we cooked us some apple crumble and make up some salads and ventured over to "Crabapple dr" for christmas lunch and dinner. Everyone had to work at random times so the meal went for a few hours. In the afternoon we made a cricket bat out of some wood and played backyard cricket in the snow which was...interesting but hilarious. The boys were all in thongs and shorts and singlets. CRAZY.

Possibly the best part of christmas was that it snowed on christmas eve. It was so good because we were really desparate for some.

The bad point of christmas was i fell over on some ice while walking around the village and really screwed up my back. One of the guys here studying medicine said i may have slipped a disc b/c there is no external bruising or muscular damage. ITs slowing getting better but.

Not much else has been happening. I went up on the moutain today...the snow has is so much better. Yesterday I went down to Vancouver for the day for a little adventure. I went to talk to a travel agent as Elly and I are planning to do a bit of travelling at the end of out trip. so far I think we will fly to San Fran for a few days then go to La and fly out from there to fiji for 5 days to defrost before coming home. I am getting really excited bout it.

still working at the fur gallery. Can't remember if i have already written it but i sold me first coat this week. $5000 mink coat......really pushed my commission up for the week. It was so exciting all the owners in Alaska were calling to congradulate me. Still doing a bit of babysitting on the odd occation.

Anyway...must be off. I am at work so better get back to it.

Check out come of the photos from christmas.

See you soon. Have an Awesome New YEar!!!!

Wednesday, 22 December 2004

Location: WHISTLER, Canada

SOME PHOTOS ARE UP!! CHECK THEM OUT

Monday, 20 December 2004

Location: Whistler, Canada

Hello hello hello,
I hope everyone is getting excited bout Christmas! It really does not feel like christmas here. We have organised a secret santa so we have something to open on the day but i think so many of us will be working it just wont feel the same. It has not snowed here for a while either so the winter wonderland is disappearing rather quickly. It keeps raining so the snow is melting. Last year apparently it was the same as this and everyone was really desperate for a dumb then on christmas eve it snowed....

Bechtel and I waitressed at Maggi Thornhills Christmas Party. Maggi is pretty well known in town, she is the the biggest and the best prestige real estate agent in Whistler and surrounding areas. She is now my new best friend. She was helping me find a job a couple of weeks ago and we just help her out a bit here and there. Her house was amazing. Really put us in the Christmas mood. Her house had christmas lights and decorations all over it. Her christmas tree alone had over 2000 lights on it. AWESOME (not as good as Marl's obviously!) anyway the night was really fun, free food and drinks. Turned out to be a really great night, it really put us in the Christmas mood and we got some great photos so i'll post them soon. i know i keep promising them just taking me awhile, i have to figure out how to do it.
Keep in touch.
Have fun
Merry Christmas....
Love me

Saturday, 11 December 2004

Location: whistler, Canada

hello everyone,

well its finally here...an updated diary entry. Can't remember what i wrote last time. If i haven't told everyone already i got a job. I quit at the kids fashion place and am now working at the Alaska fur gallery and the nanny network. The fur gallery is great. The store is next to where my other friends work so we see a bit of each other and i can wear the coats out if i want. I get 10% commission or $10/hr (which is good everyone else is only getting $8.50) which ever is greater at the end of the week. I am working everyday but not till the afternoon so i can ski all day. for babysitting i get $11 per hour and for more than 2 kids it goes up ( in the busy season i get $22/hr) and they are so busy you can call up, tell them your available and be working within the hour. I also get a discounted season pass from the nanny network which saves me $800.
We moved into our new, more permenant home today. It is great. its a house that sleeps 8. We had a few problems before we moved in but got it all sorted. We have only ended up with 9 people instead of 10 because the 2 boys meant to be moving in cancelled on us at 1am the morning before the move so we had to cover their rent totalling $2000. This was interesting because we all have daily limits on our bank cards and we all had to pay our own share. Anyway its all sorted and the place is in a good location with a hot tub.
I am off to my first babysitting place now. i am not too sure where it is so i am leaving alittle early.
It sucks that straddie sucked for so many people. At least you are not in negative temperatures where it has been raining and the slightest breezing caused the temperature to drop significantly.
Anyway keep the messages coming and i promise to keep the entries coming and upto date.
Have fun
Brig xoxo