New Years

2010 was a great year for me. I saw and did things that I would never have expected and enjoyed every moment of it. I went skiing for the first time at Whistler in early January, and then again in April and December. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic games were in Vancouver for two incredible weeks in February, which is something I will never forget. The amount of energy that we saw that the Victory Ceremony for Maelle Ricker was just amazing, and also during the final Canada vs USA hockey game.

A few months after that we had my Opa and Oma over with my Aunt for my sisters graduation. The rest of the family had a great trip to Banff and the surrounding area. 

2010 also marked the end of Stream and the start of my new job at Kinetics Drive Solutions as a Co-Op student in the IT department. I am still working there and will be till I leave for Australia in February. On that note, I was accepted for student exchange to an Australian Universtity (Charles Sturt) this year as well.

This last year we also did some hiking trips up Elk Mtn, Needle Peak, Lindeman Lake, Whistler, and some other areas. 

Personally I have learned to enjoy every moment we have and not take it for granted, I hope to continue that and enjoy every second of 2011. I also learned to never pass up an opportunity, to take every opportunity you can and enjoy where it takes you. And I learned that its really the people that make everything worth it, I'm trying to reduce TV, computer, etc and getting out more and doing things with the people I love.

This next year should bring some challenges as well at amazing opportunities. I will be going to Australia for 5 months in February, so that should be the highlight of the year. I also look forward to the amazing learning opportunities that this trip will bring both personally and academically, and look forward to bringing that back here to Canada when I get back. Other than that, I am not sure what 2011 will bring, but I will try to enjoy everything that I possibly can.

Skiing at Hemlock

The last day of 2010 was a beautiful sunny day, so we thought it may be nice to head up to Hemlock Valley Resort, which is only about an hour away to go skiing. The snow was great, not to powdery and not ice either, and the weather could not have been any better. Below are some pics from later in the day when the sun was starting to go down.

Going to Australia!!

Been a while since I posted anything, but a lot has happened in terms of my plan to study in Australia.
I have gotten all the courses figured out, got my application accepted by CSU, got my student visa (very quickly, took just 20 seconds for it to get approved), and got my flight booked.
I will be leaving Vancouver on February 14, 2010 at 11:45pm, and fly for 15.5 hours on Air Canada flight 33. Move-in day at the University is February 19th, and orientation starts shortly after that.
I have about a month after exams end to do some traveling across Australia, and maybe I will even get the chance to go to New Zealand!
On July 14th, 2010 I will be flying back, so in total my trip will have been 5 months long, but who knows, I may decide to extend the trip...

Back in the swing of things

Unfortunately summer is over already, and I have already been in classes for 2 weeks.
This summer seems to have just flown by, but it was a pretty great summer. I may have had broke my pinkie finger, but I still climbed mountains, went river rafting, had family over, and much more. I also worked at a co-op job that I got extended for the fall semester. So that along with 2 classes is keeping me pretty busy, but it will be over before I know it. Which will hopefully bring me to the winter semester where I plan on studying at Charles Sturt University in Australia for a semester. This will definitely give me something to look forward to during this busy semester.

Whistler Blackcomb

Yesterday we went up to Whistler Blackcomb to check out some of the stuff up there such as the Peak 2 Peak, Farmers Market, Alpine Experience, and visit some relatives.
The weather was alright, a bit cloudy in the morning and overcast later in the day. But overall it was pretty good, can't wait to head up there in the winter for some skiing!

New Laptop

My 2.5 year old HP dv9644ca decided to kick the bucket with an graphics issue (Nvidia graphics). So I had to get a new laptop a little earlier than I though. I was hoping to get a new one at around Christmas time, but what can you do. I decided to get the Gateway ID59C 02H laptop with an 2.26 GHz Intel i3-350 processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 15.6" LED LCD, HDMI out, and a 1.3MP webcam
It has a nice aluminum finish and is just 1 inch thick. Its a lot thinner, lighter, and faster than my old laptop! In the 4-5 days that I have had it so far, I have been pretty happy with it, especially considering I got it for just $569.99. More information on the Gateway ID series can be found here.

Britannia Beach Mine, Shannon Falls and West Vancouver

On Sunday the family went to the British Columbia Museum of Mining (Britannia Beach Mine) near Squamish and then to Shannon Falls and then later to some family in West Vancouver.
The mine is still undergoing renovations as they got some of the stimulus money from the government, but it is already much improved. They added a new roof and siding to main building while preserving the original roofing and siding on the inside. The tour was also interesting and it was near to hear about the history of the mine and how the mine came to be and how it operated back in its time. They demonstrated some of the equipment that they used to mine, and how it progressed over the years. Check out their website at http://www.bcmuseumofmining.org/

Shannon Falls

Next we went to Shannon Falls which is nearby and another great stop to get out and enjoy the beautiful scenery that surrounds us here on the west coast. Parking is $1 for an hour, or $3 for the day, and well worth it. Its a pretty short walk up to the main viewing area, and then a few minutes farther to the second viewing area. But we went even farther making our way onto the rocks to get just a few meters away from the falls and climb onto some of the rocks (like the one I am standing on below). Another hike that is off the same trail is the Stawamus Chief trail which is about 2.5KM with 550m elevation gain. But I'l have to do that some other day.

Me on a rock next to the falls

English Bay with Stanley Park on the left

Finally we made our way to some relatives in West Vancouver where we had dinner and an awesome view as you can see here. I created these shots using long exposures of like 6 seconds or so. As much as I wish I had a DSLR (eying the upcoming Nikon D3100 at the moment), these shots were all taken on our Canon PowerShot SD750. 

Lighthouse Park out in the distance