Our Christmas Message...

... well if it’s good enough for the Queen and the Osbournes it's good enough for us!!

It’s been a busy few weeks since our last post and have done some great Christmassy things!! And on top of that we have had tonnes of snow!!

First of all was the Santa Clause parade – it took place on a cold and windy Sunday and went on for ages! Here are a few of the (many) pics:

The obligatory Christmas Work Do’s to go to and Martyn’s was all free! Mine was a cash bar in a downtown hotel so for the Yorkshire in Martyn it was quite painful!! We stayed over at the hotel and it snowed overnight – it made my weekend!! On the Sunday after my do we went up to Grouse Mountain for some sightseeing in the snow…it was cold! We didn’t do any skiing but we will probably go up again during the coming season. More pics:

Then there were the bright lights of Stanley Park. Stanley Park is a large park in the middle of downtown Vancouver and at Christmas time they cover it in lights and run a small train through it. It was fab!! The train ride was pretty long for the money and the amount of lights that were used was huge! Again plenty of pics but here are a couple:

In the last week we have had unprecedented snow and cold weather – must have had about a foot already! And there’s more on the way…dare I say Christmas Day!!! We are going to have a white Christmas!!! I’m soooo excited!! We’ve even bought a sled but not managed to get out on it yet! Here are a few snowy pictures…it’s so Christmassy!

We want to take this time to wish you all a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Keep in touch
H&M xxx

Do you like our festive new look? Thought we would spruce up the blog for the season! Rights lets update you on how we have been getting on – Martyn has written the following update (he is really getting into this blogging lark!)

Things have been busy since our last post. I’m settling into my new job okay although working Saturdays now with a day off during the week which comes in handy (he also likes a day off from me! – Hayley)

We had our first dive the other week at Belcarra National Park in a body of water called Indian Arm.

The Canadian Branch of the Rothwell & Stanley SAA!!

The entry was by shore which wasn’t as easy as it sounds as to get to the small beach I more or less had to abseil down the embankment with our dive gear whilst Hayley watched on (with the camera! – Hayley).

Never mind SAA - its the SAS!!

About 200m off the shore is the wreck of the VT 100 which was an old mine sweeper and gunship. After the war it was converted into a woodchip barge but vandals set fire to it and it sunk. After kitting up we took the bearing and set off, there were plenty of large crabs, star fish and a few large plumose anemones dotted around. We didn’t find the wreck on this dive so we made our way back to the shore. During the surface interval we enjoyed a picnic whilst watching otters playing on a nearby pontoon.

Hayley posing for her glamour shot!!

Unfortunately conditions weren’t good enough to take pictures underwater. With the tide out we had a bit more beach to kit up on so again we headed out again this time coming across the wreck. It’s a large wreck and harbours a lot of life with crabs, langoustines and rock fish. Also came across a toilet – handy if you get caught short! Taking a bearing for shore we returned back to the beach and enjoyed a flask of coffee before heading back up the embankment and home – really miss the obligatory bacon butties though!

Belcarra National Park - the view from the beach

Now with Christmas looming we bought our tree last week. An artificial one this year but there are places where you hire a saw, pick the tree you want and then go and cut it down – awesome! We decorated it and the living room last Saturday (and had the annual argument! – Hayley). Decorations seem to go up a lot earlier over here.

We have seen snow returning to the mountains tops but haven’t had any down here yet. Getting into the season we went ice skating a few weeks ago, which we haven’t done for years – really cool and a really cheap thing to do here! Looking into ice skating on top of Grouse Mountain soon as well as trying to get some skiing in.

Enjoy the season and we will try and get another post done before Christmas!

Take Care
Hayley & Martyn xxx