9th anniversary

Yesterday was a happy day - Mr Fluff and I celebrated 9 years of being married. This is quite the achievement! Especially as neither of us ever wanted to get married (or at least that was what we told ourselves).

It has been an interesting journey of adventure, discovery and growth. Soon after firmly tying the knot (legally only), we bode farewell to family and friends, boarded a plane to London (UK) armed with our suitcases stuffed full of clothing and small tokens of our past lives in the beautiful southern tip of Africa, and began our new life together. It wasn't always easy, but it was fun.

After 8 months in London, Mr Fluff whisked me away for a weekend in a surprise location. I had no idea what to expect especially as our South African passports did not give us much travelling freedom without having to apply for visas. As we arrived at the airport Mr Fluff pointed to the information screens and told me to guess where we were going. I had no idea, and then he told me... Switzerland! Wow. Switzerland in November = snow! What a treat!

We flew to Geneva and then took a train to Interlaken. From there we visited Gridelwald and built a snowman on the mountain. The snow froze my bell-bottom jeans and we rode the funicular back down the mountain with locals staring at my huge, frozen solid bell-bottoms! What a laugh.

After dinner that night we went for a stroll and stopped at the pond to watch the swans near the opposite shore. Next thing I know Mr Fluff takes me by the hand, turns me to face him, tells me not to laugh which of course I then did thinking "WTF is he doing now"?, proceeded to get down on his knee and out of nowhere produces a plastic bubble daisy ring (my favourite flower!) and asks me if I will marry him. While all this was happening the swans noticed us and started swimming towards us, obviously expecting a few morsels from the humans. All this was too much for me. Swans swimming towards us while Mr Fluff is proposing. I burst out laughing! Thankfully Mr Fluff saw the humour of it all and let me get on with it before insisting that I give him an answer. I said Yes, he placed the beautiful daisy ring on my finger, and I am convinced I was the happiest girl in Switzerland that night.

One year and a bit later we had the full fairytale wedding in South Africa, celebrating our happiness with family and friends.

After spending six years in London and getting Citizenship (the best thing ever!) we packed up and moved to Germany, and now after three years in Lederhosenland, we're moving on again. We still don't know where we will end up in April, but we like living life on the edge ;0)

Starting a new life in a new country removed from friends and almost all of our family, created a bond between us we never thought possible. We often comment on how lucky we are to have one another. We are equals, best mates, lovers... and find joy in everything we do together. Now we look forward to the next 90 years. Yip, we plan to live for a long, long time.

Happy anniversary to us xx

Here is a pic of the original engagement ring

And here some totally unrelated pics of recent snowfall viewed from our living room

canada - 5 and a bit days of delirium, fun and frostbite

DAY 1

Air Canada flew us, our snowboards and ice skates to Calgary in Alberta. The flight was 9 hours something and passed without notice thanks to four films watched and a few winks stolen. We left at 2:30pm Frankfurt time and arrived on the same day at 4:50pm Calgary time. Everything went smoothly and the flight wasn't too bad even if the ladies serving us on the plane were less than friendly. Oh how we missed Singapore Airlines!

The most amazing bit of the flight was when, after having flown in an arch over the north pole into the dark and then after Greenland flying into the light as we got closer to Canada, we looked out of the window and were gobsmacked by the endless views of sea covered in ice. As far as the eye could see, ICE. We also saw huge cracks and spots where the sea was visible. It was amazing. Then flying over Canada was just as spectacular. Nothing but snow and ice. WOW.

Flying into Calgary (click to enlarge) - these pics really don't do it justice

As soon as we landed we collected our rental car, a mothership of a vehicle with all-season tires (sadly no winter tires!!) and drove to our dirty, in serious need of a make-over, motel. Our room was so disgusting we had to ask for another. After we inspected the second room, which was still not exactly clean, but better than the first, all the guy at reception could say was: "Is it a bit better?" We certainly know how to rough it hahaha

DAY 2

Our new friends H & H (Legends!!) collected us from our motel and took us to a great little place for brekkie. Then they drove us all over Calgary and the outskirts while giving us insider tips and priceless info about living in the Canadian Wild West. We managed to get a feel for the place in only one day that would otherwise have taken us weeks. Thanks guys!! They even took us to 8 or so show houses. Wow! that was cool.

That night they took us to a fantastic veggie restaurant where we had a cocktail and a superb meal. Last but not least, we went to their lovely place with the most amazing views of Downtown Calgary for a coffee, and we got to meet their lovely furry pride and joy. What a fantastic day! We can never thank them enough for their time.

DAY 3

We drove to two snowsport shops, bought a lovely puffy coat for me and got the snowboards waxed. Then we drove to the Chinook Centre with over 200 stores, a food court and movie theatres. We had our skates sharpened there and drank a delicious rooibos choc mint latte. Yum.

Later, we visited a western shop and we bought ourselves cowboy hats! Yip, real cowboy hats, served by a real cowgirl. I got a black one and Mr Fluff got a brown one. Oh and we got jeans too. Wranglers. Cowboys wear nothing else. Then we collected our tickets (organised by H) from Ranchman's, a proper cowboy club, where we were going to spend new year's eve! When in Rome...

That evening we had hockey tickets for the Calgary Flames vs LA Kings. We took the c-train to the Saddledome and had a fabulous time watching the game.

This is a display on the way to the Saddledome. Clearly cowboy country.

 

A festive tree outside

a brand new Flames supporter!

The game was very entertaining, specially when they beat each other up and the kids in the audience scream louder than their parents encouraging the violence! We had to laugh, but it was great fun. Guess who won? The Calgary Flames! GO FLAMES GO!!!!

DAY 4

We drove to Sunshine Village in the Banff National Park to snowboard the 'best powder in Canada'. It was wonderful. The lifties are so friendly, everything is very well organised, people are polite and don't push or walk over your board, and the slopes are quiet. There were plenty veggie options for lunch too! Even though the resort was busy, the slopes were wide open and felt almost deserted. There is off-piste everywhere! no need to go back-country for a bit of pow. Fantastic! The resort is smaller and the runs shorter than what we are used to in the Alps, but stunning variety that will put a permanent smile on any snow junkie's face.

This was also New Year's Eve and we were going to meet H & H at Ranchman's for a real cowboy party with live performances by some well known country singers. Don't laugh, I know what you're thinking. What the hell is a metal freak doing going to a country music club? Well, you have to try everything at least once, right? And it was fun. Not my thing, but fun anyway, and a lot more similar to South Africans  than we ever imagined. The people are happy-go-lucky and down to earth, and they danced and partied hard. New Year's Eve was definitely a memorable one :0)

 

DAY 5

Snowboarding at Lake Louise was on the cards and we left early to drive the 2 hours or so to get there. Lake Louise reminded me more of Europe. It is also a great resort and we had heaps of fun. Here are some pics of the resort.

After shredding the mountain to bits we drove to Chateau Lake Louise that is built next to the lovely lake.

 

people skating on the lake

DAY 6

Our last day riding our boards was spent at Sunshine. This day turned out to be better than we could ever have hoped for. There was loads of new powder everywhere and we took hold of the mountain like crazies! We did all the runs, from easy peasy to the hectic stuff - even a tree run. Man, that rocked!

after slightly going over the edge hahahaha

See if you can spot the way down

yes, that's our way out

on the edge and home free

the car park at the end of the day

After a fantastic day on the slopes we went to the town of Banff for a bite to eat. On the way out we spotted this

 

Banff

Here are some shots from the car driving to and from the ski resorts, and some funny road signs

The view from Cochrane (or Spunkville as we call it) to the rockies

After such a magnificent holiday, there was only one thing that could make it even more magical: ice skating!

And so, we took our skates to Bowness Park in Calgary and skated on the lagoon and river.

It should be illegal to have so much fun! We loved Calgary and surrounds, and the ski resorts did not disappoint. We could happily live there, even if it sometimes gets cold enough to freeze your skin and make wet hair break off at the roots! HAHAHAHA. Luckily, people deal with this without too much discomfort and the cold never lasts that long. They get warm chinook winds there that blow in every couple of weeks and can change the temps by 30 degrees in one day! Imagine -15 to +15 in a matter of hours. Bizarre, innit?

So then, all in all a very successful trip which scored Canada many points. We even found that the stuff we thought would be negatives for Canada, turned out not to be negatives after the trip. We were very pleasantly surprised. Watch this space... we will be choosing where to settle very soon. Good luck to Mr Fluff and SpankySparkle!