5's-Alive.

A post hot tub game of '5's alive' resulted in some fantastically funny incidences of pre defined dares; the best of which resulted in Sam sneaking onto an occupied unit's balcony, taking a seat on their outside furniture and stealing a sip of her drink while the occupants watched TV in the lounge inside. Andy's leopard crawl across the pool cover and pitiful attempt to monkey climb a wooden pole were hilarious as was Pete's yoga pose on top of the pool gate until he was slammed by a snow ball. Needless to say, we were all just grateful that nobody decided to call the fun-police.

Joyful and Triumphant

Christmas Morning/Breakfast/Presents and Feast Preperation

Christmas Breakfast courtesy of Meg Hamman

All-American Turkey Dinner

Christmas Girls

The Spread

Pre-Hot Tub Drinks

My Girls

In between day's skiing, I am a 'Nanny' to 2 adorable Canadian children called Mischa (age 4) and Esme (age 2). We go ice-skating, skiing and snow playing together as well to the library, for hot chocolates and gondola rides among other things. They are such amazing and cute little girls with a real insight and maturity that I have grown to love.

Shadows and Light by the Frozen Lake

With the early morning light in front of me, I wasn't able to capture this holiday scene as desired, when I stumbled upon it on the frozen golf course behind our lodge, but the shadows actually give it a melodramatic feel, which I liked in hindsight.

Olympic Plaza Panoramic

The Whistler Olympic Plaza is where the Ice rink is situated, concerts and events are held and where the Winter Olympics of 2010 housed it base. Blackcomb Mountain is on the left with Whistler on the right. What you can't unfortunately see due to the over exposure, is the record breaking Peak to Peak Gondola that runs between the two mountains ferrying skiers and boardings across.

Community

Thanks to the generosity of the Whistler Community Services Society and in particular their food bank program, we were blessed with an enormous box of food this week. This is not a homeless shelter or a charity. It is simply a donation by hotels, restaurants and people of their respective leftover or unwanted/needed food items to be handed out to those people who 'struggle to live within the inflated cost of living parameters within this prosperous and high-income holiday town.'

Olympic Skeleton Race

Last week, courtesy of housemate and Whistler Olympic sliding center employee; Meg Hamman, Andy and I were invited to partake in a complimentary skeleton experience on the Whistler sliding track, which incidentally was the venue for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and in particular the sports of Bobsleigh, Luge and Skeleton.

A relatively new Winter Olympic sport - having first gained Olympic status at the Salt Lake City games in 2002 - Skeleton is a fast winter sliding sport in which you ride a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down and face first - the notable difference between luge which requires you to lie on you back- feet first. This week marked the opening of the Sliding center to the public who, for a fee of $150, can experience the sport of Skeleton on an official Olympic Sliding track. (Luge is too dangerous a sport to be open to the general public - possibly deemed so after Georgian Olympic luger Nodar Kumaritashvili crashed and died on the Whistler track in a pre-olympic training run)

After a informative albeit humourous briefing session, where helmets were fitted, liabilities were signed and the riding technique of skeleton was clearly outlined to us, we took the track not too sure what to expect.

What transpired was 30 seconds of absolute adrenalin-fueled speed that can only really be compared to riding a roller coaster. That said, with your face only inches away from the ice and with no way of controlling your ever-increasing speed, it really is unlike anything ever experienced before.

Needless the say, by the time you reach the final corner, you're reaching speeds of just under R100km's per hour -a truly remarkable acceleration from a standing start only 30 seconds previously.

Thanks to Meg for including us in this surreal and uniquely unforgettable experience.

Final race stat's and results as follows below: (Note top speed for Andy and I as 97.7 and 98.9 km's/hour respectively)

Andy - 2'nd Run

Brendon - 1'st Run

Sequence: Brendon - 1'st Run

Black and White Sequence: Brendon - 2'nd Run

Marmots vs Dustys

The Willage

Creek to Creek Express

Whistler's Mother

Cutting Our Teeth

The journey that has seen us relocate from an empty, sunny, summer beach on the Eastern Tip of Africa to a snowy wilderness in the North Western corner of British Columbia has been truly remarkable. After an effective 2 day's of travel which included flights, bus and train rides across several time zones, we arrived in the picturesque ski town of Whistler. Our home is located in the upper village area known as Benchlands in a hotel resort called Lost Lake Lodge, aptly named courtesy of the adjacent (now frozen) Lost Lake that runs parallel to the Chateau Whistler golf course that compromises most of the view from our balcony. We share Unit 403 with our South African friends; Andy and Megan Hamman, who arrived a few weeks prior and who welcomed us into out new home with home-made chicken pie. Since our arrival 3 day's ago, we've fulfilled all the necessaries of opening bank, cell phone and library accounts as well as purchasing some outstanding ski equipment for Sam. All that was left was to sample the 5000 plus acres of ski-able terrain that stretches out across the Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. With Andy and Meg as capable mountain tour guides, we dutifully indulged in our first taste of what the mountain has to offer. Conditions are still pre-season and icy in parts but with snowfalls predicted next week, anticipation levels are high. The next few days will see Sam begin her job as Au Pair of Mischa and Esme Arnott, two little Canadian girls - while I begin my job quest in earnest. So much lies ahead with so much more to explore and experience.

Sam and her 'thrifty' new ski boots.