Whistler weekend and the best sport in the world

We had the best weekend at Whistler - a definite highlight of our whole trip to date.  Family friends invited us up to their house there - I last saw Mark in around 1984 or 85, when he was spending a year travelling around Australia.  He's now married to Ria and they have two girls who are 18 and 21, which really highlights how long ago that was.

We got a lift up there with Walter, Mark's father who is a friend of my parents, and the godfather of my sister.

Their house was a fantastic log house, real Canadian mountain style, very comfortable, on the side of a mountain surrounded by forest (as well as other houses) and with a small creek running past the back door.

It was the last weekend of the Paralympics, which probably added to what is certainly a normal 'buzz' about Whistler.  I was really surprised at how incredibly accessible Whistler is.  Everything geared to ensuring anybody, whatever their physical abilities, can get around, and can participate in snow sports including skiing and boarding.

We went tubing:  it was the best fun.  You sit in a rubber tube, and go whizzing down the mountainside, completely out of control.  There's no way to steer (or if there is I wasn't aware of it), or to control the speed, you're completely at the mercy of fate.  Protected somewhat by the 'runs' that have a bit of an edge on them, steering you by not allowing you over them.  

I just laughed and laughed as I whizzed down, it was quite exhilerating.   We did it for an hour.  Getting up the hill again was a pain but made easier by a conveyer belt to stand on for half of the trip.

One would expect a ski resort to be the absolute last place for bargain shopping (well, except for the foyer of a luxury hotel perhaps) but I was stunned by the sales that were on in the Village.  The prices were very low - so ridiculously low I bought myself a ski jacket for a fraction of the retail price.   If I only wear it twice it will have paid for the cost of renting one twice.

Unfortunately I couldn't ski this time, due to my frozen shoulder - the orthopaedic specialist specifically warned me against it.  But Angus took a full day snowboarding lesson, and is hooked.  He loved it.  I'm really pleased he is 'into' something that gives such a huge natural high.  Hopefully such activities will sustain him through his adolescence.  I had forgotten how much I love ski-ing myself, so this winter we'll definitely be going at home in Australia.  My shoulder should be right by then.  I'm actually tempted to go next week, when we're at Lake Louise in the Rockies.  Angus is having another day lesson, so perhaps I could just do a few hours on some easy runs.  I'll be very rusty anyway, after 18 years.

On the Saturday night, Ria cooked a great dinner called Bobotie - a South African curry.  It's the kind of thing that every south african family has a traditional, slightly different recipe for.   She's sending me the recipe, so I"ll post that along with Karen's vegetarian shepherd's pie recipe as soon as I receive it.

On Saturday night we played scrabble -Angus doing surprisingly well.  Looks like my "home schooling" isn't quite as bad as it might have been.  

We still haven't seen any bears.  But a local raccoon dropped by for a photo opportunity.