Return to Sun Peaks

Sun Peaks and surrounds from the top

Its been 2 years since our last visit to Sun Peaks and the kids have grown a lot and Michael and I have gained a few more wrinkles and grey hairs.  The 14 hour flight to Vancouver was still as shocking and was made worse for Simon and I with a couple in front of us who complained we were touching the touch screen in the back of the seat so hard it was waking them up!  We made it safely to Sun Peaks and were soon relaxing in the Delta Residences which were pretty much the same although with a new name and no fleas this time.

The Sun Peaks Grand (where we stayed)

This trip was at an earlier time of year, just before New Year's Eve, to accommodate returning for  Charlotte's rowing camp, so there were a lot more people in the village and many had brought their dogs. It was strange to see dogs trotting through a ski village!

The Vince-McAuley family joined us and it was great to have some company. Sadly, Lisa, Immy and Mike couldn't join us this time but we hope to ski with them again soon.

Once again we booked the kids in for all day ski lessons. However these turned out to be a bust this year as they have gone 'healthy' with the lunch. No more pizzas and chips means no more Harris children keen to do all day lessons!

The lessons paid off as after a few days the kids could do any run on the mountain. Ben is now a faster skier than his father and prefers group lessons to skiing with his parents.

Highlights of the trip included:

- multiple sightings of  the famous dancing skier including a chair lift ride with him by Ella 

- $5 happy hour snacks at the Cahilty were a big hit as long as you didn't get the spicy wings which were felt the next day according to Andrew and Louise

- fresh powder snow for Sarah who met a new Senior friend in the Sun Peaks tour guide, Len, who was a real powder hound. The rest of the family didn't share Sarah's passion for powder and whinged when she took them off-piste too much.

- sunny days with gorgeous views over the surrounding valleys.

- numerous hot tubs for aching muscles

- non-stop trashy American TV

- no dog-minding duties.

The boys in the mountains

the photographer

On the slopes

Back to the cold

We are enjoying our ski holiday in Sun Peaks, Canada and escaping the Sydney heat.

 

In the village.

 

View from the top.

About to take a run through the trees.

Relaxing after a hard day in the usual electronic way.

 

We Are Home

Just to let you know that we are now back in Cobar St. All the boxes have been unpacked. The children are back at school. I am back working at Macquarie Park. Sarah has finished her teaching course.

This will be my last blog entry for a while. I hope you enjoyed reading about our adventure.

Cheers
Michael

Big houses and little homes

This is the last of the summer recaps.
On two of the weekends before the cruise we went to the town of Wimborne Minster - home of the chain library. On the first weekend we went to visit Kingston Lacy, which is a large country house just outside of the town.
The house has some nice gardens and a walking trail around the grounds. Ben found some local cattle.

With the dollar dropping against the pound we have had to tighten our belts. This was the first time that we have taken our own picnic lunch on an outing and despite the usual complaints no one went hungry. Deck chairs were also provided - you have to love the National Trust.

Notice the lunch box!

 After lunch Sarah took the boys to have  look inside the house which has a good collection of famous artwork. I drew the short straw and kept Ella company outside. One of the interesting things was the size of the laundry - about the same size as a two bedroom cottage. They took washing seriously in the old days.
 
On the second weekend we went to check out the model village in Wintereborne. The kids were given a list of things to find in the village, which turned out to be rather hard because of the size of the model village. The good thing was that it kept everyone occupied for quite a while.

Anyone for sausages?

Inspiring young engineers

A few weekends ago we took the kids to Bristol for the day to see two great engineering achievements:

1. The SS Great Britain
2. The Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Hopefully they will be inspired to take up the noble profession.

 

 

Coming home

Winter is around the corner, the days are getting shorter and the weather colder. You can see the geese flying south for the winter in the skies above Weymouth.

Our England adventure will be ending in a few weeks. We will be flying out of London on the 23rd October and arriving in Sydney on the 25th and back in Cobar St on the 28th. I am expecting to be in Bunnings on the following Saturday to pick up pool supplies when I will then feel truly home.

The County Show.

Last weekend we went to the Dorset County Show, which was in Dorchester about 20 minutes away. When Sarah first told the kids about going, their first question was: "Are there show bags? Not a good start.
When we arrived it was sunny and warm so we all applied our factor 50 sun screen. The locals who walked passed us must have thought we very strange. 

There was quite a lot to see and after a while we needed to stop and refuel. Tea for Sarah and ice creams for the children.

We did consider the donuts, but they were being hand made and there was a large queue, so we opted just for the photos.

 

 

Ben and I went for a walk while the others snacked and Ben saw the tent I wanted to visit but it was a bit early.

The kids had a great time with the animals. They all loved the birds and Ella got to take part in the Ferret racing.

Go Ferret, Go Ferret Go!

Before lunch we relented and let them have one ride - a giant inflatable slide. Ella was a bit tentative at the start but went down with one of the supervisors and then thought it was easy.

Sarah wasn't game to try the cider.

We wondered around for a bit more and then came home as it was threatening rain. In the evening my work colleague Mick and his son Ben came over for a BBQ and brought marshmallows to toast.

We were lucky we went on the Saturday because it rained most of Sunday.