Ozzy ozzy ozzy! The cries rang out from the balcony up at the Roundhouse Lodge on top of Whistler mountain on Monday morning as a bunch of ridiculously dressed Australians began their patriotic quest to ski from pub to pub all across Whistler Blackcomb mountains! It was an interesting adventure, to say the least. Amy (a girl I met through CV when he visited, who is totally lovely and bailed me out of the terribly unfortunate situation I was facing having no Aussie peeps to hang with on Aus day cause the Aussie gals I live with were working!!) had us all set up with a strict itinerary and time schedule for the day. Roundhouse à Chic Pea à Dusty's à Ravens à GLC à and I know there was more after that but I forget what comes next because we didn't make it past GLC haha

It was a pretty awesome day all in all - about 90% pub time, 10% skiing, which makes for a pretty interesting ratio. There were people lining up at the Longhorn pub at the base of the mountain from 9:00AM when I first got into the village, and everywhere you looks there were Aussie flags, green and gold, even a skier dressed in a full body kangaroo suit! I wore my Aussie sweat band, t-shirt and flag with pride, though I wasn't game to ski in a bikini like some brave (stupid!?) souls - and a bunch of guys skied top to bottom in speedos…a dare say this was a tad unnecessary, although hilarious for the rest of the world to watch.

By the end of the day I was totally knackered, but was lucky enough to have the next couple days off work so plenty of time to chillax. And I needed it too. I spent the last few days of work down in the "dungeon" sorting through garbage. Literally. No really - we stand there and sort through the trays of thousands and thousands of Roundhouse diners going "compost, refundable recycling, non-refundable recycling, garbage" for 8 hours a day with one half hour break. I really can't complain, don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to be employed, but I am gonna go ahead and say I think it's one of the most mindless, painfully boring jobs I've ever done. Made infinitely more bearable, I must say, by the good company and ipod music we keep blaring all day (one of the girls had a totally cheesy mix the other day including the works of such great artists as Five, and S Club 7, oh yeah, that was a good day :D). But I've done my time down there now, so hopefully when I head back this week I'll be released into the upper levels to return to the slightly less painful job of clearing trays.

Yesterday Liz & I went exploring round Alta Lake, going for a nice walk along the Lake edge over near the train tracks (at the time we reasoned this to be safe, because it was snowing so the trains wouldn't be on the track - I know, I have no idea why this seemed logical at the time but fortunately for our exceedingly stupid souls no trains came through at that time so we lived to tell the tale!). We came across a BBQ setup, obviously still in place from the summertime. It was hilarious because they'd moved literally nothing, so right on the edge of the lake (and it looked like it was actually ON the lake, though I'm gonna say it was in fact on a pontoon) there was a BBQ, a bunch of arm chairs, a deck chair etc. all covered in a layer of snow. We had a fun little photo sesh, being intrepid exploring adventurers, before heading back home and debating just how much trouble we'd be in with out landlord if we bought a dog. We figured quite a bit. But it's such a shame, because Whistler is such a dog lovers town and we're both really missing having an animal around.

That night I made dinner for all the girls (roast vege salad - never fails to please!) and we sat around the candlelit dining table enjoying our romantic dinner for six. The conversation was interesting (Jane: "Oh I do!" - haha aaah… I can't explain, but when I read back over this one day I know it will make me laugh just as hard as the time she first uttered these very words) and the company delightful, as always! Next week I'm catching up with Caity (my cousing) and Tim (her boyfriend) for a night up in Whis before spending a few days with them down in Van, where I plan to try and stock up on some hideous 80s clothes from the down town op-shops for the many Monday nights still to come at Tommy's. Why oh why I didn't bring 80s costumes with me when I left Perth is now completely beyond me! I remember thinking at the time…surely they would come in handy…but I didn't listen to my gut intuition! I should have known hideous dress up parties know no boundaries across the globe!

Anyway, to all you Aussies back home, I hope Aus day was truly epic! Rest assured the Aussie contingent living here in Whis did you proud :)

LIVxo