Just put the beer on the porch! 2008 begins…

Happy New Year and all the sweet jazz, hope 2008 is a great year for you all.

Well Xmas ‘07 was my first one away from the fam, but I spent it with another family so really it was like a typical Xmas, just with not soo many familiar faces. And I left the last blog hoping I was going to get a white Xmas, well, this lucky Aussie bloke’s wish came true! It began to snow around 11am Xmas morning and so within a couple of hours everything was white and I was stoked! I have documented video evidence to prove it! Apparently snow in Vancouver on Xmas day is very rare, and has only happened a few times in the last 20-30 years, so really, I was a very lucky boy! Was a typical Xmas, ate way too much, only this time instead of drinking out in the sun we were in front of the fire. And I didn’t have to worry about keeping the beers cold in the Esky or filling it with ice, I just grabbed a beer from outside on the back porch, and they were a perfect consuming temperature! Gotta love those big open fridges!

Spent the next few days in Van chilling with Deano, then on the 30th went to a Vancouver Canucks game, vs. the Anaheim Ducks. Was a great game, stadium was packed, and Canucks got up 2-1 so it was a very happy crowd. The only thing I disliked about the game/crowd was the booing, to me that’s just unsportsman-like. Who cares if you don’t like the other team, you don’t boo them. Silence is just as effective I reckon! Anyhoo, the Ducks have changed their team symbol so I was bit bummed about that. I was hoping to see the symbol I know from the Mighty Ducks movies! Apparently they changed the symbol a few years ago, ahh well. Still, ‘twas a great atmosphere, and ice hockey certainly is a great sport to watch. I’d love to play it sometime….

New Year’s Eve I spent on Saltspring Island (it’s west of Vancouver and southeast of Vancouver Island). ‘Twas an interesting night to say the least. Ended up in a hall in the middle of the island where a party was being held, and although I was with people I knew and their friends (not from Saltspring) I was certainly made aware of the fact that Island folk are definitely a different breed (some of them anyway). Spent the night at a friend of a friend’s place that lives on the highest point on Saltspring and woke up to a bloody spectacular view. I went out onto the snow covered porch (bout 3 inches) and overlooked southern Saltspring and could see San Juan Island and Mt Baker (USA) off into the distance. Awesome!

So the first day of 2008 I headed back to Victoria to my new place. I’m sharing a 3-bed suite with 2 other blokes. Place is fairly new but its appeal was the rent and location. I’m in downtown Victoria and only a 20-25min walk to the Inner Harbor which is where I’ll be working. I spent the first few days of 2008 settling in. Previous people that lived here were kind enough to leave me a desk and shelf, so all I had to do was buy myself an air mattress and I was set! I’ll see how I go with the air mattress for a couple of months, but I really do hate to think what it’s doing to my back. Anyhoo, so I’ve been out on a couple of whale watch trips to go towards the 60 hours I need, and man it’s bloody cold! Travelling at 30 knots with the cold air coming off the 9 degree water makes my face almost numb! But I went out last Saturday and we found Transient killer whales! My first transients! (mammal-eating killer whales as opposed to the residents which are fish-eating). As it’s winter and the company I’m going out with is the only company out on the water this time of year, it’s pretty much a “go out and see what we can find”, so spotting transients from way off was very lucky. You just have to look for the water vapour from the blows and then hopefully see a hint of a black dorsal fin. The driver who I’m going out with is the head zodiac driver from the biggest whale watch company here in Victoria so he knows exactly what to look for and really does have eyes like a hawk. I was able to impart my knowledge on the tourists as well, so really, I’m very confident in talking to the tourists and imparting my knowledge onto them, it’s just the actual operation of the boat that I need to build my skills in. I’m heading back to Vancouver at the end of this week as I have a couple of 4 day courses to complete as a requirement to operate passenger vessels. The courses finish on the 25th Jan, so I’ll head up to Whistler for Australia Day as I’ve heard it’s a pretty big party considering the mountain is covered in my country folk. Really looking forward to it. I’ll head back to Vic at the end of Jan and then use February to rack up the rest of my hours and then take my ‘Proficiency Test’ through Transport Canada. Hopefully by the end of March/early April I should be able to get a couple of trips out on my own. The thing you have to remember is, I’m a rookie driver, which means I’m last cab off the rank, but when I’m not driving I can get work on the bigger boats as a marine biologist and also a couple of days in the office to see how the business side of an ecotourism venture works. I have a meeting this week with one of the whale watch operators (probably the 3rd biggest) that initially expressed interest in me, so I’ll see what he has to say and go from there. I’m extremely confident I’ll get work, it’s just they type of work is what I want to specify with them. Although I could do office work no worries, it’s not what I’m here to do, and I’ve heard stories of companies employing people saying yeah we’ll get you out on the boats as naturalists/biologists and then they end up being stuck in the office because they prove themselves in that area. I’m here to be out on the water, and I really think I can bring a lot to the company I work for. Need to find work soon though, I’m truly living a basic life at the moment. I’d love a beer, but it’s bloody expensive here in BC! Maybe I can head across to San Juan Island and smuggle some cheap water flavoured beer back to the land of the maple leaf…

Anyway, I’ll keep you posted in the next month or so and will write another blog when I get back at the end of Jan. I am struggling a little bit with the cold weather, it’s the wind here that is the killer. Stop being a pansy I hear you cry. Yeah, I know, I’ll man up and get through it. You lucky buggers in Oz and your sunshine. Grrrr!

Tim, Timmy, Timbo