The Ski Season is Upon Us

Posted on December 29, 2017 by murray

The time is neigh. Winter has arrived and we have been skiing in town for about a month and a half. My Banff connection has informed me the snow in the mountains is getting deeper and skiing is an absolute possibility. Several ‘trail’ trips have confirmed the existence a good solid base and enough snow on top to make for good turns.

We are booked to ski at Mistaya Lodge early January. We heli in on January 3rd and will be out on the 7th. Our departure date is one week away and I am sitting here thinking about finding a packing list and starting to amass the particular items required to ski off piste.

Tomorrow is the ‘end of the holidays’ so I will get started and find that list. By tomorrow evening the basement floor should be scattered with gear.

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Chronological Progression – Fiji, Southport, Solomon Islands

Posted on December 26, 2017 by murray

With the dive dates now set we need to find accommodation to infill the few other days we will be in Fiji. Not may days but we don’t want to have to spend them on the street and Nadi does not have an endless supply of hotels.

Debbie does a lot of research and finds a 1/2 dozen we can look into. We send emails. If we get a good feeling from the hotels response we follow up with one or two more emails and then book. As is often the case in places where the weather is warm, the responses are a long time coming, if at all. It takes more than a week to get back enough emails to further our investigation. Even then we are going on our instincts. We reread each hotel review and what their websites have to say to supplement what the emails have given us. None of them answer all of questions and most require a good amount of interpretation.

We decide to book 2 different hotels. One for the trip to Australia, a couple of days stay and a different place for the trip home as we are going to spend one night there between flights. Again, utilizing two different hotels is a bit of reconnaissance for a future trip.

Reservation requests are sent. NO confirmations. None. Wait 5 days and still nothing. Debbie sends follow up emails. One place returns the emails stating they have made the reservation as per requested. Guess one just has to assume that it will all be good, until you are standing at the desk and nobody has any idea you even exist. The second place never did respond. So c’est la vie, we have two more possibilities. Send out another inquiry. Again no response. Quite odd considering these places are in business to make money. After a second email this reservation is confirmed and it looks likely we have a bed for each of the extra nights in Fiji.

Next stop, Southport, Australia. We are there for 11 days and the only criteria for a place to stay is to be close to our son’s place. Weird even though we are headed to the tourist capital of Australia we cannot find a hotel in the vicinity. We have not used Airbnb before but Debbie has a look to see what is available and there are 5 or 6 places that could suit our needs. We do a little research into their exact location and what each place has to offer and we are left with 2. One seems to stand out with a way more pluses than minuses on the “for” and “against” chart. So after mulling it over for a week and a half we decide to take the plunge and have a crack at renting it.

Wholly crap, the booking page of Airbnb is fussy. It takes us about an hour to break the code and get the booking to be posted to our perspective host. Our first problem arises when Debbie tries to book the place under her account (I don’t have an account at this point) and pay for it with my visa card. That maneuver kicked us right out and onto some weird uninterruptible page. After a few more snafus,  opening an account under my name and have the owner reset the reservation under my new account, a couple of more tries and we are finally able to get a confirmation from Australia. Honestly it was not a very good introduction to Airbnb. If it had not worked and given us some indication as to why it was not working, like a text box stating the obvious about reservation and credit card names having to match, we could have probably solved things quite easily and fast but there was nothing what so ever. The system just kept kicking us out.

We now have a plan for 3/4’s of our trip and have only the Solomon Islands puzzle to solve. I have been working on that and it should come together before the middle of January. Maybe. From my preliminary investigation the Solomon’s are even more laid back than Fiji so we will have to see how it pans out.

 

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Taking Shape

Posted on December 18, 2017 by murray

Plan B is being molded into quite a good tour. We have confirmed our stay at two different dive resorts and managed to get the connecting flight that will transfer us from the island of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji, to Kadavu Island.

The first resort at which we will reside is the Volivoli. (They seem to repeat a lot of words in Fiji) The Volivoli is connected to the dive boat on which we were to sail and we are hooked up by the group that was taking care of the live-a-board reservations. It is easy to do. The place is rather fancy by our standards but it will cost less then the yacht so we will have some funds to distribute to the second land based dive resort.

A week there and we catch a flight to Kadavu and the Matana Beach Resort. A smaller resort somewhat oriented to divers but not exclusive. We chose it because it is close to two villages and we think we can get an idea of how the locals live, so to speak. Although not as expansive of coverage, the area accessible for diving from here is the same area the Aggressor live-a-board plys.

As trip is now land based we should get a much better idea of “Fiji”. When you are on the water it is hard to get a feel for what the country is like. As we are likely to visit Australia at least once more during our kids tenure there, Fiji seems like a good stopover and having an idea as to the layout of the land we should be able to find a few more places worth diving and visiting.

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Marmot Basin Day 2

Posted on December 17, 2017 by debbie

On Friday, we decide to get to Marmot Basin a little earlier than yesterday so we can get a few more runs in before we head home. Manage to get to the hill too early and have to sit in the lodge for 10 or 15 minutes. Then it is off we go, up to mid mountain.

Even though the temperature is about the same as yesterday, the wind is blowing stronger so it feels colder. We do a few laps of easy runs, sheltered from the wind, trying to get my technique straight. You see, yesterday I started cocking my hip again when turning to the left, so I am working on uncocking it. It works…..mostly.

We take the chair up to the top of the mountain and the wind is howling up there. It is blowing so strong that it actually moves me along without me doing anything! And  the skiff of fresh snow that fell last night is blowing away.

We ski down and it is hit and miss with the hip thing. I know that when I get nervous about the terrain, the side slope, other skiers whizzing by, I seem to forget technique and go into semi panic mode. Not good. Mur notices that I stop turning my feet, I throw my shoulder, and a passel of other badness. It’s good skiing with an excellent instructor! Another run up top and it is time for lunch and to thaw out hands and feet indoors.

We spend our time after lunch on the lower, warmer and less windy, green runs trying to fix my skiing. My body is not cooperating and frustration sets in, so I call it a day and send Mur up by himself to ski some runs while I ponder life in the chalet. I watch other skiers coming down, and wonder how my skiing matches up to most of them. I see a certain lack of technique in almost everyone. And I can pick out Murray right away….he’s the guy that is skiing perfectly and looks so smooth and effortless.

We call it a day, pile in the car and start our 4.5 hour drive back home. Next stop, Mistaya Lodge!

 

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Plan B is a GO!

Posted on December 16, 2017 by murray

Looks like Plan B is proceeding without too many road blocks. Debbie has sent emails to 4 dive resorts and our contact at the Siren office is working on a proposal for the Volivoli. There were no throw aways on the first perusal of the return emails. Each place has highlights and each place has some detracting qualities.

As expected, the price from the Volivoli came in the highest of the bunch, but it is still less than what it would have cost to sail on the live-a-board yacht. The Volivoli dates available mesh with the dates available at the other resort we chose and all we have to do is find a domestic air flight to the island of Kadavu and we are in.

It is still 5 months away but the hopper flights in Fiji are filling up. There are planes flying on the day we want but the times are limited and the cheap seats are sold out. I don’t think there is a significant difference between seat types on the small plane but if you book early enough you get a deal and we are outside the ‘early’ time.

Another flurry of emails to the two resorts, both can accommodate us on the days we need. An hour or two on the internet and the flights are booked.

It has taken a week but Plan B has been formulated and implemented and it looks like a trip that was quickly made a shambles is back in order.

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Marmot Basin, Jasper, AB

Posted on December 14, 2017 by debbie

A few months ago, we have one of those “What the hell!” moments and we book ourselves into a back country ski trip at Mistaya for the first week of January. Silly us!

As soon as we return from Bonaire and get our heads back into winter, we start skiing at Snow Valley, the local ski hill where Murray worked. I say worked as he has officially fully retired, just like me, and is no longer teaching there. Mur helps me with my technique as I only skied once last winter due to my surgery. We practice going up and doooown, using poles, edging and things are starting to come together. But the short river valley runs can only do so much, so off to the mountains we go!

Yesterday, we arrive in Jasper and stop in at four hotels asking for the price of a room for two nights. Every single hotel quotes us a price that is lower than their website price. Travelling to Jasper midweek, before Christmas is an ideal time, no crowds and lots of available rooms.

Ready to ski

We are on the ski hill at Marmot Basin by shortly after 9:00 am. It feels like we have the whole hill to ourselves. We ski some green runs to get my body moving and my technique down.

We then take the chair right to the top of the mountain. What a view! Bluest of skies, snow dappled mountains. This is why we get outside!

The runs down from the top are a little more challenging for me. Side slopes, narrower lanes, steep pitches. Some spots are good and some are not so good as my nerves get the best of me and when that happens, technique goes out the window! Mur says I am doing great and only need to always remember to go up and down with every turn, then the hardest slope or turn will work out.

Marmot basin

We have a great day skiing, with Murray taking a few extra runs while I rest my weary muscles in the chalet. We will return to ski more tomorrow.

 

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Plan B

Posted on November 28, 2017 by murray

Glub, glub goes our plan A. Plan B? We don’t have a plan B. Once we decided to go the live-a-board route our investigations ceased. So, developing a Plan B is our next objective.

We have 2 weeks in Fiji so we hope to work out a week each at two different dive areas and see what Fiji has to offer. I have kept the links to the resorts from my previous research in the bookmarks of my internet browser. I find the 4 or 5 I thought worth our time to look into and Debbie starts to investigate. The folks at the Fiji Siren office have a business relationship with the Volivoli Resort and our contact has offered to get us a price to stay and dive there during the dates we will be in Fiji.

We think by choosing two places to dive in different areas of Fiji we should get a pretty good overview. It also leaves open the possibility of going to another island if, or more like when, we are on our way to Aus once again. In the long run this will probably give us more extensive coverage than the live-a-board we had thought we were going on in the first place. And there are another couple of other live-aboard boats plying the Fijian waters, we can  book a trip aboard one of those if the opportunity arises.

We have answers back from our ubiquitous emails and are in the process of evaluating the responses and trying to coordinate flights and transport to different islands to see what options are available to us.

PS The Fiji Siren did in fact sink. It contacted something in deep water and started to take on water. All the passengers and crew got off the Siren with lots of time and no panic. In the end it was decided that the boat could not be salvaged and it sunk to the depths. So sad.

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Fiji Planning

Posted on November 26, 2017 by murray

It has been a while since we posted pre trip posts. Life has been in the way. Sometimes things happen that are beyond your control and they sap mental and physical energy. Not leaving enough to do the extra curricular thing. Things have stablized a bit and maybe I can find a little time to document the run in to our next trip.

The other point to the no pre trip posts is, as our planning was going quite well, there was not anything to report that had not all ready been addressed in previous posts.

This time however our plans have taken an unsual twist and it will required some thinking and quite a bit of extra work to have things come out in the wash.

A week or two before we left for Bonaire we had made some commitments towards our trip to Australia next spring. Our son told us what will be the best time to visit so we can coordinate some time with him while he has a few days off work. We outline a trip we think will make sense maxing our time down under. If we are going all that way we don’t want to go for two weeks. Also wanting to expand our diving horizons we think we should take advantage of the situation and find a place or two in the South Pacific to visit the under water flora and fauna.

Fiji is easy to get to on the way to Aus. We have heard the diving is good there and the tourist infrastucture has been in place for along time. On the way home the Solomon Islands seem to be almost in line with our flight north. So, we do some research and decide we should probably make two stops, one on the way down and one on the way home.

There are plenty of dive resorts in Fiji. They are located on various islands and all have there forte. There are not too many resorts in the Solomon’s although each of them has their niche as well. There are also dive live-a-boards that ply the waters of both places. After weighing out the options we decide to book trips aboard live-a-boards in both places. We think that would give us the best overall view of the diving available. 

There are really only a couple of options in each place. The dates we will be in each place are one determinant of our choice, price of course is a factor, the dive sites visited by each boat, the services offered (like nitrox availablity), and our gut reaction to the info and pics on the web sites all play a part in the choice of vessels.

After some reflection we think we should hook up with the Fiji Siren, and the Biliki. A few emails later we have figured out how to make the reservations and pay the deposit.

We then head to Bonaire.

Upon our return I am in the process of contacting a few of our friends to see if they want to join us. One couple is very interested and makes steps towards coming along. Their flights have just been booked, we are looking forward to diving with them and D sends me a return email asking me to look at the web site I have sent her the link to, there is something strange.

The web site is veiled over with a message reading something like, Update 1. Read further down the page and it looks like the boat sank and in fact it did. Even before D & C get a chance to put their names on a cabin the boat is no more. This of course puts somewhat of a damper on our plans as well……

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Goin’ Home

Posted on November 13, 2017 by murray

We are on the last plane of this trip and as far as the trip status goes we are still 0. It seems we can’t get through a trip without a bit of stress.

Yesterday, Insel Air, supposedly a horrible airline, ran like clockwork. Supposed to leave at 10, we left at 10. We skirted the customs scam on Caracau, where upon arrival you have to enter the country in order to exit immediately and pay a $5 exit fee for the privilege, by having a Westjet boarding pass in our hands and going through the little known ‘in transit’ gate located before the immigration booths.

Next leg Westjet was again on time and we arrive in Toronto as prescribed. Glitch here though as we are not the only ones to arrive at that time and the line at immigration is horrendous. With the new machines everything cracked along and since we had carry on luggage we are on the curb waiting for our hotel shuttle in no time.

This morning however is not so slick. We have booked a shuttle with plenty of time to make our flight. We arrive at the lobby at the appointed time and there is a minor kerfuffle going on. We soon learn the shuttle has given up the ghost. More and more folks arrive at the front looking for a ride. By luck Debbie and I place ourselves by a guy who happens to be a Westjet pilot, and we soon find out a savvy traveler. We start a conversation and chat a bit. Just small talk, where are you going and stuff like that. We soon gather the hotel has contacted a cab company and we will be shuttled via cab to the airport. Most folks seem quite stressed and getting worse when the pilot, who has been staring out the front doors, looked at Debbie and I and gave us a little nod of the head. We follow him out the door load our bags into the trunk of a taxi and we were off. A bit sleazy, leaving the other folk behind but it is a jungle out there and the fittest survive.

The airport gods are looking upon us. We again have boarding passes in hand and our only hurdle is security. Holy s**t the line is long. Haven’t run into that in quite a while. It moves quite quickly and we are still at our gate with a 1/2 hour to spare.

Looking down on the landscape there has been snow on the ground since shortly after we left Toronto. Landing soon and our trip status with be changed to 1. Time to think XC skiing.

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Last Day of Diving in Bonaire

Posted on November 12, 2017 by debbie

It is our last day of diving here in Bonaire. There are so many dive sites up and down the west coast, that even on our last day, we dive two sites we haven’t been to.

We have been searching for good photo opportunities of this fellow and today we finally got some. He is a peppermint shrimp. Cute fellow who sways back and forth inside tube sponges.

Bonaire

A few days ago I happened across a belted cardinal fish hiding in a coral. I have been searching for him and today we find two different ones. Tiny fellow with a snub nose. Again, a real cutie.

Bonaire

We dove 13 days straight. Ten days were 3 dive days and three were two dive days. We covered a good portion of the dive sites on the west coast, and even two on the east coast. We did not get over to Klein Bonaire to do some boat diving, maybe next time. It was a great dive trip with a myriad of sea life. I think we will be arriving home slightly tired. See you on the other side.

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