Skiing and gambling!

Big White was great with all the powder snow. the pistes are a lot diff to france - a lot shorter, not pisted often and not marked out (just lined with trees). had a good few days though with mega loads of snow falling. think the entire population was made up of ozzies though working for the season.

Our flight was cancelled to Las Vegas so we had to be put on the one the morning after. got to stay the night for free at the Hilton instead and got some meal vouchers. When we eventually got to vegas it was wicked! so many casinos and theyre all soo grand! themed ones - NY NY, Paris, posh ones - Bellagio, Caesars Palace and cheap beverage ones - westward ho (99c for a 23oz margarheitta!)! the Bellagio water fountains were amazing - went to see about 6 showings of them!

had a trip into the grand canyon - impressively big! and saw the hoover dam too.

now in santa monica, LA. a very nice place of town. downtown looked really scrotty when we drove through last night so not going to venture anywhere else. just enjoy the area here - and the beach right on the doorstep. flying to cook islands tomos, so not much time anyways.

so, until tropical paradise and extreme warmth...

The Westside!

Chicago was great - a very nice city sitting at the side of Lake Michegan. The Waterfront was really nice and it even had a beach! Went for thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant below the Hilton which was delicious! Proper, proper food! The day after thanksgiving was mental in the city centre as its the start of sales day, so everywhere was completely packed!

A smooth flight over to Seattle found us staying at the HI hostel. A great city - really liked this one too. Had a really neat open-air market place which sold everything fresh you could possibly need. Went on a duck tour of the city (a bus that turns into a boat) with a very enthusiastic tour guide who kept trying to get us to quack at passing pedestrians - a tad embarrising! but it took us round the land and onto Union Lake to see all the expensive houseboat condos.

Now in Vancouver checking out the sites. There are spectacular mountain views at the end of every street which is a bit strange seeing them when you're in the middle of a city - but is very pretty. Went halfway up Grouse mountain on a bus yesterday to try walk to the top, but the trail was shut due to icey conditions apparently, so we resorted to a snow fight and got the next bus back down! Off to Stanley Park today for a relaxing walk round. The hostel we're staying at is very noisy! has a pub underneath it so we're having to use our earplugs - doesnt however stop the bed from vibrating with the bass! oh well, only one night more then we're off to hit the ski slopes - wahey!!