Spring has Sprung!

Aloha from Kona Island, Hawaii.

Picture it, i'm sitting on our balcony, coffee in hand, sunglasses on and Foster the People serenading me through the speakers. my view is golf course as far as i can see, and wandering on the greens are an astonishing amount of wild turkey and geese, who are ridiculously frisky. It must be mating season!

These turkeys and their attempts to woo the females have been the source of much amusement, and the spark to a very in-depth conversation about how their mating habits are just like ours. According to one Ryan Mcleod, the male turkeys are at the beck and call of the females, and no matter how much the puff their feathers and ruff themselves up, at the end of the day, the female can take or leave it. Yet, all the female has to do is give her approval and that seals the deal. I have to say he makes a point. All one has to do is take a look around The Longhorn in Whistler, or any bar for that matter!

I'd like to say that this ramble about turkeys has a purpose and some kind of relevance to this blog post, but it doesn't. I shall move on!

The weather is slightly overcast today and I had one too many glasses of shiraz last night, so I'm taking this time to catch up on the past few weeks. For myself, as well as on this blog!

Before we left for Hawaii summer arrived in whistler, and with the sun came adventures. Mainly ones that involved sunglasses and rum, but also a few beautiful days basking by waterfalls, hiking the forests and lying by lakes. Its the insight that I needed, showing me what a summer consists of in Whistler, it confirmed I have made the right decision by staying.

After some crazy birthday celebrations in mid April, it was great to have some time to just chill with friends, particularly with those that were leaving in the subsequent weeks. First came a day trip to Vancouver with Ashley.

After fracturing her spine on some ice and being bed ridden for a few weeks Ash was coming down with a severe case of cabin fever, and being the great friend that I am I agreed to a trip out of the 'bubble' (I was also in desperate need of some new underwear!) So, off we set on the 8am greyhound to Vancouver for a day of retail therapy. Now, when it comes to shopping I may as well be a man. my main priority is 'does it fit?' and 'is it comfortable?' This was always much to this despair of my mother and sisters and, now, it seemed to Ashley too.

We always knew that we had very different taste in things; music, men, food... the list goes on, and now we can firmly put clothes and fashion on to that list! We had such a giggle rolling our eyes at the others choices in clothes. Ashley's main response to my question of 'do you like this?' was 'yeah...for you'. It was a successful day all the same, both of our bank balances took a severe battering!

It also took a strange turn when we ended up in a tattoo and piercing parlour, Ash getting her inner ear pierced and me deciding, spur of the moment, to get a ring put in my nose! I would like to think this is some kind of new, bad-ass me, but I highly doubt I can pull that off!

In the following days the sun came out to allow us to wear the new summer purchases from Vancouver. We spent days lying on the grass of staff housing, sipping mojitos and soaking up the much needed rays after a Whistler winter.

As flat 201 was soon to be disbanded we decided a fam day out was in order, so we took off to discover the train wreck of Whistler. It was yet another beautiful day and as we walked along the train tracks to the forest it really began to dawn on me how much I was in love with this place, and all the people who come with it.

On our search for the train wreck we came across a beautiful waterfall that will definitely be re-visited during summer. It was like something from a post card, so serene and picturesque. We ended up spending quite a few hours there, mulling over the events of the past few months and planning the future.

From there we ventured on to the amazing Creekbread restaurant in Creekside. For someone who isn't a pizza lover, I can easily say that Creekbread does epic pizzas! We stuffed our faces and laughed over everything and anything, good times.

The day was perfectly rounded off with a trip to Alta lake to watch the meteor shower. Lying on the docks with some awesome people and watching the night sky for meteors sounds like something out of a cheesy American movie, but it really was something special. That will certainly be a day that sticks in my memory for all the right reasons.

The following week was spent doing very mundane tasks like cleaning the flat, packing to move and for Hawaii and surprise surprise, saying more goodbyes. Loris left first which was as horrific as expected. I will miss that girl! I have never met anyone that can make people laugh so unintentionally. Such a sweetheart that really does look after me. I am ever so worried that Ashley and Meg (my new housemates) will be nowhere near as soft on me as Lauren, i'm pretty sure her replacements wont take anywhere near as much of my crap! uh oh.

Saying bye to Sarah Fam and Matt wasn't much easier, but at least it was me leaving this time, rather than them. When I get back to Whistler I will officially be the only Fam member left!

So after checking out of staff housing :( and packing up 'the bang bus' with the ridiculous amount of things I have accumulated over the last six months (including 2 sets of skis, 2 snowboards and a guitar) we were ready to head for Seattle and Hawaii.

Stay tuned for all things Sun, Sea and Sand.
Mahalo

Time to say goodbye

So Long, Farewell…

Being a seasonal village, Whistler has one major downfall. People leave. L

Some people are like me, intending to come for six months and then decide not to leave. Half of said people also end up being lifers here. Come for a season, stay for life. 

The rest move on from the bubble that is Whistler. Sometimes they head back home, other times it’s on to more adventures in far flung corners of the globe.  Regardless of which it is, it is inevitable that the time will come to say goodbye to all those people who have snuggled their way into your life.

Nobody likes goodbyes. They are horrible. I, especially, did not even come close to coping with the huge wave of farewells that have come crashing to the shores of Whistler in the last few weeks.  I was the emotional wreck you often see sniveling at the bus stop who you are completely embarrassed for. You really hope this person pulls themselves together, and for a moment you think they will, until they start a fresh batch of tears and you give up all hope that they will ever stop. Yup, that has been my life for at least 3 weeks now.

Now, let’s get one thing straight. I’m not really a crier. Some of my best friends at home haven’t seen me cry. So, it shocked me as much as everyone around me, when I completely broke down when the first of our friends left. Thomas Carr. He started it all. He opened the gates and I’m still struggling to close them! Probably because there is still more people to leave, but let’s not think about that!

Winnie the Pooh once said "How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard"- and that is how I’m trying to look at all of this.  I’m also focusing on the fact that I now have friends across the globe that I can go and visit!

So, to celebrate the time spent with some of my favorite people I have compiled a list of some of the more golden moments.

1-      Meeting Lewis for the first time. Its 5.30am in Gatwick airport and I am very clearly struggling with my backpack. The true gentleman that he is, Lewis approaches, taps me on the shoulder and asks in his ever-so-polite Oxford accent ‘Hi, do you need a hand with that?’ From then on he was part of the fam. He is the perfect height and dimensions for an epic hug and really is a wee sweetheart.

2-      Meeting Alex about an hour after meeting Lewis. J Apparently he could hear my accent all the way across the departure lounge and figured I must be the Irish girl from the Whistler Facebook page. J

3-      Meeting my first ever friend in Whistler, Ashley MacKissack. In the Irish bar of all places.  Now my partner in crime for summer.

4-      Fam trip to Vancouver for the hockey. Such a great day at the start of the season. Although I’m sure Matt spent most of his day trying to explain hockey rules, I think we all enjoyed it. I fondly remember the sing along with Alex friend, Slow Loris, Matt and Melissa en route to Van. Good times. It also concluded with us arriving back to the first snow of the season. Cue snow gear on and snowball fight/snow angel making!

5-      Christmas day with the entire fam. A day I was dreading, having never been away from home for it before, but between an amazing dinner, secret Santa and plenty of red wine it was a great day. It also included a game of charades which produced some of the funniest reenactments and stories, in particular Brad’s portrayal of Melissa’s encounter another female. Enough said.

6-      2am disco to aqua with the flat mates. Totally random and spur of the moment. Don’t think I have ever danced as hard in my life!

7-      Our wine and cheese party. We should have known it would be far too sophisticated for the likes of us! It started out so well and quickly digressed into the consumption of copious amounts of wine and a very revealing game of ‘Never have I ever’. Which revealed stories that shocked and horrified, none of which will be shared outside the walls of flat 211!

8-      Fam ride days. Never a huge amount of actual riding done on these days but they were such a good laugh all the same. Some of the highlights included me completely face planting at symphony and taking Tom out on my way down.  Matt sliding on his backside the majority of the way down Peak to Creek and Alex getting his ass stuck in a tree-well and expecting me to pull him out. No chance mate…here, grab my pole.

9-      Skiing while totally pissed on St.Patricks Day. I was surprisingly much better at it, but damn was it cold!

10-   Visiting the Hemloft with both Brad and Lauren on separate occasions. Such a cool structure which is being taken down soon, so it was great to see it before it’s gone.

11-   Story telling time with Tom. The time most of us looked forward to each evening. When Tom would arrive home from the Four Seasons ski concierge to tell us all scandal of the rich and famous clients he had the joy of serving that day. Or even more enjoyable was Tom’s run down of the previous night’s antics after a big night on the tiles. Priceless!

12-   The infamous ‘Mojito Mondays.’ Where my love of the Minty, Lime and Rum beverage reached new and dizzying heights, and though I haven’t quite mastered the creation of this treat the taste of it will always take me to a happy place J

This is just a select few highlight of the season, and although many of these guys have foolishly left Whistler I genuinely hope to create many more memories with them. 

On a new and brighter note, summer is almost here in B.C and there is so much on the horizon.  A new house to move into with a fab trio of friends, trips to Vancouver, Seattle, Hawaii and God knows where else. There is also the arrival of the younger and even more mental Mullan sister. God Help Whistler for those two weeks! And who really knows what else the summer will hold?

So as sentimental as this post was (apologies) I guess it just reflects how great friendships can be formed anywhere in the world. Some of the aforementioned people have given me the best advise ever, which will forever be cherished and I wish them all the best in their respective journeys.

Lets try this again...

So I guess I never got very far with the blog eh?

I suppose a few things got in the way, mainly life.  But here it goes! I’m going to try and bring this blog back to life. It feels right.

Although I’m almost six months into the adventure and the season is nearly over…the journey feels like it’s only just beginning.

So let’s catch up!

My current location is Whistler, Canada and will be for some of the foreseeable future. I have scarily started referring to this place as home.  From the lifestyle of a ski bum to the ‘Whsitler Fam’ it feels so natural to call this place home. Of course I miss my real ‘fam’ and friends, and Newcastle will always be home, but Whistler has well and truly found a spot in my heart.

I have worked almost six months for Whistler Blackcomb ski resort and learnt how to ski in my spare time…well, perhaps a more apt phrase is that I attempted to ski. With the help of my trusty, Aussie instructor friend* I was soon shredding. Albeit in a not so graceful manner. My main problem according to him, ‘Paula, you just need to grow a set of balls.’  I guess someone with my dexterity and coordination problems was just not designed to slide.  Maybe, as my other Aussie instructor friend (#RH**) has mentioned, boarders are cooler. Perhaps I have missed my calling.

That’s one thing I should mention about Whistler, it’s full of Australians, who are ever so fondly referred to as JAFA’s, Just Another Fucking Australian. They are definitely a different breed altogether, then again so are the Canadians!

I hate to admit that the rest of my spare time has been spent fulfilling the grand old Irish stereotype of being a ridiculous drunk.  I feel like I’m 17 again, although the hangovers are significantly worse. Is it possible to be ‘too old for this’ at 23? I think it is, or at least my liver does. I have promised my mother I will calm down, so I am banking on the summer to reveal a more sober, healthy me. Hmmmm….time will tell.

Apart from being the aforementioned disgrace, one of the biggest parts of my life in the last six months has been my Whistler fam.  Possibly the most lovable  crude, ridiculous bunch of people I have ever met, who have put up with more than their fair share of alcohol induced messiness, killer hangovers and life drama. They have been the source of so many laughs, stories and life lessons and who are all, whether I like it or not, friends for life.

They will always be my friends; they know too much.

There are post-it notes on our wall with all the fun quotes from the last few months, and no matter how foul a mood I’m in, I can sit on the sofa, read the wall and instantly have a smile on my face. That’s how I feel about this bunch of people; I can’t help but have a cheesy grin plastered on my face when I think of any of them.

Even Matt.**

The main thing that changed since being here is that it’s no longer a six month trip. I have gone from travelling to Whistler for one winter season, to this trip having no completion date. I have also come to the conclusion that this may not be a ‘trip’ as much as this is ‘life’.  This is the dream that I dreamt of living and I finally feel like I’m ready and willing to throw myself completely into living it.  To soaking up everything that life has to offer me, saying yes to all the opportunities that are thrown my way and exploring every inch of everything. Funds permitting of course!

So, now that the world is my oyster its time to be selfish and ‘do me’.  So that’s the plan, and you’re more than welcome to join me on my adventures of self-discovery. That sounds a bit cliche and tacky, but I’m going to use it anyway because it is so entirely true.  This blog is going to chronicle where I go, who I meet and probably most importantly, what I learn.  I imagine it will also be some kind of outlet for frustrations, over-spilling emotions and all sorts of thoughts and musings.  If that’s your kinda thing, stay tuned!

Until next time….


*The oh so lovely Tristan Cleary. Aussie. 30 years old. ex-lawyer turned ski instructor.
**Raging Heterosexual i.e Bradley Cooke. Typical Bogan Aussie. 29 years old, Ex-accountant turned snowboard instructor.
***Matthew Maich. Canadian Room-mate. 23 years old, Boyfriend to Lauren (a.k.a Loris) Maturity level of a 4year old but lovable all the same.

Paula Mullan-Whistler Blackcomb-Guest Relations Host- Start Date 29th October 2012-Lets Get it Started!

So, I have been sitting here with my hands hovering over the keyboard, wondering what in God's name to write. Where do I start? Ok, so, here we go…

-My name is Paula

-Im 23

 -I'm from Ireland (see the video below)

-I talk incessantly, usually pure nonsense

I look like this…..

-I will listen to pretty much any music, but have a serious guilty pleasure of country music J

-I love cheese

-and in 3 weeks' time I'm going to embark on the biggest adventure of my life to date!

I have always been a keen traveller, and for as long as I can remember I have watched travel programmes on TV and said the same thing every time, 'I'm going to do that.' So, that’s the plan, to go and do 'it'. I'm going to go and live the dream. My dream.

My list of dreams is almost endless, my 'Bucket List' currently has 97 things to do! About 7 have been crossed off in the last year or two. Among these were to visit the Sahara Desert, ride on a camel and learn to drive. The latter was the biggest task of all, it took five attempts at the test before I finally convinced the examiner to pass me!

This year I can cross out four in one swoop.

1-      Work a Ski Season

2-      Learn to Snowboard

3-      Visit Canada

4-      Work in a foreign country

While browsing the internet at lunch time at my boring 9-5, I came across The Holiday Working Club, one look at their website (http://www.theworkingholidayclub.com) told me everything I needed to know. There was only one question, where do I sign up?

I think I was one of the 1^st onto the UK waiting list, and my IEC (International Experience Canada) visa application was signed, sealed and delivered at the 1^st opportunity. Don’t get me wrong, there were aspects that scared the life out of me, (and to an extent still do!)

1-Going by myself, half-way across the world.

2-Leaving my family, friends and boyfriend of 6 years behind.

3-Suriving -30 temperatures, I know Ireland is cold, but to use a common Belfast phrase 'That is Baltic!'

I was soon reassured by Andy at The Working Holiday Club (thanks Andy) that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, that I would make lifelong friends and it would all be worth it. So that was it, my money was paid, I had signed the dotted line and I was going…

Looking back on it, the application process seems so long ago. It started in February and by August I had my job offer and flights booked. I had so much support from Andy along the way, even when things got a bit difficult and my visa application was rejected TWICE by the Canadian government, he kept me calm and his wealth of knowledge meant it was all sorted out pronto!

After my interview in Dublin with the representatives from Whistler Blackcomb Resort in British Colombia, Canada, I knew I had made the right decision. The people were so friendly and made me feel comfortable right away.

Initially I was interviewing for a retail position, but after realising that not only had I kissed the Blarney stone, I may as well have snogged the life out of itm they decided I was suited to a different role. Apparently with my talking skills I was 'wasted in retail' and was given the position of Guest Relations Host.

Now all that is left to do is wait until the 24^th October and then I'm off! Excitement has well and truly set in, my endless lists of 'things to do before Canada' have been reduced to 'Pack' and 'say goodbye'!

I think I have well and truly talked the ears off my family and friends about this trip and I'm sure they can't wait to see the back of me. At least now have a new outlet for my excitement on here!

I hope you can live my adventure on here with me J

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blarney_Stone