The Many Adventures of Sharon and Bill

Sacred Valley, Peru Nov. 2010

2010-11-24T17:42:00.000-08:00

We left early this morning by van for a private tour of the Sacred Valley, we travelled with a driver and the best guide ever Norma. The first place we went to was a Llama/ Alpacha Education Centre. I fed the Alpachas and named one Albey the Alpacha and now Bill wont let me bring him home...I think Kai would love him but Indy would never speak to me again! From there we drove through some of the most beautiful land I have ever seen. Lush greens, mixed with flowering cactus and towering mountains, all this brought us up to Pisco. Literially up and then we walked up somemore then down and then back up, then we turned around and went back to the beginning! The site is amazing and Norma passed on so much information about the Inca people and their culture. After that stimulating ( but exhausting) trek we loaded back into the van and headed to a small town called Urubanab where we ate a great buffet lunch and got to try some of the local specailities. I still have not and don't think I will try Guinee Pig! From there we headed for Ollanantaytambo, otherwise known as Tambo. Here we toured another Inca site and somehow became very popular with a school group from Lima here on their version of a Graduation trip, and spent at least twenty minutes posing with them for pictures. Very strange these kids. We're staying here in Tambo for tonight and tomorrow as we take the train first thing tomorrow to Machu Picchu. We have a very nice B and B that Bill, again found on the net...go Bill! and have met the most fabulous couple working there.

First Day In Peru Nov. 2010

2010-11-22T18:08:00.000-08:00

We flew into Lima, Peru very early this morning on Lan Airlines ( who I highly recommend) and spent 3 hours hanging out in their airport. It's nice but small and we didn't get to see much as the fog was pretty thick. Then we flew to Cusco, Peru, the fog disipated and the sun came out and I finally managed to sleep. Cusco is extrodinary. There is history and beauty everywhere...and altitude sickness that I'm hopeing will go away soon! We ventured out this afternoon to just kind of get a feel for the city. This is a town you could spend weeks exploring and never get bored of. Tomorrow we plan on some more exploring and maybe alittle shopping and then a guided city tour, followed by dinner at one of these great restaurants they have here. The we'll head out on a private tour to see the Sacred Valley and the the day after that Machu Picchu. EXCITED! Oh yah Bill wanted to book our hotel when we we arrrived in Cusco but at the last minute we booked alittle hotel from Hotels.ca and Oh My Goodness, Oh My Goodness it's a beautiful little hotel just off the main square with amazing rooms and an open court yard in the middle where you can sit and have a meal, or go inside to the bar where there's a fire burning to help keep the chill of the evening away while blogging over a glass of wine. What a way to spend your time....now if i could just get rid of the altitude sickness life would be bliss!

Vegas Nov. 2010

2010-11-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

Our trip to Vegas for our Dive Show was uneventful, except for the snow on our layover in Calgary, but since we didn't have to go out in it... no biggy! It was our first time staying at the New York, New York hotel and it was quite nice and I won big at the nickel slots there, came away a big winner of twenty dollars, so I cashed out and spent the cash at the dive show. Our buddy Ed from Nanaimo, Bill and I played hooky from the show one day and drove out to Rachel, Nevada. Rachel is home to "Area 51" didn't see any alien activity but the lady at the only reataurant was crazy in a fun kind of way. We went to see KA by Cirque de Soliel and it was amazing as always! We hit the buffets at Treasure Island and Bellagio, TI was good, Bellagio was insanely fabulous! There was so much food we all ate ourselves into oblivion and then went back for dessert! By the way, we heard about your mishap with the weather on Vancouver Island with the snow, and we're thinking of you and laughing ... with lots of love of course. A big "it was great to see you" to all the people we only get to see at the DEMA show miss you and thinking of you. Now off to South America!

Still in Haiti March 2010

2010-03-20T18:19:00.000-07:00

Today was our first full day in Port au Prince at the J/P HRO hospital. It's hot and beautiful here. The colours and vegetation are lovely but the destruction is devistating. The people are incredible such a strong people, the other day it rained and the tent city below the hospital flooded, and when it was over the Haitian people gathered together to sing. I'm learning and doing so many things that I would never have done back home. I washed my laundry in a bucket in the insane heat (not to crazy), I spoked with Sean Penn about where he wanted to send CMAT's X-ray machine (kinda cool!), I'm helping in the pharmacey (guess I should figure out what I'm doing) and I learned how to give Tetanuis Shots to actual PEOPLE! No medical back ground here!!!! Any takers back home....practise makes perfect!?! I've met some great people and have burnt myself again, but I wouldn't trade this experience for anything and would come here again in a heart beat.

My first days in Haiti March 2010

2010-03-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

It's hard to explain my first reactions to Haiti, especially in the small amount of Internet time I have right now. It's hot with high humidity and the mixture of mountains of rotting garbage and the smell of so many people without water is suffocating, but even with all that people survive. There is laughter and smiles, Leogane has after 2 months has opened a pub and an outdoor movie theatre. The theatre is across the street so we go to sleep at night hearing shoot'em up movies in french. The clinic in Leogane is closing so I went with Bill yesterday to deliver some Medical supplies to a lady named France she's a nurse and has opened a basic clinic in the local tent city. She's running a vaccination clinic right now and trying to get people to donate old eye glasses for people who lost them in the earthquake. She's amazing and doing such good work, and yet she arrived last night with a gift she made to thank us for being here and helping the people of Leogane. I also met the cutest little boy about 1 1/2 - 2yrs old he wanted badly to show off a coin he found and even trusted me to hold it. I then praised him for finding such a beautiful coin and he was so proud and full of smiles. This country is truly beautiful and hopefully I can send photos next time. All my love.

Grand Cayman Baby!!!

2009-02-21T16:57:00.000-08:00

So we have arrived...safely and with all our luggage. The trip was uneventful with the exception of the snow fall warning in Toronto (the plane took off just in time)! So the five of us (Bill, his Dad, Ryan, his son Hayden and myself) have been here for 3 and a half days now, the half day we arrived in Cayman around 5pm dropped our bags at the condo put on shorts and headed for Coconut Joe's and a traditional Mudslide (a very good local drink), then to bed early because we hadn't slept in a long time. The first full day took us to the grocery store and then the boys headed for the beach to finish some of the diving for their open water course and while they were under I snorkeled. Days 2 and 3 have found us up early and heading to the boat for our days of boat diving. There's been a good breeze and sunny sky's, water temp has been about 80 degrees and the fish have been friendly. We've seen so much, from angel fish to turtles, huge tarpon to sting rays. We've done 5 dives and Hayden has discovered a love of wreck diving. The trip has been great and we're all having a great time. We've all discovered some part of each of us is burnt, and we all feel a need to head for bed around 9 o'clock most nights. But we're all having a great time, and can't wait to see what we see tomorrow.

Our Tour of Jordan, Nov. 08

2008-11-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

Jordan was amazing! The trip started out a little rocky when we arrived in the country only to find out nobody in Amman (the capitol) knew where our hotel was and after 2 hours wondering the city with our backpacks on foot, we got stopped by the police who also tried to located the hotel through their dispatch. That failed! But 10 mins after they left us, they came racing back because they'd found the hotel. Bill and I climbed into the back of the police car (sitting on their bullet proof vests and shot gun) and they delivered us to the door of our hotel. Very exciting, very frustrating! The next morning we rented a car and headed South for Petra. We saw "Petra by Night" which is Petra after dark lit by 1500 candles, it was a lovely experience but nothing like seeing it the next day during daylight which is incredible. Petra is an entire city carved into the multi-coloured sandstone. The Bedouin people still live in the caves within Petra and make all kinds of things to sell to tourists. The next day we headed off to Wadi Rum, a nature reserve, the colours, textures and sheer size in this desert are awesome. From there we made our way up to Al Karak for a night and then a visit to the Crusader Castle there. An early morning visit to the castle followed by a scenic drive along the Dead Sea back up to Amman. We stayed at a great hotel and spa there, and I spoiled myself with a Dead Sea mud facial (no, Bill didn't get what the draw was either!). We went up North towards the Syrian boarder and saw the ruins of the Roman City Jerash. Their temples and theatres are so different from everything else we've seen so far on this trip. For our last day in Amman we decided to see the city itself, so we explored the Citadel, went to the museum there and saw the Dead Sea Scrolls. From there we wandered till we found the Roman Theatre and then went to the bazaar the locals shop at, where we spent a little money and savoured the smells from the spice shops, the colours of the fruit and veggie vendors and the noise of the people doing business. I was kind of sad to go. The mini shake down at the Cairo airport after our flight in from Jordan changed my mind. After our checked baggage was collected and we had to go through security again so we could deal with our transit papers, the very young security guy stopped our luggage and pulled out my zip lock bag of liquids (from checked not carried on luggage) and claimed it wasn't allowed but for a small fee he'd let it pass. At this point I'm trying not to slap him! Bill and I spent down to the last penny our Jordanian money, Bill packed the Egyptian money somewhere but couldn't remember where, and all I have to my name is $5 us. So I gritted my teeth and shook his hand handing over the last of our money. Once we got to the hotel we found the Egyptian money at the bottom of Bill's backpack, which was good. Other than that the trip home was rather uneventful. Bill and I are slowly re-adjusting back to our clock here but I still find I'm asleep by 8.30pm, which even for me is a little early! Bill and I have already decided we'll do this trip again in the next two years! I can't wait!

Luxor, Egypt

2008-11-18T02:09:00.000-08:00

We have just finished 3 days in Luxor, where we stayed at the brand new hotel, Hilton Luxor. The hotel was literally 4 days old when we arrived and we made up 7 of the 11 people staying there. Needless to say, we were more than pampered, we were completely spoiled! The hotel was beautiful and the guy by the pool even polished our sunglasses for us. We also went and saw the Temples of Karnak and Luxor, the Valley's of the Kings and Queens, the Luxor Museum, the Colossi of Memnon and the Temple of Hatshepsut. Everything we have seen and experienced has been incredible, beautiful and totally overwhhelming! Luxor was very different from Cairo, it's quieter, simpler and with the Nile running down the centre of town, it's prettier. It's a soothing contrast of the green that surrounds the great river to the heat of the desert that sits just out of the Niles reach. Luxor has so much to see and experience, we didn't get to half of it. We did how ever get to the markets, the one for the locals and the other one for the tourists. They were both loud and busseling. The locals market was all household products and fruit, veggies, meat and fish. While the tourist market is all stuff! Bill and I had a hair raising interaction with a guy trying to sell us some stuff, he would kick us out of his stall and then call us back, until we finally got our price!

Diving the Red Sea

2008-11-14T11:24:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Safaga to dive the Red Sea aboard the Emperor Superior. An incredable liveaboard boat with great food, fantastic crew and the worlds best diving. The ship is set up with 9 crew, 2 dive guides and carries 20 guests, fortunately for us there were only 9 of us guests in total. We got completely spoiled! Toby and Louisa, a couple from England, joined us for the trip and so we spent six days basking in the sun and eatting. We did tons of diving and saw so much! We dove with oceanic white tips, one of the top four most aggressive sharks, a hammerhead, moray eels, and an amazing amount of different types of fish. Only one small problem we all got sick! But we fought threw it and enjoyed every second above and below water. We really had a wonderful time and enjoyed every second we spent on board but now none of us can stand still, we're all still rocking gently in time to a rocking boat we're no longer on. On our last day we headed into a popular site used by single day dive tripers and snorkle tours to do our last dive. Unfortunately as we headed into the site and went to stop so we could moor up, we lost our transmission and couldn't reverse and ran into another boat! The skipper told us later not to worry about anything, his brother owned the other boat! There wasn't really any major damage which was good. Apart from that the most exciting stuff was underwater! We are now off for 3 days in Luxor.

Cairo, Egypt

2008-11-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

We have arrived ! After over 16 hours in planes and airports, we finally arrived at our destination. Cairo is loud, dirty and hot...but the pyramids are across the street! It is amazing here and so different, the people are friendly and the sites are overwhelming! We have been in Cairo for 3 days and have seen so much and learned so much about the history of Egypt, we had an amazing guide who traveled with us and happily shared all her knowledge and answered our never ending questions. We've seen the City of the Dead, the Pyramids, the Spinx, the Nile River, the Bazzar, the carpet makers, the papayrus makers, the list is never ending! The most insane thing in Cairo is ....the Drivers!! no signals, no street lights, no lanes, just lay on the horn and go, go, go!!! People cross the street whenever and wherever and then there are donkey carts and men on bikes with plywood balanced on there heads stacked high with freshly made pita! I have never seen children so excited to see us, they laugh and run up to ask us our names and have their picture taken with us and as we drive past buses filled with people they smile, laugh and wave. The only downside is there are alot of people expecting baceesh (Tips), it costs you an Egyptian Pound to go to the bathroom. If you don't pay you don't get toilet paper! Apart from that Bill and I are having a great time we are right now sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to Hurghada, to go diving in the Red Sea.

A Day on the Boat

2008-09-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

For Labour Day we loaded our friends Ryan, Janice and their son Hayden, the 2 dogs and ourselves into our boat for a day on the water. This was Kai's first boat trip, she was nervous at first, we had to almost drag her down the dock and wrestle her on to the boat but as soon as we got into open water she became a happy "Sea Dog"! We headed across to Lund, then up to Teakerne Arm to see the water fall and then up by Sonora Island to Whole in The Wall to play in the rapids and totally freaked the dogs out. The day was long but entertaining, Indy protected us from a hoard of barking seals, Kai decided she didn't needed help getting out of the boat and almost went overboard, and we found every restaurant in that area closes to early for a late lunch...we finally found really good burgers in Lund at about 4.30pm just before we decided to call it a day and head for home. It was a really Good Day!

Too cute!

2008-08-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry I had to post this! This is how Kai greets me when I get home everyday, how could you not feel loved!!!

Finally a post not about the dogs!

2008-08-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

At the end of July a group of us went up to the Pemberton Music Fest. and it was fabulous! There were thousands of people, lots of sun, a little rain and Tom Petty! It was more than worth while to go just to hear him live, cause lets face it I wasn't about to push my way through 40,000 people just to see the stage. All the music was good or at least interesting, the camping was nice except for the lack of water for showers and the complete lack of bathrooms in our area. Thank goodness for the Emergency Personal Pass that got us to an area with real flushing toilets! they were very posh!! The entire weekend was just fun, hanging out, eating truly good Kettle Corn, listening to music and as we drove out of Pemberton at 11 am Sunday morning giggled at the insane line up of traffic waiting to get to the festival for the last day. We finished off a good day by stopping in Whistler (I'd never been there before) for a quick look around and then stopping in Squamish for lunch at a really nice pub. We made the 7.30pm Ferry and was home in time to tuck the pups, have a very long show to get the layers of dirt off and get a good nights sleep. All in all an excellent time!

Summer Fun

2008-08-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

So around the middle of July we had Kai's sister Poppy and her family Darren and Max over for dinner and a play. All three dogs got along great! Kai and Poppy immediately took to play and Indy wandered around getting love from the people and acting as ref for the pups. Poppy had probably a good 10lbs. on Kai and used that extra weight to her advantage, but Kai is lean and fast. She out maneuvers Poppy and she still fits under vehicles when escape is required! The girls had a great time hanging out and the only casualty of the evening was poor Indy got her nose scratch when one of the little ones got a little over zealous about a large bone. (in the pic of the 2 puppies Poppy wears a black collar w/ green tag)

Also this summer Bill decided to build a green house. It's going to be beautiful when it's finished...it even has slate floors. The dogs have helped allot in the building process as well, Indy is foreman so she lays in the shade and watches intently while Kai is into excavation and everyday digs a new whole under the green houses foundation. We don't expect the green house to last long if Kai continues to contribute!!!! I went to start staining the green house the other day and Kai insisted on helping by attacking the can of stain....and if I can colour my hair purple she can stain hers orange!

A quick update on how the girls are adjusting and GROWING! Kai is a crazy 43lbs at 4 months old when we tossed her on a scale last week. Indy on the other hand has lost weight since Kai arrived, she's so much more active with the little monster around. Indy is so mobile and her knees and elbows hardly ever both her, we rarely see her limping now! We've had to up the food levels for both girls and Kai now eats almost as much as Indy. We now serve almost 5.5lbs. of meat and veg a day!!! I watch the girls playing together in the evenings, tag and keep away seem to be their favorite games. Indy no longer tolerates but has accepted and Kai still harasses everyone...she's a puppy what can you expect. Kai and I are starting puppy classes in a couple of weeks, it should be very exciting!

Canada Day!

2008-07-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach for dinner tonight. Indy loves the beach, and it was Kai's first time to the ocean. Indy chases sticks into the waves as long as the water doesn't go over her head, she will not swim. She is however getting better about jumping the waves as they come in, she usually races madly up the beach trying not to get wiped out by the approaching wave. Bill throws huge sticks into the water and you can actually see her thinking how do I get that stick without getting water up my nose?! Atone point Bill threw a stick that was a little on the large side so Indy brought him back a large piece of Seaweed instead. Kai decided as soon as we got down to the water that she didn't really want anything to do with it. She had no problem however with eating, seaweed, dead crabs and anything else she could find lying in the high tide line. She did get her feet wet once when she was to absorbed in the crab she was trying to consume to notice the wave coming in. It was a shock and she promptly moved higher up the beach. It was a great way to spend the evening!

Our Girls

2008-06-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

So Indy and Kai are finally on speaking terms...sort of. Indy has accepted that Kai isn't going to leave anytime soon and we're trying to keep Kai from using Indy as a chew toy. Kai is getting bigger everyday she's a healthy 25 lbs. now! Food is becoming an issue with the girls, Indy is jealous about the food that Kai gets and Kai is jealous of Indy's. So every meal is a battle! My favorite time with the girls is when we all head into the back yard after dinner for mega playtime. Indy bowls Kai over as she races all over the yard, Kai lays in the grass like a Tiger getting ready to attack when Indy isn't paying attention! When the two girls are sufficiently exhausted we all head inside and crash! But only after they get their treats.

Welcome Kai!

2008-06-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

On Friday May 30, 2008 I went to Vancouver and picked up the newest member of our family. We've named her Kai and she is a fluffy Bull mastiff. She is now 11 weeks old and loves to snuggle, to be cuddled and to chew Everything!! Kai is slowly growing on Indy when she isn't trying to use her as a chew toy. They are getting along better everyday! Bill and I can't imagine her not apart of our family, we just all fit so well together. A big thank you to Claudia who originally sent us Kai's photo, she started the ball rolling and next thing we knew Kai and her fluffy sister Poppy were on an airplane flying across the country to our homes. Poppy went to live with Darren, Lucy and Max here in the Valley, so she and Kai will be able to play often. Indy and Kai come with me to the Dive Shop so stop by and meet the new girl in store.