Friends

Jeff and I almost got used to the cold again - okay it did warm up from the -3C to +7C when we got the Christmas mail from some of our Australian friends today. Those .....!

We did go for our first paddle today since we are back in Vancouver. Burnaby Lake is nearly ice free again after being frozen for almost 2 weeks. Because we hadn't been out in a sprint boat since Oct 18th Jeff and I decided to do K2 together rather than braving the still icy cold water in the even more tippy K1. It was great - if not for the 50min run before that. The snow capped mountains were lit up by sunshine while we had some clouds still hanging over the lake - sorry no picture. The lake was flat calm and nice although the ice which was still present on the edges past the 1500m mark made some eerie noises when we paddled by.

Back to the friends topic. Jeff, I and Jeff's parents will be visiting my family in Germany over the holidays. I am looking forward to seeing my family again even though it means a lot of translating for the 10 days we are there. Oh well. I did get Jeff a "Learn German Fast" tape from the library so he can listen to it on his drive into work. Unfortunately he runs into work most days and I am guessing his German won't be perfect by Christmas. I also have some university friends visiting us while we stay at my parents - they live all over Germany now and none of them close to my home town. I went to University near Frankfurt which is a 3-4hr drive south of where I grew up. That means drinking a LOT of beer. Last but not least I am going to meet an old school buddy of mine. She got me into horseback riding when I was young and I actually competed in it a bit. She now owns her own horses but I am hoping it'll be too cold for a ride. Talk about not having been in a boat since Oct 18th - I haven't been on a horse for many years.

Now back to OZ photo sorting - stay tuned. I am almost ready to post part 1 - NSW.