acclimatising :)

one of winter's saving graces here in calgary, the chinook wind, is breezing through at the moment, and yesterday it brought with it a balmy 5 degrees!! YEAH! perfect for our first go at cross-country skiing :). we went to canmore - an expanding mountain village about an hour from calgary and about 20 minutes from banff - with lalo and anna (lalo works with ger, and anna is his girlfriend). the drive into the rockies was stunning and i kept my eyes peeled for wild moose but didn't see any. canmore is a really pretty mountain village, but we were there for the mountains! the snow was nice n' powdery but deceptively hard at the same time. because of the beautiful day and strenuous exercise i worked up a bit of a sweat and took off my hoodie. now i'm suffering grazed forearms that really sting in the shower. next time the hoodie stays on!! the tracks grooved into the snow make down-hill skiing so much easier! you just slot your skiis in them and whoosh on down the hill! by the end of the day i could make it all the way down a hill without wiping out (which was an unexpected relief considering I wiped out as soon as i slotted my boot into my second ski). WOOHOO! we had such a fun time that we're both chomping at the bit to get back to the mountain. and it was so cheap too - $30 for both of us for 2 hours!

on saturday we went to the calgary farmers market. i was a little confused at ger's insistance that we go there. i mean, isn't it a little odd for a boy to desperately want to go to a food and crafts market?? but there awaited an incredible surprise! ger had heard of something legendary deep within the heart of the market and that no kiwi would want to miss.... PIES!!!!!!!! pies of all kinds, including good ol' beef!! we ate 5 between us and they were pretty damn yummy. still not EXACTLY the same as i'm used to - the trick is definately in the pastry i reckon - but definately pie-ish enough to get me through the winter! :) AND they deliver!! YEAH!

i better get going - have another apartment to see.

big hugs
d xx