In the name of Winter

For the past 4 years one of my boys has been talking about “doing a ski season” in Canada….. and after a few false starts and a couple of ski trips to Japan, both my sons are heading to Whistler for the winter, and because I have a severe case of fomo, I had this great idea, that my beautiful partner Steve and I should invite all our blended family for a White Christmas! So this weekend we fly out for a Whistler Christmas, in the name of Winter with my 2 daughters.

We have been very lucky to have so many friends who have given us advice on where to stay, what to do, make sure you book everything in advance to A) save on early bird prices for ski’s, accomodation, lift passes and car hire, and B) it’s so busy ! So we have booked restaurants ( that still had availability),  snow mobile tours, zip lining, tubing and an early breakfast on the top of the mountain, called Fresh Tracks, did I mention the cost? Yep hadn’t quite factored that in ….. oh well you only live once.

I have always wanted to have a white Christmas, and this is a dream come true, I can’t believe we are going and what’s so wonderful is I get to spend it with Steve, the kids, my cousin Craig, his wife Lisa and their 3 kids -Hunter, Fletcher and Darcy.

Craig and Lisa’s children are a lot younger than mine and one of the first questions Miss Darcy asked was ” what about the tree Mummy?”  Well don’t worry Darcy, I’m with you honey and I’ve already packed decorations and lights,  just so we can find a tree to decorate!

We are staying in an amazing house that Craig found on line, sleeps 12, has loads of bedrooms 4 bathrooms and is in Whistler Cay Heights, a 5 minute walk from the Whistler village, which will be great at night to walk to and from the village, however we will probably car shuttle to the lifts with kids and skis and boards etc in the mornings … even I don’t fancy a walk in chunky ski boots! We have the car booked for the week so we can also see the sights if we choose.

The lady who owns the house has given us instructions for the outdoor spa, wifi etc, and if we get snowed in, we are responsible for shovelling our own snow around the front door and need to move the cars so the snow grader can get in! Cant wait to see this.

Instagram is a great social media platform and everyday I seem to find more pics to get us excited. The Whistler Blackcomb website, very kindly told me via email this morning that the time has come for my upcoming trip to Whistler with lots of info including instructions on how to read the snow report like a pro!

Jared my 2nd son, left today for a 3 month tour, fingers crossed for no injuries, as I have been known to have to rescue this child once or twice including an unplanned trip to schoolies on the Gold Coast in Queensland when he finished year 12 a few years back.  He’s just about to turn 24 so that frontal lobe still has a way to go!  My other son Marcus who’s been the instigator of ‘all things Canada’ and his gorgeous girlfriend Kelsey are currently in New York (another fav) enjoying the the sights before joining us in Canada.

I pre packed last night and will probably do that 2 more times before we leave on Saturday night, and of course we aren’t just heading for the the snow, we also decided to stop in Vancouver for a few days and then Hawaii on the way home, so the suitcase is pretty full, with 2 holiday destinations over a 3 week period!  I asked Steve when he was going to pack ? He said ‘As we aren’t leaving till Saturday night, I think I’ll have a spare 15 minutes to pack before we go’  He really is no fun in the “this goes with that”  and ‘I can wear this twice dept” !

Needless to say Lana, Jess and I have been talking fashion on the slopes/dinner/Christmas- gordy sweaters and PJ’s for weeks, bought the latest Jackets and snow goggles from Balmoral Boards in Narrabeen, and borrowed other bits and pieces from family and friends.

While we are away, it’s also Jared’ s birthday  (23rd Dec) so I dare say I won’t see him till Christmas Day, when we plan to spend the day skiing – just because we can and have a family Christmas dinner on Christmas night at the Fairmont Hotel. we also have a few meals being brought to the house ( great idea Lisa) by Whistler Cooks- I love travelling wiht that gal!

Whilst the photos above aren’t my photos- Photo credit to Ryan Berry, a mate of Jared’s that is already there, I’m already dreaming about the Frozen lake the Bri and Kate have told me about, can’t wait to do the snow shoe medicine walk that Deb has mentioned and as for the lists of restaurants, bars etc …… stay tuned.

Now if booking.com could refund me the $10k they took from my credit card even though I cancelled the hotel 3 months ago when we booked the house, I’d be a happy camper.

Well Im off to collate all the pieces of paper for the rentals, lift tickets etc, so till we are thigh deep in 3 metres of snow… Mrs W x