The Life of Ben (as of 25 August)

Hey!!

Time for a quick update of the life and times of Ben in Vancouver....

Well since last writing a few significant things have happened, I have a job and a place to live.

The place where I'm living at the moment was just a room sublet for August. It's a reasonably nice place to live (a bit dirty) but has a kitchen with dishwasher which is pretty nice, hot water, and is in a convenient location. One of the other guys living there is Hari, he's from India and just about to start his second year of university studying law. He is a funny bloke and I appreciate having him around. A really good bloke. The other room was vacant for half a month and then I noticed a new person in the house one morning wandering from the bathroom to my bedroom half asleep. I'm not real sure if there's just one girl or two girls living in the room, and haven't had anymore of a conversation than hello cos they are either really shy or don't speak english (spanish seems to be there preferred language). Another couple live upstairs and use the same kitchen and bathroom, and for a few days didn't realise they were their either, except for the weird creaky noises during the night. The best part about the room is that it has a landing on the side of the house with a nice 2 seater garden chair. I think every house should have a little landing, perfect for eating breakfast and reading in the evening.

The place that I'll be moving to is a basement suite, which I'll be sharing with a girl from church named Nellie (I'm always so tempted to call her smellie Nellie but somehow resist at the last moment). Accommodation around East Vancouver is in short supply, you usually need to grab at least a month in advance and stuff disappears quick. I rang about the suite and talked to a lady named Laurie and she was really nice, so nice that when I got off the phone I said to Charlene, 'That lady was really nice'. We went to check out the suite, and Laurie had a matching really nice husband named Perry that we got on well with. The suite is really roomy with a biggish kitchen, lounge and bathroom and decent sized bedrooms. Compared to another place we had checked out it is absolutely huge... though there are some low hanging portions of the ceiling which will probably bruise my noggin. Well the nice couple liked us lots and then with an amazing reference from Elias for me they are happy for us to move in down stairs.

Since last Wednesday I've been working with a company called QuestAir that develop gas purification systems for industry. The part I'm working with tests different things and designs and builds test equipment. I'm finding it pretty interesting so far. It's supposedly a 2 month contract, but I've since heard it mentioned as 3 months so I'm wondering if it will turn full time. I'm still keeping my ears open for full time work in the mean time. I thought it was going to interfere with going riding from Jasper to Banff in a couple of weeks, but my supervisor is pretty relaxed. He rides heaps and is happy for me to go and has spent a fair bit of time there himself in the past. So I can't wait. I've been riding to work each day... about half an hour each way which is a nice commute but I don't think I was eating enough to keep the fuel tank full cos I was getting wearier and wearier for a few days, and I think Wednesday night after catchin the skytrain home decided to try eating tonnes and tonnes and have felt great since.

Charlene has been away on the West Coast Trail this last week with 3 girls from church. It's rated as one of the best (most challenging) walks in BC, covering about 75km over 5 or 6 days, with sections of deep mud (up to your chest), rivers, slippery walkways, ladders, cable cars, etc. Apparently some people die on it occasionally so I'm hoping we get a phone call this afternoon or tomorrow to come pick them up from the ferry. They will have had an amazing adventure. It's always weird trying to imagine people hiking for days on end when you are doing something completely different, so I'm looking forward to photos. I got some books out from the library to get some idea of the terrain and it looks nice. The girls she's hiking with are all pretty nice too, so I'm sure some really strong friendships will have formed in the course of the last week which is good.

The Van battery story is well past but might get a mention soon. I pulled hair out so next time. Hope every one is well.

Update

Well I have been slack keeping this blog up to date, but I don't like just having writing, I wanted photos up, but no way to put them on at the library, but finally some photos. Charlene just got a computer so this is very handy.

The last few weeks we've been hiking, and it has been amazing. A lot like the mountains and views in NZ. About 3 weeks ago we climbed Joffrey Lakes, a reasonably easy walk of 5.5 km and I think 400 metres elevation gain, and then on the weekend we climbed the Golden Ears which was a bit more taxing but well and truly worth it. It was about 11 km and 1100m, or 12 km and 1500m to the peak. Amazingly nice. I love hiking and camping soooooooo much. So I hope you can enjoy the photos. I'm glad I took pics cos I found a lot of the amazingness had already been lost from my memory.

Today I got to use a jack hammer, working at a bloke from churches place to put perimeter draining in. It got a bit hot and Teak's wife and son were having there early afternooon nap so I thought I'd have a break too. I'll head back to start digging. Woohoo.

News wise.... the best news is myself and a girl named Charlene are dating/ going out/ what ever you want to call it. There's some photos of her among the camping ones. We have been hanging out lots and lots over the last few months and she is fantastic. We have a quite similar view on life, can talk easily for hours (unfortunately time disappears), she matches or surpasses my sneakiness, we have pulled some pranks, go riding often (a bit less the last few weeks cos both our bikes got stolen at different times), cook cakes, play piano (not for a while now, maybe tonight) and generally enjoy each others company lots and lots. She's just a great friend who I enjoy life beside. Esther (of Esther and Dave fame) went to university with her, and they said I should catch up with her because I was keen to do some hikes, and was keen to ride the Banff/Jasper route at some stage. I was also keen to find some sort of volunteer stuff to get involved in and Charlene was involved with a kids ministry called Urban Promise. Well there have been some hikes, and we are looking to ride Banff/ Jasper at the start of September. We found a good replacement bike for Charlene the other day and I have to keep looking.

I also just shifted house. I moved from North Van to a house in East Vancouver for one month (subletting). There's another girl I know from Urban promise who's looking for a place so hopefully we can find a house to rent together with another housemate or two. There's quite a good community based around the church here and it's nice to go shopping down the road and bump into people.

I relinquished my Australian license so I could get a BC learners permit, since after 90 days the Aust. one doesn't work for insurance. Unfortunately I have to wait till Sept 12 for my road test, though I need to look into if crossing the border to America will restart the 90 days. I keep forgetting to do that. I enjoy riding around though. I have the loan of an old clunker mountain bike at the moment that weighs a tonne.

I should tell the story of my car battery going flat while trying to move on the weekend, but should leave it to another time since I should be digging ditches.

Hi ho hi ho, its up to Joffrey Lake we go.

Our hike group. Yuko, Charlene, Corrie, Heidi, Ben.

Mountain Stream

Scrambling some rocks as we near Joffrey Lake

Getting ready for supper (possibly 9pm ish)

The camping area Joffrey Lake

Glacial stream into Joffrey Lake

Charlene at the end of the log.

Walking the plank at the Second Lake on the way up to Joffrey Lake. The water was freezing and I didn't want to fall in. My feet went numb, my legs jelly (the wobbly kind), and Charlene threatened to shake the log (but was nice enough to listen to my pleas even though I hadn't listened to hers earlier). Somehow I got back dry.

The team watering on the way up the Golden Ears. The water was freezing cold. I dipped my feet on the way back and the ached and went pure white with my veins sticking out big time. Yummy water though.

Only a few more minutes to the camping area. It was a big walk. 11km with about 1100m elevation gain. We had also run out of water so the sound of glacial water falls was pretty inviting.

Jean (say Frenchly), Ross and Yuko.

The camping area Golden Ears.

Climbing to the peak of the Golden Ears walk. The camp area was at 1100 metres elevation, and the peak at 1500m. It was a fantastic climb with a few scary steep bits. I was getting nervous about the climb down (usually scarier than going up) but we read Psalm 121 and a few others at the top and it wasn't scary coming down.

Charlene and I at the top of Golden Ears with amazing backdrop.

Looking out over Pitt Lake from the Golden Ears Camp area.