The soul of the forest...

Every day here in whistler is an adventure for me. Almost every day i explore and commune with nature. These enchanted forests have stood here for hundreds of thousands of years and they tell me secrets of stillness and peace. I sometimes just sit quietly for extended periods of time and simply watch a tree blowing in the wind which feels like a very sacred experience to me (as simple as it may sound). Sometimes marvel at the lakes calmness and then i wade in it with my pants rolled up and watch as my ripples radiate out on the waters surface. I take long rides through forest paths and go flower picking. I feel like I am getting to know the soul of this forest. She's like a dear friend who nurtures me and fills me up every time i see her. And I am her biggest admirer. In fact i am totally in awe of her beauty and her balance. I learn allot from her.

I was warned before i came to whistler that this place is like a black hole for a lot of Aussies. They come here and then fall so desperately in love with it that they never want to leave. I think i may be teetering on the edge of falling in the whistler black hole! I love the balance of insane adventures and overwhelming tranquility. Its a sure recipe for fulfillment and balance in life. Funly enough 3 other friends that we have here (2 from Australia, 1 from London) are all considering living here for good. One is going to apply for residency very soon.

Coming here was one of the best decisions i have ever made in my life!
Mums going to freak out when she see's this! he he he.

by melli xxoo

We moved to whistler, canada to live (for a year or so) just over two months ago and we are just absolutely loving being here! They call this place disneyland for adult because there is so much fun stuff to do here. Not only that but the scenery around here is just mind blowing. Towering snow capped mountains. Fields and hillsides exploding in wildflowers of every colour imaginable, thick lush pine forests, crystal clear lakes and breathtakingly powerful rivers and waterfalls. All of this beauty is either right out our window or within a ten minute walk! Whistler is literally sitting in the middle of huge areas of forest so there is also more wildlife than you can poke a stick at (which is not a very good idea becasue someof it bites!)
There are 4000 bears living in the whistler valley plus heaps of deer, moose, beavers, squirrels, chipmonks, marmotts and even cougars (and especially bad one forpoking astick at).

Activities here in summer and winter are unbelievable! theres - hiking, mountain biking, white water rafting, snowshoeing, skiing and snow boarding, tubing, cross country skiing, ice skating, rock climbing, abseiling, toboggoning, trapeze, atv-ing, horse riding, fruit picking, zip trek, four wheel drive tours and hummer tours, wildlife watching, canooing, sailing, camping, glacier walking, tree trecking, wake boarding and more and more and more!

Its paradise!

Since we have been here we have been on lots of awesome adventures. We have been white water rafting and bungee jumping (which was really scary! and fun) hiking and lots of mountain biking. lots of picnics by the lake and in fields of flowers. We have also done this thing called zip trek - picture long wire cable suspended over gorges with rushing rivers below (the longest cable is as long as 3 football fields) and your in a harness that gets clipped to the cable and you zip across it like a giant flying fox. its really fun!!!
We have seen bears, eagles, moose, beavers, deer, squirrels, marmotts and chipmonks.

We have both bought bikes and we go mountain biking almost every day! we have both taken a real shining to it. On top of the many trails that are scattered all through the forests around whistler, all the skii runs on whistler are turned into mountain biking trails in summer and they are graded just like ski runs as green (easy) blue (intermediate) and black runs (hard).

matty was going down the insane ones on his first day riding. he axed himself a bit but had fun. now he's macking it jumps and riding his bike off small cliffs and going down crazy steep stuff. Me i am just having fun and taking it a bit more easy. i have though, been riding my bike over see saws (they call em teeter totters) and down sets of stairs and doing lots of blue runs. lots of fun!
Yesterday we did a trail called train wreck. its hidden out in the forest and it actually has the remains of a huge train that slid off the track and crashed into the forest years ago. it was pretty awsome to explore it. the whistler locals have made it into a bit of a crazy bike park now. they have built jumps off the mangled train carriages and see saws on the roof.
the stuff people ride here is so insane!

We have a pretty nice place here. its 'ski in ski out' so in winter we will be able to ski right to our door. its 2 bedroom with a nice big fireplace and nice views of the mountains. we have 2 hot tubs (1 indoors and 1 outdoors) and a heated pool as part of our complex which we have made great use of. its not to far from the villiage (10 minute walk) but far enough away to be nice and peaceful.

i (melli) feel so free spirited and alive inside since i have been here. Every day there is a new trail to explore on the bike or on foot. every day there are hundreds of choices of fun things to do right at our doorstep. its great to be away from the big city back in sydney. i love playing in this big enchanted forest!

We are working hard as well amoungst all this fun. we are working pretty much a five day week on our internet business. its keeping us busy and there is lots of exiting things happening. its giving us such a great lifestyle for travelling as we can go where ever we want and just take our laptops with us.
After canada we will probably go travel through europe and south america as well. I am tingly with anticipation of all we will see on this incredible adventure!