Stateside to Portlandia

This weekend 'Canada Day' was celebrated all around British Columbia...which means a long-weekend for all Canadians (hurrah!).

 

We celebrated Canada Day by heading to the States (there is some irony in that). We went to Portland, or Portlandia as it has been re-branded following the popular TV show (love that program).

 

Our adventure started on Friday evening when we boldly drove over the border having not booked a campsite. We've done this before, and undoubtedly we'll do it again: the campsite was closed when we arrived (it was almost midnight) so we found a quiet spot with a pretty view & slept in the back of our car. 

 

On Saturday morning, we had a sleepy ride down to Portland, and we stopped off at a wildlife sanctuary on route. We saw a snake, which was cool: we got eaten alive by mosquitoes & attacked by stinging nettles, not so cool. 

 

Portland was awesome & lived up to its reputation. Very hippy-ish & relaxed. The sun was shining & the cyclists that Portland is known for were out in droves. We joined them, jumped on our bikes & toured the city.

 

It was an excellent ride, other than me flying over my handle bars & landing on my face. It has been a while since I rode. I'd forgotten the strength of my front breaks.

 

We took the time to visit Powells, Portland's famous & huge bookshop. It was an awesome place, and somewhat overwhelming even for a bookworm like me. We also enjoyed coffee & watching the world go by.

We later spotted a cycling museum. It would have been rude not to visit. David was in his element:

 

The second half of our trip was spent in Cannon Beach, a stunning area with many surf spots. We stayed at two camp sites, one called Wrights for Camping, which was awesome (yes, that's the correct spelling).

 

The beaches were also stunning. My favourite was Short Sands beach, set in a cove surrounded by forest, that's a ten minute walk from the main road. I'd go as far as to say it's competing for my best beach spot ever. Here are some photos:

We also tried out Indian Beach in Ecola State Park. It was another great place, but for me, Short Sands won the day.

 

There are few places we'd go back for a second time. However Portland & Cannon Beach both make the list as destinations requiring a repeat visit.

 

An excellent start to our summer adventures. We even made it back to Vancouver in time to see the Canada Day fireworks in town, which was a treat.

 

CS/G

Back in the Mountains

It's our first weekend back in Vancouver & the hiking trips have kicked off.

Today we hiked Dog Mountain from the top of Mount Seymour. There was still a fair bit of snow around making it slippy - so for a short hike (5km), it was surprisingly challenging.

Good to get a view of Vancouver. Here are some pictures:

CS

Tales from our honeymoon

Our honeymoon was set in the surfing capital of Europe - Biarritz - which also happens to have spectacular food & wine & a relaxed atmosphere.

Our accommodation was gorgeous. A secluded & private cottage about 15 minutes outside the town centre:

A few honeymoon highlights for you:

- An eight course dinner at a Les Rosiers, a Michelin Star restaurant (thanks for the recommendation Tash)

- A four course dinner at Le Sin, while watching a thunderstorm out to sea (you see a theme? Eating was top of our list)

- Tasting several different wines & cheeses at our cottage. Four euros for a stunning bottle of red is too good to ignore

- Surfing at Cotes des Basques several times

- Attempting to surf at Erretegia. The waves were 6-8ft - I didn't last long, and was terrified for David's life (may be not a highlight for me; but David classes it as one of his highlights)

- Watching the very talented surfers tackle large waves in Capbreton

- Hiking in torrential rain (neither of us can sit still for long) - we didn't see a single other person during the three hour hike

- Sipping coffee in cafes & watching the world go by

- Watching thunderstorms from our patio

Here are some photos for your enjoyment:

CS

First day of married life

Our first day of married life was awesome. We hit the surf as soon as we woke (which admittedly was near 2pm).

Our wedding party joined us for a day at Woolacombe Beach, and many braved the sea:

The second half of the day was spent at a BBQ at our Woolhanger cottages - as an early celebration for me & my twin brother's 30th birthday:

We were spoilt with some early birthday presents as well, which is always a treat. Thanks Kim & Will!

A fun-filled day and an excellent start to married life.

CS (Soon to be CG...when our visa work is finalised)

Our wedding

Today was our wedding day; a life-changing and magical 24 hours. It was a spectacular occasion and worth every minute of planning over the last few months.

Our venue was The Woolhanger, a remote location on Exmoor, that was conveniently located near the surf. Here is a picture from the day; thankfully the sun shone for us:

I had a relaxing morning getting ready after being woken by Mum singing outside my window (thanks Mum!). It was a stunning morning and I got ready slowly alongside my three bridesmaids & Mum.

Meanwhile my fiance was delivered a surprise wedding gift from me: a surfboard he has wanted for years with the photo from our wedding printed on the bottom. This present has taken months of planning and it felt awesome to deliver it as a gift for David's pre-wedding surf. Check it out!

Yep - they surfed in suits! (Not their wedding suits I should add).

After a chilled morning, the moment came for me to travel to the venue. I was expecting to get a lift in my Uncle's car. Dad then told me that the vehicle had broken down...before suprising me with this! 

It was a very welcome surprise, and the horses (called Director & Dictator) were gorgeous. I was promptly whisked off to the wedding ceremony in the carriage. 

The ceremony was fantastic. Relaxed, happy and full of smiles. We had readings from Bob (David's Dad) and Steven (my twin), along with piano music from Kat (Steve's girlfriend).

Here are some pictures of the ceremony itself. David spotting me:

Me spotting David:

Us saying our vows:

Our confetti moment:

Post ceremony, we got a relaxing 15 minute horse and carriage ride around the grounds, and we took Matilda, our gorgeous flower girl, for the ride. Here is me and Dad posing by the carriage:

Professional photos then followed before a bit of downtime to catch up with our guests. While we didn't take many, here is a sneak peak of our wedding party photo:

This was us relaxing on the upper lawn, catching up with people:

And my lovely bridesmaids, having fun:

A three course wedding breakfast ensued, followed by the cake cutting and speeches. I have to say all three speeches were truly brilliant, and had me, along with our guests, in stitches. Here are more photos (pictures tell the story much better than I can in words). Our wedding cake:

The speeches: this is the moment when Dad presented David with a tie (you may have noticed he didn't wear one for the wedding):

Our guests reaction to the speeches:

After the meal came the party. And what a party! We had an awesome jazz band called Victoria Klewin and The True Tones. They aren't your usual wedding band: they play at jazz festivals and the lead singer is performing at this year's Glastonbury Festival. The band sung 'Dance Me To Heaven', one of their own songs, for our first dance:

Later in the evening, with booze flowing freely, the love of my life let his hair down and revealed his true dancing talents...and a frantic dance-off with his cousin Emma ensued (someone must have video footage of it?). The other wedding guests responded in kind by unleashing their own personal talents. Here are some of my favourite moments:

It's interesting to know that these two gentlemen didn't know each other before the wedding:

To end the night, the pair of us snuck off with a bottle of whisky in one hand and a surfboard in the other, to toast our perfect day:

Thank you to our wedding party & guests for making our day so magical. It will stay with us forever.

CS

The beautiful Lion's Bay

We decided to have a break from wedding planning, and go exploring.

Today's adventure was to Lion's Bay, a small community about 20 minutes outside of Downtown. It's a beautiful area to live and it has great hiking too.

We stopped for lunch near a waterfall:

David made a bench using the logs that had collected at the base of the falls:
 

We hiked up hill for about two hours. As you can see, despite it being May and the weather being glorious, the mountains are still largely covered in snow:

Here is a view along the way, looking out to sea:

On route back down we bumped into this little critter. He's harmless, but it's not often we see snakes in British Columbia!

A great hike in a great place. Lion's Bay, we'll be back!

CS