A life well lived

Yesterday we farewelled our good friend Ruth, less than a year after she was diagnosed with cancer. She was kind, generous, courageous, cheerful and adventurous... someone who fit twice as much life into half as much time.


We will miss her very much.

Barbershop concert

Last Saturday night, a group of five of us went to a barbershop competition winners' concert! The "Show of Champions" was at the Abbotsford Arts Centre, about an hour from where we live.

Our attendance at the concert came about because Ben's cousin Connie's dad, Merle, was one of the singers. Ben hadn't seen Merle (his first cousin once removed) for about 8 years, and I hadn't met him at all, so it was great to see him - brief though it was. His group hadn't placed high enough to be in the winners' concert, but he was in the large group that sang the American and Canadian national anthems at the start of the concert, and then he sat in the audience with us, Connie, Myla and YunJu for the rest of the show.

The singing was of a very high standard - even better than I had expected. After the anthems, the show started with a few songs by the guest singers: the all-female Westcoast Harmony Chorus from Greater Vancouver. Here are two videos of them:

As we didn't know which songs were about to be sung, it was down to pure chance which ones we ended up videoing. We didn't get a video of the song I liked best by the WHC, but click here to see them performing it as a flash mob!

And here are some videos of the barbershop quartet that scored the highest during the competition. They didn't actually place in the competition, as they were from another area and had only competed in this region's contest because they'd missed their own and needed the points to progress to the next level of competition. However, the actual 1st place quartet had to pull out of the winners' concert at the last minute, so they offered their spot to these guys. Aren't they great?!

And here's the chorus that placed first overall: the Gentlemen of Fortune from Greater Vancouver. Apparently they usually win. However, they do have the 2+ million population of Greater Vancouver from which to draw their 50 singers... whereas Merle's group has 22 singers drawn from an island of 4000 residents!!

This is the finale, "Keep The Whole World Singing"...

Here we are with Connie and Merle...


And that was the Show of Champions! What did you think?

Etta's 1st birthday

Last Saturday, Ben went to a 1st birthday party for sweet little Etta, daughter of our friends Kelly and Janae. I missed the celebrations due to being busy doing the first half of my PADI Open Water scuba diving certification (second half to be completed in Mexico in a few weeks' time!).





Here are some photos of the birthday girl discovering the joys of birthday cake, which in her case took the form of her favourite muppet, Wembley...

(Above photo courtesy of Donna and Terry)

And here are some pics of our other little local friends, Claire and Aydin...





Looks like I missed a lot of fun. I think Etta should have a birthday every year!

Celtic Village

As part of the St Patrick's Day celebrations in Vancouver, a "Celtic Village" was set up on Granville St this weekend. It was two blocks long and only took us half an hour or so to explore, but it was a fun photo opportunity...










Free sample of Japanese green tea... it looked, smelt and tasted like powdered lawn clippings mixed with hot water!!

Icicles

Three weeks ago, Ben took these photos of the front of our car...




Today, March 20th (a beautifully clear, sunny, 11°C day), is the official first day of spring in Canada. Bring it on!!

Top 5 reasons for Aussies to visit us

1. A return flight from Brisbane to Seattle is currently showing on Expedia for $1341 (all fees and taxes included; flying with V Australia and Alaska Airlines; 18 hours including transfer). This is at least a hundred dollars cheaper than we ever remember seeing it. Even flying directly into Vancouver is only $1493. The sample dates I used were 1 June to 31 August (i.e. our summer), which are both Wednesdays (it's nearly always cheaper to fly midweek).

2. The currency exchange rate is very favourable for Australians right now. Especially for visiting the USA. Each Aussie dollar will buy almost one Canadian dollar, and just over one American dollar. This compares to one Aussie dollar buying about 75 American cents a few years ago.

3. Vancouver frequently ranks highly on lists of the world's best cities. This year, Vancouver was voted #1 for the third year running on the The Economist's list of the world's most livable cities, which takes into consideration the following five factors: stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. It's a pretty awesome place to visit, too!

4. Aussies under 31 years old can apply for a working holiday visa before they arrive, thus being able to stay longer and not worry about running out of money. A 2-year visa costs only $150, and it's not too difficult to find a job. With your charming accent and friendly Aussie humour, you'll be a hit!

5. We haven't got our summer planned out yet. There's still time for you to be a part of it!