A tribute to staff housing

WARNING: NO PHOTOS THIS WEEK!

A background of my living arrangements for the last 6 months are as follows. I have been located in prime location for the winter, right on the hill and next to the gondy with it being ski in and ski out. It is safe to say that this has been my college experience as I didnt get to wave that flag in Sydney. Basically I can sum it up by living with all my friends, doors or buildings away and it has just been awesome. Not having to get into my little gem of a car travelling to see my nearest and dearest is an added bonus! Pre drinking has been made extremely easy at my humble abode and has made for some very very interesting stories! The little apartment of 403 has been fun and challenging at the same time. If you have been following my little blog diligently then you will have read about a lot of these moments and if not then shame on you ;) Bathroom and kitchen mayhem has been the most frustrating. For example, running home in complete agony with only one goal in mind of using the toilet only to find it is occupied by one of your lovely roomies = torture. Or when plates, pots n pans are left sitting unclean for days with no one claiming them as their own, makes for some angry individuals!

People will say what they will about living in staff and yes some love it and some hate it. I have found it to be the perfect place to start my adventure in Canada and wouldn't have had it any other way.

Con's
- Located on the hill
- When the gondy has closed it's a hassle especially getting groceries up or late at night
- $ on cab have been forked out over the season
- Our friends dont often leave to go out until after 10pm
- Crappy linen
- Run into people you may not necessary want to see again
- If on the 4th floor its not always fun getting skis up and down
- Paying for laundary
- No shops up here
- Paper thin walls


Pro's
- Located ON THE HILL!
- Living with all your pals
- Cheapest accom in all of whistler for the winter
- Call maintenance any time of day to fix absolutely anything
- Just go a knocking to borrow anything!
- Sneak peak of the hill when you wake up of all the beaut pow wow
- If you pick wisely then you get a decent room (Building 7, single if you can-> has ovens and vending machines)

So for all those wanting to jump aboard the ski bum train in Whistler, you will google about a billion things before you get here. When racking your brain about accommodation, seriously consider staff housing! Yes there are some things that might sound a little awful but it is very worth your while (at least for your 1st season). If you can secure a job with the mountain then sign up for staff even if you're unsure about it. I have loved every single minute of living up here and so so sad to say goodbye. If there are any followers out there who have a bunch of questions please ask away.

As for the rest of you, it is time that I say goodbye to my home for the last 6 months. As my last few nights approach I intend to spend most curled up in my bed, cleaning dirty dishes for the last time (my next place has a dishwasher) and arguing with Taylor about who knows what. Packing has also commenced, however for those who have visited recently they may say I have a long way to go. Some how I have collected a ridiculous amount of items and my bag that I packed my life into some time ago is looking very very small in comparison. I have been told that my packing methods are incorrect and many many tips have been expressed in the last couple of days (thanks ollie).

Anywho time to love you and leave you. This time next week I will be living it up in a double bed with an actual duvet and not some horrid blanket, a flat screen tv, dishwasher (yes I cannot get over that one) and some decent bathrooms! Oh and we are literally an arms throw to the village!

The End

Apologies in advance for the delay in blogging, I have been otherwise occupied for the most part of these 2 weeks! Before I go any further wssf has been on and it is the ultimate world ski and snowboard festival which is in full swing as of friday. Slope styles, big air, silent discos, cut chemist, sneaky sound system, goody give-aways,parties and beautiful sunshine is what is all about. It has been a pretty crazy couple of weeks.

This week has been our final week of working for WB and boy are we excited to be done! As much as I loved all the advantages of working there, I can safely say that I am not sad to be leaving the world of rentals. 5 months of repeating yourself to guests, having to listen to them moan about the boots hurting (duh! they are rentals), pulling ourselves to work after a big night, listening to crappy elevator music and being creeped on through cameras the list really does just go on. So tomorrow will be the final time I have to do any of that cool stuff.

It really has been an emotional rollercoaster. Last night we ended the season with an epic party called the end (original, I know) at the conference centre. Starting at 10 and finishing at 4am was a slight spin out on the old body which was very apparent the next day. Was a great night and loved spending it with my fairmont fam. Tonight we said goodbye to 3 incredible aussie boys who are off on their next adventure. Pizzas and waters marked a sad farewell but have every intention of crossing paths some day again.

So what's next? I can let the world know that I will not be homeless for the upcoming summer as myself and new roomies Kyla and Charlotte have found us a sweet pad. Right in the village, beds on floors, dishwashers and no more staff housing is going to be just luxury! Unfortunately I have yet to find myself a job. Dozens of resumes have been sent and a number of unsuccessful interviews later and still nothing! I am hopeful though otherwise I will be on a flight home sooner than anyone would like.

It has been an epic season and cannot believe tomorrow it will be 6 whole months away from home. I have had such amazing moments and met the most incredible people. To all my pals that are leaving the whis bubble, I love you all thanks for making my first time away from home incredible. And to the rest of you that cant pull yourselves away from this beautiful place, bring on summer time baby!

ticking the boxes

So with only 3 weeks to go of the season, I thought it is about that time to cram in everything I have wanted to do at the last minute! Not to my surprise most of my friends are exactly the same. Surprisingly, there is a bunch of things to do in Whistler and as I think about it I cannot believe how much I have not yet found the time to do.

Last week I finally made my way to fresh tracks with only days to go until it stopped for the season. Unlike when I first did it back with all my pals who I miss on a daily basis, this occasion was purely for the breakfast. Tom, Nora, Claire, Dave and myself pulled ourselves out of bed and then proceeded to wait for grumpy Tom, not getting down to the line until way past rise and shine time. We were so excited for the food more than the tracks and with no surprise packed our plates with breakfast goodness. Still stuffing our faces well and truly past the bell we thought it was probably time to actually do fresh tracks. Rewind to what fresh tracks actually is to all those beach bunnies..it's where you pay an extra $10 or $20 depends when you actually bother to purchase the tickets to get up the mountain early. The idea is that you get the freshest of tracks before anyone else ruins your runs, plus you get a decent all you can eat brekky buffet in the roundhouse. When I say early I am talking waking up 630 or earlier, depending on the day and if it has dumped with pow the night before. Multiple mornings we have seen an endless line of eager pow chasers just to get first lifts up. Anyway, the day was epic and we had a number of good runs before it got crazy tracked out. My lovely skiing friends thought it would be fun to take us over to the lower flute bowl. I of course refused to hike flute so I caved for the easier option. However, this option was not so easy for me. What I have learnt here is that my skis I excitedly purchased at the beg of the season (with no idea) were park skis, which have proven to be a difficult task on many many days. Turning in powder is serious business and making it down without my skis popping off is the most rewarding thing out! With Claire struggling to traverse across and me just being me we somehow made it down.. with some epic stacks made by all that day.

Cut our day short because we had to get ready to SKIDOO. That's right my friends, we went snowmobiling. Nora put us in the advanced beginners of course! On a gloomy day we made our way out of our whistler bubble to operate some heavy machinery. Nora and Liam were at the front of the wolf pack with Claire and I in slight struggle mode. Having a lot of fun.. we ran into a little trouble when poor Liam was thrown overboard by a raging not-turning in time snowmobiler! The 2 of them went for a tumble. After concussions, damaged snow mobils and some worried faces we made the ultimate sacrifice by ending the tour early. However, it was a lot of fun up until that point and we may even get another one out of all the fiasco!

I think thats it for ticking the boxes this week (maybe the season too ha!) I am still yet to bungee, spend some flash money for scandinave spa, visit meadow park, dog sled and probably a billion other things. However, I still haven't climbed the Harbour Bridge yet so no biggy!

That was a mouthful this week.. sorry if you got lost somewhere through that. At the moment its house and job hunting terrors which I will give you some light about, when there actually is some light.  Bye for now!

roomie love

Wouldn't of been able to get through the season without these 2 Aussie gems!

Steph
A lovely back story..we just clicked from the get go! This tiny gluten free chick has kept me sane these last few months. As soon as she passed me in the stairwell with a billion bags I knew she was the missing piece to 403. The first night she came out with us she was nowhere to be found and a whole 20 mins later there she was laying peacefully on the cubicle floor of dustys and then once again on the floor of our place. We have laughed, cried, bitched and been hungover together hours on end. She has also kept our place in tip top shape and hasn't been afraid of getting her hands dirty (especially keeping our bathroom from growing horrible unthinkable things). I love this one and couldn't have imagined my first time out of home without her.

Taylor
Where do I start with this guy? Met him all those months ago at the pre-dep party in syd and he has been my go to person ever since. Before he moved in he would come over everyday and use the luxury of our lounge and TV. Once he decided that he couldn't live without me he has been an absolute ball of laughs. Loves putting his 2c in and will let me know that I am wasting my life away if I don't get up the mountain that day. This one like to also point out that the apartment needs a Steph and jess clean and is not afraid in making that known. Lots of laughs and just a few arguments and leaving the bathroom door open (typical brotherly behaviour)

Memorable moments in 403

1. Taylor and I getting a warning for throwing our trash in another building
2. Hosting many parties and scoring heaps of empties and leftover grog
3. Pamper parties
4. Coming home to see Taylor glued to the tv watching another ep of teen mom
5. Seeing who can set off the smoke alarm the most
6. Finding 2 crisp steaks left on the stove the next morning due to a wild night out for Taylor
7. Gaining a new cardboard roomie
8. All having a good old moan about who stumbled in making noise from the night before
9. Finding mouldy goods in the fridge
10. Collecting recyclables only to throw them all in the garbage bin due to crappy separating procedures - thanks HOUSE!
11. Memorable movie nights
12. TV Show favs such as 1000 ways to die, Ridiculousness and Teen Mom
13. Boxes and boxes of tissues consumed
14. Crappy can opener
15. Crappy burners
16. Hearing a crash and some not so pretty words screeched from the bathroom knowing the shower curtain has fallen off once again
17. Overflowing toilet on multiple occasions
18. Daily vending machine trips
19. Yummy hangover breakfasts
20. The non-sleeping horrible mousy incident
21. Our rommie additions ains and grant!
22. Finding very very old items in the fridge
23. Incidents with overnight guests
24. Drunken raids with pals in tay's room
25. Not so pleasant bathroom activities
26. Dirty dirty dishes
27. OMG what is that on the cushion!?
28. Steph's interesting concoctions in the kitchen
29. Elephant pounding
30. Early morning rises

Have loved living with these lovelies and they have just made my stay here in whis so so memorable. They have been my family away from home and the best roomies for my first time out of home. We will miss you so much stephy! 

fairmont fam bam

It is fair to say that you make a tonne of friends here in Whistler with some that come and go, some you see almost every day and some not so much. Then there are the ones that you work with day in and day out at the perhaps not the best job in the world. However thats where they are! Working at our store has been such a fun experience and when I look back at an angry working holiday club for not putting me in guest services, I really am so glad. I often take things as if it doesn't happen quite the way you want then there is a reason for that. That is how I have seen these last 5 months so far. The fairmont family plus various blow in's have been the highlight of my time in Whistler by far. There are probably about 15 or so of us give or take and we ski, party, eat, work and do everything else together :)

There are many stories and laughs to be had which are best not to even mention in this posting. I will say that travelling for sure gives you a fresh start and the people you meet will be the best part of your experience. I cant even imagine leaving some of these guys and the thought that some are bidding us farewell very shortly is going to be heart wrenching. Lucky for me most of my buddies have decided to at least stay on for the summer which made my decision that much easier to stay on.

We all go out at least 2 times a week and usually wont head down to the bars until 11 but that is even a slight exaggeration. To get our crew moving it takes many heated discussions and some calm souls who think there is no rush  in the world. We very rarely go down early with the prelash usually at ours, claire's or liam's place at the best of times.

So I wouldn't have been able to get through this season without these special ones and heres just a snippet of what the fairmont fam is like

 That's all for now folks..oh and also must mention if it wasn't for the working holiday club not giving me the job I went for then I wouldn't know these beauties. So check them out

how to budget for a working holiday

I have been asked my multiple people how I really came to make this experience come to pass money wise so thought it was time to share. I will be honest straight up and say it was no walk in the park. From deciding that I was really doing this to actually getting here was like climbing mighty mountains with many sacrifices to be made.

With the decision made in late January and a bucket full of debt from my last adventure, it seemed incredibly daunting. My first goal was to pay the deposit for the working holiday club on my credit card and then get cracking on paying off my multiple $ off the plastic. Returning to full-time work was like putting a gun to my head but I knew it had to be done.

So yes that little horrible word 'work' was the key ingredient to getting me to where I am right now. I had a 5 day working week with multiple late nights and early mornings and would jump at any opportunity to work extra if need be. Working in hospitality takes it's toll and it means no play on weekends and a crazy whacky sleeping/eating pattern. So thats just what I did, I worked 40 hours or so per week for 10 long months. When I say long though, they really did fly when I look back now. I would have loved extra time to save more money but it just was not practical.

Sacrifices you say? My sacrifices included putting my hard earned money into a goal savings account which I did not touch until needed each week. I gave myself a $100 budget per week factoring in added expenses such as my car, flights, travel insurance, health insurance yada yada yada. This hurt big time! It meant saying no to a tonne of things. I resulted in bringing in my own meals to work, declining those nights out, living off my parents choice of groceries and just milking everything I possibly could from my beautiful friends and family.

It is super important to jump at that extra bit of cash too. Whether it be getting that goal savings account which earns you bonus interest, babysitting for all those cute cousins that you have on a saturday night, attending as many as you can paid research groups and finally our beloved ebay. Coming towards the last few months before I took off, I sold everything I could get my hands on. I went through old cds and "helped" mum sell those, old shoes, clothes, formal dresses, books, dvds you name it! I went crazy for ebay. After trial and error I got the hang of it and made almost an extra $1000 to add to my spending money.

I guess the big question is though,, how much do you really need to make it work? Yes it is important to remember that you do get paid to work over here but really its just pocket money. I have chosen the more expensive room (luxury pays) which pretty much is taken out of my pay every fortnight. This leaves me with the bare minimum to play with for 2 weeks. I found the first month I chewed into a heck of a lot of money. They say you can get away with coming over with $5000 minimum and that my friends you can! However, I worked that little bit harder throughout the year to come over comfortably without the worry about running short. There have been times where I am short for cash close to pay day but that's just me not being very cash savvy.

So there you have it, looks like I have a lot to say about that dirty word money. However I really dont. I just remember the anxiety I had before coming over as to if I would have enough. Not to forget though if you plan on travelling before or after then it is wise to factor that into your budget as well. It was achievable and anyone can do it if you want it bad enough! I often shake my head at people when they say "wow I could never do that" or "I cant afford something like that" because that just simply is not true. If you want it bad enough whether it is working overseas or travelling for a month or even 3 years, you can for sure make it happen!

4 months in..

4 months in and I cannot believe how fast time has flown! This has been the most incredible journey so far and I cant even think about going home yet. We have had 2 weeks of solid pow and some nice warm weather to back it up on these last few days. Working some crazy amount of hours (crazy for me) and I am stoked to have some days off.

In a couple of short months I will be out of a job, possibly homeless, friends will be on the decline and ready to start an entire new season again. Already starting to frantically search for jobs and a house to live in, I just cant get over how quickly this season has come to an end. I am lucky enough to have a good chunk of friends still staying on for the summer so that transition will not be as excruciating.

So for all of you back home that may be wondering what my next steps are, I will be staying in Canada for at least the summer season (yes another 6 months). Here I hope to soak um some well needed rays of sunlight as I am looking mighty pasty. I also attempt to live a chilled few months by a lake, drinking cold bevvies and living with some of my closest pals. The idea is to work a little harder and try my very best to save some dollars for my next adventure. I really have no plans after that, I dont plan to stay in Whistler forever. As much as I do love it, the case of bubble blues continues to rise. I am hoping to travel some of canada in the next couple of months if we get our act together and make it happen which would be a tonne of fun. So thats my short term plan..looks like I might make it at least a full year away from home (scary thought).

I love you all dearly and no pictures for you because I am lazy and still in bed contemplating getting up the mountain.

pow wow

Hands down one of the best weeks I have had here in Whis. We have finally got what we all came here for, some decent snow! To try and understand what whistler was like before it snowed imagine green tree tops, dodging rocks on every run, attempting to catch an edge when hitting an ice patch and seeing out of bounds ropes off simple blues. Over this last week we have seen a whopping 108cm with much more in the beautiful forecast! I have finally conquered skiing in fresh untouched powder and I was totally blown away. Falling over in powder although fun can be such a struggle when your skis have come off. I have been privileged enough to have been taken down some challenging spots by my trusty snowboarding friends who are always lovely enough to wait for this overly cautious one.

This sensational pow has put my whole body to work and now I understand what people mean when they talk about getting your ski legs ready! After each day I am in more pain than the last but it is so totally worth it when you get to float through the fresh stuff.  We are hoping for more dumping and all the crowds to leave after this weekend so we dont have to wait in 2 hour long lines!

I also realise that these photos are a poor attempt at demonstrating just what I get to live and play amongst every day and for that I do apologise. To be fair though who has time for photos when you get only a certain amount of hours each day to shred. I will do my best next time for all you photo lovers. 

If you want to get amongst this next season check these guys out, they have made my Whistler experience unforgettable! Please feel free to comment or ask any questions I am more than happy to make you all jealous about my home away from home. 

a week of sickness

sickness you can take in both contexts. This week has been a crazy one! Let me break it down for you all. After our big Australia day we thought a couple nights in would be totally reasonable. Work organised for us all to go ziptrekking and that was a tonne of fun. I faced my fear of heights and now I totally think I can brave the world by going bungee jumping! Just so you are all aware there was no way I was even considering doing such a thing before very recently. So that is now on my to do list so stay tuned.

petrified!

Oh and check out this vid of Julia and I

A very last minute decision to head out with the work gang weds night made for a very slow next day and a nasty cold arising yet again. 

After that it was all downhill from there with my nasty flu coming back yet again. Ains and I have both been sick for the last few days now which hasn't made for some great times. We did however manage to go for dinner to Mongolie grill which was the yummiest meal I have had in Whistler by far. Basically its a stirfry by filling up your bowl with any ingredients you like and they cook it in front of you- so amazing.

So there has been some rather fun and far from fun times this week but so glad I have a friend from home here for a couple of weeks, it is always nice to see a friendly face. Time to get back to my 2nd box of tissues in 2 days and my trusty friend netflix.

Whistralia day

Today marks the aftermath of Australia day in Whistler and boy was it a big one. Saturday night Ainsley arrived so we didn't get to go out to listen to the top 100 but it was for sure made up for the following day. Regretfully didn't make it up the mountain during the day but we got ains sorted with her tickets, rentals and some groceries.

Started drinking extremely early in my books and day drinking makes for some fun times indeed. At about 3 pals started rolling in with some sexy looking outfits to go along. After about 3 hours of preloading we headed down to longhorns to wait in a not so appealing cue. Such an odd experience cueing for an overly packed bar at 7pm. Was a super fun and long night- one of the better Australia days I have had. It still amazes me just how many Aussies flock to Whistler and even greater to see friends from other parts of the world celebrating with us.

   going to miss you brentos

roomie love

As much as I am loving being here, Australia Day for sure reminded me of some things that I truly miss. 

1. Sunshine

2. Our beautiful beaches

3. Meat pies

4. Cheese and bacon roles

5. BBQ

6. Aussie beer

7. Wearing my havianas absolutely everywhere

8.The bay run

9. Swimming 

10. Having somewhat of a tan

I hope you all lovely people celebrated Aussie day with a bang. Would love to hear what you all did wherever you are in the world :) Oh and if you wanna check out this article that made the front page on sydney morning herald then that speaks for itself about Australia day in Whistler

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/blogs/the-backpacker/australia-day-overseas-the-locals-shudder-20140128-31jnq.html

let it burn

so whilst sitting for days contemplating about what on earth to post this week (I swear blog time comes way too fast) I am staring out at my gorgeous view from my home away from home. What an awesome place to live and I sometimes need to remind myself of that, when I am having a rather unflattering day.

anyway on to more pressing topics of this week's events, I will start by mentioning the epic dump of fresh pow we had last weekend. Of course it had to come on a saturday and the lines to get in any of that action was enough for me to throw my hands up and wait until after the weekend. Yes I did get criticised to no end but who wants to wait in 40min lines to get up a chair lift with a billion layers, heavy skis and not-so-comfty ski boots?

So when I did finally get my lazy self up for a day of skiing, wow did I have a fantastic day. Went up with some of my buddies Claire, Liam, Matt, Matty and Mark over to Harmony and Symphony. I think some of us smashed close to 8 runs of harmony and not just the pretty groomed runs. I managed to get myself down the little whistler (part of the bowl at harmony) which was hard work but so much fun. Was such a beautifully clear day and we really did find some great snow. By that afternoon my entire body was burning and aching just in time for another kegger night with the fairmont gang.

I trekked it out again the following day on the best bluebird day I have seen yet! Oh and let me tell you, it was crazy warm up top with a whopping 6 degrees it seemed more like spring riding. Did a few runs and had some embarrassing trouble with my skis. Let's just say I had to hike it back up to put one of them back on and then throwing in the towel to a pair of very appreciative legs. That night followed with farewelling one of my first friends made in canadian town Brent who sadly has to venture back home early. Twas a messy night at garfs which followed with some horrible hangovers by some members of 403. 

Today also marks 1 week until ainseeee gets here..words cannot describe how excited I am!

It's been a super fun week and really loving every minute that I get to spend here. If you want to stop seeing all my posts and see it if for yourself then shoot The Working Holiday Club an email at jake@theworkingholidayclub.com