It’s been ages since either of us have posted, I know.

Up until this point in our lives, we have both lived in Adelaide, South Australia. I’ve travelled around Australia for work, but only for up to a week at a time. Jess travelled to India back in 2001. Obviously both of us have since done some overseas travelling, however neither of us have ever lived in another place for a prolonged period of time, let alone properly relocated and found work.

Before leaving Australia for our honeymoon and then Europe some 5 months ago, our working holiday to Canada had already began. We applied for our visas through the Working Holiday Program, which was fairly straightforward. My application was quick and easy – Jess’ was complicated by the fact that she wanted to work with children. As it turns out she could have quite easily ignored the more expensive and complicated process of having health tests and examinations, but these are the things that you find out when you actually go through with the plan.

After being told by just about everyone that accommodation is hard to come by in Whistler, we booked ahead. We made the choice when we were in Switzerland. It has made the experience of living in Whistler somewhat easier, but I regret spending so much time on the computer while on the other side of the world.

Arriving in Toronto was once again quite straightforward. Being the well prepared people that we are, all of the required paperwork was printed and ready to be presented to the immigration offer who took care of our file. The experience was great – he knew Whistler quite well, gave us some advice and wished us all the best for our time in Canada.

The next day we flew into Vancouver, then caught a bus to Whistler. It was May the 1st, and we were in our new house, starting our new life. Since arriving, Jess has began nannying, and I am now a mountain bike guide for Whistler Blackcomb. The big things are out of the way, but the surprise to come of our relocation is all of the little things that we take for granted in everyday life.

After being in Europe, with little idea of where anything ever was, it is great to be settled in. To be able to walk to and from the shops with full confidence, knowing that we won’t get lost, or to know and be able to communicate with 100% clarity to your neighbours. We can catch the bus to and from the village without having to check 5 times to know that we are on the right one. It’s just a nice rest.

We have some sort of routine back. My work is quite sporadic, but we are able to have breakfast together, and usually finish the day with a walk down by the lake where we usually sit for an hour or so.

Riding the bike park is great. My riding improved quickly and then as the exhaustion set in it has declined considerably. Hopefully I can take a day or two off this week just to rest, and then I’ll be ready to go and have some fun again. Jess is doing great on her bike and is loving the park too.

Whistler is nothing of what I expected it to be. If we hadn’t visited Domat/Ems in Switzerland before visiting Whistler, I think we would be 100% in love with this place. Given the comparison though, this is just another amazing place in the world. A place that we are happy to live in, and are able to thoroughly enjoy, but also find some faults in too.

Anyway, it’s time for dinner, or “supper” as the locals tell us. Hopefully it won’t be so long between updates in the future.

While our budget for the trip was looking pretty good, we still opted for public transport to the airport. After spending the best part of three months having only ourselves to rely on, it was almost empowering to be able to figure out public transport systems in other countries, and not pay the ridiculous fees that some people do to catch a taxi or an “airport express” shuttle service. While we were waiting for the bus a taxi van pulled up at the stop and convinced three people to come with him for the low price of only 13 Euro each! I think it cost us around 2.20 Euro each to catch the bus to the airport. As it turned out the taxi stopped at almost every stop along the bus route, so it didn’t even turn out to be a faster option.

We boarded our AirTransat flight and received a fairly smooth trip across the North Atlantic Ocean to Toronto. By the time we landed, I well and truly had a headache. It was 3pm by the time we had our bags, and the day was dragging on already. We had gained 5 hours thanks to the change in timezones, which was a lot less than when originally travelling to Europe, but combined with the lack of sleep we were exhausted. That afternoon we drank as much water as we could to make sure weren’t dehydrated from the flight.

We briefly dropped into Toronto, catching the bus and then metro to the city centre. We just wanted to get some cash out, and do a little bit of shopping before starting our new life in Whistler in a few days time. After trying our Mastercard in about 4 different ATMs, we were a little bit nervous. We only had 20 Euro on us. As it turns out, things are a little different here – Mastercards don’t actually work in that many machines. Nevertheless, this scare, combined with the tiredness and the enormity of this city, we retreated back to the airport with our tails between our legs. We ditched the idea of shopping, and just grabbed a bite to eat. 5 tacos for $5!

When we returned to Toronto Pearson Airport we took a look around for what looked like the best place to sleep. We had planned in advance to sleep there since our flight the next day was at 7am. It just didn’t make sense to stay somewhere else only to have to wake up at 4am anyway.

Sleeping in an airport made for an interesting night. I woke up at one stage and there was an Asian man standing about half a metre away from my feet. We both woke probably once every hour or two, moved into another uncomfortable position on the row of chairs that we were on, and then tried again for more sleep. It wasn’t bad enough that I regret it, but it was enough to know that I never want to be homeless. For anyone considering sleeping in the Toronto Pearson Airport, Terminal 3 is the better airport for sleeping in.

The next day we were off to Vancouver thanks to a cheap flight with Air Canada. Taking a domestic flight within Canada turned out to be a much bigger deal than flying between countries in Europe. While going through airport security I was told that I had three knives in my bag. Not asked, told. It was obvious that the mindset is a little bit different over here. After 5 hours of flying we arrived at 9am in Vancouver. Once again we had jumped timezones and we saw and extra 3 hours in our day. By the time we had arrived in Vancouver I was pretty much wrecked. I made a point of drinking as much water as I could on the plane and I still had a headache. Originally we had planned to stay down in Vancouver in a hostel for a few days to get prepared and buy some supplies but by this stage we were exhausted. We wanted our own bed! After ringing our landlord to check if it was okay for us to arrive that day, we jumped on the next bus up to Whistler.

Arriving at our new home was like closure on the backpacking part of our trip. It was done. We could finally relax! We had a shower, cooked dinner and watched some TV. At 5pm we decided to just take an hour long nap. Jess even set her alarm. I woke up at 3:30am, confused. We both slept through the alarm, but kept sleeping until the morning. I think we had around 13 hours sleep – just what we needed.

So here we are, starting a new life. Over the past few weeks we have been doing a little bit of everything. Buying bikes, clothes, shoes, food, registering for all sorts of government numbers, setting up bank accounts, applying for jobs. ..And of course exploring the local area as best we can.

We dumped our things at Abigail’s Hostel, grabbed a free map and headed towards the Temple Bar district. We hadn’t done much reading on Dublin but what little literature we had looked over, Temple Bar had been mentioned. It was a 2 minute walk from the hostel to the area and since it was filled with pubs and restaurants we thought we would save it to the end of our evening’s tour.

Using the landmarked sites on the free map as our guide, we walked around the nearby streets to see whatever we could in the dwindling daylight. We passed some beautiful old churches and buildings, generally made out of stone. Dublin was a surprisingly quaint, clean and nice looking city but I couldn’t help feel its residents were the poorer, dumber, drunker cousins of big city Londoners. Perhaps it was all the crazy drunk homeless people we saw that gave me that impression, or maybe it was the guy that walked past us with blood seeping out the cut on his forehead. Regardless, the locals were a colourful bunch – although they surprisingly didn’t make me feel too unsafe.

As the sunlight diminished and our tummies rumbled we realised it was nearing 10pm so we headed back to the Temple Bar area for dinner. Day time travelling often means no real meals and today was no exception, so we were quite hungry and looking for a good feed. Luckily many of the pubs were offering 3 course menus at “early bird” prices and the pub we settled one came with some great food choices. Soup, bruschetta and delicious burgers filled us up, but then we were privledged to yummy icecream and Baileys flavoured cheesecake. Bellies full we headed back to the hostel, satisfied with the what we had seen in the little time we had in Dublin.

While our stay in Dublin was the shortest of our European trip, it was a great stopover and I really enjoyed my time there. As much as I’m sure there is more to do in the city, I think I would be more likely to return to Ireland to explore some of the Emerald Isle’s gorgeous countryside.

Our stay in London was postponed by a week thanks to Eyjafjallajokul the Icelandic volcano, which meant our original 9 day stay was transformed into a whirlwind 2 day stopover. Understandably I was quite disappointed about this as time with friends was now drastically reduced, but such is life and we just had to make the most out of the little time we had.

We arrived at London Stansted airport late Monday evening. Note to travellers; airports don’t seem to operate customs during the evening so if you want to bring in half a kilo of Swiss honey rather than eat it every day for 2 weeks at your previous destination, you best travel at night. We walked through the non-EU gate, only to see it lead to the same place with no staff as the other gates, and made our way to the bus terminal. Kindly our friend Greg had volunteered to pick us up from Liverpool Street Station in the early hours of the morning and after a catch up with him we called it a night.

The next day we saw all the sights of London with Greg. It was an interesting city and one we will definitely have to revisit to explore further. The city put on some beautiful weather for our short stay, which was wonderful as it only made the gardens and parks we walked through look that much more amazing. We had some traditional English food for lunch (meat, potatoes and peas), shared some drinks and saw all the cliché British icons; black cabs, red double decker buses and the queen’s guards.

That afternoon Jase and I went our separate ways as we had different evening plans. Jase stayed in London with Greg, experiencing more of the London city culture, while I caught the train to spend the night with my friend Jess and her boyfriend Glenn at her place in Wadhurst. I had to laugh as I got on the train and looked at my fellow passengers. Prior to boarding Jason, being the good husband that he is, told me to hold on to my bag and stay safe. Somehow I don’t think the white, 50-somethings in their suits that would be worth more than everything I was carrying and wearing were going to mug me!

My arrival at Wadhurst brought on a wave of emotions. I was so happy to see Jess as for a while I didn’t think we would get to see each other at all. That evening we spent catching up over another traditional English meal at the pub and I was introduced to her lovely boyfriend and toured around her beautiful little cottage house.

The next morning Jase caught the train up from London and Jess took the two of us to an old English castle, very typical of the historic sites around her area of England. It was really enjoyable to wander the beautiful gardens while chatting to Jess. The scenery was just like you would imagine, something from a water colour painting with willow trees, lakes and greenery for as far as the eye can see.

The afternoon was spent with Jess and Nicholas, the little boy whom she cares for as a nanny. Nicholas was really cute and it was fun to hang out at the playground with them and another mum and son, just chatting away in the sunshine as the kids played on the awesome pirate themed playground. After a nice dinner at Jess’ we said our goodbyes and headed back to the train station to go back to Greg’s.

The next morning we were up early to catch the underground so we could get to the train station that would be the starting point for our trip to Dublin. While our stay in London was only very short we were lucky to see both the busy city and gorgeous countryside during our visit. Thanks to both of our wonderful friends for being such fabulous hosts and guides… we hope to see you either in the UK or Australia again soon.

Last time we visited, everyone knew we were coming. Many of them were able to take time off of work and as a result we were always in the company of someone – being taken on day trips to see the greater Friuli. This time, we were often on our own, much to their concern.

While our visit was a great rest, we made a point of being a bit more independant and heading out more on our own. Between having a kick of the soccer ball at the local grounds, handball and table tennis games, riding along the river down Passeggiata delle Rogge, and walking down to Rizollo and through the nearby crops, Jess and I really got to know the village and nearby villages in a lot more detail than we did on the first visit. It was a great time to catch up again – not having to think too much about our upcoming travels.

With that said we were still treated to many special occasions and the time with family was great – the goodbyes were just as tough as last time. It was just a completely different visit to the last.

Jess and I both feel as though we will be back before long. Not too sure when, but I’m sure whenever it is we will be welcome.

For those of you wondering where we are, we’re still in Udine, Italy.

We had a flight booked for April 20th that was cancelled due to the volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajokull, the currently active volcano in Iceland.

After reading news stories and social media websites we decided that our best option was to stay put here in Udine, and wait for the next available flight – on the 26th of April. It’s not ideal but we have read stories of people who have spent loads of money and experienced some very uncomfortable situations just to get to their destination. Since the average time to get from Rome to Paris was sounding like 3 days worth of frustrating and expensive travel, we decided to wait the 6 days for our next flight.

What does this mean for us? Well, we get more time to spend with family in Italy, but less time with friends in the UK. It was a tough call because I know how excited Jess has been to see people in the UK but unfortunately it is out of our control. Chances are it would have taken us 5 or so days to make it to London from Udine anyway, and it wouldn’t have been without some uncomfortable and frustrating times.

Planes seem to be flying today, and with any luck things should be relatively normal by the 26th. If the volcano starts spewing ash again and our flight is cancelled, we will consider heading towards Spain to escape Europe and get to Canada late April/early May as we intended.

Anyway, enough time on the computer. We are safe and happy, so no need to worry about us!

Our 5:45am train trip wasn’t the greatest of starts to the day but it was a cheap ride out of a country that has generally very expensive train travel so we were happy to deal with the lack of sleep. The early start also allowed us to spend nearly a full day sightseeing, sleep the night and then make another early (but not so early) start the next day to catch the train to Udine.

We had heard mixed things about Milan so we didn’t know what to expect. We were apprehensive upon our arrival but pleasantly surprised by the grand central station that greeted us. Since we aren’t keen shoppers there were not many items on our ‘things to do in Milan’ list. After catching the metro to our accommodation to drop off our bags we headed out to see the Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and the Castello Sforzesco. It was for the best that we didn’t want to see a lot as Jase’s heel became really sore. After a sit down in the park we headed back to our hostel and called it a day.

We headed out for dinner and awesome gelati but the real adventure of the night didn’t begin until our apparently successful business man of a roommate returned to the hostel drunk. Thankfully I slept through this first part but Jase informs me that the man came in at about 11pm and then proceeded to drink, take tablets, listen to the same song repeatedly and cry – yes, cry. You can imagine Jase’s concern that this guy was going to kill himself, or worse, kill us then himself, so he went to tell the owners. They weren’t too interested in the matter and assured Jase that the man was a happy and successful banker who practically runs the banks. Like any hotshot banker spends his business trips sharing a room with backpackers in a one star hostel! Jase returned to the room, got his earplugs and saw a brief glimpse of sleep long after the drunk did.

Then it was my turn. One in the morning rolled around and I was awoken by the sound of choking and moaning. I think with our time in hostels we’ve become fairly tolerant of snoring, but this guy took snoring to a whole other level. For around an hour I lay in bed with the pillow over my head, wishing to go and smother it over the man’s face. Thankfully the earplugs were working for Jase, and I eventually got back to sleep. And in case you were wondering, Jase contemplated waking me up to give me earplugs too but thought it better to let me sleep… he is always looking out for me.

When it eventually came the time for us to get up we were pretty tired, but the image of my beautiful cousin Serena waiting at the train station kept us going.

The Lonely Planet guide says that you either love or hate Milan but I disagree. Sure, we hated our night’s sleep however perhaps because we didn’t fully explore all that Milan has to offer I’ve left the city feeling fairly indifferent to it all.

After an absolutely breathtaking train ride through the alps we arrived in Geneva and made our way to our accommodation. Geneva Youth Hostel was not at all what we expected but clean and comfortable nonetheless… other than the disgustingly smelly roommate we had. The hostel also put on a reasonable breakfast that helped us get started each morning which was a bonus.

Over the next two days (we had been told two days would be plenty for Geneva) we divided our time between long walks in the parks and making use of our free public transport card, provided by the hostel, to catch the ferry across Lake Geneva. Sure Geneva had an old town, some monuments and the giant flower clock (all of which we saw) but it was the hanging out in the parks, soaking up the sunshine and watching the locals appreciate the fabulous weather in the great outdoors that we enjoyed most.

On our second full day in the city we made an earlyish start since the plan was to see all the major attractions. After an hour and a half of walking we had seen all that we wanted to see. Thankfully the last stop on our tourist map brought us to a big park that was a bit protected from the cold winds blowing across Lake Geneva. We played an hour long game on the giant chess board that resulted in a tie, which I was happy with since it was the first game of chess I have ever played. We then spent a good 2 hours jumperless, shoeless and sockless sitting in the sun and watching people enjoy their Sunday. It was wonderful!

Our stop in Geneva wasn’t a lengthy one but it was certainly an enjoyable one. While we wouldn’t go back, since there really isn’t all that much to see or do, we are glad we made the trip.

Want to take the Glacier Express across Switzerland? So did we, it was just that the price tag was a little too high for us. Luckily our Swiss hosts told us about a 24 hour railpass for CHF38 each. We could have used these passes on the Glacier Express itself but we would have had to pay 13CHF each for seat reservation, so we ended up jumping on a normal train.

It actually paid off for us – every Glacier Express carriage we saw was packed with retirees, and we realised as we began to take photos that the Glacier Express’ windows are actually a limitation more than anything else. We were alone most of the time in the normal carriage, able to move from one side to the other, and when there was a good photo opportunity we were able to open the windows and take a clear shot!

If you ever come to Switzerland, this is a train journey not to miss.

We arrived by train into Chur via Zurich. The ride into Chur was very exciting for us. Firstly the lakes amazed us, followed shortly by the mountains. As the time to our arrival became closer, we seemed to climb higher and higher into the mountains and before we knew it we had arrived in the charming little town.

Meeting us at the train platform was Roberto, whom Jess spotted from the train. Jess was 8 when she last saw Roberto in person, but she was sure it was him. Jess was re-acquainted with Roberto, and I was introduced to another member of my new family. We were driven back to Roberto and Rachel’s house, which is in a small village called Domat/Ems. I was introduced to Rachel and the both of us met their two beautiful girls, Sara and Dania. Lunch was waiting for us, and I looked out of their living room window for the first time. From this point on, looking out of their windows towards the mountains became a regular occurrence for me.

When Roberto and Rachel visited Australia it was Easter, so it was only fitting that we spent Easter with them too. Our original intentions were to stay the long weekend until Easter Monday and then leave, however we ended up staying until the following Friday, not only because we loved the area, but the people too.

We spent Good Friday at Tschappina, a ski field that their family frequents. In typical Switzerland style, we were both amazed. We were pulled up via a T-bar lift similar to that at Hammarbybacken, but this one just seemed to go forever. It saw us snowboarding down the slopes for a good 20 minutes before having to take the lift back up. The powder was deep and both Jess and I had a really great day. On the way home we were introduced to Roberto’s parents, sister and the younger generations too.

Saturday we were treated to yet another amazing day. Jess and I took the train with Roberto and Rachel from Chur to Arosa. It was a very scenic ride that gave us an even better idea of what Graubünden encompasses. Arosa is a popular place for skiers and snowboarders, but it is so much more than a ski field. We took the scenic walk up the mountain, taking in the views and the environment. Afterwards we caught the cable car to the Weisshorn summit, some 2657m above sea level. This was an experience in itself as neither Jess nor I had been in a cable car this large (able to carry 100 people!), however the view at the top was incredible.

Easter Sunday was really fun for us. While we weren’t with the family that we usually see on this day, we certainly weren’t without family. We started the day watching the girls run around the backyard looking for eggs, and then began our festive feast at the dinner table with the worlds’ greatest view by our side. I was in heaven! Later in the day we walked to Roberto’s sisters’ house again to catch up with the whole family one last time, and then to Roberto’s parents’ place to look at some photos and talk about our family back home.

We finished off Easter with a visit to the thermal bath at Bad Ragaz on Easter Monday. It was cold outside, but with the sun shining and the warm water, it was a really relaxing day. It was another one of many opportunities we had to get to know the family.

Roberto and Rachel treated us to a great time and we both really appreciate it. I could write all day about everything else that we did but I’m guessing most people have already skipped the text to look for the photos.

Honestly though, I loved staying in Domat/Ems for the week. As I have mentioned a few times before, Jess and I are finding more and more that we aren’t really the city type, so it has been great to spend some time in a quieter place. Not only is the environment amazing, the people seem to be in tune with the life that I want to lead. Riding your bike to the shops is perfectly normal here, along with spending your days outdoors, regardless of the weather. Mountain biking trails are probably a maximum of 5 minutes ride from anywhere in Domat/Ems, and there are more than enough ski fields nearby.

The kids here walk to school, unless they live further away and then they can ride a bike; in fact you aren’t allowed to drive them to or from school at all. This is perfectly normal to the residents, not “insane” like it would be at home in Australia. The people are smart too – most of them would know at least four languages. I can’t think of another way to describe this region other than “healthy”. It just made me so happy to walk out on the street and see the kids all playing, many of them riding their unicycles.

We leave with a lot of really great memories – ones that I would like to think that we won’t forget any time soon. We have not only been able to get to know family, I feel as though we’ve made some great friends. From the day we arrived, Jess and I were amazed by how alike we are as people to Roberto and Rachel.

Our return to Graubünden will be sooner rather than later, I’m sure. In the meantime however – ciao, tschüss, a revair and goodbye!