Kia ora everyone,

First of all: happy New Year. I hope you had a really special Christmas season and an amazing New Year’s celebration. May you have a prosperous year ahead.

Most of us had to work Christmas day and New Years Eve also, but Panorama were pretty good about sending us home nice and early to celebrate. Our group of flats celebrated Christmas in style with a large communal dinner and secret Santa. There was plenty of food and drink, and 24 full stomachs. (And I’ve grown partial to eggnog).

Lately we’ve been having temperatures that border on tropical (we had +1 deg the other day) and there hasn’t been any snowfall in the valley. The snow that covered the ground in Invermere for the past several weeks has disappeared. Things got a bit wet and slushy for a while, but most of the roads and pavements are now dry so the risk of slipping on black ice has been reduced significantly. I wouldn’t mind some more snow again, though.

As part of our remuneration package we get a season ski pass. When I arrived in Invermere, I had been umming and ahhing about whether I wanted to learn to ski or board. The choice got made for me. A couple of weeks later I won a decent board at one of the local pubs, so I’ve been hitting those bunny slopes hard – literally. And while I’ve been on my bottom there’s been plenty of time to watch the fearless little kids from the Adventure Club come whizzing past on their skis before their babysitters-cum-instructors herd them on to the Mile Quad chairlift. By day two most of them could qualify for the winter Olympics, I’m sure. B****s! Anyhow progress has been made! I can haul myself upright in under 10mins, and make my way down the hill using both edges of my board. Today I even learned how to turn.

Most of you probably know that I did a coffee making course before leaving for Canada. Those who worked with me know that I really supported (a) local business by purchasing and preparing coffee at Aladdin’s kebab shop in Tawa. My new financial sinkhole is Gerry’s Gelato. Gerry, the owner of the coffee shop, is just a couple of years older than me; he parties with all the Pano seasonal staff, and also happens to be the mayor of Invermere! Gerry is kind enough to let me buy and make my own coffee, and he has shown me how to make a leaf pattern while pouring milk into an espresso. It’s quite an art, and I have only had one or two successes so far. I’ll put some photos online.

My other spare time hobby is volunteering at the local library. Volunteering is usually about shelving but I tend to hijack the counter and serve customers. The librarians there have been very kind and have indulged my need to feel like a staff member. They let me collect the mail, do library interloans and other little jobs that are usually the domain of the paid employee. There has been talk of training me to help run the place as a relief librarian ( J ). There also might be money involved in the future...fingers and toes crossed folks.

Well that’s about it for this edition. Enjoy that wonderful summer weather!

Regards,

Sam.