We made it!

Am sleep deprived so that’s all you get for today.

Wan an. (good night)

DONE! All of the packing, the stress of choosing which of our worldly possessions (or favourite clothes at least) to bring on our journey, is over! I have to say it wasn’t easy, and if not for the help of my friends Kari, Lea and Dana, it would not have come together. Thanks to them and to Rudy and Dean for helping out with the more masculine side of things.

We had a great week in Vancouver, not one but two engagement parties were on our to-do list. We ran around and did a little shopping, it’s always dangerous going to MEC before a big trip. Got a parking ticket outside of MEC, boo; but narrowly escaped getting the truck towed, yay! Forgot about that 3pm lane opening thing on Broadway, silly tourists we are.

The two parties were a blast, the first one was for Cameron (Simon’s brother) and Johanna. Most of the Hunt clan showed up and had a great time. I would say the poultry, pimp, pirate game was the highlight; just like paper rock scissors except with hats and other props. The second party was for our newest brother in our ever expanding family, Mike, and his fiance, Becky. Some good fun and good food there as well.

The weather on the weekend was spectacular so we had BBQ picnics at Spanish banks both evenings. The tide was in so no fun in the mud flats but the girls loved playing in the sand.

Just a quick trip to Montreal; to visit Simon’s dear friend Julie and her family. It was a multi-lingual day as Julie and her partner Isra speak French, English and Spanish. Isra’s parent’s from Mexico just arrived this day, and Julie’s father from France joined us; we all had a lovely tri-lingual dinner celebration together. The girls enjoyed a day with 3 year old Gael and baby Mattias.

The next day we went for lunch to have some world-famous Montreal smoked meat on rye. And boy, was it good! Back on the train to Toronto…au revoir Quebec!

We have made it a a little piece of paradise.

We are now situated on remote Lac Simon (yes, really) where our friends, Jacques et Nadine, live. This cabin-turned house is really homey now that Jacques has fully fixed it up. It has been pretty cool and blustery while we’re here, so we content ourselves to relax in the cabin, do a little yard work and hike up the ‘mountains’ in this area.

We are actually in the foothills or the very edge of the Laurentians, whichever way you look at it. Jacques took us on a ride on his six-wheeler, which the girls thought was pretty fun. I thought the maze of maple sap collecting lines attached to the trees around here were quite interesting.

We are sad to go, as we enjoy the quiet surroundings and company of Jacques and Nadine so much. A la prochaine!

We took the VIA train to Ottawa, that is the way to go. Very comfy and great for little kids who don’t really want to sit still for long. We were met at the station by Simon’s buddy, Dean and his daughter, Shae. She is the same age as Emily and they became fast friends instantly. So much to do at their house, so many new toys! The girls were in heaven!

Simon brought his new film, The Burning Question, to show to the National office for Parks Canada. The event was well attended and we believe the film was enjoyed by all. After that we went to the Museum of Canadian Civilization in Gatineau, where there is an awesome kids area. Check it out here… It is set up like small scenarios from different countries; from a bedouin tent to a outdoor fruit market, from a tea or dressmaker’s shop to a sushi bistro where the kids pretend to serve you. Really cool for kids of many ages.

After a quick 24 hours stop-over in Vancouver, giving us enough time to switch from summer wear to unknown-weather spring clothes, we flew to my parent’s place in Toronto.

We celebrated Emily’s 5th birthday at her grandparents’ house with the requisite chocolate cake. Just a few days later was Easter, and the bunny managed to find the girls even when they were across the country. We visited the Metro Toronto Zoo, which is really quiet this time of year. The extra sections are not open though, like the camel rides, water park and petting zoo. Regardless, we enjoyed having the place almost all to ourselves.

The girls especially like the cheetah, tigers, elephants and gorillas. My fave has always been the polar bears, they were laying low and just chillin’ while we were there.

Another fun thing we did in Toronto was to visit the CN Tower. At 500+ metres, it’s a long way down! It was definitely a highlight of our trip. We had the world’s highest beer and the girls enjoyed the world’s highest fries. Ok, at least OUR world’s highest.

Hello from sunny Mexico!

The Hunt Adventures have continued south, to the shores of the Mayan Riviera near Tulum. We are situated in a gigantic resort; the Bahia Principe. It is aunt Bev’s 75th birthday this year and she decided a family trip would be a fun way to celebrate. Us Revy Hunts just decided to come along for the ride! There are 14 of us here, so lots of eyes to watch the girls. The food is good, pretty much anything one would want; and the drinks are always flowing! Our days are spent on the beach and at poolside and not much else.

We had already visited the Mayan ruins of Tulum, so decided not to this time. We also thought any place like Xel-ha (a great snorkelling destination) would be too difficult with little ones. The girls are having a blast and we are getting some much-needed relaxation.

We made it to Fort Smith on Sunday, with a warm welcome by some of our closest friends at the airport. It was nice to be back with familiar faces again. Much of our week was spent visiting friends and sharing a good meal or two with them. Simon brought his new film, The Burning Question, to the Parks Canada theatre for two showings, which were thoroughly enjoyed by all. Our timing was perfect for the Decadent Dessert night put on by the ski club; a night of all the desserts one can eat, with a silent auction as well. We came home with a special mug for making tea and an enviro-shopping bag from none other but our favourite MP, Dennis Bevington. I should have got him to sign it too!

Kevin and Rita offered to take us out with their dog team. Simon and myself each took turns on the dogsled, and the other followed in the snow machine. What I really loved about the experience is how quiet it is when the dogs are running; all you can hear is the sled runners gliding along the snow. At -25 we bundled up very warmly and about 2 hours was enough for us. Kevin even let me be the musher for a while beside the highway!

I was glad when he took over and I didn’t have to navigate through the gates to their place.

The girls also took their first snowmobile ride. Many thanks to them for their generosity that day!!

We journeyed up to the wilds of the Northwest Territories to show our girls their origins. Emily was born in Yellowknife, so we showed her around the city she first laid eyes on. She is also named after the Aurora, so we got to show her first-hand what that is all about.

I hope she’ll remember it better this time around. We stayed at a great B & B; the Blue Raven. The owners, Tessa and Mike Macintosh, are wonderful hosts and we would recommend this place to anyone. They have 2 great bedrooms that have lofts above for the kids. I wasn’t overly impressed by the lack of hardiness as my two year old refused to walk the 5km jaunt from Old Town to Downtown in the -30 temps, but a cab saved the day and brought us to our favourite northern culinary treat: Arctic Char Nigiri at Sushi North in Yellowknife. YUM!

Some time was spent hanging out with our friend, Franko, who just happened to be in town at the same time. We also made a visit to the Northern Cultural Museum, with highlights of the dress-up area for kids with an old trapper’s cabin and wall tent.

Welcome back to huntadventures.ca! It’s been quite a while since our last blog adventure; Australia in 2006 with myself, Simon and baby Emily. It’s been a very BUSY four years since!

It is now our focus to do some varied, interesting and most importantly FUN activities in the next while.

It’s always best to start close to home.

Eagle Pass Heli-Skiing made this dream come true, graciously offering us a day of heli-skiing for both Simon and myself.  Our good friend, Jordy Shepherd, was our guide in the morning, and we skied with one of the owners, Andy, in the afternoon. On a sunshiney winter day, after 60 or so centimetres of fresh powder in recent days; we found places where our grins were a mile-wide.

Simon tried out our new POV camera, lent to us by our sister, Sylvia. Got some great footage which Simon recently made into a video as a birthday present. Jordy also got some priceless photos including a stop-action crash by Simon, complete with a big smile as he was going down.

It was an amazing day, skiing with only two other skiers in the A-Star helicopter, definitely small groups are the way to go with heliskiing.  Thanks again to the owners and staff at Eagle Pass for making this day so special!

See the video Simon made from this day!