A Little Christmas Gift

A productive Christmas Day so far - the first part of my NZ photocollection is up. Eric took charge of the camera for this trip so I can't claim credit for ALL the shots but we got some nice ones. More will come but we hope you enjoy part one!

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Christmas and Kangaroos

Merry Christmas everyone!
As I sit here, at 9:45am on Christmas morning, I find myself thinking of all our loved ones all over the place. Just wanted send all sorts of Hugs and Kisses to all of you in Canada (West and East coast), England, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, France, Germany, Korea, South Africa and the States. Wherever you are this Christmas I hope that you are surrounded by family and loved ones just like we are.
Christmas in Australia is a different speed altogether. It's already 30 degrees Celsius this morning so the atmosphere is slow and relaxed. I can't say it feels very Christmassy but it's nice to feel so un-rushed. Last night we celebrated Christmas Eve with a sunset swim in the Indian Ocean. Despite the fact that Eric got lashed with a few Jellyfish stings (ouch!) it was a lovely experience and was capped off with an annual viewing of Love Actually (which is a movie that you can't help but smile at).
Later today we'll be sitting down to a Canadian Turkey dinner with all the trimmings but I have a feeling there will be an afternoon visit to the beach to join every other person in the Perth area.
Love to all of you,
Tracy (& Eric)

Time to catch up!

Well here we are!  After three weeks of touring around New Zealand we are finally settling with Eric's family in Fremantle, WA.  It's nice to sit still after being on the move but the time we had in New Zealand was incredible. While away we kept track of out trip in our diaries and over the next few days we'll start to share some of our adventures.  We took over 2000 photos so that will take a bit of time to get through but we should be able to share a few with you soon.

Here is a little teaser; it's our very first view of New Zealand from the air.

In the Air!!

My how far air travel has come!  As I sit here, in seat 17B on Alaskan Airlines flight 703 to Los Angeles, I am checking facebook, booking our Australian Visas and updating my blog  all courtesy of Alaskan's WiFi service.  So much for trying to 'unplug'!
So the journey has officially begun.  In just 20 minutes we will land in LA for our 2 hour layover and then we'll be enroute to Auckland, NZ.  Hello aventure!

Let the Countdown Begin!

Well so far I've been pretty crap at keeping this blog up to date but we've spent the past couple of months planning for our big trip.  "What big trip?", you may find yourself asking.  Well let me tell you!
Eric and I are heading south for the winter.  Not yet snowbirds but yearning already for retirement we have found ourselves in the perfect position of being unable to find a reason why we shouldn't just take off for the winter.  No kids, no mortgage - the time is now!
In just 39 days we will hop on a plane headed to LA. Shortly upon arriving in California we will depart once more and twelve short hours later we will land in Auckland, New Zealand.  I can't explain how excited I am!
The plan is simple - rent a car and spend three weeks driving, hiking and camping wherever the Kiwi breeze blows us!  Sounds great doesn't it?  Well, hang on to your hats cause I said we were gone for the winter didn't I?  After NZ, we're bound for Perth where we'll be setting up our home away from home until the snow starts to melt from our beloved Whistler mountains.
We are incredibly fortunate to have been offered long term lodging in the home of Eric's step-dad, Michael.  Eric's sister, Julia, lives there too so it'll be a good old family reunion!  Michael lives in Fremantle which is a suburb of Perth and apparently we'll be just five minutes from the beach.
That's pretty much where the plan ends!  We've booked return tickets for April 15th and what happens between NZ and April will depend upon money, luck, weather and more luck!  We're hoping to get a car and road trip through Western Australia and there may well be a side trip to Indonesia.
So there you have it...that's the next adventure planned.  The whole point of this blog, really, was to share our whereabouts and goings on with friends and family so I intend to update this as often as possible while we are travelling.
Can't wait to get the adventure started.

Chilcotin Biking & Dan's 40th - August 2010

So the first official adventure of Trick Wallet since the start of this new blog took place this past weekend when we headed out to Tyax to help Dan celebrate his 40th.  After spending Saturday packing supplies for any number of random activities we hit the road and headed up the Hurley.

Now those of you who know us will understand that our little VW Jetta has taken quite a beating over the past two years mostly because we insist on driving her as if she was a Hummer.  This weekend was no exception and after two hours on a bumpy forest service road we are pretty sure that our rear shock is fubar.  Poor little Sparky.

Anyway, we arrived at Tyax just as the Men returned from their epic day long ride in the Chilcotin wilderness.  They were tired and sweaty but very happy to be greated by the ladies, who were fresh as daisies after a day of beachside relaxation and napping.  With their cocktails held high and fancy dresses adding some class to the event, the boys were welcomed home (to our massive log cabin) with open arms.   Dinner and entertainment ensued the details of which are not scandalous enough to be posted here.

Dale flies back to Tyax after dropping off another group.

Sunday morning saw us up bright and early for the preparation of the Ladies ride.  After our flight (yes, we took a float plane to our trail head!) was delayed by an hour we finally made it to Spruce Lake where us five girls began our trip down Gun Creek.  The day was perfect, the company was great and the riding was loads of fun. (photos to come!)  We were greeted at the end of the trail by two of the three Chris' plus Clem who had cold beverages on hand.  One minor mechanical and a few bruises were well worth the trip. 

While most of the crew headed back to Whistler and Vancouver, Eric and I, along with Chris and Kara continued on to Marble Canyon where we found the last decent campsite and tucked into some deluxe mac n' cheese.

Entering into Orbit!

Well here it is. 
After years of sending Christmas letters to family and friends in England and beyond I have realized that there's just too much that goes on in one year to fit in a little four page newsletter!  There are photos to share, stories to tell and tips to pass on.  I've tried to use emails, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa and even mySpace to keep everyone up to date but they all require my beloveds to sign up and sign in to peek into my world.  I want this to be simple.  I don't want to update 15 web spaces and I don't want you to have to log in to 5 different sites to see photos or send me messages.
So here I am, I have entered the Blogosphere and I think this might do the trick!