Merci - Paris

Must...get...to...Paris...

Gorgeous retail store Merci found in the archives of the WGSN blog.

May 12 2010... My bad for not updating sooner.

Wow so time kind of got away on me...

What's new? Hmmm... Where do I start?

Employment:

Well I can't remember if I told you but I left the steakhouse (cunts) and now i'm a manager at a coffee store earning more than I did at Ogilvy. It's pretty weird, over here people make a big deal if you can make patterns in coffee, i've had people take photos of my coffee, ask what days i'm working so they can bring their friends, ask to sign their chests, throw bras and panties at me. All this over coffee... What else is cool is I have my locals that come in a couple of times a day. They are ( Not in order of popularity):

Larry: The 60 something year-old bus driver. He keeps shit real and wants to get on the piss sometime. HEZ MY FREN!

Shaun: Shaun is the local homeless man who has major beef with one park warden. He lives in the hills and is a cherry dude in his 40s. Always has a story, normally when you don't want to hear one. He's extremely well spoken and has been clean for 8 years. He doesn't smell too bad for a homeless chap.

Derek: The security guard up at the Fairmont Hotel, for a man of his size he's a bit of a softy, don't really know to much about him except he lives a pretty simple life.

Scott: He is one of those dudes who knows way to much shit about everything. Sarcastic as hell and works at the museum. He's also the union leader for parks canada. I'm not sure how much work he really does because he sits around at the cafe for a couple of hours every day. He's cool though, he buys coffee for everyone.

Banjo Guy: As his name suggests this dude just plays the banjo. He's the busker who I have never seen not smiling. He plays a banjo in a poncho and is a happy chap. Pays for everything in coins which is annoying when I'm busy.

Snowboarding:

Well it was 23 degrees one week and minus something the next snowing like it was going out of fashion. I loved it and had some of the best days riding of my life, words can not describe how epic they were. If only Muz was there to shred em.

Other shit:

Check out the photos. We went dog sledding which was pretty fucking cool!

This place is pretty amazing. Sure NZ has some amazing scenery but here everything is so epic and gigantic.

Husky puppies

Me patting husky puppy

Cool dog named Tango

Think this dog was called Mordor.

So they roll around in the snow to lower their body temp.

This dog was called Whisky, she was my friend. They mainly use female dogs for sledding as apparently they listen better.

Whisky liked Annabel too.

More dogs

So thee dogs are all business when they are in their harnesses. I was pretty skeptical about whether they actually enjoyed pulling people around but they actually did, they moan and cry if they don't get to work.

The scenery isn't to shabby around here, we sledded across a thawing lake.

I want to up load some more photos but blogspot wont let me. Dicks.

The third post Jan 3rd 2010.

Wassup folks, hope you all had a pleasant new years and christmas. So what new things have I learnt? Well turns out there is an under belly to this country or maybe just Banff? I'm not sure, i'll let you know when i know but the locals can be pretty fucking weird, they close all the bars at 2am because these people can't be trusted drinking later then that. How is a well mannered, social drinker like myself meant to be well mannered and social if the bars close this early? Also it turns out living the dream comes at a cost and it's expensive- a working holiday means more work than holiday.

At least the place is pretty. More photos?

I got lost and found these train tracks. Had two options walk the way shown and hope for the best or walk the opposite direction. I went with the opposite direction because I was cold and it turned out I was near town...

Route B on my walk. Glad I didn't take this one, it's the 4 hour walk back to town.

Just a rusty truck.

Frozen river. The ice is about 50cm thick. This is a deep part of the river so it has wicked colouring, Banff is perdy.

Half way through my walk i de-iced this sign to see where I was. I like the element of danger that comes with Banff.

Big ass snow shovels, apparently also used to clear stubborn animals that don't listen to the train horns.

Pervert local.

Frozen solid. It's a trip standing in the middle of a deep ass river when it's frozen solid.

Till next time keep it real.