For seven Colorado winters, Canadian Paul and his mates rented out my neighbours place for their annual ski trip.  Shenanigans galore.  Work wise, that week was just a black hole.

When Canadian Paul said he was coming to Australia, I couldn’t wait!  This is a trip that Paul had been planning, and dreaming about, forever.

I’m going to start this blog post off with one of the last adventures Canadian Paul and I had.  We took Ol’ Smokey (my beach truck/ute) up the beach with some of my local mates… This is Australia!

We drove as far as we are allowed, then we grabbed the bikes and rode up to the tip of the island.  Canadian Paul has been riding a bunch during his trip.  He looks skinnier than when he arrived.

Ol’ Smokey never gets stuck, or bogged in the sand.  On the way home we saw some stranded folks and we offered a hand.  I wanted Canadian Paul to feel, how it feels to be a tourist.

Skipping to the beginning of Canadian Paul’s trip.  We kicked things off with a little more decadence.  My mate Megan suggested we go to the tennis…. what a marvelous idea!!!

By the time we got home from the tennis, it was the wee hours.  There would be no rest for the wicked, I had a mission lined up for Canadian Paul the next day….

I love my skiing buddies, they aren’t like city folks; they give things a go, they don’t give up (easily) and I feel like I can trust them outside the lounge room.  I knew Canadian Paul had some rock climbing experience (via his son), so I thought we’d try and tick off the tallest of the local mountains.  Canadian Paul scoffed in the car…. “Australia doesn’t have mountains”.

Talk about kicking ass!  Canadian Paul smashed it, was a fantastic day and it was hot enough that not many others braved it.  This is Mt. Beerwah….

All smiles and giggles from the carpark….

And smiles and sweaty man-boobs on the summit!!!

During his stay with me, Canadian Paul lost 8kgs.  What a terrible host I am, not feeding him enough!

I think Canadian Paul has to take some of the blame for his weight loss, he did his first (and second) Park Run.

Played a bit of… what is this shit?

He played some real tennis….

My hiking buddy Donna had seen/heard of Canadian Paul’s shenanigans, so she invited us along for a hike with her mate Ruth.  Donna took me on my first ‘legal’ climb of Mt. Beerwah.

In the photo below,  I think Canadian Paul is looking at Donna and Ruth’s bottoms….

On the way home, we swung by one of my favourite swimming holes.   Canadian Paul swung….  don’t worry, he missed his head hitting the rocks by at least a foot.

 

Unlike the last 4 ‘non-ski-buddies’ I took up there, Canadian Paul leaped off the cliff without even thinking about it.

For 4 weeks it just didn’t stop.  Canadian Paul said he wasn’t drinking, but my local bartender Dan was a good influence….

Some late night shenanigans with my local mates Tammy & Lulu……

Lead to Paul playing golf the next day!  We ended up getting three rounds in, despite my recent ban.

For Canadian Paul’s last weekend, my mate Dave the Sailor, who has skied a bunch with Canadian Paul in Colorado, dropped in for a few days.

Anytime I hang out with Dave the Sailor, it ends in an adventure.  Theory is; send the fat kid first, so the crocs don’t need seconds.  I’m the fat kid (wearing a blue shirt).

That last weekend included ANZAC Day, Canadian Paul and I did a bit of a pub crawl but started after midday, my local friends had been drinking since sunrise so had already been kicked out, arrested, or sleeping in a public place.  It was a bit of a flop, but Canadian Paul got to learn to play Two-Up.

Tennis, AFL and NRL was my plan for Canadian Paul.  AFL schedule didn’t work but we got in an NRL game and my mate Riley came along to explain the rules to the token Canadian.

What a fantastic trip!  I loved returning the favour.  Canadian Paul and Yvonne looked after me when I was in Halifax and have been wonderful friends over the last decade and a half.  This has been my first North American ski buddy come down for a trip, I hope it inspires more of you guys to come on down!

As a post script, it wasn’t all mountain climbing and adventures.  I did school/demolish Canadian Paul in cribbage (this is a game his Canadian crew taught me).

Sign of a good host, is when your guests need a nap every now and then.