Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Mascots © VANOC

Strangely familiar to the roller coaster ride which England Football fans are used to, Canada’s trip to the final was bumpy, and early in the tournament, being drawn with the USA in the same group a giant of a game was played, leading to Canada actually loosing to the USA team. Hope wasn’t lost however and Canada pulled themselves up, fighting back with even greater ferocity, and beating all those put in front of them finally emerged for the fairytale final of the Men’s Ice Hockey.. Canada vs USA. The Canadian Women’s team had already won the gold, so now it was up to the Men to box it up…

Like all games that have dreams resting on them, this game was never going to be simple. The Americans looking to get the Gold, having defeated the world champions, not once but twice.. and regaining some pride having had to settle for Silver in the last Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.. And the Canadians, national pride at stake, having waited so long to play and win a national Hockey match on home ground .. oh and having had the best Winter Olympics of any host nation – looking for the final cherry on the cake…
After a tight game it seemed to be won by Canada, just seconds before time was up – the score read 1 – 2 to Canada .. but just one second more snatched the gold back, the score 2 – 2 at full time.. This meant Canada was now looking at over time.. after almost already starting to party – they had to pick themselves back up, having conceded a goal and go out there and get another… sudden death.
The teams came out, and from the start Canada was showing an incredible show of strength – only allowing the USA having two chances before Sidney Crosby of Canada sealed their victory. Canada finished the games with 14 Golds at the top of the leader board, tailed by Germany with 10, and the USA with 9.

Canada's Victory, the perfect photo to sum up Vancouver 2010

The games ended on an almighty high for the Host nation, they’d never done so well in a winter Olympics before, and for them to do so well on home soil – it’s instilled an enormous sense of national pride, Canada is now more than happy to stand up and wave their flag knowing they can set out on a task, do it, and do it well. The men’s ice hockey match was the perfect summary for the games, nothing is easy, but they believed in themselves, and pulled through the victors.

The closing ceremony was fantastic. There’s not much more to say when summing it up.. It was Canada picking up the final chance they had to show the world who they were – and they did it with masses of humility and humour! Canada is a country which has no problem in laughing at its self, but in doing so knows that no matter what – they’re Canadian and proud to be! The ceremony featured huge inflatable mounties, beavers, moose and ice hockey players as well as dancers dressed as the nation’s symbol the Maple Leaf. Along with proceedings came appearances from well known Canadian celebrities such as William Shatner and Michael J Fox – all with the underlying theme ‘I am proud to be Canadian’.

The Olympics are a sporting fixture, but designed to bring nations closer together, disregarding political differences, and uniting it under one banner. But certainly Vancouver 2010, as well as doing this brought one particular nation closer together, and with a new found strength and pride ~ qualities well earned by the Host Nation; Canada.

Anyone traveling to Canada this year, returning or going for the first time will get to experience the atmosphere and witness the thousands of red and white Canadian flags flying everywhere, from city streets to the solitary farmsteads down rural roads. This truly is the year to see Canada.

Vancouver may be your first choice of destination. You’ll get to visit and see the sights you’ll be familiar with from having seen them on TV during the Olympics, but there are many other cities sharing in the same glory with their own unique brands of culture and attractions to visit from British Columbia all the way over to Nova Scotia. Why not visit Ottawa, Calgary, Toronto or Halifax? And for your first trip to Canada is there really any excuse not to visit Niagara Falls?

2010 truly is Canada’s year – don’t miss it!

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 I departed my house at 2:15PM and arrive in downtown Thorold to this sight: 

(One group of the many groups that made up the  hundreds of patriotic Thorold residents that showed up to show their support of the olympic games.)

Soon after I arrived we were blessed with the Thorold based Royal Canadian Air Cadets, Thorold Fire Dept. and a local steel drum band.

 (Royal Canadian Air Cadets)

(Thorold Fire Dept.)

At about 2:51pm, the Olympic parade made it’s way down Front St.

(The Olympic Parade starting down Front St.)

(The Coca-Coca bear and truck, Coca-Cola being one of the proud supporters of the Olympic games)

At 3:05pm, the moment the entire city had been waiting for, greeted with an uproar of cheering and wagging of Canadian flags, the Olympic Torch made it’s way down Front St. Where it was handed off to the next runner.

(The Torch Handoff, surrounded by patriotic Thorold residents who cheered their excitement apon the second torch being lit)

(Torch and Runner finaly push their way through the extremely excited crowd)

(The runner being chased by cheering residents as he ran down to the next handoff point, greeted by the honking horns of cars stopped by the road closure showing their support)

This gift to my home town, is something I will hold in my thoughts for the rest of my life, and is one of those things that you only get to see once in your life time.

The torch will make it’s way through the rest of Canada until February 12, 2010, where it will light the Olympic torch in Vancouver.

For more information on the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, or to find out if the torch is comming to your town (or if you want to come to it!) check out the official olympic site at:

http://www.vancouver2010.com/

For the Torch route, click the following link:

Torch Route 2010

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Thomas Cook 757 at Toronto in June 2006

I’ve been looking for a while and once again our recommended company to book flights with comes tops again! The £452.80 fare is based on you flying out of Gatwick on 11th February 2010 – getting you to Canada in time for the opening of the games, and after a week of experiencing the games in Vancouver flying back on 18th February. This is why i always book my flights to Canada with Canadian Affair.. They are the absolute cheapest way for anyone in the UK to get out there and experience Canada for themselves.

So you’re thinking about that flight? here’s how to find it:

Outbound: Thu 11 Feb 2010
departing London Gatwick: 10:30
arriving Vancouver: 12:40
Non-Stop
Thomas Cook A330

Return: Thu 18 Feb 2010
departing Vancouver: 10:30
arriving London Gatwick: 12:40
Non-Stop
Thomas Cook A330

So, what about my experience with Canadian Affair? Well every time i have ever visited Canada, i have always booked through Canadian Affair. This is because back in 2005 i went hunting for the best prices and Canadian Affair won hands down every single time. Since then I’ve been on 12 separate flights booked by Canadian Affair and I’ve never had any major problems what so ever.
What I’ve found on review sites are a few people who mention Overbooking being a problem.. I have only ever seen this happen twice out of my 12 flights. Canadian Affair’s method to deal with overbooking is very generous and they try to make it as fair as they possibly can – The first time i knew my flight was overbooked was my flight out in May this year. An apologetic person went through the check in queue asking for Volunteers, letting people know the flight was overbooked and offering them if i remember right over £100 off their next Canadian affair flight and accommodation for the night if they would take the offer of going on the next flight out to Toronto. It is entirely voluntary – BUT do as i do. ALWAYS get to your check in when it opens, just because you have 3 hours to check in doesn’t mean you can get there an hour after it opens – if you get there first, whether you have booked seats or not, you will always be guaranteed to fly out on the flight you booked.. Oh and the second time? My return flight last Saturday, this time the apologetic Canadian woman going through the queue was offering £250 off the next Canadian affair flight, as well as accommodation for the night if someone would volunteer to transfer flight. £250 was the entire amount i payed for that flight! So as you can see Canadian Affair do all they can to be fair and honest to their customers.

A My Travel A330 - my outbound flight in 2006

How about the quality of the flights? Well, I’ve flown on Thomas Cook and Air Transat as I’ve mentioned before (as well as My Travel before they were bought by Thomas Cook) and the food – in my opinion – for airline food was top quality. Thomas Cook, being a British airline company will usually serve two hot traditional style meals (such as a chicken dinner or pasta bake) or, depending on the time you’re flying a hot meal and a snack – usually of a small sandwich, crisps, cheese and biscuits and a branded chocolate bar. Air Transat however are a French Canadian Airline and the food you find on these flights are usually different, with a nice french/American twist to their meals – for example a carrot and cinnamon muffin for breakfast, and a portion of three bean salad with your hot meal. On either Airline you fly with i have always found the service by the crew very helpful and polite, and in the case of my flight back last Saturday very patient, since my partner kept accidentally pressing the “call” button on the armrest!

Entertainment varies on your flights greatly. It’s very difficult to say that there is good entertainment on specific flights simply because everyone has different preferences as to what they want to watch. Most of the flights operated by Air Transat or Thomas Cook in my experience have TVs that come down from the roof, so offer only a single channel of TV. These usually include two recent movies one oriented at kids, and another oriented at Family, or in the case of when i was flying back last Saturday on a Thomas Cook A330, we had three films which pretty much filled up the whole flight – Pink Panther 2, 17 Again and Aliens Vs Monsters. If you’re lucky – some of the Thomas Cook A330 Planes have back seat TVs built in, which gives you a much greater choice of what you can watch – but my tip is if you’re pretty specific about what you like to watch, try take a PSP or small DVD player with you, or maybe even a good book, for the programs or films you may not feel like watching

The GPS Map Channel on Thomas Cook A330 Aircraft

My experience with Canadian Affair has always been positive, speedy response to queries be it email or telephone, kind personal responses which make you feel respected and valued, great quality service and flights and the absolute best prices.

If you book with them for your next Canada Trip please email them and let them know if you’ve had a great flight and service, also feel free to leave a comment here to let everyone else know what you think! The funny thing about us British is we’re always quick to complain, but we very rarely take the time to complement – and Canadian Affair, certainly over my last 12 flights deserve all the compliments they can get! So let me know your experiences with Canadian affair by leaving a comment!

One final question.. Why are they so cheap? The truthful honest answer i can find to that question is simply that they want to be the one company which anyone in the UK thinks about using if they’re traveling to Canada.. to offer people flights to parts of the world people could only dream about – at more than fair prices.

If you want to look for the latest deals, the cheapest flights are made easier to find, when you get to the home page after clicking the link to Canadian Affair below – check the “Special Flight Offers” section on the right, it’ll take you to the list of all the lowest priced flights and which dates they’re on, so go check it out at Canadian Affair!

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Cypress Mountain Area View

The ski resort is a 30 minute drive north of Vancouver, and has 47 named alpine ski runs (many accessible for night skiing) and 19 km cross country tracks. Snowshoeing tours are also popular. Ski schools and rentals, cafeteria and lounge and a retail shop are also located on the premises. In summer the ski area is shut down, but there are many hiking trails in the park. However, construction of the 2010 Venues will continue at a rapid pace in the next few years.

The ski area’s downhill runs are built on two mountains (Mt. Strachan (prounounced “Strawn”. – 1440 m and Black Mountain – 1200 m), on a vertical rise of 610 m.

Despite the resort name there is in fact no Cypress Mountain in this area. Cypress Mountain itself is actually 24 km east, in Coquitlam. The ski resort name Cypress Mountain is derived from the name of the bowl between the two mountains – “Cypress Bowl”, which was the original and still used common name of the resort (the correct name is Cypress Bowl Recreations Ltd.). The term “Cypress” comes from the Yellow Cedar tree Chamaecyparis nootkatensis which is common in the park at altitudes over 800 metres, and is also known as Yellow Cypress, as well as from the name of the park in which the resort lies.

Cypress Bowl Ski Area has two high-speed detachable quad chairlifts (Eagle Express and the Lions Express), two fixed-grip quad chairs (Raven Ridge and Easy Rider) and two double chairlifts (Sky Chair and Midway). There used to be a Rope Tow until 2002 when it was replaced by the Easy Rider Chair. The original Sunrise chairlift was dismantled in the summer of 2007 and moved to the expansion area on Black Mountain in time for the 07/08 Season, where it is now known as the Raven Ridge Quad Chair. The new high-speed chair (The Lions Express) was also constructed in 2007 on Mount Strachan by Doppelmayr. A new base lodge, scheduled for completion in late 2008, is under construction in a more convenient location near the base of the Eagle Express and Lions Express chairlifts.

During the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Cypress will host all of the freestyle skiing and snowboarding competitions (moguls, aerials, ski cross, half-pipe, snowboard cross and parallel giant slalom). The half-pipe and the venues for the moguls and aerials were completed in the summer of 2007.

Cypress Mountain In Summer

Though if you’re heading out to the area in Summer, there are still activities to be done at this scenic area such as Hiking and nature spotting. Although some sections of Cypress were logged before the park was established, its remaining old growth stands contain some of the largest and oldest recorded trees for the species in BC. Many of the parks yellow-cedars (or yellow-cypress-fir; which the park is named after) are well over 1000 years old. Red and white heather, copper bush, white rhododendron and many other native shrubs and wildflowers can be seen along the wheelchair-accessible Yew Lake trail and else where in the Park.

A variety of large and small mammals inhabit the park so if you’re looking for Canadian wildlife you’re sure to find a whole broad spectrum of it here! Coyotes and deer are often seen close to the access road. Black bears, squirrels, hares and weasels may be encountered in the backcountry. Adding colour and sound to the park are a variety of birds like ravens, gray jays, chickadees, warblers, woodpeckers, grouse, hawks and owls.

This park has two day-use/picnic areas. The Quarry picnic area has a large grassy area with eleven picnic tables. Highview has a small grassy area and six picnic tables. The Highview day-use area is mainly a lookout over Vancouver, Fraser Valley and the south end of Vancouver Island. Both the day-use areas have two pit toilets and picnic tables with barbeque attachments, bring your own briquettes. There are however no fire rings and fires are not permitted, so dont start them!

View Larger Map

With a variety of different trails – this place is guaranteed to please any hiking, wildlife and nature enthusiast – and in Winter, it provides the more sporty skiing enthusiasts with their fun! All in all a fantastic all year round place to visit while you’re in and around Vancouver!

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Canada literally writes the definition of Winter, so having the Winter Olympics in Canada always promises to be one of the most anticipated (as well as the most remembered in times to come) Olympics there has been, and the preparation and planning for the games has been going on quietly for the rest of the world, but in Canada the country is alive with preparation for the big event – The venues decided, the mascots nominated, the Torch Relay route decided upon.. In fact, to look at the official Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics website, you’d get the image that they are so ready they are simply counting down the days for it to start! So.. lets have a deeper look into these games – this being the first of a number of articles i’ll be writing as i know so many of you will be looking forward to heading out and experiencing the thrill of the Winter Olympics while being surrounded by some of the most breathtaking scenery Canada has to offer.

Canada is wildly known around the world as the pure white gem of a snowball, and to many it can be a surprise when you tell them that it does in fact get quite hot in Summer in many places across Canada – Vancouver is one of the places that loves to break trends – it’s mostly mild climate can offer visitors a comfortable temperature no matter what time of the year – with Vancouver escaping for the most part the deep freezes that most of Canada receives down to temperatures of almost -40 degrees Celsius. The Mild climate however wont prove any hindrance to the typical sporing events which Winter Olympics are expected to have.

Photo © VANOC

Events such as Alpine Skiing, Bobsleigh, Figure Skating, Luge, Snowboard, and the National Sport of Canada of coarse Ice Hockey are just a few of what these Olympics will have to offer – and the Hosts obviously are already rallying behind their Hockey team, dreaming of that Gold Medal – Although they are world beaters in the field – the winning of Gold in the Olympics is never an easy task, with teams of highly skilled Ice Hockey players from countries around the world competing for that same shiny gold medal.

UBC Thunderbird Arena - Photo © VANOC

The venues and locations for the competitions have been chosen with many factors taken into consideration – two of the big factors, were Sustainability and Aboriginal Participation. Simply put as their website states “sustainability means managing the social, economic and environmental impacts and opportunities of our Games to produce lasting benefits, locally and globally. It also includes our commitment to achieving unprecedented Aboriginal participation in the planning and hosting of the Games.” Rounded up this means that everywhere you look in the games, great consideration was paid to all components, from venues, locations, and even the Games Mascots.

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Mascots © VANOC

And here they are! Sumi Quatchi and Miga are the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Mascots, and all with a cute story to tell. The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics website explains “Sumi is an animal spirit who lives in the mountains of British Columbia. Like many Canadians, Sumi’s background is drawn from many places. He wears the hat of the orca whale, flies with the wings of the mighty thunderbird and runs on the strong furry legs of the black bear…” ” Quatchi is a young sasquatch who comes from the mysterious forests of Canada. Quatchi is shy, but loves to explore new places and meet new friends…” and “Miga is a young sea bear who lives in the ocean with her family pod, beyond Vancouver Island, near Tofino, British Columbia. Sea bears are part killer whale and part bear. (Miga is part Kermode bear, a rare white bear that only lives in British Columbia.)” They all have their personal likes and dislikes – but i’ll leave getting to know these critters up to you! Check out the Mascots at their own dedicated place on the Internet at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics Website’s Meet the Mascots section!

So, that’s some basics of the games, I’ll be writing more about them as we get closer to the event its self – but what about actually getting there? Well, firstly the place you will want to get your flights from is Canadian Affair. If you’re looking to catch the opening of the Winter Olympics while combining it with a two week Canada trip or holiday Canadian Affair are currently offering a return flight to Vancouver and back for £448 per person. This is taking off from London Gatwick on the 11th February 2010 and flying back on 25th February So check this out for yourself at Canadian Affair’s site.

And for Hotels don’t forget ebookers search 100s of hotels in the area you’d like to stay letting you find hotels for as much or as little as you’d like to pay

So there you have it – our first article on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics – The event to be at in Canada 2010 – Keep your eyes open for more information coming up over the next few months as the clock ticks down!

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