Oh, Canada!

Well just incase you missed it, I am currently in Canada and its glorious! But lets head back to the beginning.

*Prepare for the snap story photos cause I was pretty useless at taking actual photos*

In real Lydia style, I quit my job and jumped on a plane. Okay thats a little dramatic. After three years I handed in my notice at Les Mills Hamilton and planned my last day to be the day before I left the country. It was actually a wonderful feeling leaving all the work stress behind. Not so wonderful was saying 'goodbye' to my co-workers who have definitely become more like family. Now before you ask me what I'm doing when I get back, I guess I should tell you I'm not coming back.

HAHAHAHA JK!

I think Nathan would have something to say about that. When I get back though, I am starting work at a new place. Im super excited about this cause I actually love learning and mastering things. I like to work and I like to be a good worker so Im excited about this new phase in my working life. Better hours and pay are also an added bonus! I'll also be arriving back to a new house. Yup, you read that right, we are moving again AND I am out of the country. That was alot of fun knowing we had a deadline to find a house but Nathan and Marie seem to have a lock on moving the house. Thanks guys!

On flying day I was super relaxed. I was looking for a cord to charge my GoPro and apparently its impossible to buy the old school android type charger cords now (insert eyeroll emoji). My sister had a slightly more stressful day. So we live roughly an hour away from New Zealand's largest international airport. Trice had a three hour exam to write at 1pm and our check-in was meant to be 5pm. Add to that, the fact that Auckland has some of the most ridiculous traffic I have ever seen, we had a slight race against time. These are the sacrifices you make when your after those round-trip deals. Funnily enough, she made it to the airport before be because making a 20min drive in peak hour traffic tends to last longer then coming from a completely different city. Cheers AKL you are not missed.

Fast forward through check-in and our final goodbyes, we headed into customs. I may or may not have accidentally shop-lifted tester make-up, freaked out and thrown it back. Eventually my sister and I made our way to the bar where we enjoyed and nice cider and watched the beginning of the Chiefs vs Lions game. As we inched closer to our gate, we got sidetracked at another bar to watch the game. This is actually the best way I suggest to kill time in the airport! We ended up only waiting 5minutes to board our plane at the gate itself.

Once onboard we made our ascent. About and hour in we hit turbulence that remained with us for the majority of the ride. I love flying with Air New Zealand. They are literally the best company I have flown with (and I've flown with quite a few companies). Their movie selection this time was so good! We started the flight watching Logan. One of the flight attendants kept walking past at all the gory bits and was low-key worried for my sanity. After that was a couple feel good chick flicks and then bed time. Now I am a great plane sleeper. I don't know who I have to thank for it but I can sleep anywhere and everywhere. Even with the turbulence, this trip was no different as I snored my way through 7 hours of the plane ride. When I woke up, we were just over two hours till landing and I couldn't wait!

YVR is a gorgeous airport. From the moment you step off the plane you instantly know you are in Canada and man did it feel good to be home. You are greeted with bi-lingual signs, native carvings, the Canucks and Tim Hortons. Really what is more Canadian?! We were also greeted with +25 heat and were slightly ill prepared. And naturally I took zero photos of it!

From the airport we had to make our way to North Vancouver. So we jumped on a SkyTrain and a SeaBus and made our way over. Funnily enough getting to North Van wasn't the hard part. Getting from the SeaBus to my uncles house was. We walked four blocks uphill with our luggage before we decided this was a terrible idea. We popped into a store and asked if they could call us a taxi and from there the rest was easy. We got to visit with my uncle and his family and get some much needed rest.

On our second day we made the trek back across the water as I was getting my hair done. I got to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen in years. If you're in the Vancouver area I highly recommend seeing Kristina at Axis Hair Salon. She really battled with my stubborn hair. Turns out quite alot of the Canadian YouTubers go here also and I got to creep on one while getting my hair done. I unintentionally got a photo with her and then intentionally took one of her for a friend I knew would appreciate it. No same. After that I joined my sisters 3 hour shopping excursion and walked the streets of Vancouver's shopping district.

Vancouver is a very beautiful city. Sadly I didn't take very many photos (as you can tell, I didn't take alot of photos period). When people ask me about it though I often say don't bother too much with it. This could be because I'm not a lower mainland native and don't really know my way around. To me it's just a big city that's prettier then most I have been to. I won't lie, it was nice to be in a city where the buildings were so large. Everything I see in New Zealand pales in comparison. But at heart I am a small town girl and I couldn't wait to get out of there!

During our short stay, we got to see old friends, cousins, uncles and aunties. People that we normally don't get to spend alot of time with. It was really nice to see them all. After two years it felt good to be home, even if I was 5 hours south of home-home. On our third day back, we made the drive north. It was hot and sunny and everything I was hoping the weather would be.

Driving through Canada really is breath-taking but I think that's a story for another time. For now Ill leave you with mums view.