An update

Well it's been a while since i have updated everyone. Since coming back to Calgary i stayed in a hostel for about a week until i finally got my own place. I have been lucky to share with some really nice guys. It was an all male household until i moved in and even though they are only about 23 they are nice guys to share with. The house is usually messy with beer cans everywhere and empty pizza boxes in the lounge but it's a cozy and friendly home so i don't care.

So i have been working as a temp since i got back and at the moment i have been placed in a great position in a hospital. I am working with the Southern Alberta Tissue Program as a secretary. My position involves doing an awful lot of Data base work and updating clients files. I was even allowed to go to the lab and help to throw away human hip bones (Femur Heads). It was not grose like you would think, it was a good day. I am also working nights and weekends at a store called Shoppers Drug Mart. It's my first time at being a check out chic and although it's boring and hard to stand on your feet for a long time i am kind of enjoying my first experience at being a check out chic. It's also good because staff members get a 30% discount.

Calgary has been experiencing some of the coldest weather on record. We have days where the weather has been up to minus 28 degrees with the wind chill making the weather feel minus 40 degrees celcius.. I have had to wear thermals to and from work. One day stupid me forgot to wear them and man did my legs hurt. I have never known my skin to hurt so much. I have to wear snow boots to and from work and take a pair of shoes in my bag and then change my shoes when i get inside. Winter is high maintenance. But once your inside the snow is really pretty to look at. Bloody slippery to drive and walk in and looks yukky when it goes brown. Makes for a really funny scene when i try to walk down the street and fall over with arms and legs flying everywhere like something out of a cartoon.

It's only about 4 weeks now until my visa expires and then it will be time to head home. I have not started making plans yet for coming home it will all be last minute after Xmas when i see how much money i have. So god only knows i night be swimming.

Anyway am gonna fly now...

More later

Shell
xxxxx

Photo's from Grand Cache and Fort McMurray

Walking thru the bush and Falling down the hill in Fort Mac, Quad course in Grande Cache

11 Days in the field

Well after 11 days in the field i had to quit. I got up to my new job and the terrain was much easier to handle. Compared to Grande Cache it's flat but by flat this means compared to mountains. The ground is very uneven, the forrest is mossy and most of the ground is really soft. So again i go out having to bush bash to get to each point that needs surveying. The bush was getting thick sometimes and i was finding it hard to crash my way through. I have so many bruises on my leg it's not funny. I am sporting some of the biggest bruises that i have ever had in my whole entire life. So i struggle through even after my first 2 days of falling in the swamp. The first day i fall in and get that wet that i had to go and sit in the truck and dry off while everyone went back and kept surveying. The second day i literally walked 5 minutes on the way to our line and get to my first creek and tried to cross and i literally fell in up to the waist. I had to be pulled out. Again soaked we went back to camp and i spent the day in camp because they had to keep working and i was too wet. You have to be so careful of hyperthermia especially me i am not used to the winter weather so i stayed in doors that day. So on day 3 we go out again and i get through the day without falling in. Cool. But then after a couple of days, even though i was getting used to the work that i had to do, the weather started to go below zero. It got to minus 10 and i just found it so hard to cope with the weather that on what turned out to be my last day one of my bosses looked at me and said i think you should stop doing this, you can keep doing this if you like but you look so miserable and i think that you are going to struggle more when the weather gets worse. Minus 10 sounds so cold and believe me it is, but to a true blue canadian it's not that cold. People kept saying to me what are you are going to do when it gets cold. I was not sacked and it was completely my choice to go in the end and i cried tears of relief when i made the decision and it does take a while to get used to a winter this cold. There are some that adjust very quickly and then there's me. Most of the time i struggle with Melbourne winter. So i gave it a go and decided that it just wasn't for me. I am back in Calgary now and think that i will just stay here for the next couple of months as i only have 8 weeks left on my visa and i know a couple of people here so i shall just stay here and then decided when to go and where i am going to go on the way home.

It's beautiful watching the snow and seeing it all around on the roof tops and across the paths and stuff but man it's cold. Also i find that the snow sticks to everything and then it melts and things get wet. So what is a pretty thing turns out to be a right royal pain in the ass. But only about 8 weeks left and then i come back to summer.

There were some photo's taken of me out in the field and so when i get ahold of them i will post them so you can see some of where i was.

take care as always

Shelley
xxxxxx

A quick update on the work situation

So after touring for the month of September and then coming back to Calgary to wait to be sent out in the field Shelley starts to run out of money. This of course became a bit stressful and i was extremely lucky that i was able to stay with a couple of Australians that i became friends with at Stampede. Poor Rachel and Tim. When i got back from my travels i was supposed to be going out to the fields within a few days but the job kept getting delayed and i ended up staying there for nearly 3 weeks. I also bought my friend Nathan up from Vancouver to come out to the fields to work with me and he was staying there also. So after staying longer than ever intended due to lack of funds we finally were able to go out to work in the field. Although not before i had another lot of stress fall on me. As i was getting low in funds and i had already been a temp with Wolf Surveying (which is how i came to know about jobs out in the field) the company needed a temp Receptionist again and so agreed to let me work for a few days on the Reception desk for some extra money. So when all of this was happening with the phone calls to the agency to let them know i was working in the office for a few days the agency then realised that i had agreed to take up a position with Wolf and then asked for a fee for me as they introduced me to the company. So suddenly i was faced with the prospect of not being able to go out into the field and work as Wolf would not pay a fee for an unqualified employee. Oh my god. So the company was kind enough to negotiate with the agency for me. This went on for 2 days and to cut a long story short they eventually agreed to waive the fee. So 2 days later we finally get sent out to the field.

My gosh what an experience it has been. So i end up going out to the field one day later than everyone else as i was looking after the Reception desk until Friday so i went on the Saturday instead. So on my first day i get to do Quad training in the most mud i have ever been in in my whole entire life. So then the second day i set off to the fields. I wear my Australian Ecco hiking boots and layers of clothes and set off up the mountain. Well that turned out to be a big mistake wearing the Ecco's. I slipped about 8 times going up the mountain, which was about 800 metre's vertical and about a 55 degree incline, and then kept slipping throughout the day even though the terrain was flatter and then just to top things off we decided to take a short cut home straight down the face of the mountain. It was bloody steep practically straight down and of course i just about went all the way down on my bum. After about the 78th time that i fell i finally burst into tears through sheer frustration and so was made to wear better boots the next day. If it wasn't for two of the Slashers - who are Newfies ( People from Newfoundland for those who don't know what newfies are) i wouldn't have gotten down safely. I had one holding my hand behind me and the other one in front of me to make sure that i didn't fall too far. They looked after me all day. They gave me a dry pair of gloves, they cut me a futon to sit on at the fire that they made at lunchtime, they cooked me weiners on a stick for lunch, and on one of out breaks they cut me a bench to sit on with their chainsaw. Talk about spoilt..... Ya!!! Newfies!!!!

The next day i wore my Canadian bought boots which worked a whole lot better. Not as much falling over but lets just say that i have quite a few battle bruises to show off. Again the next day we had to walk too far up the mountain for me to handle and again we came staight down the side of the mountain and though i did not slip over half as much it still scared me a little. The Newfies stayed with me again, they are such gentlemen... I should bring one home with me, though the only problem with that is that i barely understand their accent making conversation difficult at times. Their accent is very influenced by Irish decendents so mix that with Canadian and i am sure you can figure it out for yourself how hard it would be to understand them.

So after my second day i went to the company and explained that i thought that the terrain was too hard for me and thankfully they understood and are sending me to another part of Canada which is flatter. I still worked the third day which we started in a different area which was flatter than the previous days.

With the work that i am doing in the mountains it is supposed to be that you survey about 1 to 2 km's into the bush and then when that is done you are supposed to be taken to work in a helicopter and fly over the part you have already surveyed and then get out and keep going. The client for this job is tight with money and didn't want to pay the expense of the helicopter and so far haven't supplied one. So on my second day i had to do a 3km walk into the bush survey 1.74 km's and then do a 2 km walk out. So you can imagine my apprehension at completing the job. knowing i was going to have to walk up mountains everyday when i had already had so much trouble staying on my feet. So i completed the third day and then came back to Calgary with someone who was driving come back and am going out to a new job site on Wednesday. This time the terrain is flatter and i may even get to do some quad biking which will be cool fun....

I am just lucky that the company was so understanding about it. so fingers crossed that the next job goes heaps better.

take care all and keep me up to date with news back home...

Shelley
xxxxxx

The Chiropractor

So while i am staying in Calgary waiting to be sent out in the field to work as a surveyor my back has been a bit sore and a bit stiff. So i decide it would be best to go and get it looked at before i go out into the field and wreck it some more. So i find one that is in Calgary near to where i am staying and make an appointment to go. When i get there i see that there are photo's on the wall of famous people. There were 3 photo's and i recognised all of them though i could only put a name to Burt Reynolds. So i ask him the names of these people as they are signed photo's specifically to him all saying with gratitude for his help. This automatically meant to me that he has good credentials. I figure if Joyce De Witt, Burt Reynolds and Bruce Davison can give him a signed photo in appreciation for his work then i can probably let him loose on me. So luckily i felt better after seeing him. He was ceratinly good at his job but of course not as good as Rodwell back home and i am not sure if Joyce, Burt and Bruce are as good as all the football teams that Rodwell has treated. I guess there is nothing like home... Shelley xxxx

Todd Vance's - Grassy Butte Ranch

Todd's Family

So next off to Todd Vance's, Grassy Butte Ranch, this is where i had the most fun. We did cattle drive on the Saturday and branding on the Sunday.
On the Saturday i was up at the crack of dawn had breakfast and got ready to go and help out with cattle drive. I got to ride a quad, a Kawasaki KVF 650 V Twin, bloody fast. Goes up to 110km p/h, i only went up to 80km. So we go out to the top paddoch to start rounding up the cow's and the Cowboy's take off on the horses and we go off in another direction on the quads. We start riding around and we end up getting a bit lost as there was some really thick bush and i was being led by a 7 year old and a 9 year old. So we didn't help much with the first part but had fun riding until one of the quads got stuck and so we had to leave it there and so i had a kid on the back with me and there we rode for most of the day until we shifted things a bit and he got to ride one of the other quads later on. Poor kid it broke his heart. So once the cow's came down off the mountain it was my job to go ahead of them and block off drive ways and roads and make sure they go the right way. So there was alot of waiting around to do but worth it once done. The next day my arms were so sore from riding the bike. And i didn't get too cold throughout the day as we had a bottle of Jagameister to drink. So a few shots of that and i was right. After seeing that the cow's had been moved safely into their new paddoch we head back to the house and i was first in the shower. Thank god i did because as soon as i got out of the shower they told me we were going into town for Pizza. I didn't exactly look the best at the end of the day.

Pictures from the Cattle Drive: (I was so much in awe of watching them round up the cow's on horse back that i forgot to take pictures of that part).

On the way to cattle drive

Our quads - mine is on the right

Bringing the cattle down from the paddoch

The Bull had a sore foot so he got to hitch a ride

Me on my quad - i had a blast riding the quad

Some of the cows hid in the bush so we had to go back and get them the next day.

What the trailor looks like after you have carted 10 cow's in the back - Yuk!

Todd's Dodge 1 Tonne Megacab Dually towing a 22 foot Gooseneck Trailor. I drove it for a short while and man it was cool to drive. Felt like i was driving a truck.

The mountains are right next to Todd's property

Todd's property - I took so many photo's that i couldn't put them all on the net

So Day 2 of staying at Grassy Butte Ranch we have a branding party. Shelley, a couple of other girls and the Cowboys drank the whole time we were branding. Everyone drinking Beer and me drinking Jack Daniels. Todd wanted me to feel welcome at his family Ranch so he went and bought me a Litre of Jack Daniels. I laughed and nearly died at the same time as there is no way i could drink a litre of alcohol in one weekend but i drank as much as i could. So even under the influence of alcohol i managed to get some good photo's, brand a cow and pull the nuts off a Bull Calf. Yep that's right i Castrated a Bullcalf!!!! So look out next time you piss me off i now know how to do pull nuts off.....

So at the end of the branding and castrating we took the Prairie Oysters (the nuts) into the house and cooked them up and ate them. Man what a legend i am!!! I actually can't believe that i did it but i did. So in one weekend i (hung out with cowboys) helped with cattle drive, watched the calves get roped, branded, pulled the nuts off the calf and then cooked them up and ate them. I am really proud of myself now!!!!!!

See i really did pull it's nuts off - It was so funny to see them walking funny afterwards

Almost off.....

off now... my little helper collected them for me... He's so cute

Roping and Branding the calf

And i did literally get on a horse. This one is Paschaw who is 26 years old.

A quick picture by picture description of castrating a bull - while your branding it cut open the nut sack and pull out the testicles.

Pull the testicles and then pull them off one at a time

Some of the bull's may bleed not all of them did

finally cut the nuts off and pour some iodine over the wound

Eventually they end up in a bucket for the kids to play with

Look at Lenny - Brokeback Mountain or what!!! - It's the hat that does it

Canadian Ranches - Hamilton Farms

So coming back from Toronto i head out to stay on 2 different ranches. First one i went to was with Gale and Rob Hamilton. I stayed there for 2 nights and went out with them to Weigh, Vaccinate and watch the cow's get preg tested. It's funny to see the Vet stick his arm up the cow's bum. It was absolutely freezing that day so i rugged up with layers and gum boots and followed everybody around. I had the clipboard to write down the weights of the cow's and if they were pregnant or not. It was cool to see a Canadian Ranch in action.

So next off to Todd Vance's, Grassy Butte Ranch, this is where i had the most fun. We did cattle drive on the Saturday and branding on the Sunday.

On the Saturday i was up at the crack of dawn had breakfast and got ready to go and help out with cattle drive. I got to ride a quad, a Kawasaki V Twin 650, bloody fast. Goes up to 110km p/h, i only went up to 80km. So we go out to the top paddoch to start rounding up the cow's and the Cowboy's take off on the horses and we go off in another direction on the quads. We start riding around and we end up getting a bit lost as there was some really thick bush and i was being led by a 7 year old and a 9 year old. So we didn't help much with the first part but had fun riding until one of the quads got stuck and so we had to leave it there and so i had a kid on the back with me and there we rode for most of the day until we shifted things a bit and he got to ride one of the other quads later on. Poor kid it broke his heart. So once the cow's came down off the mountain it was my job to go ahead of them and block off drive ways and roads and make sure they go the right way. So there was alot of waiting around to do but worth it once done. The next day my arms were so sore from riding the bike. And i didn't get too cold throughout the day as we had a bottle of Jagameister to drink. So a few shots of that and i was right.

Niagara Falls

While i was in Toronto i went to Niagara Falls for the day. I took a heap of photo's but i have only put a few on the internet. Niagara really is beautiful to look at.

From behind the falls