The Raven.... our home away from home

So last time I promised to share with you some info about the penthouse apartment we are calling home whilst in Big White. But some of you have actually asked me where Big White is, so the map below shows where in Canada Big White actually is located.

The advertising blurb reads:

Vacation rental accommodation at its best! Ski-in Ski-out, Private Hot Tubs and The Ravens own Pool & Gym.

The Raven is a luxury development located in Happy Valley, it offers outstanding condo living space, contemporary style and luxury.

The Raven ski condos have been spaciously designed with acute attention to detail, luxury and comfort with many European inspired design elements. The location of The Raven was chosen for optimum balance of views, proximity to ski lifts and amenities and the convenient ski-in, ski-out access. These Ski Condos & Penthouses come with their own private decks and hot tubs for star gazing and total relaxation after a day of ski and snow activity.

Your Ski vacation rental comes with access to The Ravens own INDOOR SWIMMING POOL AND GYM. All Ski Condos have access to hot spot wireless internet access, heated secure underground parking, Ski lockers, oversized windows for enjoying magnificent snow topped views and geothermal under floor heating throughout.

The spacious living areas are where family and friends can come together and enjoy open living, cooking, dining and relaxing in front of a roaring fire. Every condo has large screen wall mounted plasma TV, DVD player and stereo (plus pool tables in the larger Penthouses) and all have big squashy leather sofas for total ‘feet up’ comfort. Kitchens with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances probably boast more equipment than you’re likely to have at home for dining and entertaining. Bathrooms have steam showers, warm cork floors and come complete with fluffy bath sheets and towels.

The Raven vacation rentals sit in the centre of Happy Valley with magnificent views toward the Monashee Mountains. These views are best savoured with a glass of fizz from your private deck and steaming hot tub. This is Big White accommodation at its best!

The photo below shows the outside of the The Raven.

The Entrance Foyer

The Great Room #1

Three of the four bedrooms for the adults

The loft bunk bedrooms for the kids

The kids loft area

The Kitchen & Dining Area

The Bathrooms

And finally, here is the after skiing relaxation tank..... the HOT TUB!!!

Please, please, please take note of how clean and neat and tidy this place looks at the moment... cause after the Franks family arrive it won't be so pretty.

17 days to go. The kids are getting so excited.

Til next time!

28 days till take off

So with 28 days until Mum & Dad, Karmen, Tayla & Jack and Darren, Riley, Kody and myslef take off on our big adventure, I thought I'd give you a little more info about our trip.

We leave Sydney on Feb 5 at 3:10pm supposedly on a Qantas A-380, but if they are not operational it will just be a 747. The kids have never ever been on a plane and the longest flight Darren has ever done was to New Zealand for our honeymoon (Reminder for Darren: 15 years on March 16th), so 17 hours on a plane to Los Angeles will certainly be an eye-opener for them.

With the time changes we are actually flying backwards in time and arrive in LA at 9:45am on Feb 5.... nearly six hours earlier than when we left Sydney. Then it is a short three hour layover in LAX before we board our Westjet flight to Calagary (in Canada). Where we have a one hour layover. Not really much time to do anything else than to get our butts from the international terminal to the domestic terminal and jump on our final flight of the day at 7:45pm from Calgary to Kelowna International Airport, BC. Where once again, thru the magic of time travel with will land at 7:45pm. Yes, that's right... the same time we take off in Calagary.

Now for those who I haven't already bored to death with the details of our trip, Kelowna is the sub-alpine town (like Jindabyne & Cooma here in Australia) for Big White, but it is the size of Parramatta. Upon landing we will shuttle bus it to The Sandman Hotel for some much needed sleep.

Our Big White accommodation is in a self-contained penthouse apartment, so the plan of attack is for the girls (Mum, Diane, Karmen, Casey & me) to do 10 days worth of grocery shopping when we finally wake up on the Sunday (Feb 6) at the Save-On Foods in Kelowna, just across the road from the Orchard Park Shopping Centre, which is just across the road from The Sandman Hotel.

The boys (Dad, Bob and Darren) and the kids (Tayla, Riley, Jack & Kody) will probably browse the shops at Orchard Park. The the shuttle bus will pick them up from the hotel with all the bags, then come get us from the supermarket with all the groceries (boxed) and drive us up the mountain to Big White Ski Resort.

In my next post, I will share some information about the penthouse apartment we will be living in at Big White.

Till then...

It's been a while......

BLOG - Jan 3, 2011 Yes, I know. It has been a long time since I have blogged. To be exact, it has been 19 months. Have I felt guilty? Only when Rachael harasses me about it.... cause really I know she is the only one that reads my blog. Will I endeavour to blog more? Yes, that is the plan. Although, for the next little while the posts will not be about scrapbooking, cardmaking or papercrafting in general. You see, in just on 33 days my extended family and I will leave this great land we call home and fly to Canada where we will spend ten days of FAMILY TIME at Big White Ski Resort. Then on to Las Vegas for some ADULT TIME and finally onto Los Angeles for KID TIME (well, admittedly this will also be BIG KID TIME too). My Uncle Bob has also resurrected his blog to document the trip as well.... but he and Aunty Diane (Didi) are only with us for the Canada portion of the trip and then he branches off for a train adventure across the USA. So, if you want to follow the adventures of our family as we play tourist in Canada and the USA, then stay tuned to my updates right here. See you soon.