In a couple minutes, I will turn 24 years old. For the first time in my life (at least what I can remember of it!), I won’t be having a birthday party with my friends. I’ve decided to go low key this year, and just take some time to have one with my family. I don’t mind getting older… it just means more opportunities and things to look forward to in life! (Not to mention being older can definitely help at work, where age isn’t always a good thing)

For my “birthday weekend”, Allan took me to my favourite place on earth, Tofino… where we got to watch some storms and surf. It was pretty gnarly out there, but we still had a great time. You look forward to the big waves all year… it just sucks when they become a washing machine and don’t clean up nice at all for big wave riding. Nevertheless, we still had a great time being in the ocean and being close to the beach.

Leaf by a tree in Port Albert (by the beer store )

Who ever thought we’d see gas below a dollar in our lifetime?

We checked out Chesterman Beach… but the waves were too small and they weren’t even clean. But at least the view is always pretty!

We stayed at 1431 Cox Bay. What a nice treat away from cold weather camping! It’s always brutal when you get out of the cold ocean and crawl into a cold tent… having a hot bath is a real luxury.

MMmm smoothies. We decided to stay in and cook most of the weekend… for dessert I made kiwi and grape smoothies with yogurt and ice! Definitely refreshing and nice to have by the fire.

On the drive back, we mounted the GoPro camera to the outside of the car to take some footage of my favourite drive in the world. Video coming soon.

It’s a tradition in Port Alberni and surrounding areas to cover Cathedral Grove and the drive to Port Alberni with the pumpkins from Halloween!

There are hundreds of pumpkins and it is really a sight to see the orange pumpkins set amidst the forest backdrop.

This photo was treacherously taken as I sat on the windowsill of a car moving at 120 clicks… and it didn’t even come out great. Oh well

Here’s a video of Allan surfing at Cox Bay with his gorgeous Robert August vintage board. Videos of the drive will be posted shortly.

In other news, the Canucks lost tonight in the shootout. A real shame to see them lose this game, even with Burnaby Joe gone from the lineup for the Avs and the Canucks pretty much at full strength. I would’ve loved to see Wellwood get a bit more of a handle on the puck out there. Also, haha… Canuck favourite (now Senator) Jarkko Ruutu gets suspended for elbowing someone in the face. Classic! Man, I miss Ruutu. Also, Brian Burke stepping down from the Ducks. Big news!

It’s definitely no secret among my group of friends that I like toys. Snowboarding toys, surfing toys, photography toys, computer toys, video games… ah, it never ends.

I just ordered the GoPro Helmet Hero 5 Wide Angle. I already have an underwater housing for a Nikon DSLR and my compact digital camera for videos on the slopes etc, but there’s always such a big gap between when I’m taking photos/videos of others, and when I’m partaking in the actual activity. The GoPro seems like the perfect compromise and addition to my gear. The best thing? It’s waterproof to 100 feet and cold resistant.

Photo Credit: GoProcamera.com

I ordered the Helmet cam version of it, because it’ll come in handy for snowboarding videos. I’ve been a skier my whole life, and so it’s always been easy to take videos of my snowboarding friends. Now that I’m in love with snowboarding, it’s become increasingly difficult to take videos of my friends and even lug around a big DSLR. Not to mention that Helmet Cam should come in handy for the catboarding trip in Feb.

I also bought the suction cup add-on for the GoPro. It’s meant to attach to surfboards and snowboards, and will give that “low to the ground” angle motion shot. They say the suction cup has been tested on staying on airplanes. We’ll see.

It’s a shame the camera won’t show up until after my next Tofino surf session in a week, but I’m sure it’ll get plenty of play before the end of the year. I’ll probably bring out my housing and fins for that weekend instead.

In another realm of “toys”, our living room has finally got a proper upgrade from sitting on the floor for the past two weeks. We got a brand new leather sectional couch, and a new Samsung 40″ TV. We’ve got a couple more pieces coming so I’ll wait for the “full” living room shot till we’re done the makeover.

Man, it’s so easy to have so much fun in Vancouver! Bring on the snow and the waves!

Got any new toys you are excited about?