My 34th Birthday, in Canada……

Well, I have reached the ripe old age of 34! Still not sure what I want to do with myself, so wisdom may have passed me by for another year. I’ll keep an eye out for it this year, see if I can catch a quick glimpse!

What else is there for a grown man of my age to do on his birthday? Go tubing of course! With all the snow around, it was a must. So hot chocolates in flasks, snow gear on, we ventured forth to Big White! Mum and Dad too.

“Tubing”, as the Canadians have dubbed it, is the act of throwing yourself solo, or as a group down specially carved slopes, some slow some fast, in nohing more than inflatable tyres. (Big White has the biggest of these tubing runs in America, apparently. Check out the website.)

So, amazingly without any form of crash helmet, considering their strict policy on cyclists, a fun filled 2 hours was had, as a giant kid, his son, daughter and missus, hurtled down numerous runs, in a “train”, in a “spinning circle” and head first. What else is there to do on your birthday?

The Polar Bear Swim……

Somehow, I’m not sure exactly how, I along with Leigh found ourselves entered in the Peachland Polar Bear Swim. This consisted of a short dip in the freezing cold waters of Lake Okanagan!

Luckily, wetsuit in hand, I felt I would be able to manage it with ease, Leigh felt the same and borrowed my brothers. Samuel, on the other hand, nutcase that he is, felt he was tough to brave the onslaught of zero degree water in just his shorts! Fancy dress was optional, as this was a regular pastime for a couple of the people we joined up with, having it would seem undertaken numerous Polar bear Swims from across Britsh Columbia down into the United States.

Was the water cold? Samuel managed about 10 secs, Leigh and I managed about 3 mins……. The wetsuits did their job fine, but with nothing on our hands and feet, they were stinging like nothing I had felt before. I’d even take surfing in the winter over the Polar Bear Swim. Don’t let us put anyone off for next year though. The winners, a guy in his 20’s and a young girl managed 15 mins. Mind you, a little overweight, he admitted he had his own “wetsuit”. He was an odd bright red colour though……