rec.autos.simulators

curtis

Thanks Dave,
Ash

|   Have fun Ash...Vancouver is an Absolutely stunning piece of real-estate.
| It's been years since I've been there, but take a Ferry somewhere,
anywhere,
| the Puget Sound is quite scenic.  Grouse Mountain was the ski hill, they
| have a tramcar to the summit.  Great views even if you don't ski.
|
|

An Ice-hockey game would be awesome, is there anywhere on the net I could
order the tickets?

As for accommodation, Paul Harrington recommended the "Centurary Plaza"
which is $89 / night with a full kitchen (which might save us some money as
we dont need to go out for dinner *every* night!) - that works out at around
40 / night. It seems pretty central too.  If anyone has any other
suggestions I wouldnt mind hearing them! :)

I think Grouse sounds ideal as it is very close and I am most definitely a
beginner :).  Never been on skis before.

Thanks for the help,
All the best,
Ash :)

| There are lots of decent motels in the Richmond area, as that area serves
| the airport. Like most cities, the downtown hotels are the most expensive
| but the benefit is you can just wander around downtown from your room
| instead of trying to find parking. There are also some very scary hotels
in
| the bad part of downtown - if your travel agent gets you a $20/night hotel
| right downtown you might want to consider bringing a gun <g>.
|
| As for skiing, since it's your first time I wouldn't recommend going to
| Whistler. It's a very long drive on a fairly scary road (if you've never
| driven in BC mountains). Grouse Mountain is right next to Vancouver and is
| aimed more at the beginner/casual skiier.
|
| If you can get tickets, maybe take in a Vancouver Canucks hockey game.
What
| could be more Canadian than that? Besides that, Van Dusen Gardens is very
| pretty on a nice day, the Pacific Science Centre is cool if you're into
| that, and there are always art galleries and such. And Stanley Park is a
| nice place to go for a wander.
|
| Rob
|

Thanks Dale!
Ash

|
| Wife says it was called Holland House.  Very nice place (a bit pricey but
| it's off-season now)
|
| http://www.hollandhouse.victoria.bc.ca/
|
| Dale.
|
|
|

12 days without GPL..... I never thought this day would come....DEFCON 2 :D

Ash

| More important, if you come to Victoria bring your PC and your wheel and
| you, me and Dale can have a little GPL LAN party <g>
|

Everything has been noted - I am starting to get a big list :)

| F440 track, by the ferry terminal:  Not sure how they match up to bigger
| city's go-karts, but if you rent the big fast car, it's fun, and you'll
get
| sore arms :-)
|

This is interesting, is it rental karts?  Or do you get to rake (a N.Ireland
term i think) a proper car about a track? :)

Thanks for the help!
Ash

I am sure I will feel right at home, all I need now is a few riots ;).

I am pretty certain I will be doing a little skiing, as its something I have
wanted to try for a long time, it is really handy that the mountains are
only a few minutes away as it means we can go and try it and be home for
dinner.

I'll not be arriving until 6th March (going home on the 17th) so hopefully
there will be enough snow by then..I really cant wait :)

I have manage to find a nice hotel near the centre for quite a small
amount - http://www.century-plaza.com - $89 / night - seems pretty nice too.

Expect a call around the 6th March :).

Thanks for the help
Ash

| The most important thing is to bring a REALLY BIG UMBRELLA as it's monsoon
| season here, but being from Ireland I guess that won't be much of an
adjustment
| for you ;-)  There are three local ski mountains, Grouse, Cypress, and
Seymour,
| all good for beginners. There was lots of fresh snow on the mountains a
couple
| days ago but it could all easily be washed away today, it's a bit early.
| Fellow gpl/ras guy Joachim Blum found a nice B&B when he was here a few
months
| ago, maybe chat with him about it(find his email address on GPLRank). Give
me a
| call when you in town and I'll take you down to the local pub.  Don
|

Thanks again,
Ash

Tickets: http://www.racesimcentral.net/

You probably won't have much choice, but the best games to see might be
against Calgary, Edmonton, or Colorado - all entertaining teams that also
have ongoing rivalries with Vancouver. If you see Toronto or Montreal you
might find it strange that half the arena will be cheering for the "away"
team. Those teams have fans everywhere.

Oh, and you might want to consider snowboarding instead of skiing. I've
heard it's easier for beginners to pick up and start having fun right away.
You get a sore ***and wrists out of it, but it's not quite as frustrating
as trying to coordinate two skis that want to go in different directions...

Hey Curtis, ya still riding? I'm always looking for fellow nutcases to go get
tickets with.  Don

--
Don Scurlock
Vancouver,B.C.

GPLRank     -15.27
MonsterRank  91.34

Come see how you rank, at the GPLRank site
http://newgplrank.schuerkamp.de/

Maybe not on Grouse. Vancouver get's spring early and even in February
sometimes the flowers are already out.

I think if you're highly skilled and/or have desirable experience you've got
a chance here.  I'm changing jobs and it took a long time to find my
replacement.  No one from BC was suitable, we ended up hiring from Ontario.

At the other end of the scale there's always work in the service sector but
that can be seasonal.

I think (and I'm no expert) that the job market in between those two
extremes is going to be a bit tight for a while.

We have a new technology park opening that's supposed to bring a lot of
high-tech work here but 9/11 seems to have put a damper on things.  Also
between a lumber pissing contest with the US and 9/11 killing the economy
the forest industry here is in a downslide.

Dale.

Tickets?  You said you rode a bike, didn't you? :-)
(just kidding)

Curtis

ps - A very good friend of mine (and fellow GPLer) has an R6 and is a very
good rider and I would assume always up for some action.
pps - a pic of my old highly-modified (sp?) RZ-350
http://curtisbuckley.com/school/fatstoppie.jpg
(of course I couldn't show one of it just parked.. that's not showin' off!
:-)