Well the Olympics are done and I’m feeling a little POD (Post Olympic Depression), so be prepared for a very lengthy post that has nothing to do with being creative, photography or inspiration.

When I first moved to Vancouver I was told that it was nicknamed the “No Fun City” by the locals. If anyone set foot in Vancouver in the past fortnight, they would find that hard to believe. I come from one of the biggest party cities on the planet, so I know what a crazy party town looks like and Vancouver is up there with the best of them.

I was told Vancouver was not behind these Olympics for many different reasons but all of that negativity seemed to vanish once that torch was lit. There are so many moments that I will remember from these games and so many moments that I am going to miss:

• Watching the games with Canadians, Aussies, Americans, Norwegians and Russians in noisy bars across town.
• The Holland Heineken House with it’s rowdy Dutchmen, love of speed skating and sauerkraut.
• Hanging out at Robson Square with what felt like the rest of the world.
• Seeing spunky Stephen Colbert live and up close and checking out his finely coiffed do.
• Falling in love with Virtue and Moir- seeing him jump into his brothers’ arms still makes me teary.
• Walking down Robson St with a sea of red and white.
• Hearing Swedish hockey fans share their traditional chant with the hockey crowd.
• Having nightly twitter conversations with lovely friends about the figure skaters’ ridiculous outfits.
• The Norwegian Curling Pants!
• The endless hilarity the Canadian and I had whilst making fun of the same 4 advertisements that were played over and over throughout the coverage- I’m in Ontario, y’all! We can both now do an awesome Ryan Reynolds “Laaaiiid Back” impression.
• Getting high fives from random strangers on the street.
• Watching girls scream and boys call “Go Canada!” as they soared across the zipline.
• Standing in a crowd of proud Canadians as they sing their national anthem in unison.
• Playing “Spot the Aussie” with myself as I walked around town. Calling out to other Aussies to have them respond with a wide smile and a “Go Aussie!” back. Being here made me feel really proud to be Australian.
• Seeing these crazy American kids taking their life into their own hands as they bravely waved their flags at a HUGE Canadian crowd on the opposite side of the road. It was a hilarious moment. Watch the video here.

But my most favourite moment of all was after the Gold medal hockey game between the Canada and US. As I said on twitter, one thing that I found awesome was the number of Canadians congratulating and shaking hands with Americans in the streets after the game. The Canadians really are that polite.

Whether you get to actually see any events at the Olympic Games, for me the greatest thing is soaking up the atmosphere and interacting with people from all over the world. I am not Canadian, yet being amongst the passion of the Canadian supporters has been amazing and brought me to tears a number of times. The feeling in the city was electric and happiness exuded out of every pore in every person on the street. I did not come across one grumpy person the whole time.

Thank you Vancouver for an amazing time. Thank you Canada for being awesome.

Related posts:

1. Vancouver Polaroids