Back home, sob, sob

Had a fab flight from Vancouver to LA though. Flew out directly over the ferry route back from Vancouver Island that we took only last Monday. And then south across Washington State which was a blanket of cloud with just the odd snow-capped mountain poking its head through. Finally there was a brilliant red sunset to view. Did have to get a move on in LA to catch the connecting flight to New York but got there with a whole 20 minutes to spare. Then a little bit of sleep on the 4.5 hour flight before arriving in NY at 7am!!!! Why Vancouver to New York via LA I hear you ask? Well for some ridiculous reason only known to the airline companies, it is cheaper to do it that way than to fly direct. ???? Then one final mostly lazy day in New York finishing off a few things (like collecting my now-repaired original camera).

Even managed to take in American football game even though Ticketbastard (sorry TicketMaster) tried to stop me. Ticketmaster seem to be like a lot of Americans and don't seem to realise there is a whole world outside of North America. First their web site would only let me specify a credit card billing address in the US or Canada. Having been stopped by that, I then found an actual retail location in Tower Records, only to be told that tickets for the NY Giants could only be bought over the internet (!) or by phone. So over the street to a payphone to find that the Ticketmaster phone system has some fancy speech recognition software that can't seem to cope with anything other than a US accent. Finally (after about 15 minutes) got through to a real human being who sold me a ticket but couldn't release it. That needed someone from customer services (another long hold on the phone). Spent more time going through the order details with them before they proudly announce that they don't make sales against non-US credit cards. Bastard then proceeded to cancel the order. I bet they thought they'd fobbed me off - oh no, I'm nothing if not persisent. Next stop was the Giants website to find if they have a ticket office at the stadium. Yes, so another phone call and the good news that if I headed out to the Meadowlands I could buy a ticket on the night. Yes. And at face value too. No Ticketmaster "convenience" fee.

Coolest city so far?

In terms of cities, Vancouver has got to be the most beautiful place on the planet (that I've seen so far). The location is just wonderful: surrounded by water, beaches, mountains. Wow. Wish I could stay longer and do more exploring. But tempus fugit as they say, so now in the stage of packing to head back to the UK :-((((

So just a few photos from Vancouver and around to finish off this leg of my trip and then off to the airport.


Capilano Suspension bridge: hangs 230 ft above the gorge floor, and is another place surrounded with tall trees. You can even get up some of these as they have run a walkway through some of the Douglas Firs that at its highest is 100 ft up.





Grouse Mountain: black bear wasn't the only entertainment up there. They have a couple of grizzlies that were orphaned as cubs and have been hand-reared. Plus there is a bird show, lumberjack show, and trail to follow (I walked to the top of both Goat Mountain and Grouse Mountain). However I suppose I cheated really because I didn't do the Grouse Grind. This is a timed walk/run from the bottom of the Gondola run to the plateau almost at the top of the mountain. This takes upwards of 40 minutes (depending how fast you run/walk) and the gondola takes only 7!

And on top of the all the beautiful scenery, they're really up to date with their technology. Look an Electric Internet Cafe!Haven't found the steam-powered one yet but I'm sure its out there somewhere. After all, they do have a steam-powered clock.

Double moose - part 2, act 2

OK, here come the answers to all those cliffhangers left at the end of the previous episode:

Did everyone make it to Victoria? Well, no! Three of the Brits decided to stay on in Tofino for an extra couple of days. Meant the bus was less packed, but also meant us English speakers were even more outnumbered.

As for alcohol, read on. However first lets keep track of the journey down to Victoria. First part of this was pretty much the reverse of the the 1st day's journey from Nanaimo to Tofino, but just with different stop off points. First break was at a coffee shop in Tofino - can't think what it was that told John we were in need of an intake of caffeine. Anyway after that we had a nice stroll to and along Long Beach in the morning sea mist with a bit of football, frisbie, and volleyball thrown in en route. The insanity club kept up its reputation: yep, Claudia and me went swimming again (once we found the ocean - Long Beach is very flat and the tide was out). This provided amusement for some of the rest of the group. The number of photos and video footage taken made it seem almost like we were being hounded by the paparazzi.

Next stop was at Cathedral Grove, an area with some very old trees (800 years). Could have spent a long time there just gazing up at the trees. The photo is our depleted Moose group of 17 standing in front of the tallest tree (66 metres high). You should have seen the queue of tourists waiting to get to the tree by the time John had taken photos of us with 17 different cameras (sorry, make that 18 - Claudia had two cameras!).

And so we continued our journey to Tofino via a little village (whose name I forget at the moment) to look at the murals that are painted on a lot of the buildings. Wasn't particularly impressed but did manage to buy a very nice smoothie. Stopped off at a lake just outside Victoria for a swim. Location was beautiful and water was very pleasant. Had a little tour around Victoria in the minibus before arriving at our hostel.

Dinner was arranged at a very good Caribbean restaurant just across the street from the hostel. Food was excellent, as was the beer and cocktail selection. V cheap pitchers too. Per quite enjoyed himself!

Having been suitably fed and (partially?) watered, we set off down to the harbour to see the BC parliament buildings lit up. Opinion was mixed on this - looked a bit Blackpool-ish to me. Just loads of white lights outlining all of the building. Hopefully someone else will have a photo I can put up here later - I didn't bother taking any. And so on to Big Bad John's for more (cheap) beer and Jagermeister. I know there are photos out there of this event too - hopefully they'll stay hidden for a while to protect the innocent. And so back to the hostel to continue working through the beer mountain in the moose cooler. And so to bed sometime between 3 & 4 (I think).

I think I've now covered the topic of alcohol, so on to the next day in Victoria.

Somehow, despite the alcohol and the late night, I was up bright and early. Actually make that I was up early. Went on the hunt for a coffee shop and an ATM (found that after the night before I had the grand total of $5 left in my pocket). First question in the coffee shop was "how strong would you like it?". Of course the answer was "How strong can you make it?". Having filled the bloodstream with caffeine, then explored Chinatown with a couple of the girls before forming a larger group to go and explore the Parliament building and the coast.


Walk down to the breakwater was a bit longer than expected but worth it for the view. Could see right across to Washington State (that's it in the background of the photo to the right).


Met up with John, Valerie, and Dominique on the way back. They took the high road and we took the low road! Made for a good photo though.





And so on to a beach just around the coast for a spot of sunbathing. Kristen decided to be brave and paddle in the water, which of course inspired your idiot of an author to go and throw himself in for a swim. Threw myself back out almost as quickly.

And then (all too soon) it was to head back to the hostel, load up the bus, and head for Vancouver. Numbers were even more depleted by now - think we were down to 14 now hacing lost two more Brits and our lone Spaniard. had a lovely ferry ride back across to Vancouver and then the city appeared and it was time to start saying goodbye to everyone as we dropped them off at their hostels (or luxury spa hotel in the case of two of the germans!).

Another moose tour done, more new friends made, more goodbyes. That's the only trouble with travelling - you meet some wonderful people who most likely you'll never see again.

Double moose - part 2, act 1

The German trip!

Second trip was across from Vancouver to Vancouver Island for four days of sun, fun, alcohol, and wild times. Started out thinking that the trip would be a complete disaster. I mean look at the line up of nationalities: 6 Germans, 2 Swiss, 1 Belgian, 6 English, 2 Canadians, 1 Spanish, 1 Japanese, and only 1 Irish. Where is the Aussie? How can a backpacker trip run without one? Also the native English speakers were outnumbered by the German language gang and you know what a reputation the Germans have for not knowing how to have fun. Well, after four days with them, I will defend any German against that charge. This was by far the best trip so far (even beating the Algonquin trip). Not only was the scenery absolutely stunning, the driver/guide was wicked, the alcohol flowed freely (or at least very cheaply), and the wildlife turned up right on time. Plus the added bonus of the gender mix being very much weighted towards the female of the species (incl John the guide, there were only 5 guys out of a total of 21).


Started with the normal tour around the city picking up everyone from various hostels. Per provided the first comedy moment by still being in bed when the bus rolled up. Arrived downstairs looking just a little (!) sleepy 5 mintues later. Alex (henceforth known as the king of bullshit) then proceeded to convince him that the bus he had got on was the wrong one. Poor guy wandered bleary-eyed down the bus to ask John the driver whether we really going to Vancouver Island and not the Rockies as Alex had just convinced him.

First break from the bus was the ferry across to Nanaimo during which someone turned on the wind machine. Lovely and sunny encouraging you to head up on deck just in case any whales happened to appear near the boat. Eventually we headed downstairs for a good talk on the ecology of the area which passed most of the time before docking. Then headed to a lovely set of falls for lunch and on across the island passing lakes, rivers, forests, and an occasional village. Final stop was a quick look at Long Beach (and an even quicker dipping of feet in the water) before finishing up in the small town of Tofino and a great hostel almost right on the water (and more importantly only just down the hill from a bar).

Obviously a very good night ensued. Group cooking of pasta and consumption of beers bought on route. Made the mistake of deciding to sample a fairly local Canadian cider. V nasty - way way too sweet. Then off to the bar for 80s night. I was right at home! And finally another couple of nasty ciders down by the water just below the hostel.


Saturday was spent on a day-long zodiac boat and activity trip. First part of the day was spent hugging the coast line of the multitude of islands trying to spot bears on the shore. V successful - two of the critters gave good views to the watching crowd.










Then it was on to a set of hot springs that flow into the ocean. Had a lovely walk from the boat drop-off through a beautiful forest with some enormous trees (tree size demonstrated by my glamorous assistant Claudia below).Springs were wonderful too - almost too hot to start with but very relaxing once you'd been in there a while. Claudia also spotted a lovely pool down by the ocean. Try and guess the temperature of this in comparison to the pools. Clue 1 comes from the phrase "down by the ocean"! Yep, bloody freezing. Anyway some of us decided we were going to take the plunge anyway and whilst Per and myself played scissors, paper, stone to decide who should go in first, Claudia bravely threw herself in. Obviously being guys and not wanting to be upstaged by a girlie, that meant we both had to follow. This foolhardy act was followed very soon by a dash back to the hot pools. Did also go down to the ocean for a dip as well and Niamh bravely joined us. Finished this part of the day with Claudia and yours truly proving that we were the most in need of being locked away in an asylum when we went back to the cold pool for a swim!

Anyway having survived that without losing any body parts to the icy water, we headed back to the boat and on to the whale watch part of the trip. Return trip was out into the offshore ocean which made it a lot more roller-coaster like and far more exhilarating than the outward journey. Finally spotted more boats moving slowly on the water (which I now know for certain is the easiest way to spot that there are whales around). Had distant glimpses of three orcas swimming slowly along. Our captain tried to position the boat to get the best view of them, but they were swimming far more slowly than he had reckoned, so we overtook them. However he then just turned the engines off and waited for them to surface. Well, he is either very very clever or very very lucky: the whales surfaced exactly in line with the boat and only 20 or 30 metres away. Wow!!!!
What a day.
Obviously we had to celebrate our luck by having a bbq back at the hostel accompanied by a few more beers (lager this time - replenished supplies meant I could forget attempting Canadian cider). And then naturally it was time to go to the pub. And then an early night (not too long after midnight from what I remember).

Enough for now: stayed tuned for the next thrilling instalment. Act 2 to follow shortly when we find our heroes travelling south to the provincial capital of Victoria. Will they all make it? Do any fail to cope with the pace? And just how much alcohol can they consume in Big Bad John's? Find out next time.

Double moose - part 1

OK, been away for a few days so let's bring the travel story more up to date.

Managed to book another couple of trips with Moose travel. Trip 1 (henceforth known as the Irish trip) was a two day trip up to Whistler from Vancouver. Weather was crap on morning of day 1 so all stops at viewpoints were can'd 'cos all we would have seen were clouds. Had a full bus for this trip - 20 of us from the UK,Belgium, Germany, Austria, and of course Oz. There were also 2 girls from N.Ireland and 2 guys from the Republic. Chalet in Whistler was cool - ski lodge in winter charging about $1800 a week per person, and hostel in summer charging $28 a night. Thought we were going to have hostesses from continental Europe again when they were introduced as Erika and Heidi. But no, Heidi is from Devon and Erika from Essex.

Spent most of my time with a female vicar from London (had to make sure conversation stayed away from religion) - did the mandatory trip up in the gondola up Whistler Mountain first (the weather had improved by now). Had special added bonus on the trip when the cable stopped just as a bear walked across the mountainside almost directly below us. Couldn't do the final assault on the summit 'cos the final chair lift had just closed for the day and there wasn't time for the 90 minute round trek before the gondola amso stopped for the day. Managed to get my feet into the snow though. Bought a ticket that combined gondola with some other activities: luge and mini golf. Had trouble finding the luge, so asked someone. Response was "Oh, you mean the kiddies' slide. Well, its over there". Turned out to be sled type things running down a metal track. Could get up to speeds of more than 30 km/h though. Yes, we went on it anyway.


Then headed back to the chalet and met up with the crowd who had been staying there since the previous day and were going to head back to Vancouver with us the following day - a few Brits and Aussies plus another 5 or 6 from Ireland. Well, as you can problably guess from that mix of nationalities, a very good night's drinking was had by all. Don't think Erika was too impressed that the revelry went on quite as late as it did: "Keep the noise down a bit babe"; and "no more music now babe" - I did say she was from Essex didn't I?

Did manage to survive to Thursday and even managed to get out of bed at a reasonable hour only to find it was raining again. Still went back to the village with the Rev. Sarah to play mini golf (we'd already paid for the tickets the day before and weren't going to waste them). Needless to say, we were the only two idiots on the course!

Then we had another wet drive back to Vancouver for 1 night's recovery b4 Moose 2, part 2.

Yes, seen my 1st wild bear

What do you mean by "you can't see the bear"

OK, for those who have poor eyesight, I get to show off the zoom lens on my new camera. Here's another shot taken from the same spot:

Stanley Park wild(?)life

And so on to the west coast for the final two weeks of this trip.
Loving Vancouver, especially Stanley Park - lots of trees, water, animals, birds (some slightly wilder than others!). Whilst trying to get a photo of the woodpecker, almost got mugged by a grey squirrel (yes, I know its black - seems to be a common feature of Canadian squirrels. I've seen more black grey squirrels than grey ones!). Then came across the last chap in this set of photos as he was about to raid a girls's backpack. Anyone got a caption to go with the photo? I'll open the game with "For what we are about to receive ...."

Can't organise a p*ss up in a brewery?

Don't worry, let Steam Whistle do it for you.

Yep, finally found something good in Toronto city centre. Right by the
CN Tower there is a micro-brewery (they brew one pilsner lager only) that does tours. Tour costs less than 6 Canadian dollars and includes a free 1/3 pint glass or bottle opener. Best of all though is that they fill your glass up before the tour, and then fill it up again as soon as you empty the 1st one, and then fill it up again before you start the tour. Then you get the introduction to the tour. And after that, guess what? Yep, you go back through the bar so that glasses can be re-filled. Then after the tour is over seemingly endless refills follow. I suppose there probably is a limit but I reckon that if you turn up a little earlier than your tour time, then you could probably get through at least two pints or maybe even three and all for the cost of a single pint of lager back home. Think I've found the ideal attraction for a rainy day!

Better still was the fact that I didn't even have to pay for the ticket 'cos I won it in a friendly (non-monetary) game of poker at the hostel I'm staying in. Levi from the staff organises social events most nights of the week (bowling, pub crawls, poker, trips to the theate, baseball, comedy clubs, .......) and the poker is just one of them.

Falls, moose, beaver, and poker

Now where did I get to with this blog? Oh yes, I remember - being bored in Toronto.

Well I relieved the boredom a little by taking another trip to Niagara Falls to see more of the Candian side and also to see them lit up at night. Very cool. Also had a few fireworks laid on. Started with a walk down to the White Water Rapids which was awesome - grade 6 (i.e. a grade above anything you're allowed to raft on!). Seems more people have been killed in the rapids over the years than by the Falls themselves (including Captain Matthew Webb just after he became the 1st person to swim the English Channel).
Then took the Aero Car over the Whirlpool which gave a great view. And then sat out a torrential downpour of rain before the fireworks.




Then headed out an adventure trip with Moose Travel. Beaver trip was a three day excursion up to Algonquin Provincial Park and back. It was good to get out of the cities and to see a bit of wild Canada. We started as a small select group of 3 Brits, a German, 1 Swiss, and a token Aussie which was a good number. Meant everyone got to know everyone else quite quickly. Went hiking, swimming, visited Petroglyphs centre, swimming again, canoeing, sliding down waterfalls, and more swimming (after all, it was the hottest Ontario whether so far this year). Were joined by another German and two Aussies for the trip back to Toronto (hence the larger number of people in the mandatory "Moose" photo above).

Finally for now, final days in Toronto were spent playing more poker (for money this time - almost won but had to surrender my $10 stake to Levi at the end of the evening), kayaking around Toronto Islands, and avoiding the rain.

Next stop: Vancouver.