Canadian Road Trip

Haven’t had a great deal of time or internet in the last couple of months. I’ve been on a road trip with my man lover Matt. We left Courtenay, on Vancouver Island on the 1st of May and spent a month and a half on the road seeing the sights. It took us a month and a half in my 1985 Toyota Tercel. My biggest worry was the car (Harry, named after a former student) breaking down. We made it there and back without anything too major happening though. Tire blew out on the highway and the transmission was a bit shit. We got all the way to Halifax on the East coast of Canada and back. We camped when we could, stayed at Matt’s rels or friends, or stayed in a cheap skanky hotel as a last resort. Matt has a great camping kitchen, and we spent most of the trip eating crap we’d heated from a can, soup and chili, or pasta mainly.

We saw and did so damn much, I’ll try and just stick to the highlights:

- Canada’s Wonderland! Just outside Toronto. Matt had never been on a rollercoaster before, so this was quite the experience. He’s the kinda guy who likes to mountain bike down a crazy hill, white water Kayak, or jump off a cliff. That stuff scares the shit out me, roller coasters scared the shit outta him. He still went on every ride I dragged him on. It was a damn good day (for me at least). Most of the roller coasters were pretty old and rickety, the newer one, Bohemeth was my fave.

- Quebec city (where the girls are pretty?). The old part is freakin’ beautiful, how I imagine parts of Europe to look. Cobble roads, old buildings etc, plenty of charm. We were staying at this super cute hostel right in the old part. It had this super cute courtyard and b-fast was provided, mmm mmm. Quebec is a province in Canada, mainly French speaking. Quebec city is the capital. Quebecs liquor laws in chilled out hippy BC would be awesome. You can buy booze all hours, relatively cheaply, and from anywhere, corner stores etc. It was ace.

- Me, being an idiot, left the trunk (boot) of the car open when we went to sleep. Lucky animal sounds woke Matt up. Scared the shit outta me, I thought it was a freakin’ bear. Lucky it was only a raccoon though. Mother fucker nicked some Mr Noodles (2 minute noodles). Lucky we caught him in time, Matt scared him away and closed the boot. In the morning we discovered little paw prints over quite a few things, apparently if left to his own devices he would have invited all his friends and demolished everything in the car, so lucky Matt got onto it early. We heard him come back sniffing around for more once he’d finished his noodles.

- Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.). Super cute province/Island out East. We caught the Ferry over, and the Confederation bridge (longest bridge in the world or some shit) back. Super cute houses, red soil, Ann of Green Gables. Good times.

- Matt’s relative David. We stayed with him on Cape Breton Island, in Nova Scotia. He was just so lovely, had our time planned out for us, gave us travel advice, woke us up in the morning and had break fast ready. Made super awesome dinners (shrimp/sun dried tomato pasta one night, Newfoundland Steaks – A.K.A. Baloney and home made baked beans the next). He was full of great stories, a great relief to have someone other than each other to talk to.

- Halifax pubs, so many, so many beers, so good. Went on an Alexander Keith’s Brewery tour. Set up old timey, guides in costumes speakin’ old school. Beer, singing and games at the end. Pretty decent.

- White water rafting at Matt’s old workplace. He guided the boat I was in. Had a steak dinner, camp fire and a sauna in the evening.

- Nelson. Super cute town in BC, could see myself spending much more time there. Surrounded by forests/mountains. Right next to this big beautiful lake. Nice sized town, pretty hippy.

- Grizzly bear playing with a big ball at Toronto Zoo.

- Adding to my pressed penny collection.

- Swan Lake hot springs. I’d been hanging out for some hot springs that weren’t just a big pool full of hot spring water. These ones were the real deal, rock pool right next to a river.

There’s so much more, but that will do for now. Back on the Island, got a job as a lifty on Mount Washington for the down hill mountain biking season. Pretty boring right now, still snow on the mountain. Went snow boarding last weekend, crazy, the opened up just for the weekend. Moved into a condo on the mountain with this British girl. Dunno what to do once this finishes in September. Winter season doesn’t start till Mid-late December. That’s 3 months without work. Tempted to just come back to Aus, mmm, two summers in a row.

Road Trippin’

I fucked off Tofino right quick. Ended up working for 4 days and left. Everything was just too expensive, couldn’t find accommodation for man friend, everyone at work hated the place. Decided to pack up and head on a road trip across Canada. Fuck Yeah! I was worried I wouldn’t actually commit to doing this. Deciding where to go and what to do is not my strong point. If I left when I did, I could bring Man friend along with me though. That was the deciding factor. So with a loaded car and no real plans except that we wanted to get to Halifax we set off.

Up to day 15 today. All we’ve really done is get across the bloody country. It’s an epic fucking drive that’s for damn sure. Currently in Alexandria, Ontario, in between Montreal and Ottawa. We wanna get as far as Halifax. We’re trying to do it on a budget, so we’re staying in a tent as much we can, and eating easy/cheap stuff, like chili from a can, soup from a can, pasta from a jar… certainly missing the fresh fruit and veg.

We left a little too early on… on the first night of camping it started raining while we were putting up our tent. Over night it sounded like it had stopped raining, but there was something kinda sliding down the tent. When we woke up in the morning there was a good inch or two of snow cover on the ground. Pretty exciting camping… unfortunate I’m not a super big fan of cold weather. Makes it shitty when you get to a camp, there’s no fire wood, and it’s fucking cold. All you can really do is heat some food, and get into the sleeping bags.

I saw a moose! Two of the bastards! Definitely a trip highlight. I thought I’d leave Canada without seeing one of the fuckers. Like 5 mins after the moose sighting we saw a mother and baby black bear too. So cool. Also saw some coyotes this trip. Plenty of new wildlife.

Traveling with someone else sure has its trials. We’re doing orright though. Plan to head to Quebec City, Fredericton, Halifax, PEI, Montreal, Toronto and Niagra Falls then head back West. Real worried about not having enough time though. See how it goes.

Goggle tans, Tofino, A new car and Overseas loving

My days at Mt Washington are over. I have had a mother freakin’ excellent snow season. I have come out of the other side of my first Canadian winter alive and have had a freakin’ excellent time. I can now snowboard anywhere on Mt Washington. Sometimes I get stuck in snow in the trees after massive pow days (Powder days, days after a lot of snow), but other than that, I think I’ve done pretty well for my first season. I’d be tempted to come back for a second. Who knows.

Apparently getting a tan line from your goggles is a cool thing to do. I think it just looks fucking stupid. What is considered cool on a mountain is totally freakin’ ridiculous. It’s like a big fashion show, who has the latest/hottest/most expensive goggles, snowboard/boots, jacket, pants, gloves, socks, the most neon coloured outfit. It’s an expensive endeavour. I survived the season in 10 dollar jacket, 10 dollar pants, found goggles/gloves, rental boots/board. Still managed to see out the end of the season with no money some how. Good for me.

I recently bought a new car. It’s an 1985 Toyoto Tercel wagon. He’s a beast (Harry, named after student in my class in Aus). Cars are expensive, but damn, so convenient, esp living in small town with minimal public transportation. Broke down after the first few weeks, but managed to be fixed by excellent alternator fixer dude at a reasonable price. Lucky for me my man lover is also an all around Mr fix it.





Which leads me to Overseas loving. I still haven’t decided if it’s a good or bad idea. Dad did leave me with the warning that I wasn’t to fall in love with any Canadian boys. He wanted me firmly based in Australia. I’ve had a couple of attempts at relationships here. It’s worked out pretty fine so far though. I don’t wanna live in Canada forever though, so it does seem risky, asking for a broken heart, I guess as long as boundaries/intentions are set it should be all good. Still gonna be heart break, so many good times are had though. Worth it.

Just moved to Tofino yesterday, small tourist trap, surf town on west coast of Vancouver Island. Got this job at Weigh West Marine, whale watching, charter fishing, kayak tour, hotel company place. Had first day of training today, seems like a bit of a shit show, deff has potential to be decent though, wont judge it too soon. Sucks coz things are so expensive here, so small, one grocery store. I want my man lover to move here to stay with me for a couple months, they are saying no to him staying with at staff accom, so gotta try and sneak him here or something. Gonna be pretty hard to find alternative accom, expensive, limited.

Victoria

I went on a weekend adventure to Victoria this weekend just past. It’s so much nicer than Vancouver, not too big, not as many homeless people, much cleaner and the architecture is freakin’ amazing! It was big enough that there was tones of cool shit going down, plenty to see and do. Loved it.

Started my adventure off by being taken to a friend of a friend’s float home at Fisherman’s Warf for good times, good people, good food and good drinks. Super cute house, plenty of character (covered in unnecessary shit, loved it).

Spent the next day wandering around downtown, sussing out the shops and the buildings. Had a few beers in the sunshine, hell good. Walked along the beach. Super dooper. That night went to see Canadian dude Hawksley Workman and his band play. It was in this church, super good sound, good view, and good music.

Next day it was a bit rainy, so we went on a drive and checked out Hatley Castle, where the kids in xmen studied, pretty damn cool. Castles are the bomb. Went to French beach, it was raining and cold though. Went to Mount Douglas as well, super good view of Victoria.. again, raining and cold though. Perfect end to the weekend, ordered Chinese food, got some beer and watched honey I shrunk the kids.

Ended my trip with a train ride from Victoria to Courtenay. Can say I’ve been on a train journey in Canada now. Whoo hoo!

Only about 3 weeks left on the mountain, gonna be pretty sad to see it go. Might even be tempted to do another season here next year. Not really sure where to go or what to do next. Either work at a kayak rentals joint in Campbell River, an hour North of Courtenay, move back to Vancouver and work at Stanley Park again, or head out east and live and work in Halifax. Whatever I do, I wanna travel around the east side of Canada July/August, go to Burning Man end of August/start September, then probably head back to Oz after that.

Happy One Year Anniversary

The 28th of January marked the one year anniversary of my over seas travels. It seems like it should be something significant, I had meant to mark the occasion some how, and remember the moment, and feel its significance. I just kept forgetting throughout the day though. Felt like a normal every day. I had a beer...

I'm super glad that I've ventured out of Australia, out of my comfort zone and done something different, for me. I'm not sure if I've changed all that much, mabye I have, maybe I haven't, who cares, that wasn't the reason for my travels. I've seen, done and experienced some really cool shit that I wouldn't have seen/done/experienced other wise. I have met some mother fucking spectacular people who I never would have come across had I not left Australia. I have come across amazing kindness and generosity, this experience has opened my eyes a lot in that way. Thank you to all the lovely people out there. You are amazing.

Love!

Hollywood love drama

I had been seeing this guy while I was in Vancouver. He moved to Revelstoke and I moved to Courtenay, so we ended it. He called me recently to let me know that he has feelings for April, my Vancouver BFF. When I was living in Vancouver we were all real good mates with each other. Super close. Crazy shit… straight out of a Hollywood freakin’ movie. Didn’t/don’t know what to think about it all. It’s pretty nuts though.

Just realised how long I’ve really been away. I tried to vote in the Triple J hottest 100. I had only heard of one song though. I’d heard of plenty of bands, just wasn’t familiar with any of the new stuff, time to start streaming some JJJ online me thinks.

I’ll have been over seas for 1 year as of the 28th of January. Pretty exciting really I guess. Real happy I came here to try something new. Seen and done a whole bunch of shit I never would have done other wise.

I moved into town, got me a car bed, so life is pretty reasonable at the moment.