BootsnAll Travel Blogs

fairly uneventful trip today: went to the hills/mouintains around the city via various sites within the city (including the library which is a new building designed around the Roman Colosseum – its big airy and completely free to residents (up to 60 books/music dvd’s etc.)

the tour was led by Eric – an ex-danish fella….”hello, helloo, hello” (sorry, in-joke)
met Canuck Steve from just outside Detroit….nice fella…works in Baghdad!…and has been SHOT 3 times…..all ricochets, so he has the scars (including one on his foreheed) but none of the long lasting issues (apparently the compound he works on is fired on ALL DAY!!) – and he’s lost 3 friends to sniper fire in the last year
…suddenly working in a chocolate factory doesnt seem so bad, eh?

anyhoo….organised pub crawl from the hostel tonight……oh lord!

laterz

well….wot a nite!
…I was waiting in the lobby of the hostel ready to go out and who walks in?…..the Leicester lads Steve and Chris!!!…..wot a shocker! and some coincidence eh?
so, the quiet-ish nite turned into another drinkfest: we only went to 4 pubs (I think) but I managed to be the top pool player in the one -even with Canuck rules applied! and generally got smashed again with Steve Chris, Eefa(sp?) irish girl and Kev (indian/ozzie/scottish guy) Steve (see daytime tour) appeared to and was my occasional pool playing partner (between ciggy breaks (you have to go out on the street to smoke in Canada)
by the end of the night everyone was hammered and last I saw of the Leicester lads was a couple of piggy backing kiddies walking down a loooong road with no idea how to get to the club ‘Plush’
….me and canuck Steve decided to go find them to make sure they were ok, as there’s a lot of beggars/druggies around…we paid a druggy $2 to tell us where the club was and walked to it (behind the CFL stadium) however it was $10/5 quid to get in, so being a littlle bit on the tight side, we went into the club next door (Rebel) …which was empty apart from 2 girls, 2 fellas and a barmaid – however they did play THE best techno music Ive heard in a LONG time (hey Wull: I can dance longer and harder than you can…OK?). We got talking to the asian barmaid (almost every 2nd person in this town appears to be chinese/japanese/taiwanese) who must have been as bored as we were, cos she started giving us free tequila slammers!!!……….an hour and tooooo many slammers later, we left…actually we got chucked out, as the club had closed. We then managed to get into a stretched limo taxi with a group of girls and fellas – who agreed to take us back to the hostel on the understanding that we paid. Naturally being nice blokes, we got to the hostel ……and did a runner….nice ;^)
this morning (Tuesday 3rd) I wasnt very well and had to leave Vancouver city and get a bus and ferry to Vancouver island….that was a BAD bus ride….almost hurled a few times
anyhoo the bracing briney breeze on the boat (nice alliteration eh?) cleared the cobwebs and we (me and Cancuk Steve) arrived at Nanaimo on the island.
Wot a fab place Nanaimo is: its got a real fishing town feel to it and has a smashing harbour with proper fishing boats as well as pleasure boats on it…oh and sea planes of course.
we walked about a bit then stopped at a pub on the marina with views out over the island and watched the seaplanes taking off over a pint (Steve) and an orange juice (me) The cafe and restaurant prices seem good and the fish and shellfish are cheap too …Steve is considering staying here for good already – got to admit, its a really nice place. We’re staying at the ‘Painted Turtle’ hostel which is really nice and has a great feel to it too -cheap, clean and VERY friendly – the ‘dorm’ is a 4 bed/bunk room again (most have been this format) My roomie is Vince: a canuck who lives here in the hostel full time…seems OK, nobody else in the room

anyhoo,bedtime
laterz

today (Wednesday) I took a ferry over to Newcastle island: its a little island with an almost rainforest centre (its a wet and warm climate around Vancouver)..I saw either a whale or a seal swimming just offshore (I’ll need to wait to see the pics in big format to tell which) and then watched a bald eagle for 2 minutes as it flew around and stood on some rocks…again, there’ll be pics added to the albums. Anyhoo, it was a nice walk and the weather is still fab – 22 degrees in the shade still.

well its time to leave the Rockies proper; so Vancouver next.
got a bus to Calgary and then waited 6 hours to get a cheap flight to Vancouver ($99 + taxes = $145/75 quid)
the flight took 1 hr 11 mins and was pretty uneventful until we made the approcah to Vancouver, when I spotted a few whales in the water being followed by a number of boats….first whales I’ve seen..pretty distant but hey! they all count!!
got a couple of buses to the ‘downtown’ area of the city and after some stories from a Canadian fella who knew EVERYTHING (apparently) a swiss girl (Sarah) showed me the way to the hostel
gotto say, I wasnt impressed with the city at first: its BIG, noisy and brash……..and the street I got off the bus at is the gay area!!!!!….guess I wont be there again then!

got up this morning and took a mini ferry boat thingee to Granville island to look at the market there…then ferry back over and a walk through the main drag (no, not the gay one) down to the marina area where I watched a sea plane take off (theres loads of seaplane trips available in the area)
then a walk around Stanley park (kinda like Central Park, in that is a mahoosive park in the middle/edge of a city. As I walked around the park/sea walls I spotted a seal swimming on its back (kinda asleep) but as soon as I go the camera out, it did a runner (swimmer?) The walk around the park is kewl…nice views and a couple of beaches etc.
then I walked around to Chinatown and ate noodles at Hons -very famous apparently…very nice too. then walk thru an authentic chinese gardento Gastown…oh, did I mention getting touted for drugs and then seeing some really screwed up fella trying to ‘shoot-up’ at the corner of one street with 2 hypos in his hand…..shame was he couldnt catch his own arm!…was like watching a dog chase its tail!!! then being harassed by beggars for the next 200m before finding the only steam powered clock on a street corner…plays a steam whistle on the 1/4 hou and was quite good really

more fun and frivolity tomorrow I imagine

I’ll attach pics when I can (cant do it from inside the hostel)

odd place -the ‘town’ : its basically a carpark with a number of shops around it, then to one side of that is a couple of inns and the hostel
smashing hostel though – similar to Banff in that its in an ‘alpine’ design (expensive though at $35/18 quid per night)
Lake Louise is gorgeous: beautiful colour and the head of the lake has the plain of the 6 glaciers which are almost all visible from the lake. the only downside is the ‘chateau’ hotel at the end of the lake, which spoils it, I reckon
I walked up the plain of 6 glaciers on the first day – its a good walk thru forests then ‘sub-alpine’ right up to……………the tea shop!…a proper alpine looking teashop reet up in the hills!..so I had a cup of coffee and a couple of scones with jam (well it would have been rude not to!)
then a walk along the top of a moraine to the glaciers….so beautiful and quiet…it was cold tho: bit of snow falling and obviously with the glaciers there its pretty cold.
next day, I went up to Peyto lake on the icefield parkway – OK, but not as good as I thought it would be. then I went a little further north to the Waterfowl lake – a really nice place. While I was chillin at the lakeside, the lake started to shimmer (you know, like in the Jurassic Park film with the drink cup?) and a moment or two later there was a bit of an avalanche on the other side of the lake…not sure if the shimmer was an earthquake that caused the avalanche or the avalanche caused the shimmer…either way it was kewl!
Next I drove tothe Takkakaw falls (3rd highest in Canada) nice place, I climbed/scambled right up the to the bottom of the falls: SO noisy and wet with spray – nice place to chill
back at the ranch, I drove to Moraine lake – it has the reputation for being better than Lake Louise, but it has a bend in it so you cant see right along it……gorgeous water colour tho
Met Mark (from Kilkenny) and had a few (too many) beers with him – he moved over here last year and is now working in Vancouver as a goldsmith. Next day was up the Louise gondola to the ski runs, bit of a hike later and I walked into a geet big Bighorn sheep!!!…that’ll teach me not to look down whilst I’m climbing steep trails!…quick reverse and I was outta there!
no bears around there (despite its brochures) theyve all moved over the hill to prep for the hibernation which should start in about 2 weeks I’m told
another drink sesh with Mark last night at thte Lake Louise Inn – some REALLY funny yanks dancing to Disco Duck etc. ….VERY amusing!
this morning Ive driven with Mark back to Banff where we’re both staying: I dopped off the car this morning – feels odd not having any transport.
…oh, and Mark paid LESS to get into the same hostel as me…not sure how THAT works! :^(

well….Banff is like a proper town compared to Jasper (which feels kinda more of a community)
the hostel is really nice – more like a hotel than a hostel – complete with cafe an bar …which is nice ;^)
the walks are more tourist than up in Jasper…I climbed Sulphur mountain – took 1 hour 11 minutes…I thought I was gonna be the first one to walk up that day – until a 50yr old fella came RUNNING past me! ….on the plus side he’s busy training for a himalayan climb..so I dont feel so bad about him beating me. the trip down was via gondola….but that was like MEGA pricey (the Jasper ride is free to come down)
I toured the caves and springs which were the origins of the town, also visited the Hoodoos – these are pillars of sandy rock whcih have been eroded into weird shapes over the years.
Fave place around here is Two Jack lake…its a nice lake with Mount Rundle as the backdrop. Very peaceful place and not too heavily visited either (apart from one day when it was taken over by some canadian scuba divers – boy! those guys know how to travel: big trucks towing trailers with EVERY possile camping/bbq/scuba accessory possible!
Minnewanka (careful) lake is OK, but its been dammed to raise its level so it feels a bit manufactured. Johnston Canyon was a nice walk: the lower falls are full of old people so they get a bit busy, but as you continue climbing, the numbers drop and the scenery improves until you reavh the upper falls which are pretty damn kewl. Above that agian, is the ‘inkpots’ which are natural springs bubbling into indentations in the ground – theyre pretty good, but the backdrop of the mountains is fab!
Ive been driving the Bow valley parkway each evening to try and see some more animals – you know, like in Moose Meadows: nowt. not a thing – apart froma a roadkill squirrel!
On the day I drove up to Lake Louise, i walked up Castle Mountain lookout – excellent views across the valley to Storm mountain etc. I met an elderly Virginian couple there (Chuck & Adella): really nice people, they’ve even invited me over to their place, should I been around that area (though I prolly wont be)….nice people
After Castle Mountain I drove into B.C. to the Kootenay park and walked up to Stanley Glacier – its was OK, but Ive seen better. Interesting thing was the forest there was decimated in a forest fire, so the trees are mainly blackened and dead…….oh, the fire was in 1968!!!! (how long does it take for a forest to recover???????)

reet:
Highway 93 “the Icefields Parkway” (road between Jasper & Banff, taking in Lake Louise) is THE most beatiful road EVER!
the Athabasca glacier is a fantastic place – I took a ride on a snowbus onto the glacier…very cold (strangely) then went to the ‘toe’ of the glacier, which is receding at 10m per year currently
the rest of the icefileds are incredible too: the road is surrouinded by the most magnificent mountains and lakes which are SO green and turquoise and blue…unreal!
I stayed at Jasper for 2 weeks – doing many of the trails in teh area and most of thegood peaks (though the early snow prevented acces to some
Mount Edith Cavell is my fave place to date: it a high mountain with 3 glaciers on/around it…one of which hangs from the rocks 800ft above you and another stops at a pool/lake and drops icebergs on to it!
went white water rafting on the Fraser river (below mount robson with a couple of lads I met (Steve, Chris and Cameron)…great day…followed by a major drink in Jasper nightclub

Ive now travelled 220km South to Banff – a much bigger and more commercial place, but still very pretty too
been here for 3 days and met up with Steve & Chris (Leicester lads) again…had a major night out at Hoodoos nightclub….1 quid for a DOUBLE vodka
the next day was cancelled 8^$
hopefully some pics below:

my previous posts from Canada have disappeared!!!!
Ive managed to save the text from some of it, via google, but its basically just a big lump of text
the Boots n’ all servers failed apparently
sorry :^(

anyhoo,
Ive managed to upload photos onto a kodak gallery site,, so if you wanna look at the pics go to the link I sent you…if you didnt get the link, let me know and I’ll add you to it

be good out there folks!

helllooo Canada
September 3rd, 2006
well despite Zoom not wanting me to fly (cos I hadnt got a return ticket) I made it to Canada…and thru their customs within 30 secs (despite zoom telling me I was in for a proper ‘grilling’)

toronto is a mahoosive place…sprawing over a loooong way

The CN tower i the only part of it I’m really interested in seeing tho. I watched the sun set from there on Friday night (1st sept)….magical….as was the expression on the two young girls faces as I jumped up and down on the glass floor of the observation patform (approx 1300m above ground level)

stayed in a nice hotel for the first night, as the Hostel had messed up

then took a 2 hour train trip to Niagara (it only looks a little way on the map!)…unfortuntaly its chucking it down as we’re getting the tail end of a hurricane from down south

the Falls are fab, but not as high as I thought…until you go on the ‘maid of the mist’ boats to the Falls bottom (no, you dont start at the top and travel down – tho the first person to do it was a 63yr old woman!!) its like REALLY fab from the bottom – and VERY wet…..even IN the boat

took a load of photos of the Falls illuminations – they happen nightly thru the summer – and then the firework display at 10pm…….cany upload them at the mo, but I’ll do it later (assuming they’re any good) I found the perfect place for the photos along the river walk…….waited almost 3 hours to keep the spot…only for the traffic police to cordon the area off and chuck me out….DOH!

oh and V8’s ROCK!!!! -never seen so many BIG ‘pick-ups’, including LOTS of 2500 RAM’s and loads of Hummers (most of which appear to be yellow………is that so you dont miss them????!!!)

tomorrow, I’m getting a bus to Stoney Creek, to visit ‘Chuggy’s Tap & grill’, then on to Toronto

its all very laid back and holiday like……except I’m on me own……..maybe I’l lget used to it……I hope not

…oh, and Canadian prices are lies – they dont include taxes, so what you see AINT wot yu pay – VERY strange

\\more later folks,

Posted in Travel | 6 Comments »

Tags: chuggy, niagara, falls, CN, Tag Index
rounders
September 4th, 2006
today (back in Toronto) I went to a game of rounders:\Toronto Blue Jays V. some Indians
not my cup of tea: I ate a ‘dog had a beer in my seat and got thoroughly bored
the game is split into innings of 3 ‘outs’ at which point the ‘other’ team bats

it is SO uninvolving…shown perfectly when they ave a 5th inning ’stretch’ where everyone stands up and stretcheds to relieve the boredom
…then at the 7th inning, they get some dancers on a podium…to relieve the boredom

the ground was only 1/4 full at the start, then filled to about a 1/3 by the end of the game
nice thing was it was only $9 to get in (aboot a fiver)
..and the airshow was on so we had nice planes buzzing us\….oh and the CN tower is literally next door
nice setting, crap game
pics will follow (honest!)

Posted in Travel | 6 Comments »

Tags: Tag Index
to Jasper …and beyond!!!
September 11th, 2006
2 and a half days on a train was quite a trip – from toronto to Jasper in Alberta (2 time zones away)

the train ride was pretty uneventful – with little sleep (if anyone else does it, then try to get a seat on the skydeck (think thats wot its called)…you can stretch out a bit better up there

Cant beleive how many trees there are in Canada…you’re in forests almost the whole way across, apart from the Prairies.

met some nice folks on the train who gave me more ideas on where to go (thanks Don & Jo)

Jasper is in THE most beautiful setting in the rockies – mountains all around and beautiful blue and green lakes…and creamy/milky green rivers (direct from the glaciers so still full of sediment in suspension …assuming you can have sediment in suspension!?!?!)

the HI hostel is a little way up Whistlers mountain…just a quarter mile from the cable car to the top (OK, I’m energy saving!)

the hostel is at 4000ft and Whistlers rises another 2700ft (or thereabouts). views are a little cloudy due to smoke froma forest fire thats been burning for 6 weeks – way South of here, now! But the views are still fab

first day here I hired a mountain bike to do the 5 lakes valley (about 20 miles in total)…I felt so good at the end of it that I thought I’d have lunch then do another lake or two…BIG mistake…I died. I was sooooo knackered I couldnt pedal up to the hostel and had to push the bike the last 3 miles uphill!…..even the next day I got wobbly legs just climbing the smallest hill!

yesterday I took a canoe out onto a lake and river…it was reet early and the cool mountain air and lack of ANY noise was incredible. I paddled around for a few hours till my arms got tired (am I am wimp or wot???) then went for a wander to Maligne Canyon and Lake…the Canyon was pretty spectacliar…the lake was OK, but you need to get a boat ride to see Spirit Island….and I’m tight (well I just had to buy a new camera as the last one (my baby) got PINCHED from the hostel…along with ALL the photos from the trip so far..to say I’m gutted is an understatement…theiving gits!

the wildlife aint as abundant as I thought it would be…..Ive seen some Elk (the Bulls are BIG FELLAS!!!) and Caribou and deer…but no bears or Moose yet (theres plenty of bear marks on trees, where they’ve cleaned there little paws, bless ‘em but none to see yet)

its kinda odd thinking that theres animals out there that want to kill you if they see you…..in Engerrland we only get sheep! -and last I heard, they werent the most violent of animals

heading off to the Icefields now (about 60m south of here) I’ll post when I’ve done it

sorry theres nowt perticklierly entertaining here….its all in the watching and the pictures unfortunately

xx

well, I’m into the 4th month of a supposed 6 week house sale 😥
I may or may not have exchanged contracts today, however my solicitor obviously couldnt be bothered to let me know…sio I guess I’ll have to wait till Monday to find out

there are no seats left available on 21st August flights to Toronto (Zoom Airlines ) ..next chance looks like 25th or maybe 28th …………….assuming the house has gone by then

hey ho

is this an omen?
…..or was that a scarey film from a few years back 🙄

this is my travel blog (its like a diary, ma)
started on July 29 2006, though I’m not travelling till 21st August
well, there nowt like preparation, is there?