O Canada

Since my last blog i have changed countries and travelled a further 1040 miles to add to my ever increasing total for this past year and a bit. I am up in Vancouver Island in a little town called Courtenay. This part of the world is in the spotlight at the moment as the winter Olympics are not too far away. The trip here was pleasant and included a few stop overs. We first stopped in a small town in Oregon called Canyonville. Oregon was stunning! As we entered the state from California we were greeted by Mt Shasta and the surrounding national park. Very scenic with lots of pine trees over shadowed by the tall snow capped mountain. We only stayed in Canyonville to break up the drive and the scenery following our stay there was not nearly as dramatic. When we got to Seattle though we were greeted by some amazingly unseasonal weather, warm and sunny. It certainly improved my experience of Seattle from last time where it seemed such a grey drizzly place. I could totally see why Kurt Cobain killed himself. I thought he probably did it more because of the bad weather and not the pressures of following up one of the biggest selling albums of that era. This time Seattle only seemed to throw off positive vibes and i was able to appreciate the beauty of the surrounding area. We did the usual touristy stuff and went up the space needle and checked out Pike Place Market. The Space needle seems so dated now and isn't even the tallest building in Seattle anymore but it is a must see and on such a clear day it allowed us amazing views out over the bay and to the Olympic mountains in the distance. Pike Place market was buzzing with the weekend hustle bustle and our noses were filled with scents of freshly baked produce and flowers. Last time i was there i was most taken aback by the cheap flowers you can buy there. This time, although they seemed a wee bit more expensive i was blown away by the sheer beauty of the arrangements. We wandered around the market and dined on Polish pastries. I declined to spit on the window of the original Starbucks coffee shop this time though, global corporation conglomerate thieving shit-on-the-little-guy bastards that they are!

I must say that i had been a bit sceptical about going back to Seattle but I'm really glad i did as it was refreshing to see it in a new light, sunlight. We gave our car back, reluctantly. It was a pontiac Vibe and was easily the most European car i have driven here. It was super fast too with oodles of torque (puts Jeremy Clarkson voice on) and was easier to park than the usual American cars which are similar to parking the QE2, whilst blindfolded. We had to take the bus from Seattle to Nanaimo on Vancouver island as it was way cheaper and included the ferry crossing. We got to the bus station and prepared to pay all the excess baggage they charge for ski bags but the dude there said they don't charge to go to Canada. Sweet! We waited in the bus station with the usual dregs of American society with people begging, swearing loudly and the constant stench of marijuana. The bus pulled up and we all bundled on. Our fellow passengers looked surprisingly normal except for one guy who just would not shut up. He was so loud and talked to everyone. I must have heard him tell people he was meeting a friend in Vancouver to go check out the Olympics about 40 times. I couldn't help but laugh when he got stopped at border patrol and turned back. Our bus driver said she knew he was going to be trouble and thought he wouldn't get in. Wow, it seems Canada is like a posh nightclub.

We stopped in Vancouver and watched the hundreds of people walking around with painted faces and draped in Canadian flags. The Candian mens hockey team were playing the USA team so the town was buzzing. I only left the bus station to go to an ATM and was swamped by the masses of people on there way to the hockey game. I made it back safely and we only had a short wait to get our bus. The trip over to Vancouver Island was beautiful as the weather was perfect. The sea was dead calm and the sun was shining. We docked and jumped on the bus for the short trip to the bus depot. I then had only 15 minutes to go and get our hire car. I managed to find the place and pick up the car. We have hired from a place called "rent a wreck" and when i was shown to the car i could see they weren't lying. I looked over the oldsmobile piece of shit and laughed to myself. Oh well. I picked Kate up from the bus station and her face when she saw the car was one of total disdain. We loaded up the car and made it only 5 miles out of town before the ABS light and traction control fault lights came on. I contemplated driving it back but knew they were closing as i picked up the car so decided to carry on regardless. We drove the short, in comparison to previous drives, 120 kilometres to Courtenay. I have no idea what the town looks like as it has been smothered in fog for the last few days. I know the weather in these parts can be a tad extreme but it would be nice to actually see where we are staying.

The main reason we are staying in Courtenay though is because of it's close proximity to Mt Washington. At the moment it has the deepest snow in the world with a 465cm base. To put that into some sort of perspective, Coronet Peak had one of it's best seasons ever and had a base of around 160cm! So, as the town was still covered in fog yesterday we decided to literally rise above at and go skiing. Good decision as the mountain was enjoying a total bluebird day. It took us a while to finally get our lift passes due to some bad sign posts but we finally got on the snow. I was expecting it to be epic but it was surprisingly tame. It had been sunny there for the last few days which had caused a bit of a thaw. The base had lost 5 cms but it was quite wet clumpy snow. It took us a few runs to get used to it but after a few runs we were flying around as usual. I shit myself on one run. I was skiing down past some less experienced skiers on quite a steep run. They stopped at the top of a big ledge, discussing just how big and scary it looked no doubt. I decided to show off and just gunned it off of the ledge. I easily flew around 20 feet, landed on the steep and shot off at break neck speed. I papped myself but managed to stop and maintain some grace. I took the time to wait for Kate and to check my pants just in case though.

We are also doing the hostel thing while we are here. Our hostel is pretty cool and we have our own room in a large 2 bedroom flat. We have our own living room and kitchen. We have a flat mate too but as yet we haven't met him. He seems to go out early in the morning and not get back in til really late. The walls are wafer thin and I'm sure my head is no more than 2 foot from the microwave on the over side of the kitchen wall. If i get a brain tumor, I'm gonna be so annoyed!

Today the fog has cleared and been replaced with rain. We were thinking of more skiing but it'll be puking up there so we decided to go check out a few beaches. As you do when it's pissing down. We stopped at both Seal Bay and Miracle beach and enjoyed a stroll through the forest. Vancouver Island is basically covered in forest and it feels like being on Endor, minus the Ewoks of course. It is beautiful here and it is a shame it is so wet and miserable. Still, when you come to a place at the end of winter, what else do you expect?

So i imagine we'll hit the slopes again a few more times before we head over to Tofino on the west coast. It's a place known for it's wildlife and whale watching but i think we are here too early in the season for that. We shall see. Right, the Olympics are on TV so I'm gonna enjoy them.

Peace

D

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