hmmm... a wee bit later than i had hoped

i should be fired from writing my own blog.

if i had any money, i might even consider paying someone else to do it.

today is june 10. last time i wrote was april 10.

i've got a lot of catching up to do.



i may have to write this in blocks, cos i think i'm going to develop RSI / OOS if i type it all at once.



LEAVING BANFF (april 18th)

So, leaving banff wasn't as hard as i thought it would be. i miss everyone terribly, but a lot of them i know i'll be seeing again in the next year or so (which is totally awesome).



my last day at the rimrock was also the same day as our long overdue staff party. we went bowling, which was actually quite hilarious because i happen to be the worst bowler in the world. we played all these odd bowling games - and at one stage, i managed to bowl the ball into Tyler's lane... and get him a spare. so may be that makes me a good bowler... just not in my own lane.



WHISTLER

Whistler is the ultimate snow resot in BC - it's about 2 hours from Vancouver and the mountains are MASSIVE! Every year they host the 2 week Telus Ski and Snowboard Festival. Lizzy was heading home to Aussie for a holiday and I was due to be leaving Banff at that time, so we decided to have one last hurrah together in Whistler. We booked ourselves a hotel room at the Crystal Lodge (which is super nice! 4 star i think) and got lift passes etc, ready for 5 fantastic days!


lizzy and i left amongst much flip-flapping and running late! i didn't have time to get upset about saying goodbye - i hugged friends i happened to pass in the hallway, but there was no time for a sentimental exchange of words. After some crazy australian driving by lizzy, we made it to clagary airport about 20minutes before our flight left. i have never actually had to run to make a plane before, and quite frankly, i never want to do it again!


the flight to vancouver was uneventful, but unfortunately the perimeter bus (takes you straight up to whistler) was running over 1.5hours late - and then traffic was horrendous. Because Whistler is the site for the 2010 winter olympics, they are doing a huge amount of roadworks on the sea to sky highway, the only access road to Whistler. Currently it's only 1 lane each way, but by the time the olympics roll round, it'll be 6 lanes all up. So it was a slow trip up - we finally arrived about 10pm (and that's after putting our clocks back an hour having flown back in time).


apart from our rather long haul to get to Whistler, everything else went amazingly well! We had a super 5 days of snowboarding (and we still didn't see the whole mountain!), partying, watching the pros (OMG!) and just 'chillaxin'!



Whistler has 2 hills - Whislter Mountain (the older of the 2) and Whistler Blackcomb. Combined they make for awesome terrain, no matter what you're into! They're spectacularly large - after all the riding we did, we still had over half of each mountain to go!



Whistler has a great apres ski atmosphere - the chairlifts are literally a 2 minute walk from the main village - so when you're done for the day, you pop down to your favourite drinking hole, prop your snowboard up outside and voila - you're ready for action! the weather was beautiful too - true spring, meaning you could sit outside in the sun and enjoy the weather! I had a few afternoons where i had a few too many margaritas, but those stories will remain between me and lizzy!



watching the pros was awesome. some of them are only 16 or so, but are amazing riders! lizzy and i spent hours ogling at the superpipe competition - riders getting 20foot of air or so - it's jawdropping!



i managed to do one stupid thing while i was in whistler. having successfully completed a season in banff with no major mishaps... i managed to fracture my foot on my second to last day of riding. what's worse is that it wasn't even a snowboarding accident. we were having a pillowfight in our hotel room, and i managed to fall, hit my foot on the headboard, and crash - i have a fractured 5th metatarsal (just below my little toe). it's pretty much healed now, though it still hurts if i'm on my feet heaps, or walking on uneven ground. so kids, when your mum tells you not to jump on the bed, i'd do as she says!



VANCOUVER ISLAND

I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days in Victoria, on Vancouver Island, with Ashlee and Matt, friends from Banff. It was gettting very spring-ish, with a bit of sun and things getting warmer. We walked all around the waterfront (so good to have the ocean again!) and saw all the old buildings (Victoria is quite English - their parliament building is famous for it's architecture). We also went whale watching, but it would be my luck that we didn't actually see any whales... we did see lots of seals, a sea elephant and a river otter... but no orcas :(

MONTREAL

I had a couple of days back in Vancouver catching up with friends I had met when I first got to Canada and then I headed out for my 'east coast tour' - first stop Montreal.

Montreal is a beautiful and unique city. Most Montrealers are biligual, speaking both French and English - so it's amazing when you walk into a shop and one person asks a question in French and the other answers in English. I really wanted to practise my French, but unfortunately, as soon as anyone realises you're not a native speaker, they'll switch straight into English.

I was staying right in the heart of old Montreal, where there is stunning architecture and a lot of history. The beautiful thing is, that as the city has expanded, it's just wrapped itself around the older parts, leaving them intact, rather than replacing them. The city flows from history into modernity in an amazing way.

I met up with my crazy little Frenchman friend, Etienne, who was another Rimrocker from Banff. He showed me all around the town and then took me out to experience the (somewhat famous) Montreal nightlife. Ets, his brother Phillipe and his best friend Jon took me to Foufounes Electroniques (direct translation = the electric buttocks) for a night og Molson Dry (cheap beer) and lots of dancing! The French-Canadians really like to boogie, and I had an awesome time with the boys, despite the fact the Ets is the only one who speaks any english, and even then it's a little funny at times.

I had another good night out with some hostelers (btw: if you are ever in Montreal, stay at Alternative Backpackers - it's cheaper than the YHA and it's right in the middle of Vieux (old) Montreal... and super friendly people too!). Anja, John and Peter, a few drinks and an awesome club we just happened to stumble on. We also went up to this huge park, called Mont Royal, that everyone hangs out at during the weekends. It was beautifully hot and sunny (I'm talking about 25 degrees or so) and they had a massive group of tumtum players (big african drums), so we sat in the sun and listened to the beat - a most awesome way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

TORONTO

Toronto was pretty cool, but it's definately not my favourite Canadian city. It has none of the charm of Vancouver, and none of the culture of Montreal. It was great to visit and I'm glad I'm did, but to be honest, I found it quite generic and city-like.

I did do the main attractions though - the CN tower (it's pretty high!), Kensington Market and Chinatown (probably the best things about Toronto), the Bata Shoe Museum and Niagra Falls.

Niagra falls was an experience, but a lot spoilt the place for me. The Falls themselves are phenomenal, but the surrounding area is tacky, garish and so LasVegasy that it almost ruined the falls. I did the Maiden of the Mist boatride (pretty much a mandatory part of a visit to Niagra) - in which I got kinda wet. It's as close as you can get to the falls, and it's pretty close! You have a little plastic poncho, and by the time you get back, your hair is dripping like you just got out of the shower! That was awesome, and so are the falls at night, lit up by huge spotlights. The rest of Niagra is easily forgotten - too many neon lights and loud noises... by the time we left (it was nearly a 10 hour tour) I was happy to be leaving.

Apart from seeing the falls, you get to do a few other things on the tour. My favourite was visiting Inniskillin Vineyard - where they make the best ice wine in Canada. Icewine i super sweet, because they leave the grapes on the vine for much, much longer, until the vines freeze and then they have super high sugar levels... YUM! We got to do a tasting, and I bought Mum and Dad a bottle, which I hoped to share with them when I got to England, but alas, it didn't happen. I hope they enjoy it though!

From Toronto I was meant to go to New York, but I was kind of over the big city thing and decided to head back to Vancouver for 5 days before I flew out to the UK. Yes, I know it seems a bit ridiculous to head to the opposite side of Canada again, but I can't resist Vancouver - I fell in love with it the first day I was there!

So that gets me up to about 3 weeks ago... when I got to England. Next on the agenda is London, Cornwall, Prague and then Spain, where I am now. But first, I am going to have an ice cream break.

XXX Pip