One life and One World

Had a great time in Seattle, very good hostel and spoke to loads of people

On Saturday 28th Seattle held a annual "Pirate Day Parade" with lots of Pirate themed events happening all over the city, the hostel got involved and we all went to a huge Thrift Store to buy clothes for our costumes.

Walking through Seattle there were pirates everywhere on the streets, we eventually got to the party which was at a bar called the "Bottleneck Lounge" and took advantage of the cheap grogg and freebies.

Take a look at some photo's

A rather dodgy picture of me as a pirate

Some Fellow Pirates

Mount Rainier Trail

More Mount Rainier

The top or as high as we could go

Me in Seattle - They love their totem Poles

Seattle from on top of the Space Needle

I have now moved further south into Portland before my next major stop at the weekend, the city of San Francisco!!!

Successfully moved into the US and crossed the border surprisingly easily, I was prepared to give a detailed run down of my itinerary and movements for my time here but a quick form to fill out and a $6.00 charge to cross and I was through.

Seattle is only 3 hours from Vancouver so was a quick journey into the city and its 5 nights at the Green Tortoise Hostel.

The hostel offers so much extra compared to other places I have stayed in and its really making the stay here even better, free breakfast every morning, free dinners 3X a week, free Internet access, great facilities and lots of people has made this one of the better places I have stayed in so far.

Yesterday got right back to nature and together with about 20 others from the hostel hiked about 10K through the Cascade Mountain Range and up Mount Rainier, sure we have walks and hikes in the UK but this was more like an assault course over lakes,through trees, past areas which have been destroyed and devastated by storms and bad weather to reach the top (Graham - you would have really liked it!).

Now the next day and aching all over but got lots of pictures of the views and the obstacles and will post soon.

People have mentioned and I have noticed my english accent is sticking out here a lot more, which is fun!, met a lot of locals and have had discussions on everything from the Confederate flag, politics, to the price of GAS - very interesting! and from what I can tell so far Americans are very concerned with how they are now perceived in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Well thats Canada finished with and as I write this currently in Seattle USA which I will have more news for you later.

Some Highlights of the trip so far

Montreal

The Common Room in the Hostel was a perfect place to easily meet lots of people, as it was the largest space in the hostel it allowed people to automatically conregated there, made many friends and visited a few night spots which were some amazing clubs and bars the city had to offer.

Ottawa

For me the converted prison Hostel was probably the greatest bit about my short stay in the capital City, apart from the Parliament buildings which appear very similar to our houses of Parliament, there really is'nt much more to do there but it was fun for a night or two.

Toronto

Amazing city but even I was surprised by the homeless people that lived there, I Stayed in a converted House which made for a great hostel with a Homely feel to it, all you could eat BBQ on Saturday night was great and it's reputation brought in people from all over the world.

Lake Louise

Gergeous Lake, picturesque setting in the Canadian Rockies and the most luxureous hostel so far, so hot that I had to keep applying sunscreen every hour, long walks through the mountains, was told of the recent bear activity in the area, went looking for them but alas did'nt find any.

Vancouver

After a long 15 hour overnight bus ride to Vancouver stayed in a Hostel in the Heart of the city, Great onsite bar with cheap local brewed "Beaver" beer, Stanley Park was wonderful, and of course the Sky Dive made this an amazing week in for me the best Canadian city I visited.

Vancouver Island

Victoria is supposedly a small town with a british feel, and they aren't kidding, it was like being in Torquay, Great hostel but I could only get one nights accomodation, I immediately noticed the lack of people compared to Vancouver, was great to be on the ferry ride to/from the island but a weekend was enough for me.

Here are some Stats so far

Days spent in Canada 27
Pictures taken so far 620
Number of Hostels stayed in 10
Long Distance Bus journeys taken in Canada 7

Hey

Somebody Let me borrow their laptop so I have managed to upload these photo's earlier than I thought, take a look

Just before Take Off

Just Landing

Just Landed

One of Jerry and Me

The Canadian Rockies

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls (American Side)

Niagara Falls (Canadian Side)

This entry couldn't wait any longer

Despite all the crap weather we are having here at the moment, my persistence has paid off and managed to achieve one of my goals I set for myself a bit early.

Saw adverts and info on this whilst here in Vancouver and through investigation and finding out the finer points of how to handle one's self whilst at high altitude I booked my first and possibly one of many tandem Sky Dives.

Finally today the weather broke for about 5 hours and sunshine mixed with blue sky made it all possible, a quick 2 hour bus ride to the air field followed by a 30 minute crash course (!?!?!?) in how to perform all of the moves like a pro and it's was off into the sky in what can only be described as a custom built bi-plane.

Whilst in the plane which took a surprisingly long time to reach 12000 ft, me and approx 10 other guys were all kitting themselves up for the big push

Together with my instructor we were the first ones out (thankfully), and what I can only describe as a "mind overloading experience" hurtled to the ground for approx 60 seconds before the parachute kicked in and we almost stopped to a crawl.

Unbelievably I was able to have a perfect conversation with my instructor for about 5 minutes whilst floating to the ground with a bit of a bump but with no injuries made it one of the peak moments so far for this adventure.

Lots of photos to prove how brave I am and I look forward to recounting this story over and over again in person!

What can I do next ???

Hi all faithful readers

Not trying to rub your noses in it but really enjoying my time here in Vancouver, almost certainly the best Canadian city I have been to so far

The hostel I am staying in is right in the middle of Downtown, so it's like living on Tottenham Court Road, it's that close to all the nightlife, and the interesting parts of the city.

For those of you who watch the American Drama TV shows I was fortunate to wander right into the middle of one show being recorded in front of the Art Museum in the heart of Vancouver, the show is called "The 4400" and although was unable to get on the show (as a extra), it was fun to be there.

Stanley Park (or Stanley Forest as it would be called in the UK) is a hive of activity and a tourist hot spot/place to chill out or get lost in.

I have a few more days in Vancouver before heading west again to Vancouver Island (about 2 hours from here), where I will stay for the weekend, as almost all people I have met in Canada have recommended I visit Victoria on the Island as well as some other places so will check them out before ending the Canadian portion of the trip and moving south into the US

Will post more pictures when I can

Bye for now

Hey

Successfully caught a flight from Toronto to Calgary on wed 11th which meant I didn't have to travel overland via bus on a 3 day journey (lots of people have told me it's good for a few hours but after that it's not much fun).

Stayed in Calgary for a couple of hours whilst waiting for a connecting bus which took me to the picturesque area in the Rocky Mountain National Park called "Lake Louise".

The Hostel I stayed in was the most luxurious so far, and with numerous walks/hikes/trails to follow through the mountains. I made the most of my brief stay there by chatting to new people and hiking up to Lake Louise and around (about 12K in total). (Lots of Photo's to follow)

After a couple of days I caught the another coach and spent a exhausting 15 hours on a long distance overnight journey which put me in Vancouver at 5:00am Saturday morning.

Now in Vancouver and staying in a cool hostel right in the heart of Downtown which is great for checking out the surrounding nightlife, but with a bar situated right inside the hostel selling it's famous and cheap "Beaver" beer I haven't traveled too far yet!

Enjoying my time in Toronto which is experiencing a heat wave with very high humidity at the moment.

I gave you some pictures of this stuff already but managed to watch a baseball game at Roger's Stadium whilst in town, The Toronto Blue Jays vs the Cleveland Indians, final score 8 - 6 with the Blue Jays winning.

We sat in the cheapest seats and only paid $9 each per ticket (about 4.50 quid), and surprisingly even though we were right at the back near the top of the stadium we had a completely clear view of the game and had a really good time, the only downsides were that we did not know the rules and so for the first hour were guessing what the hell was going on, but as the people ran around the field and the game went on we managed to figure most of it out.
The full game took almost 3 hours to finish and the although the action was few and far between, (just like any other baseball Game I am told) it was cool to be there.

Right next door to the baseball is the world famous CN Tower, at a height of 553 metres it give some great views of the city.

Right now I am in the small Town of Niagara Falls and apart from the obvious Tourist Attraction the town feels like a American version of Blackpool, with Amusement Arcades, Wax Museums, and cheesy rides everywhere, it's really surprising/strange that you have the majestic falls next to all of this Tourist Mumbo Jumbo so 1 day here is more than enough.

Back to Toronto tomorrow before flying over to Calgary to spend a few days in the Canadian Rockies!

Hi All

Having a great time in Toronto, checking out lots of things that are going on here, and finally I have some photo's to prove it!

Here are some of the best I have taken so far and during my stay in Toronto

Inside the Montreal Olympic Stadium

The Top of the World tallest Inclined Tower at Montreal Olympic Stadium

The view from the top of the Olympic Stadium

Outside the Hi-Ottawa Jail

Inside the Hi-Ottawa Jail

Death Row (Pretty Creepy!)

We have escaped!!! - A Night out in Ottawa with some fellow inmates

The View from the top of the CN tower in Toronto

Jonny and Me in the Eaton Centre - Toronto

Free Beer at the Steam Whistle Brewery

The Toronto Blue Jays Vs the Cleveland Indians - Baseball at Roger's Stadium

Wow those 2 nights in Ottawa went quickly, I had the good fortune to spend my time in a Hostel that is converted from a Fully functioning Prison.

The Jail was used and occupied for 110 years up until the 1970's where I believe it housed several hundred inmates at any one time, all were there with different convictions, it also had it's own death row (on the Top Floor) where numerours people were executed on the grounds. (Walked along there and it is really creepy!!!)

Obviously lots of history associated with the Hostel which holds daily tours to the public/guests, they also claim it is haunted, but alas I never saw anything. (only a couple of zombiefied travellers)
We all get to stay in a converted Jail cells, (with our very own bars), and the whole place has a old prison feel to it, right down from the huge heavy doors which seperate sections and the caste Iron staircase which connects all of the floors.

Taken lots of pictures so far which I should finally be able to upload the best ones on here for those who keep asking for them.

Apart from the Hostel, Ottawa was a good city to explore but 2 days was definetly enough time as apart from the Parliament buildings there is not that much more to do.

Thanks to everyone who has left comments on the Blog so far, and apologies to who I have not replied back yet but so far Internet Access is a mixed bag at different locations, with lots of people waiting to use the PC's (like right now)

Now in Toronto as I type this which is just an enormous city, which I look forward to checking out over the next couple of days.

Cheers