As I leave Calgary on the bus, I am on my laptop uploading pictures, listening to music and also looking at pictures of the last year in Toronto. Three hours later, I arrive in Banff and blown away by seeing mountains! Toronto was so flat back then. Anyways I got a free taxi ride to the hostel and expected to see Kat probably lazing around the hostel. Turns out she wasn't and it wasn't until an hour or two later when Lee (new lad) recognised me and mentioned that Kat was working at the offy until 7 and that really although it was 6 I should see her anyways. So as I'm walking down the hill and onto the parade of three shops that she worked (on some days in all three) she ran out and gave me a huge hug completely forgetting that there was a customer in the store.

So after a brief chat and a few mozzy swatting sessions we were back in Lee's cabin with my laptop checking out my pictures of places she hadn't been to like the east coast and maritime regions of Canada (St. John's, Halifax, etc). Then after a few introductions to some people it was time to hit the bar downstairs in the basement of the hostel where there was a karaoke session going on. So naturally after a few too many drinks, I was up there with my room-mates for that night singing Oasis' "Wonderwall". It was me who signed up for it but was dragged up by Siem (guy from the Netherlands).

So first night over with by 3am and off to bed we went. Woke up around 11ish and headed off to the Banff Gondola. So got the bus into the town of Banff and then another one taking me to the foot of the mountain and then from there a cable car slightly bigger than a smart car would take upto four of us to the Gondola at the top. As soon as I got up there I was blown away by what I could see other than mountains.

So after a couple of hours up there, I grabbed the bus back to the hostel. The bus was so old that we had another encounter of not getting up the hill (like we did in the fiesta mum in Wales). So we walked up the rest of the way. Luckily it wasn't steep or long but I got back to the hostel in one piece and then booked a few things like my rafting experience and after chilling with Kat in the cafe for hours I stayed up all night on my laptop looking up things to do in my next few destinations. Sadly it didn't go too well but still killed the time for my before calling home and then grabbing the shuttle bus to Yoho national park to go rafting. One of the best things I've done! Being thrown about in a dingy by rapids and then a quick swim in +4 degree waters afterwards. Bit stupid really as it didn't help with my cold and cough but oh well all worth it. So after going down the rapids twice we came back to grab our stuff, a hot chocolate and then off to Lake Louise for lunch. Then back to the hostel we went where I just crashed on my bed and fell asleep until Kat woke me up a few horus later asking if I wanted to hit the town with everyone. Naturally and stupidly I said yes! Great night downtown with everyone and a scenic walk back up the mountain to the hostel. The stupid thing about it was that I had to be up at 6am to pack, check out and then grab my bus to town to go to Jasper and we got back to the hostel at 3am so another night of no sleep for David.

So after goodbyes during the night because Kat had a day off and wasn't going to get up she said, so off on the bus I went off to Jasper.

David

Together Again remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

I arrived in Calgary around 4ish in the afternoon after catching the charter bus from Edmonton and walked to the hostel which turned out to be about 8 blocks from where I was dropped off and unfortunately everyone was out on the streets. Got a little busy and hectic with me and my poor suitcase.

So checked into the hostel and unpacked before heading out to see what was around downtown Calgary. Went up Calgary tower, into the Eaton Centre and some shops for some stuff for this cold!!! Well, it started like 2 days in Edmonton and so far I hadn't shaken it off so cough syrup, lemsips and sinus tablets, and a couple of concerned faces and I was set.

So next morning I booked to go onto a city tour of Calgary and when the driver got to my pick up location, I thought he was being a smart arse by saying my name before I did but turns out that I was the only person who booked the tour for that day. Luckily for me, another guy from Portugal walked by and jumped on the bus so it was Marco, Bryce (driver) and I for 4 - 5 hours going around Calgary and its sights. We had a brief history of the city and its background whilst driving up to Fort Calgary where we watched a short movie about the set up of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the area and the fur/whiskey trade between to Americans and the natives. Was kind of interesting but had several things that kind of put a dampener on the experience. Firstly we were able to try on Mounty uniforms...there was no sign saying "No David Size" and also after the movie and uniform session the fort hadn't been well maintained and only a couple of buildings stood from its original time.

So after Fort Calgary we headed to Olympic Park where the Calgary 88 Winter Olympics were held and is home to two artifacts in the museum. Firstly when I walked into the museum on my right was Cool Runnings, which was used in the film "Cool Runnings". So naturally doing the tourist thing I had my picture taken with it and later on with the Union Jack stood on the podium in first place holding the olympic torch and achieved what no Brit did in the 88 games! Secondly we went up to the 90m ski jump tower, which is also the highest point in Calgary and in a glass case sat the helmet of Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards. He painted eagle across the helmet in response to the crowd who gave him the name. So after Olympic Park we went back to Calgary and got dropped off in downtown and I went back to the eaton centre to grab a bite to eat before heading back to the hostel for an early night.

Next day, I got up early and headed to one of the continents top 45 zoos. That's right, David went to the Calgary Zoo! Had a great day even though after hours of sunshine and animal madness I started to feel a little rough with the cold and started to get all blocked and hard to breathe etc. So like I said it was a great zoo to visit with everything from elephants to red pandas...yes RED pandas!

So again it was an early rise for David the next day. After checking out by 10am I had to kill some time before jumping on a bus to Banff to see Kat. So I did what I do best just laze on the sofa with a beer and my laptop on the Internet. So that was my Calgary experience and next stop Banff!

David

Fly Like An Eagle remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

So the four of us arrive in Edmonton at 8am all very tired and what not after spending 18 hours on the train over night from Winnipeg. The Irish lads and I grabbed a cab to the hostel and found out that we couldn't check in until 3pm. The time was 9am! So off to the storage room to place our suitcases and bags and off into the local area for breakfast. Still by the time we were finished it was 11am and still had time to kill so as nearly every tourist who comes to Edmonton does, we grabbed a map and headed down to the West Edmonton Mall. The map itself placed the mall in our opinion about 45 minutes walk away from the hostel so we decided to walk it thinking nothing of it. By midday the temperature was 36 degrees and we were lost. Turns out we got to the mall three hours after we started and I am in Jeans and long sleave t-shirt, I was quite poofed out by the end of the hike.

So in the mall we went and was greeted by the rides and coasters in the mall! Honestly who puts a theme park near enough in a mall? Seriously? So after a long hike we thoguht we'd treat ourselves to some food so off to the food court for KFC and then we headed down to water world...again in the mall! The only thing that stopped us from taking a chilled and relaxing paddle in the wave pool was that they wanted $35 to get in.

So bugger that we thought and had a quick look around and apart from the water world and theme parks it was just like any other mall! Nothing really special about it so we grabbed the bus back to the hostel where we could check in finally. All grabbed showers after check in and then off onto the internet to grab tickets for the under 20s World Cup, which today was the 1/4 final between Spain and the Czech Republic. Managed to score three tickets by the pitch...well 12 rows from the action so fairly close up. We also ended up joining the party there which was full of Spanish, Mexican, South Americans and everyone else who wasn't eastern block supporting the Spanish team. The first 90 minutes were quite dull with only a few chances that Spain should have put away but then comes extra time. Two goals this time (one on either side of the half way mark) with Spain pulling back a goal just near the end. Again Spain had their chances to finish the Czechs off but failed to under the pressure so off to penalties it went. THe last time I was at a game that went to penalties was at Wembley Stadium with Manchester City Vs Gillingham in the play off finals 8 years ago. As we all suspected the Czech came through to win the shoot-out and a devastated Spanish crowd were almost in tears.

So anyways away from the match, we left the stadium and headed off towards the LRT home when we spotted a few guys walking onto a football field with a football. So for the next few hours we were playing footy with about 10 people for a few hours. All good fun but if only I had a belt for my shorts. Everytime i jumped up for a header or was running on the pitch they started to fall down but not that far to be flashing but enough for me to look like a prat and start running round with one hand holding up the shirts.

The day still wasn't over for us lads when we got back we had yet again another shower with it being a hot day and then straight out to the pubs along "party street". Couple of hours later we had a crowd around us for being foreign especially being English and Irish.

Next day was more of a relaxed day when I got up late and then just jumped on the LRT into the downtown to look around and I stumbled across the street performers festival down at city hall. Not much performances going on but still a party atmosphere down there.

Apart from that nothing really to say about what else in Edmonton or as someone at Pam's work calls it Deadmonton!

So off to Calgary I go then.

David

Bring On The World Cup remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Okay so after 36 hours, 5 meals and several kips on the train I finally arrived in Winnipeg and hauled my stuff upto the hostel and literally passed out on my bed bc it was 10pm and the train ride really wiped me out.

So I woke up around 11ish and grabbed my stuff and headed out to see what was around in Winnipeg and doing the whole tourist thing with pictures of this and pictures of that. Found myself among the Winnipeg bears and totem poles and then down into the french speaking part of Winnipeg just across the river. Found myself by some old ruins of a church which was nice to walk around apart from not understanding the french signs.

So made it back to the english part of Winnipeg and stopped off at the forks park and the mall there which was full of bars, restaurants and takeouts...it was food, food and more food there... Had a nice break in there I must admit as it was really hot outside and took a look in my travel guide and it said to do this, this and this so naturally, I did.

So starting off with the Manitoba museum and planetarium was good to look around for a few hours, catch a breeze on Pontage and Main (apparently the windiest corner in North America) and then finish the night at the ball park for the Winnipeg Goldeyes against the Fargo Redhawks. Good game to watch and a win for the hometeam 5 - 3 and then afterwards a signed baseball by some of the players and best of all a picture with Goldie the Goldeyes' mascot.

So back to the hostel for another night and got woken up by the house keeping staff saying I needed to have checked out of the room about 45 minutes ago. I wasn't informed what time check out was so luckily she was okay with it so basically just chilled in the lounge at the hostel with my laptop.

Met two Irish guys there and a Canadian girl who were all checked out and waiting for the same train ride to Edmonton so naturally we all latched on to each other and went down to the station and stayed on the train together until we hit Edmonton.

So that was Winnipeg, brief I know but it is a nice place to visit but not to stay there for a long time.

David

After 36 Hours I Am Finally Here remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

So I arrive in Montréal late as per usual with the likes of long distance trains here in Canada, but atleast I got here and to be honest I wasn't really that worried as I had been here before.

So I was sat on the sofa in the lounge when two guys came into the room and started to chat to me. We had Luke from Australia (Not the Luke from Toronto) and Taylor (A former US Marine sniper from Atlanta). An interesting combination for sure but about an hour later we headed out to Mont Royal and spent about 30 minutes up at the top and watched a storm above the eastern part of the city, which was quite interesting to see as we were above the storm on the hill and in the blistering heat. So after the sightseeing was done from Mont Royal, we did what any group of three guys wanted to do in the heat...grab a drink at the bar!

So after one/two....maybe I can't remember how many we had we got back to the hostel with a few drinks from the store and then was pre-drinking until we headed out at around 10pm to downtown Montréal for more drinking. Luke suggested we try this bar called Mado and much to our surprise it was a drag bar. Must admit it was cheap drinks and well interesting entertainment. Later we hit a karaoke bar just down the road where we met three girls from Ontario and were so glad to hear we 1) spoke english and 2) were not from Canada, meaning 3) we had an "accent". So again after a few drinks and some karaoke fun it was time to head back to the hostel at 4am and then stayed up for sometime before actually hitting the sack.

Next day was more of a chill at the hostel and work on my assignment for uni back home before heading out again downtown but into the Old Montréal area for drinks and paid the most ever for a pint. We were charged $8 for a pint and $6.25 for a half pint so although the choice was good the price didnt quite match the excitement of good beer for once.

So again back at around 1am we again chilled in the lounge when to make it more interesting thre Geordie lads came in to chill and all 6 of us headed out to the store down the road for more beer. It was quite funny that night as the Geordies tried to keep up with Taylor and ended up passing out on the sofas before heading to bed.

So this pretty much wraps it up for Montréal as Luke and I left the next day to head to Toronto. Luke went by bus though as I went on the train but must admit I had a great time in Montréal and the is the end of David in Québec for the time anyways.

David

Slight Hint Of De-Ja-Vu remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Yes! It has been a while since I last wrote here but a lot of things have been going on since my last entry. So here is an update of what has been going on since I arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Well after my first night in Halifax, I woke up to head out again downtown to the Citadel in Halifax and my timing couldn't have been any better. As I arrive at the gates to the Citadel they were going through the changing of the guard, which not as specatular as in London but then again Halifax is a lot smaller than London. Shortly after...well about an hour or so then everyone was surrounding one gun in the citadel as it was exactly 12 noon and the gun they fired was of course the noon gun. Now this has been a tradition for hundred of years that the gun is fired at 12 noon and 9pm everyday excluding Christmas Day. However there has been one change since the early times where they only use 1lb of black powder today instead of 4lbs back then and there was at one point a legislation act that the British Military were not responsible if your windows broke during the firing of the gun.

The citadel itself wasn't as good as the one in Québec City but was still impressive and after my little walk around for a few hours I was back downtown looking around town and watching a magician or two ont he harbour front before heading to Pizza Corner for a Donair, which Pam told me I had to have otherwise I would not have had the Halifax experience.

So back to the hostel to pack and check out before heading off to Truro to meet Pam's family for a couple of days. It was a nice surprise when Pam was telling me about it when I was in St. John's and to be honest I was quite shocked that they offered but not complaining.

So first night at the Tiller's and we spent the night with the grand tour of the house and chilling in the living room watch a film and grabbing a piza delivery so a pretty chilled out night and then a lie in until fairly late, well 10am anyways and then we headed out in the car to drive along the northern Nova Scotian coast. We stopped off at a few places like lookout towers, beaches and a few other places like Southampton and Denmark before finally getting home to relax at night with some Canada Day fireworks from the hill near to where we were. So time at the Tiller's was funfilled and no time to laze about as we were out in the car for a good 8 hours or so. Well atleast I slept well that night.

So the next day I was bound for Moncton so in the morning, Pam's mum drove me around Truro to show me this and that etc, etc and then we stopped off at a drug store for some food on the train and also for a snadwich to eat then. So at the train station, I checked in my suitcase and then Pam's mum took me out to the station platform to show me a wall painting that Pam had started but did not quite finish. This painting was for an art scholarship and was a pair of hands holding the world and all about recycling.

So off I go to Moncton on the train and considering we were up in the north of Nova Scoita, it still took me 3 hours to get to Moncton and when I arrived, I ended up wasting $6 on the taxi because I didn't know where the hostel was from the train station but turns out that it was right up the road about 5 minutes. So the hostel itself looks like a student house with a student-esque feel to it as the people running the place were fairly young. So for the first night Mike (owner), Pete (Australia) and I went to the river bank to watch some belated Canada Day fireworks as apparently the weather was so bad that they didn't go ahead on Canada Day. The display was more impressive than the display I saw in Truro.

So Tuesday came in Moncton and I decided to go walk around town and wow the downtown area was small and I ended up in Dieppe which was a settlement next to Moncton. During the time I was out which was about four hours it had chucked it down 4 times and the last time was just after I had my hair cut and I was outside with my hoodie so I get absolutely drenched wet through. So a new city and new look for the time anyway and when I got back to the hostel there were plans for a new thing too when a few new people moved into my room and one of the guys [John] brought he guitar so him and Pete were jamming away in the lounge and then later on whilst Pete was playing the guitar, John pulls out his violing as well and they continue to jam. Later some of Mike's friends turn up with guitars, drums and other stuff and we all end up jamming in the downstairs lounge for a few hours which was different because half of the time I couldn't understand a word some of them were singing as it was in French but oh well it was good.

So Wednesday comes around in Moncton and the weather is still bad so I decided to take the day off and chill at the hostel and work on some of my assignment for university back home. As I had stayed in all day I decided to go out and grab a bite to eat and ended up in this Vegitarian restaurant which was not what I expected not only was it nice food but it was cheap too! So got back just before we all headed out to the pub to see some live music and drinks all night so walking back was fun as everyone was a different nationality and all having a laugh, which is what I like about hostels.

Thursday came around and it was time to pack up and say goodbye to Moncton...Well after packing and checking out by 10:30 I had to wait until 4:30pm until I could leave to go to the train station and get ready for my 17 hour journey to Montréal. Well it lasted 19 hours in the end as we had to go slowly during the night and we stopped for 30 minutes to have an extension to the train so we were now about 20 odd carriages long! So arriving in Montréal at 10:20am instead of 8am on Friday.

So I'll leave it there for now and write up about where I am tomorrow so I'll catch upi tomorrow now!

David

Been A While I Know! remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Well yesterday was my last day in St. John's and Newfoundland and man it was a really good day! Starting off with booking a trip to go into the Atlantic Ocean and go sea kayaking at Bay Bulls and hopefully catch a glance at some icebergs and whales in the area. So Steve (Instructor), two guys from Winnipeg and I set out into the bay in our two man kayaks. Well during the three hour paddle we got to the edge of the bay and into open waters after viewing some amaing views of the Newfoundland coastline with its sharp points and water filled coves and caves and jellyfish invested waters along with whales and blue sharks (which unfortunately we didn't get to see...the jellyfish however we did see and by the hundreds. We got hit by a few wakes due to a cat sailing past carrying it's whale watchers. The second time we paddled into the wakes and it became a bumpy ride for us and almost losing the camera a few times by either getting soaking wet through or actually falling into the sea.

So in open waters now and we see a boat in the distance on the horizon and thought nothing of it. However on our way back into the bay the ship we noticed was coming in our way and a a quick pace too! Within 20 minutes it had left the horizon and was literally on its way into the harbour. Luckily we had made it across the bay before it past us and attempted to dock and we were within distance of the ship where we could yell at the crew...we didn't however as we are all mature...well the two from Winnipeg were. Steve and I couldn't stop joking around and aiming jokes at them.

So no whales or icebergs but we did see a huge supply ship come into harbour and coves, caves and amazing coastline too. Oh well! I guess I did see an iceberg on tuesday and whales I can see in Vancouver so all is good. Just to add to the good day, the heavens opened just as we landed back on the shore. Had a little scare when I almost forgot about my camera but grabbed my life jacket off the instructor just in time as he was about to submerge the jacket in a fresh water tank to rinse out the salt water. The trip itself was well worth the money and also I don't need to go to the gym to work on my arms for months now! Just had a three hour session in open waters.

So we head back to the O'Brien's base where we started and headed to the restaurant for fish and chips with cod and not haddock which made a change. It was so nice too! Best fish and chips that I have had since I arrived in Canada and a heck of a lot cheaper than the times in Toronto too!

So we got dropped back off in St. John's in the rain and then I attempted to dry off in the hostel before heading back out to George Street for my final night for a few drinks and see if all the hype of George Street was worth going. Well I went into one bar called Greensleaves and apart from one of the guys at the bar they all just looked at me and just ignored me. Although the live entertainment was good with one guy on guitar taking in requests. When I left i was shocked to hear Grease playing in the bar next door and that it was a karaoke bar and my god the people in there were tone deaf. Mind you I couldn't do a better job especially at Sandy's part but oh well. So unfortunately I missed George Street's busiest night (Friday and Saturday) so really can't say it lived up to its hype for Thursday but I assume it would be really good over the weekend.

So up early today [Friday] to pack and finally head out to the airport for my flight to Halifax in Nova Scotia. Luckily got everything I came into St. John's with and hopefully haven't left anything behind...I don't think so anyway.

So I arrive into Halifax around 3ish and into downtown Halifax at about 3:30pm and the hostel is a lot nicer and more the student atmosphere and I actually have a bed frame and not just a matress on the floor. Wasn't complaining though about St. John's as the matress was comfy!

So had a little walk around the downtown before doing the full day out tomorrow and going to the fortress just down the road and up the hill.

Anyways, I must be off now as I am starting to feel slightly tired so ciao for now.

David

The Journey Continues remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

So a long lie in today (11:30am) and tried to book tours to go around the Avalon region on Newfoundland, which turned out to be a big bust as the trip would have been a bus, tour guide and me! This would have been an 8 hour trip around the region but instead I ended up settling for Cape Spear and Petty Harbour with a St. John's tour.

Started off at the bottom on Long Hill where I was picked up in a minibus full of people on the tour. I just happened to be the only under 45 and the only person not from Canada. But it was good fun I must admit with stories they all had to tell of where they were from and why they were in Newfoundland. The tour guide Gordy was a laugh too which made the trip even better and lifted spirits about the cold weather (The Canadians can handle -30 in the cities but can't handle +10 by the coast? Strange!!) The english weather jokes came out too but I've been English weather joked out!

So to Cape Spear we went via a tour of St. John's and trips to Signal Hill, Cabot's Tower, The basilica of St. John The Baptist, The Colonial Buildings, Harbourfront and more. Cape Spear is the most easterly point of all North America and St. John's being the most easterly city in North America. At Cape Spear there was also a fort called Fort Cape Spear where the Allies built a battery to fend off the German U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic and there were two sections connected by tunnels. So onwards to Petty Harbour, which is a small remote fishing village south of St. John's, which was nice with all the different coloured houses and boats.

So after the tour I had a little rest here back at the hostel before I headed out again to the Anglican Church for a haunted hike around St. John's for stories of the paranormal in the city. Pretty scary stuff to be honest. We all had goosebumps and the hair on the back of our necks were standing on end with ghosts, hangings, the nexus, unmarked graves, etc, etc.

Now I am back here in the hostel looking up thing to do tomorrow and things to do when I arrive in Halifax on Friday. So I'll leave it here for now and hope to catch up tomorrow...well today...

David

And On Your Left, We Have... remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Well today has been full of surprises, mainly that I've just found out how to add images to my blogs!

Today was my first full day in St. John's and all I can say is wow! Spent most of the day climbing Signal Hill along the coastline and battery. One amazing clib for sure and note to anyone but wear either hiking boots or running shoes and not casual trainers like I did and in the heat wearing jeans! Well it was pretty mild when I woke up but oh well lesson learnt now.

So I reached the summit of Signal Hill and glanced down at St. John's, the harbour and the smallest iceberg ever. Was a bit of a let down for icebergs but oh well I hope to find some soon along with whales, etc. So on the summit is Cabot's Tower which is a small watch tower but the size of a house with narrow winding steps upto the tower. You really can see for miles out into the Atlantic Ocean and a good 3000km more is England. So I was the closest to home I have been since arriving in Canada. Well as soon as I got up to the summit I found the easier route up the hill which was a roadway for drivers and cyclists to use and there is me with my legs killing me after the climb along the coast but I must admit I would rather have done it the way I did and then climb down too. The only reason I didn't was because of the heritage centre down the road with people dressed in traditional 18th - 19th century military clothing and some civilian dress too. Was cool to look at it really and also along the roadside walk down were more batteries with cannons overlooking the straight into the harbour.

Other than that today I was walking around town along Duckworth Street trying to find George Street and didn't find it. I had to look it up on Google Earth later on as my legs were about to drop off so I ended up recovering from jetlag (yes you do get it after 5 hours on the plane) and not a lot of sleep during my last week here in Toronto so a good little kip did the trick so anyways it's getting late here so off to bed again now.

David

My First Full Day remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Today was the start of my main summer roadtrip across Canada starting with a flight from Toronto to St. John's in Newfoundland (via Halifax, Nova Scotia).

So today was pretty crazy with arranging to move out of Wycik for good now and I forgot to take pictures of the rooms. Nevermind eh! Anyways I finally got out and back to Pam's where the rest of my stuff was lying around at around 1:20ish where then I needed to A) Pack to go and B) Sort out stuff to send home still as I got quite a bit left to do.

Got to the airport around 3ish after an hour on the buses and subway and was so glad to sit down finally as the subway was packed and I was slightly heavy with my luggage. So after 2 hours at 42,000ft we arrived in Halifax for our first stop and stayed there for about 30 - 40 minutes whilst people got off and then people re-boarding the plane etc, etc. Then just over an hour later we were in Newfoundland and during the sunset flight I actually saw the Atlantic Ocean for the second time (first time being in Gibraltar).

So I have now arrived at my hostel and the lady who is helping out doesn't have a clue! To add to it they all speak with a strong and thick accent similar to Irish but slightly more mumbled too! So now I am currently sat in the living room of this house converted hostel and typing this up whilst looking through my travel guide and my map of things to do and see tomorrow and try to plan it out to last me four days. By the looks of things, I should be okay! Besides if in doubt there is always George Street. It's the street with the most density of pubs in the world or so I'm told, so must be good!

Anyways, I'm off to bed now as I'm tired and need some long awaited sleep!

David

St. John's, Newfoundland remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Well I am now in the lounge at Ottawa Backpackers Inn on my last night trying to stay up so I don't over sleep because of an early train ride back to Toronto. Back to the madness of Toronto and working for another six or seven weeks before I head off again around Canada. Travelling is the best experience anyone could ever experience believe me; the people you meet on the way, the nights out, the whole language barrier in Québec, fire on the metro in Montréal, etc.

So to sum up this experience, I don't think I could find the right words for it. Just completely and utterly amazing!!!!!!

Ottawa was not what I was expecting for a capital city of a nation. I was sort of basing this on London, Paris, Rome and other major capitals. Ottawa is small, easy to get around and hard to find the downtown area as over in North America I'm used to huge sky scrapers etc so the nicest thing I though about Ottawa was the small downtown market and the Parliament buildings. Kat fell in love with Ottawa for it's markets and little jewellery stores there.

Either way its been an amazing trip with Kat and unfortunately Kat carries on from the 10th as she leaves me behind. Oh well best get some rest...I give up staying up!

David

All Good Things Must Come To An End! remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

Well I am now on the train back to Montréal after spending two nights in Québec City. Internet was a pain in the backside at the hostel so writing this blog every travel day went out the window. So had a relaxing night in Montréal before leaving for Québec City so both Kat and I were chilling in the lounge with some other folks. There was one guy from London who was in Edinburgh for university but here for the summer holidays, Dave and Celine from Chicago and another guy who was from Vancouver. Pretty chilled just talking about the places we've been to, where we are from, little bits and bobs about ourselves and the odd time when we bored ourselves to watch Blue Jays baseball on the TV. I looked myself out of my suitcase silly me so for 30 minutes I was in my room with a bread knife hacking away at my tiny lock whilst Kat just sat back and laughed about it. Saw the funny side of it too but I needed to get into my suitcase so I could get dressed!

Dave and Celine were put in our room so when we were all packing we were talking to them about where to next and turns out they were off to Québec City the same day but didn't book a hostel so we gave them the name and address of the one we were staying at so they could check it out. It turned out they didn't get in as the rooms were booked that night.

So we arrive in Québec City at 9pm and we get picked up by a taxi driver and he also decided to teach us some French along the drive as both of us had trouble pronouncing the roads we were going to. Checked into the hostel and went downstairs to the hostel bar for a drink...or two...maybe three!

Next morning we got up for breakfast before heading out into the old town of Québec inside the old 17th century walls. Got some amazing views from the Citadel or the barracks as it is home to the 22nd Royal Regiment. Took a tour of the citadel fortress, got some more views across the river too. Pretty good for £4 to go round the place for an hour (as that was how long the tour took). Contined to walk along some of the remaining walls of the old city and meandered around the small side streets, which go in all directions and not the typical noth-south or east-west as most cities here do. Outside the walls that happens but inside it does not.

Decided to walk outside the walls when out of the blue we bump into Dave and Celine sitting in one of the main squares where we decided to walk the downtown area together and be completely submerged in French. Luckily for us Dave and Celine could speak fluent French and not like Kat and I who were highly skilled in saying "Bonjour", "oui" & "non" and thats your lot for my French. A few times I kind of figured out what they were saying to me in French but then had to have Dave to translate for me. Really should have paid much more attention to my French guide back home.

We also planned to go on a pub crawl around the old city with some other people in the hostels and managed to convince Dave and Celine to book in at the hostel as now there was a room for them. Later on we chilled in the lounge where we met Eddie and Phil (two guys from Ottawa but originally from Taiwan) and ended up going out together for the pub crawl so a good few of us we wasted by the time we got back from the whole of two bars we went to (so not much of a crawl but good night overall). Dave konked out on Celine in the second bar before Kat went back with them as I stayed out to drink more...now starting to feel the effects of that decision.

So overall my whole experience in the New France has been better than I thought it would be and considering I know absolutely no French, I managed to survive...even with the help of Dave & Celine and the 5% of Québec City that speak English.

Now off to Montréal for two hours whilst Kat and I wait for our train to Ottawa and back to English Canada...woo! Don't need to feel like a prat when asking where the toilets are in French.

So the verdict is Montréal and Québec City are definitely must see cities whilst in Canada for its different reasons and too many to list.

David

Parle Vous Francais? remains copyright of the author Nibsy_86, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs