VANCOUVER, SEATTLE AND ALASKA

We arrived in Vancouver after a 4 hour bus ride to the HI Central hostel, it was rubbish. We put our bags in and went for a couple of beers to try and digest this crap place we were paying to stay at! So we get some food to cook and then we realise that there's only a microwave between everyone and the extractor fans were there for show!! We immediately looked for somewhere else to stay and booked in for the next night. If there were any doubts that we were doing the wrong thing were quickly gone when at 8am the room maid came in and started changing beds in the room where we were still sleeping, not happy!!!! Then we moved to Jericho Beach that was out of town but on a gorgeous beach where we monged for the day!! Next day we went to Stanley Park, we walked around and there were loads of things to look at and we met a pair of very tame racoons. For the next day we signed up for a city walk and lynn canyon day, a guy called Eric took us round all of Vancouver, even the dodgy Hastings area where all the homeless and drug addicts hang out. It was an amazing tour for the money and we went over a suspension bridge in a forest, that was cool. It took all day and we used a sea bus too which was cool. We were knackered but had agreed to meet some people for a comedy club night, when we were walking there Leannes flip flop snapped so she had a nightmare, and we were soooo late we just got in!! Had too much vino as usual!! Next day didn't feel like doing much so went and looked round town got some hangover food and chilled, that night we went for a greek meal with some people we met. Next day was our last day in Vancouver so checked out some stuff we missed like the sky harbour view tower and the library which is mental. We left for Vancouver Island on a sea plane, that was awesome and really want my PPL now!!!! Got to Manaimo and checked out the town then went for a few beers, didn't have long there, next morning we were off again on a Greyhound to Seattle.

First thing we noticed about Seattle was how much cheaper than Canada it was. We arrived quite late so most things were closed. Next day we had the mission of doing Seattle in a day, its impossible!! We started at the Space Centre where the Sky Needle tower is, looked at that but a guy told us to go to the Columbia Tower instead much cheaper and better views. After the space centre we went to find the troll under the bridge, it took us about an hour in the rain and flip flops and eventually found it. We got a bus back and went in search of Kurt Cobains memorial bench and house, we were soaking wet by the time we got there and had still loads to do. We headed for the Columbia tower only to find its not open on weekends ARGH!!!! So we thought we'd end the day with a cup of coffee from the very first Starbucks and of course lots of Buds!!!! Next day we headed for the airport for Alaska baby!!

We arrived at Juneau to freezing cold weather!! We got to our very weird hostel but couldn't get in til 5pm so we mooched about town. When we checked in the hostel the people were really weird, they had loads of rules and a curfew of half 10, so we realised then this wasn't the place for us. So we got our heads down the first night and next day did Mount Roberts and tried ro make it to the summit, but we got to about 3200ft and all we could see was nothing but clouds, so we abandoned that and went to the pub. While in the pub we met loads of people off the cruise ship and a local couple called Adelle and Floyd, they said the next day they would take us to the glacier to see bears for free, much to this businessmans disgust cause he was in the process of conning us!!!! So as we get talking to this couple they end up agreeing to foster us for the rest of our time in Juneau. Next day when the hangover had set in we mooched about town and then phoned the couple to see if their offer was still on, and it was. Within 5 mins they'd collected us and took us to the glacier where we saw a 3 yr old bear scratching his bum on some wooden fence, we were so close it was scary!! So they took us back to their place and we settled in and had wine and beers with them, and they even took us out for dinner!! Next day we did the perserverance trail, and was approx 8 miles then again went to the house to drink more beer and teach them shithead!! On our last day in Juneau we decided to do the glacier trail, it was really nice and walked about 5 miles, we were walking back to Adeles and Floyds house and just outside the park with the glacier I said to Leanne is that a bear over there? It shook its body and was across the road from us, so typical tourists reached straight for the camera, as we did it walked over towards us and this other couple were standing with us, so we went to walk off and I looked over and it was walking at the side of me and I looked round and the other 3 had stopped walking, I poohed my pants and panicked, luckily I stopped walking and moved slowly away and it went back over the other side of the road. Thats when we did our sharp exit. I had been moaning that I hadn't seen a bear in the whole 6 weeks we'd been away, but I didn't want to see the snot in its nose!!!!!! Next day New York bound...........................

BANFF, MOSQUITO CREEK AND WHISTLER

So after seeing a lot of nothing along the Prairies and after 2 pretty crappy nights sleep on the Greyhound we arrived in Banff. The Rockies are beautiful and we stayed in a place called Alpine Lodge that was really nice. Our first port of call in Banff was the town to buy some clothes that would keep us warm cause our summer gear wasn't up to the job!! Once kitted out with hat, gloves and more layers we walked round the town. That evening we met our room mates a couple of blokes from France (can't have everything!!!!) and went to the bar with them and got lashed!! Next day we decided we would take on a mountain, so we chose the smallest in our fragile state and it was called Tunnel Mountain and was 1000ft, took us an hour to get up and was amazing views of the town from the summit. In the afternoon we decided to do another trail called the Bow river to Hoodoos, it was a very scenic route with water falls and mountains eveywhere, it took us about 3 hours, and by the time we got back to the hostel we were knackered!!! Next day we were feeling adventurous so we took on Sulphur mountain, this was a 2300ft mission. It took us 2 hours to get to the summit where we were greeted with a load of lazy people who took the gondola up. We had lunch and ended up sharing most of it with a chipmunk we named fatty for obvious reasons!!!! We walked back down and at the bottom someone informed us that if you hike up, you can get the gondalo for free coming back down, cheers too little too late by then!!!! So we treated ourselves after our hard work to a hot springs sesh, it was 39 degrees and exactly what my body wanted!! Our last day in Banff and we just did a tame trail called the Fenland Trail, then it was back on the bus to Lake Louise to go to the not so civilised Mosquito Creek!!



After eventually managing to get someone to drop us off in the middle of nowhere on Highway 93, we found our new digs for the next 2 nights!! This place has no electricity, no running water and in the middle of nowhere so no signal on your phones, it was proper in the wilderness!!!!! We met Nick our bloke who ran it, you can tell he doesn't get to speak to many people cause we were talked at for hours it felt!! Me and Leanne were cold so thought that we could make a fire on the wood burning fireplace no problem, oh my god about an hour later we had the most pathetic little flame ever, so Nick had to teach us the right way, thought my militray days may have come in use but oh no!!!!! That night a group of Belgium blokes pitched up and we had beers with them until they decided to try and get the sauna working, it took them hours!! Next day we went for a hike on a trail across the highway, we didn't see much life and we crossed the creek and it was freezing, so no way was I going to bathe in that!! Then we checked out a load of waterfalls and headed back to our humble abode. Next day we did some wood chopping, and got a lift back to Lake Louise where we picked up our next greyhound for Whistler, another epic journey ahead of us!!

We arrived at Whistler early in the morning and felt like dog poo, so we immediately got to the hostel and got our heads down. We checked out the town that was a 3 mile walk from our digs cause we stayed in the creek not the village, very pretty little place. The next day we were feeling adveturous again and thought we would take on Mount Whistler and the tourist information guide bloke looked at us as if we were dreamers!! So we took it on and after about an hour and a half of almost scrambling up a mountain we gave up and came back down and managed to drink 2 litres of cranberry cider each with our tea!! The next morning was ropey to say the least, my head was pounding and again vowed I'd never touch another drop of Satans drop!! We got our sorry asses out of bed in the PM and went for a tame walk around one of the trails for a few hours. So we had an early night again to prepare ourselves for the last Greyhound leg in Canada to Vancouver..........................

TORONTO, NIAGARA AND THUNDER BAY

Well we arrived in Toronto after a 14 hour Greyhound epic, and went immediately to a bar for a well deserved beer!! It was late so got some kip. The next day we did all the touristy stuff, we went to the centre of Toronto and everyone was queing so being sheep we just got in the queue and had no idea what for. After an hour it came to our turn and these companies were just giving stuff away, very odd!! So then we got our tickets for the CN Tower and went up, it was a really good view from up there and there's a glass floor so when you look down it makes your head weird!!!!! That night we went to see We Will Rock You and was awesome. The next day we just monged round Toronto waiting for our next Greyhound epic to Niagara. Got to Niagara and had a chinese dinner yum yum!!



In Niagara we checked out the falls in the day and they are amazing, then cause it was a friday there's a big fireworks display on in the evening when the falls are illuminated, very nice. We also bought some of the worlds most expensive cigarettes here, they were $14!! Then we had the challenge of getting ourselves physically and mentally prepared for the next greyhound epic, and overnighter to Thunder Bay!!!



It wasn't too bad a journey and arrived at a very friendly hostel called the Sleeping Giant and got there just in time for Labour Day where everywhere closes for the day, so we quickly had to get some alcohol supplies in and of course something to absorb the alcohol.....food!! So while everywhere was closed we borrowed bikes and biked all over and went to the Old Fort and saw nothing!! Then that evening we went to the harbour and went on a sailing boat as crew with 3 guys, it was a laugh and they plied us with rum, it was hell!! On our last day in Thunder Bay we wandered around and went swimming, then that evening before our bus journey we met a woman called Gail in the hostel who took us to a rubbish dump to see bears. Luckily we managed to see one running away with a bag full of rubbish, it was cool!! Then that night we were Banff bound...................... 2 days on a Greyhound argh!!!