Coalmont welcomes you and will be delighted to serve you provided you are lucky enough to find us open I didn't. The Kettle Valley Railway is an extinct line that at one time connected communities in the Southern interior of British Columbia between the towns of Hope and Midway, the halfway point across the province towards Alberta. The railway opened on May 31, 1915 and were intended to not only ship the rich minerals being unearthed from mountain mines, but as well strengthen Canada's sovereignty in an area threatened by aggressive American expansion. The rails were abandoned many years ago - though some portions operated until 1989 - and have been recently redeveloped in a pilot project focused on low-cost, environmentally-friendly tourism - presumably geared towards newly-retired-but-physically-active baby boomers. The BC government hatched a plan to ... read more

The Stinky Feet Project continues! I will begin traveling across Canada by bicycle on May 12, 2011. This 100-day journey will cover up to 7500 km, starting from Victoria, British Columbia. There are three objectives of the journey: Raise funds for the Trans Canada Trail Harvest solar power to supply 100% of my electricity needs Share compelling and entertaining stories/photos about Canada I should probably add pedaling my brains out to that list. Yes, it's going to be a blast! The route is unique and follows a combination of recreational trails, logging roads, minor highways, and suburban streets in an effort to avoid busy traffic and maximize my exposure to wacky and wonderful communities from coast to coast! I'll be equipped with a GPS receiver, camera and laptop, so you can expect all the ridiculous stories ... read more

The ground bends and distorts underfoot as I gingerly make my way through the rainforest, carefully finding my footing on a forest floor covered with a carpet of brilliant green moss and jumbled, rotting wood. Each step is a carefully calculated hop or tip-toe across catwalks of fallen trees and branches, each log lying on the remnants of older logs and coated with ferns and saplings. After just a few minutes of stumbling around in this slippery and dripping-wet maze, I realize why 4 out of 5 Queen Charlotte Islands' residents prefer to wear gumboots, even on a sunny day. I pause for a moment to take in my surroundings. I am merely a few metres from the edge of the logging road, but once I enter the refuge of the woods the silence becomes deafening. ... read more

It has been 6 months since returning home after the Water Adventure. Life has more or less returned to normal after a long, hard period of adjustment. I am once again becoming comfortable with the difficult business of everyday life. The stress of returning to work, dealing with pressing family issues, finances, moving into a new home and juggling extracurricular activities has begun to subside, and in the coming months I should be able to focus on kicking back and relaxing.....before planning the next big thing. In the meantime, this is the first of a few announcements coming up this fall/winter. "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Oceans: A 46,000 Kilometre Sailing Voyage Around the Planet" As you might have suspected, the Water Adventure had some fund-raising objectives, and I'm happy to announce that I'll be doing a ... read more

Ah, the warm, sweet waters of the Caribbean Sea. It's good to be back! This is just a sum-up blog of the Atlantico Project, with random pictures from Brazil, Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Martinique. I finally disembarked from "Strega", the yacht I had been sailing on since Australia while on an Around-the-World sailing rally. We came in 2nd over the finish line in St. Lucia. Wish me luck - as you head this, I am sailing westward once again. This is the final passage of the adventure and the next time I see land, it will be a shore I have seen before. I'm headed to where it all began in December 2007 - the San Blas of Panama! (Remember Mola Madness?) After a short stay to stock up on ... read more