In Which I Leave My Mark on Prince Edward Island I am volunteering on a farm that makes soap from goats milk, which sounded interesting. The family I am staying with are ... somewhat different to my previous experiences. The mother - Em - runs the soap making business, the father is a freelance homeworker, and the two children are homeschooled, and so are like precocious little adults with limited social skills. Or perhaps they're just being normal teenagers, I am ill-equipped to judge. There is also a foreign exchange student from Hong Kong living here, and two very loud chinese [View Full Entry]

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So I get the bus from Quebec, and head for New Brunswick. The countryside seems to be a grim rural wasteland, with snow and earth and industrial towns with names like St. Louis du Ha! Ha!, presumably named to offset the drab and dreary landscape. Or it could just have been the weather and the time of year - maybe it looks great in the summer, I don't know. At least we left the snow behind when we left Quebec. I arrive in Fredericton, where I am couchsurfing with Leah, who is having some of her friends over for dinner when [View Full Entry]

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Going into Quebec I had to remind myself that I wasn't entering a different country. I needn't have bothered, since it was exactly like being in a different country. Montreal Montreal was nice - an older city, with some interesting architecture and lots of night life. I couchsurfed with a native - Nathalie - who took me on a quick guided tour of the city when I arrived, which included a trip to her favourite place to sample the local delicacy, Poutine. This is a weird dish consisting of chips, covered in cheese curds and a generous helping of gravy. Tasted [View Full Entry]

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I couchsurfed at Keira's apartment in Ottawa - we had previously arranged this when we had been in the Yukon - and it felt nice to be in someone's home for a change, rather than a motel or a hostel. Or a tent, for that matter. Ottawa is a great little city, and you can stroll from the skyscrapered downtown area to the leafy attractive suburbs in under ten minutes. I was determined to make the most of my time here, and so spent my days sightseeing round the city and it's various museums, and the nights checking out whatever was [View Full Entry]

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Having contacted loads of outfitters and tour operators about a canoe trip in the Algonquin Provincial Park, and being told that the season was over, I found a wilderness outfitter who was prepared to set me up with a voyage along the Mattawa River, following the route used by the French Voyageurs, and the native Indians before them. Two nights and three days on my own, paddling my way down the river, and camping on the way. I spent the preceding (rainy) night in a town called North Bay, in the Voyager Inn, which I thought appropriate. I [View Full Entry]

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A guy who was staying at the hostel gave me a lift to Edmonton, which is the capital of Alberta. I spent the weekend here, went to the cinema a couple of times, and attended a concert by virtuoso classical guitarist Remi Boucher, which was pretty amazing. But was aware that I could go to the cinema at home, and wasn't really justifying the trip. This sense of becoming slightly directionless and 'losing my way' became more pronounced as I ventured further east into the prairies. I spent a day in Saskatoon, mostly in an art gallery/museum, since it was free. [View Full Entry]

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The trip from Lake Louise up to Jasper was supposed to be one of the best drives in Canada in terms of mountain scenery, and did not disappoint. It was made even better by Trent and Stacey, the couple on their way home to Hinton (northeast of Jasper) who not only stopped and gave me a lift all the way, but went above and beyond the call of duty. They bought me lunch, and stopped at the points of interest on the way, such as Bow Lake and the Athabasca Falls (which, had I gone by bus, I would have missed). [View Full Entry]

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Having left the farm in the Kootenays, I headed for Banff. But lifts were harder to get than I'd found previously, and I only made it as far as Revelstoke on the first day. This was a fairly small town that looked like it came alive in the winter, and was a big ski/snowboard destination. My experience of it was a hostel full of young australians, and a sports bar where I had dinner and watched Liverpool beat Leeds without any commentary. The next day wasn't much better in terms of lifts, but I did manage to get to Banff, and [View Full Entry]

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or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Insects The farm was in a fairly remote location called Johnson's Landing, with mountains on one side and picturesque Kootenay Lake on the other, though there was running water and electricity. My hosts were Kate and Harvey, who were lovely, and my home was the 'Roundhouse' cabin. White-tailed deer and wild turkeys would regularly come down to the farm, as would bears apparently, though thankfully I didn't encounter any of the latter during my stay. I have now heard one too many stories of people getting their faces eaten off by [View Full Entry]

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After the Dempster Highway trip, I spent a couple of nights partying in Dawson City. Then, with hangover in full effect, I hitched back to Whitehorse. This didn't go at all smoothly, and after two lifts I was still only about 20km south of Dawson City. To improve my chances, I created a sign with the materials I had available, namely a piece of A4 and a biro. Took me half an hour to complete, and I had to abbreviate since there wasn't enough space. It was only when I had finished, and proudly surveyed my handiwork, that I realised - [View Full Entry]

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