I am continuing these emails in a new web format which will hopefully make it easier for me to send them to everyone. You will be notified by email when a new diary entry appears. The trip route, in case you are interested in also attached. Vancouver island is a large island just west of Vancouver on the west coast of Canada. My first point of call after Victoria was Campbell River, which is famous for its salmon fishing industry. This area is home to five different type of salmon, kohu being considered one of the best in the world. If [View Full Entry]

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If you stop for a few minutes and think to yourself about how, if you wanted to, you would go about buying a car in the US. All pre-departure research (lonely planet, forums etc) suggested that it was nearly impossible to buy a car and legally drive it unless you had close connections in the States, were a citizen or you were willing to take a few financial risks. I think I lucked into the final category because I decided that I would let a wholesale dealer buy the car for me. Enter John, an overweight Mexican (by heritage) man who [View Full Entry]

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Not knowing whether I was driving a beast or a bomb, I said goodbye to Hazel and Dave and set out for Portland, Oregon. I bought a camera there because everything is tax free in Oregon and ended meeting up/travelling with Andrea, the English girl I first caught up with in Hawaii. We took in the tourist sights of Washington state, Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens and Olympic National Park. The Americans absolutely lovvvee their national parks, treat with them utmost respect and monitor them nearly as well as their borders. Along the road to Mt St Helens, an active volcano [View Full Entry]

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09/06/05 - 12/06/05: There is no more striking way to see the difference between the north and south of the US than to fly straight from Texas to Seattle, Washington (Northwest US). If you want a city where trends are created not just observed then Seattle is the place to be. I spent just over a week with my brother-in-laws aunt and uncle who treated me with open hospitality. Hazel and Dave met on the mission field in Ethiopia and came to Seattle where they raised two girls. I admire their love towards one another and the way that they both [View Full Entry]

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02/06/05 - 09/06/05: I had arranged to stay with a good family friend back in Australia, Aditya, who is working in Dallas as an engineer. Aditya was in the process of renewing his license so was unable to pick me up from the airport but I was happy to make my own way. Its good not having a plan but there were two things that were not in my favour. 1. Public transport is almost non-existent in Dallas - the car holds a special place in the heart of every Texan. Even taxis are hard to find. 2. The Dallas-Fortworth airport [View Full Entry]

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31/05/05: Picture downhill skiing and then 1 hour later basking in the tropical Hawaiian sun. Many people don’t know this but Hawaii gives you the opportunity to do this. Coming from someone that hasn’t even seen snow before, let alone been skiing, I thought that it was best not to indulge in this escapade. Besides, I think snowfall in summer is minimal on the mountain summits. You can, however, experience natures power on the opposite temperature spectrum and stand next to a river of 1150 deg C molten lava. This can be done all year round but the unusual, although very [View Full Entry]

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Situated a short plane ride south of Oahu, Big Island doesn’t attract the large crowds of its smaller neighbouring islands. 90% of the visitors to Hawaii stay on the island of Oahu and half of those stay at or near Waikiki. Big Island is famous for two things; 1. Captain Cook was killed on this island in 1779 in a town on the West Coast now known as 'Captain Cook' - very original name. Australians have somewhat immortalised Captain Cook and consider him to be the greatest explorer of his time. The Hawaiians do not glorify Cook or the influence the [View Full Entry]

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Aloha everyone! I hope that things are going well for you all. I am thinking of you all.....well...sometimes anyway. Just going to share a few things that I have been doing - I am not going to put every little detail or day down because that wont make you want to come and visit the places, it will just bore you! 24/05/05: On the day that I left for Hawaii someone asked me in the afternoon at what time I would arrive in Hawaii. I thought for a moment and found it very unusual saying "This morning". The 9 hr flight [View Full Entry]

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