Vagabonding around Canada

Well, it's been an eventful week since the end of the Toby tour. Many more adventures than I expected - but then, what do you ever expect when you're on the road? We took 4 days hitching from Canmore before we got to the island. Two of them spent in the pouring rain (about 7 hours waiting for a ride) and the other two spent in the roasting sun. After a short (but wonderful) stint in Victoria involving swims in the sea, hanging out on a pirate ship, dumpster diving, going on a 60km bike ride to a lake and getting punched in the face we figured it was time to get out of the city and head to somewhere more peaceful. Steve took me out to Salt Spring Island, which has got to be one of the most beautiful places I've been. All of the smaller islands around here (and there are hundreds) seem to be populated - if you could call it that - but a motley crew of alternative hippies who seem to spend their days making art, playing music and enjoying the island life. Salt Spring has only a couple of towns with names like 'Ganges' and 'Vesuvius', so that says a lot about it right there. We spent a couple of nights in front of the campfire outside a log cabin up in the forest on a hill with a couple of Steve's friends roasting marshmallows and being entirely blissed out. Then, it was back to the mainland (well, the main is-land) and back on the road to hitch up to Courtenay, which was about as easy as we expected it to be... only a WHOLE DAY to get 100ks! :P I love Steve like my brother, but this is the last time I'm hitching with another guy! People just DON'T pick you up! Bring on the ladies of the world thank you very much! :) Anyway, so now we're in Courtenay visiting my friend from home, Alani, and some of Steve's crew. It's another nice chilled island town, with much the same vibe as the rest of the place. When I come back on a 2 year work visa, there's no question of where I'm going to live! Going to spend a couple more days exploring and then head to the States to meet up with the fam! The journey continues!!

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