Kauai pt 3

As the hours on the garden isle pass and the last few drinks between friends are finished I feel as though I should write a bit about my last few days here.

After two nights at a beach house in Kapaa I settled into camping in the back of a friends rental suv on the north end of the island. Most of the time my time was spent at the beach enjoying the sun or swimming in the warm pacific.

I did how ever manage to escape the warm breach to hike some of the Kalalau trail. This included river hoping, whale spotting, waterfall swimming fun. The surrounding area was where Lost was filmed.

I will decently make my way back to this place some day.

Kauai pt 2

Often when I'm in a new place I will just start walking and see where I end up. Hawaii is no exception.

I started at a nearby beach and followed the coast south. The truth is if it's warm and I'm on the beach I can walk forever... If I had a lavalife account my interests would be "enjoys long walks on the beach" - I'm deep like that.

The nice thing about Kauai is that there are no mega resorts. Once you walk for 30 minutes there are no people on the beach. The whole island is full of beaches that can only be reached by boat or some extreme bush whacking. After a couple hours the beach walking to rock climbing ratio became unfavorable and I opted to follow a path into the bush. Randomly a path would lead to the coast where a crude fort or hammock was constructed looking over the water. Swings made from old fishing nets.

Eventually the path became overgrown and I found myself pushing my way through tall grass and thorn bushes. At one point I found a farm full of chickens in the middle of nowhere. I avoided it. A short time later I passed under a barbed wire fence and found the road. And eventually made my way back to Kapaa where I was staying.

The weather on the island is odd. It rains A LOT here, but only for 30 seconds or so. After that the sun is shining full force. It's like being marinated every hour or so. Not to mention the wonderful smell of earth it brings while in the forest.

Kauai! Pt 1

After hanging out in Vancouver for a couple of weeks it was time to go some where warm and surrounded by the ocean. So here I am in Hawaii!

For some reason I keep booking flights that leave at 6 am and end up having to stay up all night to get to the airport at a reasonable time or miss my flight. This time I chose not to sleep.

I needed to get to Kapa'a where I could check into a hostel. I decided that hitchhiking was probably common in Hawaii so went to main road and stuck out my thumb. Also I had bundled up the blanket I had taken on the plane to stay warm and set it in the garbage can in the men's room. Upon leaving the airport I heard a voice come over the loud speaker saying " CODE 11 CODE 11 - MEN'S WASHROOM SECTION 2 "

I decided it was a bad idea to go back into the building.

30 seconds later I was on my way. Buddy who picked me up had the day off and decided that we should go exploring. After checking out a few beaches and seeing Will Smiths 10 million, 100 acre property we decided to catch a happy hour.

He gave me a place to crash for the night and even offered some work if I was sticking around for a bit.

The house was up in the mountains And apparently is the rainiest place on earth - 500+ inches a year.

Beach time!

Vancouver Island, Vantage

So once again i have been falling behind on updating my bloggamijiggy.

The last couple weeks have been spent mostly on Vancouver Island. Victoria is a wonderful city with a much smaller feel the Vancouver (although sushi is way more expensive there, one of Vancouver's greatest qualities.) Sir John A was also visiting Victoria. I last spotted him on Victoria row back at home in Charlottetown. while on the island I managed to visit some friends in Sooke and Duncan (two small towns you will most likely never find yourself in.)

I also managed to do some camping in Washington, with some borrowed warm clothing. Vantage is a cool spot for climbing. I'm no expert but I did manage to do a bit of climbing.

For now I'll lay low in BC close to the mountains.

Highway # 1 / Avenue of the Giants

I've always heard so many people go'n on about driving the west coast of California. Well after getting a hold of a 02 Sunfire for a few days I've had the chance to drive from San Francisco to Oregon along the # 1 as well as The Avenue of the Giants.

- Best drive ever -

I will drive this road again, but next time I will be on a motorcycle. This is by far the windiest road I've ever been on.

I also managed to stop at a place called Fern Canyon. If it looks familiar it's because Jurassic Park 2 was filmed here.

San Francisco

It's been a little while since the old blog has seen an update. I'm also working from an iPod so the format may be terrible. Meh...

Even though it was night when we pulled into San Fran you can tell how awesome this city is (especially coming from LA.) The city it self isn't really that big, it sort of feels like a small town in a weird way.

The hostel gave us a free two hour tour where we learned a few random facts... Did you know the fortune cookie was an American invention? thought up right here in SF. The first factory is still operating which is honestly two Chinese ladies working away folding dough. It was 50 cents for a picture which on my shoe string budget couldn't afford.

Alcatraz was pretty cool. No longer a prison it is a national park/ tourist trap. There was a really good audio tour which took about an hour, although the movie escape from Alcatraz pretty much sums it up (and is conveniently located at the gift shop.) Really though the island is a great place to admire how beautiful the entire area is. I could easily spend a good chunk of time here.

Skewers 101

First you want to carve your wand. I was going for this...

This works too...

Imperio!

BC!

The Okanagan is full of delicious things like fruit.

And wine.

 Vancouver is full of delicious things like beer.

As well as homemade fajitas, wine, and more beer. 

Kamloops is only full of desert and tumble weeds

Now the people will know we were here.

We have spent the last few days murdering millions of insects with our bumper/windshield through the prairies, then washing our car clean with the rain and snow of the Rocky Mountains.


for years I've driven past cliffs and hills with rock stacks of little towers and inukshuks. I have always wanted to be one of the people who made one of those. Well last week I fulfilled my dream.

Today will be spent in the  Okanagan doing some wine tasting :)

The cats on Parliament Hill

 So I discovered my new favorite thing about Ottawa... In the shadow of parliament there is a colony of cats that has been there for decades. According to weathered sign one man alone takes car of these cats. 

We opted to trade in our mega van for a more stylish/fuel efficient Civic.

 

Chugging along...

Quebec 'n Ontario

After staying in Fredericton for the night we navigated the mega van to a micro brewery in Quebec called Brasserie Breughel. Only makes sense really...

Ferry from Levis to Quebec City

With the help of Carmella(my GPS) we navigated the mega van through the city searching for a road that didn't exist. 3 hours later we found it and stayed in a house basically made of plants and art work.

Some delectable chocolates for breakfast and watching a dude do some glass blowing we headed for Ottawa in time to play some frisbee and eat zucchini on Parliament Hill.

It begins

The most indirect way to Fredericton ever.

 This picture speaks for himself...

Touring the country in a parish 15 person van. 

Driving snacks...

Blue Fruits

It's now been a week since I've escaped the confines of full time employment. It's given me some time to get some things done I've been neglecting for a while. Things like fix the growing hole in the crotch of my pants. Or use my travel hammock.

Nothing like hitching a ride to Sackville in the middle of the night after the bar scene and camp out in the woods. Wake up in the morning and forage for some grub. Plenty of blueberries kick'in around these parts.

Time for a siesta.

The Jimmy Legs

I know that I'm ready to hit the road when I start packing and unpacking my gear. 

This will be a common sight around the apartment until I find a way outta here...

Dam good chicken

Fundy Coast, No Biggie

Sometimes I forget you can just drive for a couple hours and get to a totally different and wonderful place.

I have always known that the Bay of Fundy had the biggest tides, but to actually go and see it is way more interesting and beautiful then you would think.

Hopewell Rocks

Apparently when the tide goes out you have to prop your boat up with sticks as to not have it fall over.

There is just something so beautiful about when the land meets the water.