Journey to the Center of the Universe O_o!!

A tale for you;


On the 15th Day of August 2011 I, with a couple companions in tow, embarked on a journey across the country to the "CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE!" more commonly known as Toronto.  A little preface may be in order;  back in November I applied to Seneca College for their Underwater Skills program to start a career in Commercial Diving and Underwater welding, much to my surprise I was accepted and thus started all the planning to make the BIG move from little Victoria in the pacific northwest to the concrete jungle of Toronto on the shores of lake Ontario.

Captain Steve, companion #1

Back to the story.......we left RVYC (Royal Victoria Yacht Club) in a convoy trip to RVanYC(Royal Vancouver Yacht Club) to drop off Jen's 470 that was being chartered to a couple of other sailors for some training.

Le Truck avec 470 = awesome

After depositing the 470 at the club the convoy parted ways. Cpt.Steve raced around Vancouver to finish his errands for the race team, Jen and I jumped into "Dusy", my trusty jeep and partner in crime on many occasions,  to head North East towards Kelowna.  After some solid driving and a quick pit stop at DQ we arrived at K-town!

Kelowna, BC

   K-town is a pretty fun place to go; the city sits on the shores of Lake Okanagan so in the summer time it's fantastic hot weather makes the lake ideal for any kind of water sport. 

Sailing a hobie 33

Summerhill Estates Kelowna,BC

Up in the valley are all the winery's for visitors to go wine tasting and take pictures of the beautiful views, farmers markets with delicious peaches, a few pretty sweet eateries along the main drag, plus to top it all off, this one is good if you like the arts, there is a play company called "Caravan";  they put on shows all summer and in the winter in the out doors to give the audience a truly unique and inviting atmosphere, all of these things I would highly recommend!!!  

After having a great time in Kelowna we had to make our way for Cowtown!, a proud nickname for Calgary..lets face it Calgary is a town known for it's cowboy attitude, love of bbq's and drinking beer we had some fun here too!

BBQ on the Farm!

Yup! that is one large pig, and oh how fantastic it was! Calgary was a surprisingly fun city to visit, it was awesome to see all the families at the park having a little bbq with hot dogs and playing games in the fields.  The smell was so familiar to me as Jen and I did our run along the Bow river.  All the families that we met in our short time there were so happy to have us in their homes, especially when there was an entire pig being roasted for supper! These special people were family friends of Wilhelms and Meg, friends of ours in Calgary, he excitingly invited us along to the yearly BBQ titled "Pig n' Slide".  It's when some of the boys wake up super early to start the day by roasting a pig, all the friends come over at the leisure..and the party starts with the mentality of "it's noon somewhere, right?" Eventually the slip n'slide gets thrown into the mix! and it's good times had by all.

Flat lands!

Driving through Middle North America......what can I say.....it was hot.....it was fun at times....but the main thing is take your time! because my friends it takes a while.  One of the fun things to do..well on the Canadian side of the boarder, is to stop at the road side dinners to have a break there.  Talking to the shop owners about the local town and how things are is pretty fun! don't be shy about it either, heck they aren't! and you know what!? if you find yourself on the trans Canada near Morse, Sk by all means stop at the Morse Cafe, Linda you made the best clubhouse that I have tasted in years!!!! and enough fries to make anyones eyes bug out of their head :  D

In every tale there is a humbling part, as we made south for the boarder crossing into North Dakota there was a sudden change in the atmosphere.  Jen and I drove for a bit longer then we made mention of it...there was nothing.....the first few towns we stopped in to grab a bite or some fuel for Dusty...there was nothing...no people..houses were there..come cars around too but no people! it seemed as tho they just picked up and left! it was an odd feeling for sure and it made me think of what's happening in the world with crisis this and crisis that.  I do not know what Canada has done to make such a noticeable difference to the USA but I thank the people/land/powers that be for it, an ache in my heart did go out to those towns with covered windows and playgrounds with no kids....it was scary to actually see with my own eyes.

fullmoons bring laughter,
I don't care what you say.

who knew!

The Dakota's took a while, we were on the road for pretty much three days and the hours were building up! we stopped at the fun things to take a break and stretch our legs.

As we got our whits about us we were arriving into Chicago!!! ahhh the joys of a proper pit stop and the friends that let us crash at their house! The windy city tho is a pretty cool place to hang around, with the ease of public transport combined with the local sights..you can get yourself into a lot of "trouble" here..I know it did!

Blacksabbath burger!

One place in particular, if you visit, you NEED to go to! Kuma's Corner!!  This burger joint was showcased on Diners, drive in's and Dives, so we thought that if it was good enough for Guy Fieri then well it was going to be awesome!  Let me tell you my friends awesome it was! thanks to our waitress we had some pretty fantastic beers along with this beautiful 10oz burger with their home made chili on top all put in between a tasty pretzel bun.....needless to say I didn't eat much for supper :  D

Downtown Chicago

 

The Bean!

City center of Chicago was friendly and clean, with lots of gorgeous building surrounding you, one thing that can be easily done is to stop what you are doing and look up, admire the buildings and how much work went into them! With the art galleries close by to the down town core and Millennium park just around the corner you would have enough to do for a couple days! I would suggest to have the burger first so you'll be able to walk it off ;  )

Our visit was complete in Chicago, so back into our partner in crime we headed north, north for the boarder back into Canada and our final stop!

TORONTO!!!!!!

This was a hilarious trip to have done, if you are able to I would say do it! everyone should see their own country, visit other towns and cities.  Go out there meet new people, shear laughs and tears.  After doing a trip like this I truly understand how large our beautiful country is and how much of it I have yet to see! 

 FIN.

Better late than never!!

Hola bloggin world!!!!

I know it has been a while since I have made an update of any kind what so ever!! oooooopppppsssssss :  (
You have got to love having a busy life! from the time of my last post, there were camping adventures

yes, it's that big!

up at Rathtrevor beach with my friends Steve-O, Jenny, and Mumma Elise!  It was a pretty sweet weekend of relaxation, beverages, hiking, and lets not forget sunburns! see kids don't forget to put your sun screen on! oh and don't play bocce in the middle of the camp ground road..you get laughed at...Jenny I blame you!

Along with all that we had a dragon boat festival up in Nanaimo! not that was a blast of Sun, Salt, and tired shoulders! our team, "Paddlers of the 5th moon", came 2nd in the Jade division.  We came home with a medal, sunglass tan and the experience of driving a 30ft RV..oh yeah that's right! 30ft of awesomeness!!

The reason for all the fun, is well it's fun!!! to be out there seeing your friends and meeting new people is what life is all about, lets face it, with the way the world has been and will continue to go, we spend a lot of time in front of our computers/smart phones and in way to connect with people via social media we lose connection with what is going on right in your face....

So, in closing on the late and quick update, don't forget to unplug, get out there and have a blast of a summer!!  I hope that my next post won't have such a big gap tho...or maybe it will ;  )

peace out for now yo!!!!

Race Day

Today was the day, the day of the Oak Bay Half Marathon!! dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnn O_o!!!

              It was a pretty wet day...and by wet I mean soaked to the bone! not May weather by any means! buuuuuut I wasn't alone cuse there was close to 1000 people all geared up with their ipods, GPS's, and power gels to get them through this ordeal.

             All things considering it was a good time had by all, hard to say that running 21km is a good time but hell it was!  I must pass on a huge thank you to all the volunteers and employees that helped get this event up and running, please forgive the pun it wasn't intended, their hard work was noticed, since the early start was 7am so who knows what time they got up to set the course and close off the streets! it was hard enough for me to get out of bed to run the damn thing and I paid to be there!!! Back to the point, the volunteers, it was awesome to see them, hear their cheers as we crazy people ran down the road....in the rain...in the cold....for 21km....so when any runner hit the proverbial wall, everyone sooner or later no matter what your training or experience will hit it,  their encouragement and energy was a welcome boost! so to them a round of applause to your hard work and endurance...lets face it....to get up and what ever ungodly hour to go out there set everything up and still hang out to cheer to pass out water then to tear it all down again takes a special person....any one can run 21km but to stand there in the rain and be positive now that deserves a  medal!


FYI
i finished in 1:47 and bravo to my family members that completed the run too!!!
yeah that's right a family full of crazies!

Herring Survey 2011 Central Coast!

Thursday, April 12 2011;

“And it begins”

2 days after being picked up in Nanaimo by our 70 foot commercial fishing vessel, the crew and I have just picked up our maps of the area in Bella Bella and are continuing our travels north to start our survey of this year’s Herring spawn.  The travel time up was a nice change of pace, catch up on some sleep ;  ), “unplug” from the wonders of technology in our global village, and enjoy the scenery. 

Herring Roe
Since today marked the 1^st official day of the charter is was a bit of a busier day than our days of leisure that are looking like are right out the window, shame really I was getting used to sitting in the lap of luxury…hockey games, smoked black cod, my 6x2foot bunk, but all good things have to come to an end. With offloading concreted and supplies to friends in family in Bella Bella and getting the skiffs in the water, we have made our way a bit more north to start our search for the illusive herring eggs but for now we are at anchor and are just getting the skiffs sorted out for a day of diving tomorrow! 

            More adventures to come…..maybe some orcas :  D

Saturday, April 16 2011;

“A reminder of where we are”

A few things happened today that were a reminder of how remote we are up here, we had a nice visit by a wolf or two, a curious black bear on the shores of the beach, a few sea lions getting warm on the rock of Powell Anchorage, and to be honest a little incident as the cherry on top….Mum this is where you stop reading and take Dad down to the pub.

 Today I had a regulator failure, but in a good way…if there was one I guess,  20feet under the surface my regs started what’s known as a free flow, when air continuously flows out of the mouth piece so fast that you have to tilt you head to one side and just sip on the air like royalty having a cup of tea.  Upon reaching the surface, after having an interesting ascent and successfully going from 3000psi to 200psi in roughly 30seconds with a frost bite on the side of my mouth sort of a kind reminder of how cold pressurized air can be. I swam over to the boat and got back in,  talking with my tender, Joel, we discussed  the incident and making sure everything was okay he and I decided it would be best to switch for the rest of the morning.  So I had this time to reflect on how remote this area truly is and we haven’t even gone as far north as we are planning!  Yes I was being safe, yes my equipment is fine, and yes I am healthy….I am saying all this because I know there are a few of you reading and asking all those questions at the same time….and yes Mum I learnt my lesson ;  D

intensity juice, 

Sunday, April 17 2011;

“Travel Days”

            Hah oh where has the time gone, took me a while to figure out what day it was, cheers to the days of travel, time to chill out after having a pretty good start to the charter, working the majority of the day, there is no time while out here, there are only tasks, what’s that transect number? depth and time please?  

The tanks need to get filled so on and so forth…oh I should take that back, there is time on the boat….pretty much the only time that matters, Hockey…I’m sure there are some of you that would have seen that one coming.  That, among a few other things, is one of the cool things about our skip, hockey is priority especially with it being the playoffs right now!

April 22, 2011

“Cabin Fever”

             Have you ever watched The Shining? You know the one…”hhhhhheeeerrrrrrssssss JONNY!!!!”

Well…..I’M HERE!  Not going to lie it has been a boring few days with one of our boats having some mechanical issues we were tied up in Shearwater for a few days, at first it was good, time to catch up on some paper work for the survey and look at our own dive gear….but then what was only ment to be a few hours turned into a few more and a few more….we got to watch the hockey game, thanks for that by the way canucks insert choice swear word here, now we are moving on to day 2 of re rigging a different skiff for dive work and slowly making our way to Kitasu bay.  Back to my original rant to keep my mind from here axe happy…. Cabin fever….. it’s not a fun thing to deal with, especially with 7 dudes on one boat…….everything tends to get a bit odd…at first movies are watched then everyone goes for a nap or reads a book…but eventually energy gets built up then all of a sudden you have a boat full of 5year old boys and someone gets yelled at….not naming names ;  ) Long story short, it sucks sometimes, but every once n’ a while a funny story will come out of it and we all hang our head in laughter….anyways back life on the HMCS Shinning!

April 30, 2011;

“Home Stretch”

The countdown is on!!! We are slowly starting our trek south from Higgins Inlet to Nanaimo dropping anchor in a few spots along the way.  First off, and most important, to Shearwater! Hockey and fight night, then to a few other spots as we are on the hunt for those illusive herring eggs!  So far it’s been a good trip lots of fun, great food made by a few of us on the ship..but for now chili and hockey await!!






















May 5, 2011; 

"Home!"

Home!! sometimes that title is sooooo sweet!  it was a long journey down, roughly 30hrs of travel, the majority of the weather was fine but we did have a few bumpy rides along the way, honestly it wouldn't be a good voyage without a few bumps here and there.  You know it is nice to unplug for a little while but it reminds you how important the land of the living really is. Where you can call your family and friends on a whim, not have to worry about the rain messing up the hockey game! O_o! and all the other little creature comforts of home! i.e. my bed!!! so comes a close to this years Herring survey of the central coast, it was a good time, great food and scenery but now to get a pint with my friends and catch up!