Chad Is Everywhere

Ah backtracking. It had to be done in this case. Quebec City was as far east as my bus pass would allow me. It seems that Greyhound doesn't service any further. Their map says they do through an affiliate, but their bus pass doesn't. I guess if Quebec wants a reason to succeed from Canada they need only look to this as a valid reason. Think of that for a campaign slogan for the separatists. 'We should separate because Greyhound doesn't want to drive there.' Mind you what happens with Prince Edward Island, and the Newfie's if that to occur. Would they go with Quebec? Canada I suspect would tell them to keep the Newfie's. At first Quebec would relish the opportunity to change the road signs to French, but then as time went on they would just get annoyed 'as the french do in their own way' with there not being anything but cold weather. And well Anne of Green Gables on PEI. Gone, that'd have to be St Anne of Le Bleu Gables, or thereabouts. Name is c...

The Quebeci-stanians are alive and strong plotting their next departure attempt from the Canada. If they had their way France would never have signed away Quebec to the English. They are fiercely French, and well my french is fiercely non-existent. It was though to me, more french than France. Why? I never did do the bowl of Coffee in Paris. I did in Quebec City. There were all the French tourist here. After all Montreal, Quebec nearby is the 2nd biggest french speaking city in the world. Where would a like minded french person like to travel overseas. To another French speaking country of course. And having experienced the number of non french tourist in Paris before I think I found where the French hide during the summer. Anyway Quebec City was probably the most picturesque city so far on this trip. I loved it. And partly because they speak french. Anyway I've gotta run. I'll post more when I have time again.

How could one not be inspired to like a city like this. My understanding is that Ottawa was created as a result of the decision of the British to build a canal to be able to link their troops to the defence of the colony from the yanks who were eying off Canada for themselves. The canal links the Ottawa river to lake Ontario. Ottawa was a township that sprung up as a result of the construction. It wasn't the capital until later when it was decided that Montreal was too close to the US border. They were highly suspicious that they were still pissed about them burning down the White House. Maybe this is the root of the deep down jealousy of Americans with the Canadians. They're still pissed they lost a war against them. Anyway Ottawa is the centre of government. While it is still in Ontario it couldn't get closer to Quebec. Heck there is a city on the other side of the river which is considered Hull / Gatineau, and that is Quebec. I even stayed with a couch-surfer on that sid...

When you're on a bus going to somewhere new you notice things when entering a new town. With this said what did I notice when entering into Welland? Even the 99 cent store had closed down. Welland must not be doing as 'Well' as the name suggest. The other thing I noticed about Welland was the fact the city municipal bean counters were using a very liberal interpretation of the town boundaries to beef up the numbers. We may have past a sign 2kms back saying the 'Welcome to Welland. Population 38,000' but we were still in the scrub. All we passed was hay bails. I hope they weren't counting them too. Welland. Yes I was here to visit family. Why else would I risk offending country Canadian people hanging around them in their natural environment. Welland would classify as Canadian rust belt. There seems to be a bit of activity left in the town's steel mills, but not much compared to it's hey day. As my cousin Andrew puts it. Welland is number 1 in teenage pre...

Toronto, Ontario. This is the main game. The big city of Canada. The only one with an NBA Team.... whoops its not NBA season.... Anyway Toronto also marked the first time I would experiment with a different form of accommodation. Couchsurfing. What is couch surfing? It's a site where travelers register, and then offer their place for other travelers to stay. The premise behind this was threefold. One to save money on accommodation. Two, to meet other people. And three to stay outside of a hostel. Anyway I stayed with a person in Toronto for 2 nights. I was originally planning 3 but my host could not accommodate, so oh well. I had primarily one full day to explore Toronto. Which when you're me, on a mission, is not impossible. I had legs, a transit pass, and a plan of attack. By days end I had gone through the Chinatown, ridden the trams around town, walked around the St Lawrence markets, seen a few town parks, and the regular shopping areas. I did not though do the Sky Tower. ...

I flew to Calgary to pick up my international flight to Toronto. And well thanks to travel I also stopped in to catch up with a friend in Calgary for the night. Mind you it did not come without pain. When I made it into Calgary I was desperate to get to my phone recharged with funds, and to see an internet terminal to find the new phone number of my friend. When you're carrying luggage everywhere this is not as simple as it sounds. And well thanks the early flight time, and to difficult customs staff, I was also flustered. I don't do flustered well. Anyway it took no time to recharge the phone, but to find an internet cafe.... argh! The good news was that things worked out, and I was out of Calgary the next morning. Sorry Calgary residents but Calgary still gets the award for my least favourite big 'Canadian' city.

I've been to San Fran before. This time though I wanted to stop in and visit some friends. Well technically they're friends of Steve, but well I seem to travel more, and hence have seen them in USA 3 times now. Plus I loved San Fran the 1st time. In retrospect I'd go there again too. Anyway I had only the one full day in San Francisco arriving in the evening after a seemingly long bus ride. Not enough to complete some concepts like the Napa Valley or Redwood forest outside of San Francisco. But enough time to visit another uniquely San Francisco neighbourhood, The Haight. The region is known for its hippies, and alternative people. I don't exactly fit in when it comes to fashion etc, but is good to see. It also gave me some time to really walk off some of the energy built from the previous day of bus sitting. Gotta love those hills. Of course in the afternoon I took the time to also pass through the Chinatown there. We also went out to dinner in the evening. Which was a...

So where was I... oh yeah. At bus drivers love to talk to me. Escaping Monteray I had what can only be described as an interesting ride. I get on the bus to goto Salinas for my connection and the driver hear my accent. Of course he goes 'love your accent, where are you from?'' Of course being friendly I just answer with the standard Australia. It was at this point it got shocking. His next words,'Oh, I love your Prime Minister John Howard.' And he wasn't kidding. That took me about 2 seconds to realise he wasn't. And I also did answer with an inquisitive,' really, you can have him'. The result was for the next half hour I had the most uncomfortable conversation with an American I've ever had. You see I was stuck on a bus with a Far far far right ultra militaristic religous zealot who had decided not only to tell what he liked about John Howard, but also try to convince me that he was right on everything. I was stuck to. I was in nowhere Californi...

So here I am in Monteray, middle of California. Possibly sleepy beach city. Possibly a good stopover to catch some rest while seeing the sights. Nope to the rest unless you have a car. Monteray is one of several cities in a little patch of prime tourist area. You see Monteray is near the 17 mile drive. What is this drive you may ask. Well it's the coastal drive to Carmel by the Sea. So what! What's so good about this place. Why name a place with an elongated name which everyone can clearly see is "on the sea" even without it being in the name. Well most would be familiar with this area without even realising it. Every golfing nut, and PC Golf gamer thanks to the world of electronics. You see this road has a few golf courses on the way. Call it what you will but I know it more for the US PGA at Pebble Beach. You know that picture perfect course right on the water. Sadly most of us are never going to get more than the PC version as the experience. This is an exclusive ...

Monteray was the next destination on the Tour-De-Chad route. In fact that wasn't a far off description considering what I did. Of course getting to Monteray was nothing but pain. LA you may be aware love their cars. And well 2 hours to get to the inner city bus terminal was quite some pain. Oh well I expected pain and got it. Mind you I don't know what it is about Bus drivers in California but for this whole leg I was their entertainment. They all had to chat to the Aussie. The bus driver in LA though was cool. Anyway the bus at LA going to Monteray as per Greyhound standards left late. Be it only 1/2 an hour. Thanks to traffic though this soon turned into an hour. By the time we were over half way he decided to make up time but cutting out our food stop from a good place, and changing it to Outer Mongolia at 8pm. Seriously we ended up stopping for food at a stop where the Greyhound office was no more than a ticket register in a country service station. Heck the station was a t...

Los Angeles. Another city on the map of destinations which people have often said they love it, or it blows. Until this trip my experience with LA had been 3 passes through the LA customs at the airport. I just love that customs point, apparently. In fact LA is one of those cities which knowing what was on offer, did not immediately attract me. Sure its got great weather, the beaches are ok, and there is major tourist draw with Hollywood, Beverley Hills, and Disney. But when it comes down to it, I didn't want to do a tour which passes by star homes, or former homes of the stars. I've seen some rich streets around the world, and its not like some of the most insanely decadent castles of Europe, or the insanely wealthy in Newport. Hot movie actresses were unlikely to be swept off their feet at the sight of me. So why did I go? What was the attraction? I'm not sure. I guess I couldn't say much without first visiting. First thing I have to get off my chest is the fact L...

The song title persists. It didn't rain. Well what a excellent weekend and a bit it was there. I experienced the Sand in San Diego. Staying right on the beach. As in I'm concerned I have sand on my laptop when I type now. Had 4 nights in San Diego. Which consisted of, going to beach, going to beach, avoiding beach because of sunburn, and a day visit to Tijuana. Originally I was thinking about visiting San Diego Zoo, and traveling around a bit more, but didn't get around to it. Just like when I put cheese toast in an oven I overcooked it. Ended up a little too crispy on one side. Ah but oh well I enjoyed myself there. How could you not. It had been a while since seeing a white sandy beach. Oh and if anyone is wondering where all the Irish go for holidays, I found them. Here in San Diego. Whereas London, Vancouver, and Dublin is filled with Aussies. Here it's all Ireland. Seriously the other night I went out and felt like the interpreter. It was me and 10 other Irish. The...

Vegas Baby! The tip of the iceberg when it comes to the excess of US society in lights, money, and glitz. It needs little introduction. And then there was my assault on Vegas. Cheap arse Aussie arrives by bus, checks into cheapest hotel in the middle of the strip, and then proceeds to only spend $3 on the pokies the first night. Infuriating to any casino boss indeed. Furthermore a guy from the bus also decided to check in at the same hotel. So while in line we got talking and agreed he could share the room I had at the Imperial for the first 2 nights. So in addition to being cheap I also took away additional revenue from them. How was I to know I was as a result harboring an illegal. I suspected this, and finally got enough evidence just as he was leaving. Anyway highlight of the Vegas leg was the tour of the Grand Canyon. The tour started at 7am and thanks to a delay on the way back returned at 1am. There was an accident just as we got back to the Hoover Dam about 8pm which closed bot...

Stopped in at Salt Lake lake week after Reno Tahoe. Might I just say that the bus ride is an absolute bore. Wow there was nothing in between. Luckily it was night time and hence time for sleeping. Although I'm still working on that ability to sleep well on the bus. Salt Lake was really good. Contrary to the concerns scheduling 3 nights would be too much in such a 'quiet' place I did find it the right amount of time. Well it helps I have a good friend in SLC. And well now I have even more links to SLC having met some friends of his. The most memorable highlight of SLC was the Timpanogos Caves National Park. We did a walk the first day due to the cave tours being sold out but made tracks back there the next day. The caves were awesome, but not cliff edges I still get a bit woosy with them. Mind you it was a fair trek up the mountain just to get to the caves. Also tried my hand at researching the family tree in Salt Lake City, alas without luck, as too our futile search for a ...

Reno. How they came up with the name for this place someone may know, but I have my own theory. Someone mis-spelt Repo, cause this place was filled with nothing once you got off the main drag. There were 'for sale' signs off the mini-strip if you can call it that. Reno is a laughable attempt to re-direct those from Northern California to a Casino other than Vegas. I knew full well I wasn't going to Reno for the Casino experience. And well the only reason I stayed there and not Lake Tahoe as the original plan conspired was cost. $38 plus tax a night versus $140 a night for what was available on line. Of course Tahoe would of also required the hiring of a vehicle for 2 days. Which doesn't run cheap. Anyway enough of that, what was it like? It was Geriatric Gambling House after gambling house. Damn every single Camper van/RV has converged upon Reno. After gambling my whole $3 gambling budget in the casino I took the time to just walk around. As I do. I got the reward out o...

Yeah sorry about the slow updating of the trip so far but alas the hotels don't have Internet free. And hence I wait until I've either paid for it or a day when I'm in a hostel with wireless Internet. Well lets start with Portland. I had 2 days in Portland last week. Of course being the rose city I took the time to go and sniff the roses. Which might I just say is quite a bit less then what the locals must be on. Had 4 moments of 'Only in America' while there. Moment 1 I was walking down the street past a thrift shop about 9pm at night just after it had turned dark. A couple in a beat up early eighties family sedan pull up and hop out. Start looking through the clothes and other items which had been left as donations for the charity to sort through when they opened the next day. All I could think was awe... when trailer trash go shopping.... Man they were ripping through the stuff like there was no tomorrow, and they were at a bargain sale.... Moment 2 (my favourite...