Chad Is Everywhere

Due to a recent cancellation Chad’s Tours is pleased to advise of a vacancy on the Western USA Tour departing on the 21st of July from Vancouver. The tour will use local transport (primarily Greyhound Bus) and include basically nothing other than me. Yep, up to 24-7 of Chad. What more could you ask for? Stops will possibly include Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles , San Diego, Las Vegas (including the Grand Canyon), and Salt Lake City. To book your seat, email me for bank account details. As Tour Promoter I guarantee that this will be a unique experience. Previous tours conducted have shown to be quite unpredictable and may include unexpected visits to medical facilities, and travel delays. All tours at the very least include the enjoyment of feeling lost in a foreign country. In fact think yourself lucky if we get lost in a country that speaks English. The cost of the tour is best described as being equal to the balance of your bank account subject to minimum subscrip...

Not much to report in terms of traveling the past few weeks. Everything is building for the big trip now. It's been wet here. But strangely timed for the weekends. It doesn't mean perfect weekdays though. Weekdays have been overcast. Myself and a few of the other Aussies are getting to the stage where we don't believe our work colleagues when they talk about 'summer coming'. We're getting cynical say things like, 'so this is summer eh'? It was a very mild 15 degrees here for most of Sunday. Yep 15 degrees, and that was about 2pm in the afternoon when I decided to get out into the dreary afternoon. Funny definition of summer they have here. Ventured out Sunday to see a bit of the dragon boats. My work entered, but alas came I'm told 7th, not eighth as the naked eye would have assumed. With the running of the Dragon Boat race comes the end of entertainment, or shalt I say diversion, when completing boot camp in the afternoons. They were the poor sucker...

Oh well news today is that I've started Boot Camp. A group from the office I'm working at are doing a Surviver Boot Camp program for the month. Yes think pain and exhaustion. I have now joined the ranks of people going out and paying a person to get run into the ground... and then some. Or you could look at it as I'm paying someone to allow me to curse at them while they kick my arse!... Body already not forgiving me. But I now have a month paid for already. What was I thinking. Too much of that high life I've been living lately.

This past week has been busy. I spent most nights worrying about my pending homeless status. Not from the sheer fact that I was unable to afford a place to live. Just due to the fact a place to live is hard to get for love or money in this city. Problem is increased if like me, you’re male, and only willing to commit to a month. Basically the situation was that my previous flatmates Dave and Landon decided to get a friend of theirs to move in as the person I was room sitting for has decided to stay down in San Diego. Their friend had just been thrown out of his own apartment due to a crazed flatmate tearing up the apartment. Yes this was a annoying but not worth fighting over, especially as there wouldn’t be any gain in it. Anyway after a week of searching frantically I have found a place in Kitsalano. A basement suite shared with 2 others. Most importantly I didn't need to move back to the hostel while I am still ‘living’ in Vancouver. Place is basic but hey, can’t complain. My ne...

Interesting title you may say. But if I tell you what I doing then you may understand. No it didn't actually involve any nudity and food in a scene for adults only. I spent the Saturday at the 'Eat Vancouver' Festival at the BC Place. ie A big food festival in the big stadium where they hold the Canadian Football League games. (which incidentally are starting soon) Now one thing I wont deny, my attraction to food. I love food, food loves me. And then food also hurts like any love I've known. In this case it exacts its revenge upon me by making me fat, whenever I try to love it too much. So therefore I struggle through life attempting to get a balance in our relationship. Food Porn is by definition where you sit and watch food being prepared, mesmerised by the food drooling at the end. Most times it involves some tv show and a celebrity type chef. I can't deny to anyone that I've not sat there and drooled over the food prepared on a Jamie Oliver episode. Heck Iro...

Tofino is an awesome place to visit. It's only tiny, and well things happen they say in Tofino time. Well my watch must of been fast because I still managed to fit in quite a bit in the 2 days there. Lets see. There was the sightseeing of the Pacific Rim National Park: the starfish on the rocks at Tonquin Park, Tofino itself, and oh thats right the 6 hour kayaking tour I completed. The kayaking Tour was awesome. And it only rained for about 1/2 an hour while out in the inlet. Did get to see a sea lion in the water, and a heap of bald eagles in the trees along the inlet. Many west coast people come here to surf on the beaches. But to me thats crazy talk. The water temperature on the coast was still only 9 degrees. Needless to say I did not go for a swim. I'll wait to I find a coastline with the warmer water temperature and no wetsuit requirement.

Well the weekend went well. After initial concerns that my ride to Nanaimo was going to halt all proceeding I managed to work around and have a great weekend. The original plan was to catch the Greyhound Bus there. But as stated earlier it never got out of the gate. Just like betting on them really. Luckily after I had come into this problem I was directed to go via council bus to Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal. I didn't even think that they'd offer this route to the ferry really. Anyway this bus was cheaper. But wouldn't offer the ride into downtown Nanaimo. Oh well. The ride there was great. The Ferry though was packed. This was the first long weekend after Easter. ie the first weekend where people travel. All ferrys to the island were booked out for cars after work for weeks. And the foot passengers were everywhere. I ended up meeting a local on the ride. We past the time chatting away on the inadequacies of the system, and how the British Columbian government had managed ...

I've just arrived at work this morning to find out my plans for this weekend are in jeopardy. Greyhound Buses in Western Canada have just gone on strike as of 12am this morning. Argh!!!!!!! Why must people throw spanners into my plans. Just because I was planning a good weekend doesn't mean it needs to wreck it. A 72 hour strike over pay. I knew I shouldn't have been discussing possible things that could go wrong last night with a friend. I've jinxed myself. And I'm now due to catch a non-existent bus at 5:45pm which gets me to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island this evening for my long weekend over on Vancouver Island. The irony of the situation being that buses on Vancouver Island are unaffected.

Well most of you who know me know that once in a while I'll have a moment of greatness. A moment in time where anyone would just look at me and just say something like 'you dickhead', 'you idiot', or just shake their head in disbelief that one could do such a thing. The list of these episodes is too great too list individually. You need not email me with a blow by blow of your funniest Chad moment, whether it be an action of mine, or my just as famous foot-in-mouth syndrome. Even more surprising than committing these acts is the fact that I can't but admit to the acts to everyone. My view being that I enjoy laughing at myself just as much as the next person. So without further introduction I hence admit 'Oops I had another Chad moment'. The Scene Well Saturday morning I was planning to make a trip to Victoria, on Vancouver Island. You know Victoria, as in Empress Hotel, capital of British Columbia Victoria. Now Victoria is fairly distinctive. I had been ...

I'm still alive. Ok so I haven't written an entry for nearly 2 weeks. I was building suspense, or well building a list of things to write home about. Towards the end of April I was coming to an end of everything. The working contract was due to end, my room-sitting situation was to finish with the return of the missing flatmate to Vancouver, and an end to the ski season was here. But true to form everything has sorted itself out, but for the snow situation. The contract has again been extended. This should take me through to the start of July. This is good as I won't need to find another contract before I start traveling non-stop until my return home. I am comfortable with my surrounds in the office, and the people in the office are great. The role itself is still extending further and further as I go. I admit at times I am concerned it's not quite the experience I expected in coming to Canada, but in reality it's a great fit to my needs of the moment, and still ...

Ah yes I vow that I shalt never compro mise ever again if I ever have the choice between Whistler or going to a closer ski resort. Whistler is the best all round ski resort hands down. No doubt about it. Wow it was awesome. What I was doing by going to Cypress last month. I never knew the bus ride to Whistler wasn't that much long er. It wasn't even that much harder to arrange. Now I must look back and think about how I could of had 2 other days at Whistler instead of Cypress. I want my 2 days back. Argh ! I actually skied my day on Blackcomb Mountain side of the resort. Reason being that it was the Gondola I caught. In the end it may have been the right choice to considering the Whistler side was on its 2 nd last day. Hence would have been packed with last chance skiers. Oh well I don't care. To me its all one resort. It's like going to Perisher Blue and skiing Blue Cow all day. Both have snow and are part of the same resort. As something different I did a tour of...

When I set out things I wanted to do this trip, there was one item which most people would put at the top of their goals in life, that I set out to do on this trip. You know the goal I'm talking about. It requires Dedication. Devotion. Skill. And Fitness. Yes thats right I'm going to go Ski Whistler. Now don't go denying it. I'm right, I know. No second guessing going on here. Thats everyones goal in life, isn't it. Well if it wasn't your goal then perhaps you should change it. Skiing Whistler would probably a more enjoyable goal to have anyway. Well this weekend I'm doing it. I've got the bus ticket and lift ticket, so I'm all set. Where will you be this weekend! And as a one time only offer. I will offer to buy the first round, after skiing. Open to anyone who is there with me. Oh, you can't make it. Oh well you'll just have to wait for the photos.

Yes you've heard the news here first. The seagulls are on steroids in Vancouver. These birds compare well in size to the well fed blackbirds which I saw inland. I wouldn't put it past them to eat small children too. They're bred big, the size of chickens. Which makes you only wonder further about whether you're really getting what you pay for when you order chicken in this town. How did I come across these child taking seagulls. Well I went for a walk towards the University of British Columbia for something to do. The weather is getting warmer nowadays so I thought it best to make use of the partly cloudy weather. Especially since I got drenched with rain the night before. Anyway I went to Jericho Beach near the university. From there you get a great view back towards the city. I took the opportunity to sit down, have some hot chips down at the waterfront. Feeding the birds as I ate. The child snatcher above in photo one was the Alpha male bird asserting dominance....

Skiing! Or well it does to me when I'm here in Vancouver. I finally got to go skiing again. I had planned to last weekend but ended up picking up a cold. So being the religious person I am I planned ahead to go skiing on Good Friday rain, hail, or shine. Lucky for me it was shine and the day held out to be as advertised. Now being only 1 week from the final weekend of skiing at the resorts around Vancouver one would expect the ski runs to be below their peak. I can though vouch the condition weren't bad. They were better than a month ago. There are signs though that they can not go much longer. Like the occasional brown patch in well worn areas, but on the whole if they wanted they could of extended the season. After next week I'll only have Whistler to choose from in terms of ski slopes. They stay open until June I hear. Meanwhile working in Vancouver is still going well. They really do treat their staff well with added perks, and then go out of their way to organise spec...

Prasad's wife Swathi just gave birth to a 3kg boy at 3:32am. Yeay. Wife and baby are fine.

Well its been a few weeks since my last post. Reason being nothing much has happened. Except for rain, rain, and more rain. I have reached my saturation point. I'm over rain. But I knew that about Vancouver when I committed to it. It rains here, and I'm accepting it and moving on. I wish though that it would keep it to the weekdays. For once I'd like to go skiing on a Saturday. After all I did buy some new ski stocks, and brought my snow gear over here. Anyway this evening was one of the highlights. Another Ice Hockey game. Vancouver vs Colorado. It was a ripper. Only one fight to report. And that was in the first 2 minutes of the game. Below is how it ended. (Of note this is my first attempt at a You Tube video connection so please understand if it doesn't work.) Yep that's right Vancouver lost in a shootout. Anyway to share the excitement of a hockey game I'm also adding the introduction to the games and a few random photos. It's part of the spectacle. Any...

Hey I don't know whether many people are keeping up with this but Vancouver has their own countdown clock for the olympics. The olympics website is http://www.vancouver2010.com/en So what does this all mean for all my readers. Well it means you only have about 1090 days to get your sponsorship money in, to send me to the Winter Olympics. In return for your sponsorship money you will get the return of having sent Chad a long way away again, and photos of several Olympic events. I am accepting sponsorship monies from today via direct deposit. Bank details are available on request.

Yes I have learnt my lesson. As you may recall I used my last email to set in my mind plans for this weekend. Well the good news is that I was able to hold myself to those plans. Even if it meant getting up early on a Saturday morning to catch a bus to Cypress Mountain Ski Resort. Well anyway the result was, I should not have made such plans for this weekend. Or another way of looking at it was, one should always look to the snow weather report in the morning if you plan on going skiing. Why, you may not need to ask, but I will say anyway. Cause if it's pissing down rain, no-one should be skiing. And boy was it pissing down. Check out the photo below taken at about 11am in the morning. Boy wasn't that a wonderful session of skiing. Anyway it fined up a bit. As you can see from this 2 nd photo. And no this photo wasn't taken much later in the afternoon. This photo was taken about 12:30pm in the middle of the day. It went from horrible to miserable. Hence I forced myself out...

Yes I've been a bit tardy with the photos recently. But I'm making it up to you all. So what's the difference between living in a hostel vs the share accommodation I now have. The answer is space... I mean sure my space currently comes with its own personal photos of people I don't know, but hey thats not the issue. We have another weekend coming up... Surprising to some but we have many of these every year. And well this time, now that I'm nearly over being sick I'm going to try do some skiing. I didn't haul my skis down from the mountain for nothing. Or well this message will try to hold me to that thought. That and these photos from the other weekend up at Nakiska. Of note they don't allow skiers to go into the boarder cross event. Not that I wasn't up to that level, I chose to keep skiing :)