Antigua

The Lonely Planet describes Antigua as a haven for backpackers who want to half ass study Spanish ... not too far from the truth really. It´s a very beautiful city nestled in a valley surrounded by three volcanoes, one of which is still active! It´s a Colonial town and has a cool town square and cobbled streets. The town is full of mainly European backpackers here to attempt to learn Spanish, just like me. Should be good times!

We rocked up here last Friday and checked into the Black Cat Hostel which had been recommended to us on numerous occasions! It didn´t disappoint! Friendly staff that remember everyone´s name, $1 cervezas, a great atmosphere and even better breakfasts (included) ensured that a good time was had by all. We went out on both Friday and Saturday night and had a phenomenal time, making some great new mates in the process. Pretty much all the bars here are Salsa bars and the locals bust out some amazing moves on a nightly basis.

On Saturday we organised some Spanish classes and accommodation with a local family for the next couple of weeks, should be good times!

Last night we were privileged to see the band from the Buena Visa Social Club (they are quite old now). In a Spanish class I did in Newcastle we sung one of the songs ... El Cuarto de Tula (Tula´s room), so I went up and requested it and they played it straight away ... amazing!

I´d be lying if I said there wasn´t heaps of hot girls here!

Guatemala ... baby!

After getting the ferry back to Belize city we got a bus to Flores, Guatemala. Turned out to be another crazy bus ride! The highlight was when the bus driver pulled over at some markets, jumped out and returned to the bus clutching a chicken by the neck .. funny stuff!

Stayed a few nights on the island of Flores which is very picturesque indeed. It´s a fairly rich sort of area as everyone has cars and the architecture feels very European ... not stereotypical of Guatemala I would imagine! There was some more Mayan ruins nearby (Tikal) so we checked that out. It was similar to Chichen Itza although set in a jungle complete with crazy monkeys and colourful birds!

We caught a chicken bus to Coban which was just as life threatening as we´ve come to expect. At one stage we rocked up to a river and the bus boarded a tiny ferry with a bloke and a small outboard motor at each of the 4 corners. Whatever works I suppose. We spent a night in Coban but there wasn´t much action so continued on to Antigua the next day! We drove through the capital city, Guatemala city which was absolutely chaotic!

You Better Belize it!

Our introduction to Belize was transferring from a Luxury Mexican Coach to an ancient ex-American school bus (they call them chicken buses) just before the Mexico-Belize border. The bus ride to Belize city was total mayhem, the bus seemed to be going around in circles and took forever to arrive in Belize city.

First impressions of Belize city ... dirty and scary! After a day there it was still dirty but turned out not to be as dangerous as it looked. Belize is a crazy country ... English is the primary language and the dollar there is indexed to the US dollar. Much more expensive than Mexico but still cheap. It had a mega Caribbean feel to it ie Reggae music, dreadlocks and chilled out people. Fried chicken seems to be the national dish and they must eat alot of it as there are heaps of Big Mummas around! The locals although speaking English could easily be mistaken for speaking an alien language!

The next day we headed to the island of Cay Caulker ... another island paradise!! It is famous for diving the Blue Hole! Unfortunately I didn´t dive it as I am saving the scuba for Honduras as it is the cheapest place in the world apparently! We met some German chicks and a Swedish bloke and went on a snorkeling trip to the nearby reef (the 2nd largest in the world next to the Great Barrier). It was an absolute highlight of the trip ... we swam with Nurse Sharks and touched huge Sting Rays. There was a moment when I thought about avenging Steve´s death by piercing a Ray´s heart with its own stinger ... but decided against it. Also saw some Barracudas, eels, lobster which was cool!

Back on the island I bumped into an Aussie mate, Dieter and his girlfriend which was pretty crazy. I knew he was in Central America somewhere but had no idea where so that was pretty coincidental! That night we got a good group going and ate freshly cooked fish and lobster from the BBQ ... beauty. The locals cracked some coconuts for us as we drank the coconut milk with some local rum ... good times.

One of the locals, Jacko, a nutbag and self proclaimed king of the island showed us some great Belizen hospitality and entertained us for the night! He taught us some of the local language ... Creel - a mix of Spanish and fast English. My favourite expression was "Congo with me", which translates to Come with me ... gold!

Photos here
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/Belize

Mayan Ruins & More Beautiful Beaches

From Cancún we checked out nearby Chichen Itza which is an ancient Mayan city. It was pretty spectacular! The huge pyramids were particularly impressive. The acoustics in the Ball Court were amazing .. you could whisper at one end and be heard 40m away at the other end. My high pitched Cooees echoed about 10 times!

Our next destination was Playa de Carmen, a nice little town situated right on the beach albeit a bit too touristy for us. The hostel there was heaps cool so we just mixed it up with our fellow travellers and chilled on the beach. The highlight of Playa de Carmen for us was the ginormous Wallmart which was across the road from the hostel. It was the largest supermarket I have ever seen and sold everything from motorbikes to computers to groceries. Our thrice daily visits were great fun and it was also good to get away from the intense heat outside.

We (Frank (Dutch bloke I met) and I) bussed it a little further down the coast to Tulum where we stayed in a hut right on the beach! Didn´t do too much apart from swim at the beach and enjoy fine Mexican cuisine! It´s been a pretty stressful time ... having to decide between 2 for 1 cocktails or cheap beers every day isn´t easy!

The buses in Mexico have been fabulous! They are always coaches and 2nd class which we have been using is very comfortable. I wish I could say the same about the drivers though ... they are total maniacs! It´s funny as the buses have a red light above the driver which lights up whenever the driver exceeds the speed limit (ie all the time) just so you know that you may die soon!

Isla de Mujeres (Isle of Women)

I spent the last 2 nights on Isla, an island paradise just off the coast of Cancun. It was deadset stunning ... luke warm, crystal clear water lapping up against white sand. Very reminiscent of Thailand.

Didnt do that much apart from spend the days relaxing on the beach drinking cheap beers and cocktails and the nights living it up at the various bars scattered around the beaches. It was tough!

My Spanish has improved quite considerably. Me and another bloke paid a fat, gay Cuban bloke some cash for some Spanish lessons. It was pretty good, he basically just walked around with us and helped us converse with people.

The hostel was great fun and there was a good crowd of people. It was mainly British and European backpackers and I was the lone Aussie which was suprising.

Off to explore Chichen Itza today, some Mayan Ruins. Then from here I head south down towards Belize and then on to Guatamala. Im travelling with a Dutch bloke I met who is doing a similar route to me.

Photos here:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/Mexico

The Real Cancun

I left Kelowna slighty intoxicated (thanks guys for the awesome farewell!) on a 12 hour overnight Greyhound to Seattle. I stayed with a friend Beccy for the night then flew to Mexico the next day.

The flight was fairly uneventful and I arrived at Cancun airport at about 8pm. Stepping outside I was greeted by numerous scamartists trying to sell me over inflated modes of transport to downtown Cancun. My Spanish skills were non existant but I managed to get myself on a cheap bus and find the hostel I booked. I met a pommie bloke at the bus station and we went out for some cheap tacos (70c) and a few cervacas! It is unvelievably hot here, must hit over 40C most days and its humid as well so its unbearable at times!

Spent the next 2 days exploring downtown Cancun which is very Mexican unlike the Zona Hotella where all the American tourists stay on their packaged holidays. We checked out the hotel zone and it was very disappointing. The whole area is set up for tourists, not my scene.

Met a good group of people at the hostel and played some drinking games. A couple of Aussies but mainly European travellers!

Anyway some photos are here:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/Mexico

I've got one ticket to Paradise

Well my time in Kelowna and Canada has finally come to an end. I finally sold my van after 6 weeks! The first person that came to look at it bought it as I expected but I lost a bit of cash on it. Not to worry, I got my moneys worth out of Stan the Van!

So my plan now is to hit Central America. I found some dirt cheap flights on expedia.com (as it's hurricane season down there apparently). So I fly Seattle - Cancun, Mexico next week then San Jose, Costa Rica - Philladelphia then New York - Tokyo - Sydney, arriving home just before Christmas. 2.5 months in Central America .... bring it on!

My last week in Kelowna was amazing fun! It was pretty much a 5 day bender!
Some photos here:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/LastWeekinKelowna

Back in Kelowna (Canada)

Well the full circle is now complete and I'm back in Kelowna for the sole purpose of selling my Van. I've been here around 4 weeks now and I have only had 2 calls which sucks big time. Wish me luck!

I've been staying on the couch at my old sharehouse (The Bates Motel) which is fun but not ideal. It's been good times though as there is a great bunch of people in the house and I've got to know the new flatmates really well.

Kelowna summers are always action packed so I've been out on the boat a few times and even tried wake surfing which was amazing.

I've picked up a few shifts working with the Duct Doctor and doing some pressure washing which has relieved some of the strain on my Aussie bank account.

Last friday night we had an 80s party at the house as it was Conor's birthday and Alex and Marie's farewell. It was a ripper of a night. I went dressed as Maverick, the photos tell the story.
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/80sParty

The Journey back to Canada

We said our farewells to Kate then Dad and I headed North from Pennsylvania to Ontario, Canada. We were basically on the same highway all day. The next 2 nights were spent staying with our friends the Boyles in Kingston. Tom showed us around the local area and we did a day trip to Ottawa to catch up with Graham.

The next day we crossed the border back into the USA and continued the journey West. We crossed the border near Detroit and stayed the night in a small hick town called Flint Michigan.

The traffic around Chicago was a total nightmare which delayed us a bit. The rest of the day was spent driving until we found a spectacular little campsite called Cedar Lake near Iowa City. It was in the middle of nowhere and had a nice little lake nestled amongst rolling green hills. That night we met some blokes who were traveling the country working on TV antennas. A diverse group and very interesting people indeed!

The next day was another long day of driving and we ended up camping in a National Park in Yankton, South Dakota. It was extremely hot but quite picturesque. Another day of driving and we were in Rapid City, South Dakota. It was too hot to camp so we checked into a cheap hotel and went out for a big steak at the Outback Steakhouse (an Aussie themed restaurant). Good food but not so good a job on the Aussie Theme.

Mt Rushmore was only a stone’s throw away so we spent the next morning exploring the national park. It was very interesting and quite spectacular and well worth a visit. We Got some funny photos with Desmond the Kangaroo.

It was a deadest scorcher of a day, 45C (110F) and as a result Stan the Van struggled a bit and conked out while going down a hill. We called a tow truck and the diagnosis was vapor lock (the petrol was boiling in the fuel lines) and the treatment – a few hours in the shade. We broke down in a town called Sturgis which has an annual biker festival and we just happened to be there at that time of the year. Guys with tats and beer guts everywhere.

Yellowstone was our next destination and after a night in a small town called Ten Sleep we made it to the East Gate. Luke and I had entered through the North Gate 3 months before but not all the park was open so I was looking forward to checking it out. We drove around Yellowstone Lake and spent the afternoon at Old Faithful Geyser which was spectacular. It erupts every 90 mins or so and they can predict it to within 10mins. Very interesting. That night we camped at Madison campground and it was damn freezing.

The next morning we checked out some waterfalls and some hot springs then exited Yellowstone through the North Gate. We continued on North and spent the night in Helena, Montana.

The next day we crossed the border into Canada and stayed with my mate Dan in Calgary. Caught up with all the Calgary crew for some beers which was awesome!
We were pretty exhausted so spent the next two nights relaxing in Banff. We hiked up Tunnel Mountain but apart from that just took it easy. The last leg of the journey was the 6 hour drive back to Kelowna.

Dad hung around for a few days before flying back to Oz and taking a lot of my possessions with him, which was much appreciated. It was great that he got to meet my mates and see where I have spent the majority of the last 18 months. What an epic roadtrip. 23,000 kms (14,000 miles) all up!

Photos are here:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/RoadtripUSA

Lemoyne, Pennsylvania

After driving across the country with Luke and exploring the East Coast it was time to chill for a bit and catch up on some sleep. My friend Kate (who I met in Oz when she was studying abroad) had just bought a house and had plenty of spare room so kindly invited me to crash there for a while.

The World Cup soccer was on so I spent a fair bit of time on the couch cheering on the Aussies. The pub down the road also had $1.50 Buds for the whole world cup so I may have gone there to watch a few games as well.

There was a whole bunch of Americans living near by who I knew from when they were in oz, so there was never a shortage of parties and things to do. Ryan had a party in Shippensburg and we also went to his cabin in the bush where we ate and drank well and I also got to shoot some guns! Good times!

We visited nearby Baltimore which has a very picturesque harbor and cool atmosphere. We also spent a weekend at Sea Isle City, New Jersey which is on the coast and has nice beaches. There was even some small waves so it was great to get some body surfing in!

The weather was really good and it got damn hot at times so we made the most of it and lived the outdoor life as much as possible. Lemoyne is only a short bike ride across the bridge from Harrisburg so we rode our bikes quite a bit. There was a cool pub called Dukes just down the road which overlooks the Susquehanna River, it was awesome I loved it. We spent quite a few nights there enjoying a quite beer while the sun set!

Kate got an invisible dog fence installed which basically gives the dog an electric shock if he crosses over the border. Kate was working so I was appointed official dog trainer, it was gold. I had a good time. Her dog Brody is gold!

At the end of July my Dad flew in to Washington DC to help me with the drive back to Canada. I drove down and met him at our friends house in DC. It was good to catch up as I hadn’t seen him for 18 months or so! We stayed a night in DC then drove back to Kate’s house for 2 nights then hit the road North towards Canada!

Photos from Lemoyne here:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/Pennsylvania

The Journey East

Since my last update we’ve driven over 14,000kms (8000 miles) down the West coast and across to the East coast of the USA.

After living it up in Davis, California with Ian we spent a few days exploring San Francisco. Checked out all the usual sights, went to a Baseball game and cycled across the Golden Gate Bridge which was definitely a highlight!

The next few days were spent driving south down the Californian coast towards LA. To quote the Lonely Planet … it was a “symphony of nature” (love it  ..… tossers!). Windy, narrow roads set on spectacular cliffs with panoramic views of the ocean made the trip well worth while. We had overnight stops in Santa Cruz and near Santa Barbara which was fun. Unfortunately the temperature was still a bit cold so we didn’t experience it at its best.

The next few nights were spent camping in Joshua Tree National Park which is just near Palm Springs. We fluked being there at the same time as a massive music festival called Coachella. We managed to scalp some tickets and saw some huge acts including: Tool, Madonna, Paul Oakenfold, Mylo, James Blunt. Great day! Oakenfold (Oaks for short) sure did out-do himself by coming out on stage pushing play on his CD player and pumping his fist in the air a few times … gold! Hence the expression “Doing an Oaks” means looking good while having done nothing.

Joshua Tree National Park was a symphony of ridiculously hot temperatures, red sand and desert. We did a day hike to a desert oasis but the temperature was one million degrees that day and we almost died of heat exhaustion, boredom and sun stroke. We saw a humming bird back at the campsite which was very cool indeed.

Our next stop was Vegas …. baby, where we met up with my Canadian mate (Jigga) who had flown in from Kelowna. Vegas was a total blast. We had such a good time. The highlight was a night out (dressed in my retro suit) at Studio 54, which is by far the best nightclub I have ever been to. Two nights (with very little sleep) was definitely enough so we continued on to the Grand Canyon via the Hoover Dam.

After spending some time taking in the shear size and spectacular views of the Grand Canyon, the 3 of us headed South West to San Diego. We stayed in a fantastic, friendly hostel right on Pacific Beach which made San Diego a huge highlight of the trip. Nice beaches, beautiful sunsets, friendly locals and pumping nightlife makes San Diego a “must see”!

We were in San Diego for a Cinco de Mayo (5th of May) – a massive Mexican celebration and it sure didn’t disappoint. Desmond came out to party and stole the hearts, smiles, beers and wallets of the people staying at the hostel.

Mexico was only a stones throw away so we checked out Tijuana and spent a night in Rosoritto. It was dodgy as hell but great fun. The border crossing into Mexico is basically a turn-style with absolutely no security or passport control, hilarious! They have no idea who is entering their country. We met some American birds while trying to find the hostel and they kindly offered us some accommodation in an apartment that they had rented but was not being used. So Luke, Jiggs and I had a beachside apartment all to ourselves … gold. We went to an enormous night club called Pappas and Beer, which was totally out of control! There were no rules! $1 beers and tacos went down very well!

There was some frantic confusion at the USA border crossing when Desmond the Kangaroo was mistaken for a fugitive Mexican Donkey and was threatened with deportation to Guantanamo Bay. He pretended he was Skippy the Talking Kangaroo and after hours of interrogation was finally given the all clear by immigration.

LA was next on our itinery and proved to be epic times! We met up with two Aussie mates: Dan Roth and Doddsy. 4 Aussies, a Canadian and an inflatable kangaroo sure guaranteed some crazy shenanigans! We checked out UCLA, Hollywood, Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica and Venice Beach. We may have not been totally honest with the motel owner when we repeatedly told him that there were only 3 people staying in the room … oops. As a result we were forced to leave and stay at a hostel in Santa Monica. On one of the nights out, Luke, Dodds and I ended up at a house party in South Central LA, it was dodgy as!

After 3 nights in LA it was time for the 5 of us to head our separate ways! Luke and I headed East towards Washington DC. Along the way we had stopped in Albuquerque -New Mexico, Tulso – Oklahoma, stayed with some Aussie friends in St Louis – Missouri, had a fun night out in Columbus – Ohio and caught up with Kate in Harrisburg – Pennsylvania. There may have been an incident in Columbus where we met a Stiffler like character and ended up with a sorority house flag but that can’t be confirmed at this stage …

So after 5 days of straight driving we finally arrived exhausted in the Nation’s Capital. I stayed with some friends while Luke attended a 3 day Muslim Pakistani wedding. It was great to chill out and catch up on some much needed sleep!

We spent a few nights on the New Jersey coast including Atlantic City which is like a run-down version of Vegas. Whilst in New Jersey Desmond got on the wrong side of the mafia, so we were forced to flee to New York city.

New York was amazing! I loved it. We stayed with one of Luke’s mates who lived very centrally indeed. Did all the touristy stuff including: Statue of Liberty, Empire State, Times Square, Ground Zero etc. We also went to a New York Yankees baseball game and saw a show on Broadway. The show we saw was called Avenue Q and was a spoof of Sesame Street, very funny indeed and yes the Bert like character ended up coming out of the closet … gold!

The short drive to Philadelphia signaled the end of Luke and I’s roadtrip! It was a great finale though as we went to a Ween concert in downtown Philly!

I’m currently chilling with a friend (Kate) just near Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. I’ve been taking it really easy, riding my bike, watching a heap of soccer and attempting to figure out what the hell I’m going to do with my life. All I know is that it has to involve work very soon as my bank balance and I are not on good terms at the moment. I’ll be driving back to Canada to sell my car at some stage in the near future.

I was hoping to be able to fly over to Germany for the World Cup but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen now. Keep your eye out for Desmond the Kangaroo in the crowd though as he decided to do a solo mission to support the Socceroos!

Anyway that is my news. I’ve just uploaded some photos so if you are interested you can check them out at:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/RoadtripUSA

Go the Aussies!!

Take it easy

--Dan

Roadtrip USA

My situation has changed considerably since my last email. The company I was working for in Kelowna, Canada tried to sponsor me to stay on for another couple of years but unfortunately the application was denied. They appealed but that was also unsuccessful. So my stay in Canada was cut short. I finished up work and had a month of relaxing and snowboarding to gather my thoughts.

I figured that I would never own a car in North America ever again so the logical conclusion I came to was … ROADTRIP. An Aussie mate (Luke) had just quit his job in Sydney and didn’t need much convincing to fly over and join me … GAME ON!

Last week I packed up my stuff, transformed my van into roadtrip mode (ie installed curtains and built a bed in the back), said my goodbyes and headed off into the sunset to the Land of Opportunity …. the USA!

The drive from Kelowna to Seattle was fairly uneventful apart from ridiculous Easter Long Weekend traffic and arrogant border guards. I arrived in Seattle just in time to indulge in some of Luke’s home made pizza and enjoy some fine American beers (hahaha)! We crashed at a mate’s house in Seattle for a few days and spent the days exploring the city and the nights sampling the bars. Great times! Seattle is a very lively exciting city with a very picturesque skyline.

Our first destination was Yellow Stone National Park. The journey involved 2 days of driving through 3 states with an overnight stay in hicktown, Montana, quite the experience. Everyone has been extremely friendly so far and the Aussie accents have been pure gold!

On arrival at Yellow Stone we were surprised to discover 10cm of snow covering the park and sub-zero temperatures. Not ideal considering that I had left all my winter clothes in Canada, I didn’t even have gloves or a beanie. We setup camp in the snow and crashed out for the night … Luke in his tent and me in my van, it was absolutely freezing. My water bottle froze during the night inside my van. Out of control!

We were advised that the bears in the park had just come out of hibernation and were hungry. The ranger issued us with strict instructions on what to do with our food and the bear jokes flowed freely around the campsite. We figured that it was all fun and games until someone got mauled by a grizzly. The next few days were spent exploring the park by car and foot. Unfortunately not everything was open due to the winter conditions but we still got to see plenty of bison, deer, hot springs, geothermals and got a good overall impression of its immense size and beauty.

We’ve only been on the road a week and yet we have already disgraced our country by delivering a horrendous rendition of Men at Work – Down Under at a seedy Kareoke bar in Salt Lake City…. Not pretty!

We are now in Davis, California (near San Francisco) staying with an American mate (Ian) that I met at uni. On our way here we spent a night in Salt Lake city mixing it up with the Mormans and a night in Reno mixing it up with the rednecks … awesome times!

Yesterday was a huge university party here in Davis (the equivalent of Autonomy Day or BSD). Good times were had by all!

The plan from here is San Fran tomorrow then we are taking a couple of weeks to drive down the coast to Mexico then Vegas, Grand Canyon, meeting some mates in LA then we have allowed 7 days to drive across to the East Coast as we have a wedding to go to in Washington DC and I have a date with Meg Ryan at the top of the Empire State building. Going to be some long driving days but should be epic!

Epic Snow Conditions

The snow conditions here have been absolutely fantastic! Big White has a 2.7m base and Silver Star has equally good conditions.

I've been making the most out of the great conditions and have been up to the hill every weekend and even taken a few days off work to go riding.

Last week I took Wednesday off to meet Dane and Claudia + friends up at Big White to go riding. It was one of the best days ever, about 15cm of pow pow, clear blue skies and no crowds .... amazing. That night Dane, Claudia and 4 of their mates from Sunshine all crashed at my house, good times. Mid week drinking is bad for work though!
Photos from Dane:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/BigWhite01

Last weekend Bates, Jigga and I stayed up at Silver Start for the weekend. The snow was amazing, it was deadset knee deep between the trees. We fluked the biggest party weekend at the Saloon Bar ... a beach party. Awesome weekend.

Funny story from the weekend. There's a hot-tub up at Silver Star so anyway when I was packing for the weekend I couldn't find my favourite board shorts and wondered if I had left them at Silver Star last time I was there in December. We stumble out of the pub at Silver Star on the Saturday night and I see some bloke wearing my shorts. I chase him down and sure enough he got them from lost property so I went back to his joint and he returned them to me ... gold!

Glass Tiger

I had never heard of Glass Tiger but we heard on the radio that a semi-famous Canadian 80s band was in town so decided to go check them out. They play the song "I died in your arms tonight" - you've probably heard of them.

Anyway we got dressed in bad 80s clothes and went to the concert. It turned out to be a great night!

Photos here:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/GlassTiger

Earlier in the week I also went to see Nickleback and Live. Noone else wanted to go so I did a solo mission. It was awesome fun. I met a group of 10 chicks (cougars) on a girls night out and hung out with them. Got kicked in the eye by a crowd surfer and got a cut above my eye so it looks like I've been fighting.

Apart from that I've been working hard during the week and snowboarding up at Big White every weekend. The snow is awesome at the moment, so much of it!! Loving it!

New Years Eve

New Years was spent up at Big White and didn't disappoint. Jigga, Darren, Dan and I spent the night  in Rackels pub ... awesome night!

Photos here:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/NewYears

Xmas Roadtrip

I drove my Van to Calgary for Xmas.
I met up with Dan in Banff and stayed the night in the Samesun hostel. The next day we skiied Sunshine. Did some runs with Dane during his lunch break and also caught up with Claudia.

I spent Xmas in Calgary with my flatmates Conor and Kelly and their families. I was spoilt rotten by their families ... good times. I was privledged to participate in the Mack family Xmas day boot hockey game which was awesome!!

After Boxing Day, Dan and I did a snowboarding roadtrip back to Kelowna. We rode at Fernie, White Water, Apex and Big White. Awesome fun. Had some great nights out in some little hick towns. Found hotels for $20 each a night, cheaper than hostels.

Photos are here:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/XmasRoadtrip

Xmas Party

We had our first party at the new house on the weekend. The Xmas theme ensured a jovial atmosphere and some awesome photos.

The photos tell the story:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/XmasParty

I bought a Car

Photos here:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/Misc01

Eurotrip 2005 - Summary

The road to Oktoberfest was long and windy, I won’t bore you with all the details but if you are interested in what Phil, James and I got up to you can read my travel diary here:
http://www.DansCapers.com/eurotrip.php
and view the photos here:
http://www.danscapers.com/gallery/Europe01

This is a quick summary of what we got up to.

- Drove: 11,394 kilometers
- Stayed in: 14 different countries
- Spent: 193 hours driving (8 full days)
- Went on: ferries, trains, buses, trams, planes, car, bicycles
- Visited: museums, churches, mosques, cathedrals, monasteries, castles
- Drank: numerous dirt cheap beers and bottles of wine
- Ate: some of the most delicious, gourmet and affordable food I have ever tasted
- Admired: heaps of stunning women
- Swam: in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, Black Sea, icy cold rivers, pools, hot springs
- Jumped: off waterfalls in Slovenia
- Woke: Phil up at 7am in Krakow to give him a sausage roll
- Met: heaps of cool people
- Made: some good mates
- Sung: beers songs at Oktoberfest, “Easy Lover” by Phil Collins
- Danced: up a storm on Mykonos
- Saw: many spectacular sights
- Experienced: many different cultures
- Laughed: lots
- Cooked: spaghetti frequently
- Got: 1 flat tyre
- Slept: in tents, hostels, motels, homestays, ferries, in the car and on a park bench
- Hit: 178km/h on the Autobahn
- Learnt: A hell of alot
- Had: the time of my life!
- Didn’t: want to leave Europe!
- Will:  be back in Europe soon!
- Highlights: South of France, Southern Italy, Transylvania, Sarajevo, Dubrovnik, Slovenian Alps, Hungary, Krakow, Oktoberfest, North of Germany

I’m back in Kelowna, Canada now. Started back at my engineering job which is going really well. They are going to sponsor me so I might stay here for a few years, see what happens. Big White opened up a couple of weeks ago so every weekend will be spent Snowboarding up there from now on. It’s looking like it’s going to be an awesome season! I also bought a 7 seater van so there will be numerous road trips over the winter and maybe a massive trans North America one next summer (nothing is planned yet but let me know if you are keen to come).

G'day London

Arrived in the UK after an epic 25 hour journey. The trip was vapid at best and fairly uneventful. Highlights include: the chick in my row vomiting everywhere and the bald guy in the seat in front of me having two large boils on his head (couldn't stop staring at them)... nasty.

I pretty much went straight from the airport to my relos in Wales where I stayed for 2 nights and caught up on some much needed sleep. Checked out nearby Cardiff (looks like a fun place to go to uni Matty!) and generally just took it easy. On Wednesday I caught the bus back to London where I met up with my mate Phil who I am travelling around Europe with. Spent the last couple of days with Phil and Desmond doing all the touristy things in London. Desmond sure did attract alot of attention! There's a massive Police presence in London since the bombings. Can't help feeling uncomfortable when an Arab looking guy with a backpack sits next to you on the tube.

It's great being on the road again, loving it .... met heaps of awesome people at the hostel, not to mention more than enough annoying yanks. There's a pub in the hostel I'm staying at, it's crazy, £1 pints ensures a good night.

Off to France tomorrow morning to pick up our hire car, then the adventures will begin! Bring it on!