Vancouver: town of wood

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Vancouver is a fantastic city. The mountains rise up to the north as you approach from the airport or Vancouver Island ferry. The city is big enough to have a buzz but not so big that it’s congested or stifling. Despite still not having a car by this […]

Canadian beach shelter

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Canada is not renowned as a hot place. Anything above 25 degrees is a getting too warm for the locals comfort. As a scientific experiment I put the power of the Canadian sun to the test by wandering around the pretty Vancouver Island capital of Victoria without a hat […]

Random Canadian observations

Bear tastes like pork and a skinned bear looks remarkably similar to a human. The dragonflys on Vancouver Island were as common as blow flies, but less annoying and they eat mosquitoes. Blackberries grow wild and can be plucked and eaten at will. Blueberries and cherries are cheap as chips. The Arbutus tree has […]

When in Canada, climb a mountain and swim in a cold lake

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Canadians are so nice it’s sickening, like eating too much maple syrup and walnut ice-cream. This makes it an excellent place to travel as everyone and everything is just…nice. There are exceptions to this. When we got a surly bus driver I wanted to tug his walrus moustache […]

The torture and sweet release of international travel

There are three things I like about writing during my travels:

It focuses your mind on the interesting little things that happen throughout the day as potential grist to be mentally ground up and written about. You get a record of everything you’ve done and all those small moments you would otherwise forget. Writing […]

Only 365 days to go (we went back in time on the first day)

It doesn’t take long for the scars of international plane travel to be ripped asunder once again. The repressed memories resurface the moment you glimpse the economy seats you will be futilely attempting to sleep in overnight (or overday if you’re going back in time over the date line).

The Air Pacific flight was […]