Tuesday, May 25, 2010

its times like this you wish

Hi

well the road trip has begun. i have my 60 day greyhound pass and about 43 days untill i fly out of NYC. whilst that sounds like alot of time, i still have to cross north america. its going to be a long slog, but i will get there!

well where am i now you may ask?
well at the end of skeeter i went on a short road trip up to cambell river, enjoying the view of the georgia striaght as we continued up the road. then after returning to nanimo, i made the decsion to head to Tofino that night instead of the following day. so after the 3 and a bit hour bus ride i made it here, got one of the last spots in the hostel for the night and settled in for a suprisingly refreshing night of sleep. i am styaing at the whalers guesthouse (hostel) in tofino with a great view across the water. which i seem to keep bragging about. i spent today walking arround the town exploring and finding out what was arround. i visted a large number of small gallerys and took in the views arround town. i went for a 30 minute walk up to the tofino botanical gardens to discover that it cost $15 to enter so i decided to give that a miss and walked straight back to town. then after a short walk out to a beach i spent an hour or so just looking and walking arround the beach and taking photos.

unfortuatnly the weather today has been shocking and i was stuck in the rain for most of the day. on a side note for travelers. Tofino is a very expensive place to visit. there is one place in town that hires bikes and does so for $40 a day. if you want to take a short (and i mean SHORT) boat ride to one of the near by islands be prepared to fork out $30 and if you want to go on a wale sighting or a ride up to the hot springs be prepared to part with $70-$140. im glad i am only spending the two nights here, because the town is very touristy and whilst is very pretty, you can tell that it has lost its soul, having once been a fishing town but now a tourist town & apparently become a ghost town during the low months

tomorrow i am off to a town called port alberni for 4 hours and then its throught to nanimo. i am not expecting alot from that region but i have people i want to see and say good bye to. i have made some good friends and i am going to miss them. that is an important note.

 its times like this you wish.........
- that you could tell the weather what to do
- that tourism operators didn't try to gorge every last penny out of tourists
- - that you had more time to spend with your friends to let them know that they matter to you--

Thursday, May 20, 2010

My Vancouver

you know those lists. your pub? your cafe? your tea? your cinema? well here we go with the quick fire "Gonzo's Vancouver"

My Neighborhood - Collingwood, which ironically is next to Carleton
My Train station - 29th Ave, because its a nicer walk
My Fish and Chip Shop - the Sea Horse Fish and Chips, Crn Kingsway & Rupert - REAL fish and chips
My Burger Joint - See fish and chips :-P
My Shushi place - it the sincliare centre, i am quite fond of the Sushi Cafe
My Tea/Hot Choc Haunt - Blenz, where they take proper care of your tea. either Vancouver Public Libary or Bentall 5 for my favorate
My Work Place - Canada Place/Vancouver Convetion Centre
My Scout Group - 1st South Vancouver
My Rover Crew - 1st South Vancouver Rover Crew
My Church - St Thomas, Vancouver, on 41st near Victoria Drive
My Pool - Bonsor, Burnaby
My Place to rest my rump - Rupert at Kingsway, in Vancouver

any other My things you want to know? Comment below!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Vancouver - The Highlight Reel



 well if this was a telivson show, or a bad movie, this would be the point that the clip reel with all the highlights of the first 6 months of my trip would scroll before you and show you the best things i have been to and done.
so what is the best things that i have been to and done.

one evening, as we were walking along the street in burnaby, the water on the road had frozen. what did we do? well me and mark glided and slid along the road, rather recklessly, but very fun. and i would like to do it again one day. and i think it may have looked kinda like that magic view that you can imagine, whilst also being slightly unco.

just like my last visit (which was alot shorter) i will miss people the most. i have formed new friendships, tried new things and consilidated existing friendships. to those friends (you know who you are) i will miss you, but i will keep in touch.

for my Vancouver 2010 event high lights they can be summed up fairly easily. getting to just be here and see vancouver come alive for two full weeks was amazing. John Furlong, CEO of VANOC, coming up on the first saturday of the games as i was standing in the street marshaling and saying "thank you" to me. just being their to exeperince the opening of the Parlaympic games. to witness the look on the face of the Italian curlers in thier last stone victory and the view of the Check players after they defeated korea in over time in the ice sledge hockey. the spirit of sportsmanship & what sport is all about spoke to me then and there.

the chance to sleep in a hole in the ground in the back country on mount seymore, with just a tarp keeping the snow off us.
for waking up on Christmas day and seeing frost (wasn't quite snow) on the ground.
being invested on top of mt seymore into 1st south vancouver and looking down onto vancouver from that glorious mountain.
less than a week after arriving waking up, getting out of my tent and being able to see the snow line, in november.

so to vancouver, and for the last few weeks i will spend here on this trip, thank you. i will probably come back here, one day. no promises when. there is a great big world for me to explore and that is where i am headed. to my friends and those that i have met. keep in touch
to the rest of Canada, USA, Europe & SE Asia, i look foward to exploring and discovering the magic and secrets you have to share with me.

stay tuned to Gonzo Travels, and you will be able to keep upto date with my day to day activites via twitter & facebook and via my travel mascot('s).

well that does it for the highlight reel. but stay tuned, more highlights coming soon. feel free to comment.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Good bye Vancouver, Hello world.

Well Hi,

i keep promising to get better at this but i haven't really been traveling or seeing or doing all that much. i have just been living but here are the high lights and the cool things that have taken place in the past two and a bit months. i promise that the blog postings will become more common once i am on the road (cant promise the same for photos but i will do my best). having worked during the Olympics, work has been light on, even though i had a store i was in go "are you looking for work" that was this week and a bit late.

after the olympics came the paralympics. i was inspired, i was lifted, i was taken by the magic of it. i went to the opening cermony with Kit and Patti at BC Place. it was amazing and managed to hit all the right heart notes. what i have begun to hate with olympic cermonies is that they are over done and dont seem to quite hit the mark for me any more. but the parlympics was done realy well and i truly enjoyed it.
during the parlympics i found my way out to the few free thigns i hadnt made it too during the olympcis that were reopend for the second event. i also went to the wheel chair curling (sooo much like lawn bowls) and the ice sledge hockey (and i thought normal hockey was brutal). at the vairous venues you were able to try a fwe diffrent things, in a simulated enviroment, such as curling, sledge hockey & visualy impiared shooting. gave a great perspective and was alot of fun to try them out. the atmosphere was just electric and i realy enjoyed my parlympic experince.

and then it was April.

it has started to warm up. the cherry blossoms have come out. (soo pretty) i suffered from pretty bad hay fever due to the new and exciting pollens in the air.
and then it was Easter. and i manged to finally find my local parish and have been going there ever since. also since i have been here i have started walking. now when most people walk they walk a few kilometers. then there is me. on Easter Sunday after being at church for the Vigil and the main service (i was asked to read a passage at the vigil, and it was my second time there!) i decided to go for a walk. having walked to church i kept walking along 41st. and i kept walking. and i kept walking. and then i reach SE Marine Drive. when it was all said and done i walked around 20kms on Easter Sunday. yes i am a bit special. but i felt good for it.

a few days later it was time to take a boat ride over to Victoria, on Vancouver island. because some genius decided to name two terminus stops near one another with words starting with Bridge and brig (and because of my special brain) i missed by bus to Twassen ferry terminal. so after a not so cheap taxi ride, i got onto the boat and headed over to see the Barenaked Ladies, a candaian pop/alt rock group perfrom. and it was worth the money. it was their first show of thier national tour and it was great to see these guys perform live. the following day, after getting home from the pub (where they had a small army of beers on tap, i wish i had the time and the money to try every one of them), we wanderd arround the heart of Victoria. victoria is belive it or not very english feeling. more so than vancouver. also curiously if the line that defined the USA and canda continued and they split the isaldn, then Victoria would be part of the USA.

then came ANZAC day weekend. Saturday i traveled out to UBC and met up with the rover crew and we set up the crews activity for Nite Hike. then with Mark, Kit & Amanda we set up to register and participate in the 26 station, 24km over nite hike. it was a lot of fun and was a test of the body & mind. at one stage the symbolism was significant to me, and don't tell the others, but i did have a slight moment, in the predawn glow. after helping the crew to pack up and have breakfast, i headed down town for the Memorial service. this was important to me and after that i joined the others at the pub for lunch (there is an Aussie themed pub in Vancouver, its cute but odd).

the following week i was invited to head over to the sunshine coast, where PJ was held (@ Camp Byng). i wanted to go over there and just see it for what it was. strangely enough, the feeling of extreme familiarity that i have had in Vancouver Island was also still present for me on the sunshine coast. after a day of driving around and exploring and a lovely dinner provided by Patti's folks, it was time to return to the main land. the sunshine coast and Vancouver island are two areas i strongly recommend visiting and making the time to see. they are just so beautiful and would not be the first places considered by tourists due to the boat ride to get over to those destinations.

well that is it for this posting. photos are above as allways and i did a test video posting the other day and that is visible below but it really is just an experiment, as whilst i am on the road i may not have the energy or the enthisam to write but may feel up to doing a video.

well, im off. a route plan will be up in the next few weeks, for my cross north america trip. and the log of RPM85 (my personal blog) will possibly also get some of my other musings as the weeks go on.

Adios Amigos and keep Smiling

Gonzo

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Hi there,

well i decided to try the multi meida thing. a breif sum up of what its all about. I went to the island, i went to the sunshine coast, i saw a concert and i had alot of fun. and this is more of a trail testing post to see if i can get the media thing to work for me. a REAL post card is in devlopment and will be up soon

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Globabl Odessey Postcard #2 - Hey now hey now dont dream its over

ok so i have been a bit slack but here it is. Postcard number two. looks like i am going to sum up two and a bit months of my life in this posting.

well since my last post we had Christmas. this involved a very different routine to what i am used to but i say thanks to the Sheppard's and the Dar Woon Families for welcoming me and including me in their Christmas celebrations. basically it was spent at Kit's Mothers with a small gathering at her mums place, then it was onto a boat, and over to the island where i met adams family and spent Christmas eve and Christmas day with them. this inculded a drive from one end to the other, as most of the family is in Victoria and they live up near Nanimo, but it was quite a nice drive and gave me a chance to reflect on things. then on boxing day it was back onto the ferry (which was alot busier) and back to Vancouver. and then to top it off we had the extended family gathering for Kit's mum's family, which is a very very large gathering.


the Rovers had decided to go snow camping and that i had to come as well. now i wasnt instantly thrilled at the propect of goinig camping in snow, parcitalry in a cave, but i agreeded to the trip. so we spent a number of hours cooking the food and freezing it all ready to take with us. so we were set to go, snow shoes and all. and we hiked in at Mt Seymour and out into the back country. unfortunately for me this is when home sickness came crashing down on me. well i soldered on and after digging a number of rather large holes in the ground (one to sit in and one to sleep in) we settled down had dinner and in the morning got up to discover that our food supply had been compromised. so we returned to civilization a day earlier than planned but it was still quite an experience.

New years was celebrated at one of the rovers places, and with me cooking a BBQ for a number of hours, which was very therapeutic and one of the best home sickness cures. it was odd watching for fire works from other cities in other bits of the world besides the city i was in. having spent last year watching them on Sydney harbor it was quite odd, and knowing that often we would be either in the city or at some ones place celebrating in the back yard it was a big difference. and the following moring it was up and attit for the new years tradion in vancuover of the polar bear swim!!! to say the least it was cold.

mid january brought on my second snow camping experince, and this time i have to thank Nick P and his group for taking me and the Bairds for cooking for me and looking after me up at the snow. at ROVENT i was quite supprised to discover how warm it was, particularly after i was told i wasn't allowed to attend if i had not attended cold talk. so i had been to cold talk, and here i was in the snow, having dug out a space again but this time for a tent to go. i had alot of fun at rovent and got to meet a heap of new people and enjoyed the activities. but the Miss Strawberry Flats pageant was a bit odd and i don't think i need to experience that again. i spent most of my days in shorts and it was quite warm so i was quite ok. had to layer up in the evenings because it got cold but it was alot of fun.

for australia day i sorced aussie beer and enjoyed it with a few mates, quietly enjoying some coopers and some boags. so that was a nice way for me to welcome my national day!

my entire month of febuary was spent doing one thing. working for Vanvouer 2010. yes i was employed by the olympic games. Located at Canada place, other wise known as the MMC (main media centre) i was one of the small army of EVS (event services) staff located down there. what did i do? well i gave directions, i kept people out, i let people in, i chatted to the media and my collegues, met people and had a lot of fun. part of my job was assiting the general public and directing them to where the Olympic Cauldron is located, as it was located in the area near the venue.
through out the olympics i didnt go to any events but did experince the madness that was the games, as Vancouver went absolutly MENTAL (there is no other phrase for it). i manged to visit most of the Provincial Displays/Houses, epxerinced a large ammount of great music, good performances, got to the 7 fingers yet again.... (HA HA @ my younger brother). it was just extrodanary to see. people cued for hours to be involved. so i can but say it was amazing.

now its over and the city has one helluva hangover..... and now it try's to get the motivation up for the paralympics. i am off to the opening on friday and am realy looking foward to it.

so planning for europe and asia progresses and it seems to all be coming together. now i just need to find a bit more work and i am set for the rest of this trip. oh and on a side note, i have been keeping up my fitness and diet challegnes. i have not drunk any Cola drinks in 2 months now....

Well as i like to say, Dont do anything i wouldnt and keep watching the Skiies......

and as always links to photo albums are at the bottom

Richard "Gonzo" McCoy

March 2010 (still going obvisouly)

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games

Scout Camp called Rovent

January 2010

Snow Camping

Christmass Time

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Post Card from Vancouver December 22






G'Day

the weather is cold, i still wear shorts and still havn't been skiing but am exploring. well that is what a postcard would say. i have done some cool stuff and have been a few interesting places.

so the flight to Canada was uneventful and not a lot to say. this time my baggage made it all the away to Canada without incident, mind you i did have to stuff around in Sydney for a while.

so canada, i have secured work for the duration and the set up and pack down of the olympic games so that is pretty exciting. i am still trying to find some work for the time leading up to January (expected start). i have spent alot of time exploring arround the city and figuring out how all of the transit networks are linked and work. its all fairly simple but its about geting arround the city and geting used to all of it.

for fun the other day i decided to see how long it would take to travel the entire rail network and sea bus (ITS A FERRY PEOPLE) that exists here in vancouver. the answer, with stuffing arround and actuly stoping places - 4 hours!!!!!

i have done alot of walking arround and exploring and have got a good idea of where things are and how to get places. i am living in a basement room in vancouver in the Collingwood area, not far from the skytrain station. its nothign fancy buts its a place for me to sleep and thats about it.

i have got involved with scouts over here and have been attending rovers at 1st south vancouver, having allready attended Rain Bucket the weekend after i arrive (got out of my tent and could see the snow line....) and there are plans for going cmaping in the snow during the middle of winter.............. me thinks it might be a bit cold.

i have explored some of the hisotry of the place and have a better understaning of the country i currently reside in. coming from a nation that was founded on Convicts and Gold, to now being in a country that was established in Trade and gold....... but some key diffrence but also alot of similarities in the way this place feels.

i have attached a few of my more pretty photos that i have taken so far and links to see more of the photos that i have taken are listed below.

well thats it, i have to go do some chirssy shopping today and other stuff, probs get some more food so i will take care of that and am looking foward to the next few weeks. i will send annother "postcard" in the next few weeks. if you want to pass this on to some other that might want to know what i am up to feel free and if you want to let me know whats crakin in your life just drop me a line!

Richard "Gonzo" McCoy
a not so cold aussie in Vancouver (thank god im not in the interior)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165920&id=759231084&l=067767e40c
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=170110&id=759231084&l=30f3767aab
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=162528&id=759231084&l=944ed718d6