Just a really quick not to say that I'm home and can be contacted on the same mobile number of 0414731011. I'll have to finish off the last few weeks of my travels some time when I get a chance. I'm off to Indy tomorrow!

Well, Wednesday was my last day as a carpenter in Vancouver and they really turned on the weather for me. It rained all day and it was really quite cold. It was a nice reminder of why working outside in a Vancouver weather would be quite miserable. I'm now a man of leisure. I'm sitting in the lounge room of a little B and B called Mansard House in Victoria, Vancouver Island. Mum and I have been having fun tripping around today and are heading further up and across the other side of the island tomorrow to see Ucluelet (pronounced you-clue-let) and Tofino (pronounced tof-ino). If the weather is nice, and I feel up to it, I might even have a surf at Long Beach on Sunday.
Here are a few picies from the past week or so. See you real soon.


John and Kim, Dane's parents, came all the way from Victoria Point just to visit me. We had dinner at Rossini's in Kitsilano and they had the pleasure of listening to me play some tunes with Bob York. It was great to see them.


Although I will be home in under three weeks, Sheridan and Alicia decided that they simply couldn't wait that long to see me. We had dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant on Robson St and then stopped in for a beer on Granville St afterwards.


Kris, Nicky, Cathy and I headed off to Deep Cove last Sunday for a bit of hiking. Nicky's right index finger points to where we hiked to.


It was a lovely view and a nice afternoon.


The ferry ride to Vancouver Island is beautiful.


This is the B and B that we are staying at. It's called Mansard House because of the Mansard roof. It was built in 1891 and is very cosy.


Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia and has a beautiful old Parliament House Building that is lit up by night. It looks great.


We went to the Butchart Gardens today. The Butchart Gardens are built on an old quarry and are spectacular. Mum was a bit peeved off because she flattened her camera battery within about the first 20 minutes. Fortunately I had a spare battery for my camera.


Chrysanthemums


We finished off the day with a small offering from Tim Hourten's, a Canadian institution!

The fun continues over here. No time for an essay today. Here's a few photos and that's all you're getting this time. Can't wait to see you all in that many days :


My work family BBQ on Sunday 27th August. From the left, Brian, Me, Kathleen, Brian, Aaron.
Aaron built the railing with me. I was feeling a bit seedy from previous night's gig at a Polish wedding with Bob and Jambalaya. The father of the bride was keeping my plastic cup topped up with three quarters gin, one quarter tonic. Saw Miami Vice with Kris and Nicky later on that evening downtown. We had a bit of fun with one of the local bears. There are hundreds of them in Vancouver.




The railing has been painted by the way. Looks pretty good if I do say so myself.

Ok, a little bit of commentary. I started working at a new building site on Thursday the 31st. It's the same company but a concrete high-rise building instead of a wood framed one. It's good to see a different style of building and also reassuring that my skills transfer to that type of building well. I wonder if they do it the same in Aus? How many mm in an inch again???


The weekend of the 2nd/3rd was Labor Day long weekend over here. I spent the weekend up at Squamish with Emma, Jason and the kids and also popped up to Whistler on the Saturday. Went on a 15Km hike from the peak of Whistler, around the back side to the Flute Bowl, then back to the Roundhouse around Harmony. The trail only opened a few weeks before so it was exciting to be one of the first hikers to conquer it. Took some great shots up there. Can't believe the difference. Those of you who have been there will appreciate these!


The bottom of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. I'll be trying my hand at down hill in two weeks time. Don't worry, it's covered under my health insurance.


The Inukshuk out the front of the Roundhouse at the top of the Whistler gondola. That's the one that I was sitting on in a previous post.


The Saddle. It hasn't snowed since May and there is still snow. Amazing.


The Peak Road. Goes from the Peak down around the back of the mountain to the start of Burnt Stew Trail. You can also drop into the Saddle from there.


Whistler Village far below.


The most photographed pointy rock in BC I reckon. The Black Tusk.


My office from the Whistler gondola.


Here it is from the Roundhouse.


Chekamus Lake. Such a beautiful lake over the back of Whistler Mountain.


Me at the top of the Flue Bowl. It's just as tough a hike in the summer time. A little warmer that's for sure.


I had dinner at Sushi Village with Mariko and a few of her friends that night. I decided that it was about time that I sat on the Blackcomb sign on the way home. I had been meaning to do it all season.


The next day, Jason and I drove out to Emma's friend Jim's house for a go on one of his many trail bikes. This one cost him $20! Bargain. It was heaps of fun.


This is Jim. He's a real mountain man if I ever saw one. He could also pull off a surf bum in Aus I reckon.


I went to the PNE with Kris and Nicky on Monday night. It was the last night so we thought we had better make an appearance. The PNE is Vancouver's version of the Ekka, but they have better rides and more variety of food. We thought we had better try a 'Corn Dog' in the interest of comparison and the Ekka's Dagwood Dogs win hands down. That says a lot about how terrible the corn dogs were.


Had to try on the Aussie hats. Kris is modeling the genuine Crocodile Dundee hat. He also wanted me to say that his shirt is 'Water Melon', not pink. Sure it is :)


This ride was insane. I have a video of it which I will show anyone who is interested when I get home.


Look at the anguish on Nicky's face! That wasn't just put on for the photo. She was really packing it. So was I!


For those of you who don't know, mum has come over to visit me for a few weeks. She was lucky enough to catch me and Bob at the Polish Club on Saturday night.


Jambalaya


We went out to Lynn Canyon on Sunday for a bit of hiking and a walk over the suspension bridge.


It's not quite as big as the Capilano Suspension bridge, but it also doesn't cost you $25.


Me in a big tree.


Me in a scary dark cave.


We stopped in at Gastown on the way home.


The Sam Key Building. A pointy building at the end of Gastown in down town Vancouver.

That's all for now. See you all very soon!

I wrote another long day by day post of the past few weeks happenings and went to fill in the gas with the accompanying photos and found that the photos were no where to be seen on my portable hard drive. I was really mad... I mean really mad at my self for not checking that they were there before erasing my memory card. I decided to start a new post with a quick summary of the highlights and put up a few photos that I have taken since being a techno-idiot.

I continued to hang out with Lauren and Lauren until Lauren ended her Vancouver experience by returning to the Big Apple at the end of July. It was a fantastic month and one that I will never forget.

The start of August was a bit of a come down. I had kind of been expecting it. After 6 weeks where every weekend topped the previous one, the market was ready for a correcton. It wasn't a crash, just a correction. I did quite a bit of over time at work, and I took on a side project with a mate from work. We built a railing for the house next door. It was a good experience and a bit of a boost to the bank account. Check out our handy work.








Emma and the kids and I took a road trip up past Whistler to see what lay beyond the 200Km stretch of road that my entire Canadian experience has been centered around. We found a little farm where you could pick berries. The scenery up there is amazing. Picture an open field running into a snow capped mountain 1600m high. I could show you a picture if I wasn't such a tosser. We headed another 100Km up the road to a lake, the name of which I am too lazy to look up. It was equally as pretty. I even braved the cold and had a bit of a swim. We stopped in at Whistler on the way home for an icecream. We also stopped in at the Furry Creek golf course, which is where Happy Gilmore was filmed. I snuck out onto someones patio to get a better photo (lost that one too!) and unfortunately they were home having dinner on the patio. I told them not to be alarmed and explained that I was Justin from Australia and just wanted to get a better shot of the course. They were a little surprised but didn't call the police.

I play my sax every weekend without fail. I played here a few weeks ago. Usually at one of the Rossini's clubs but last weekend I played at a Polish Club with Bob, my Polish friend. Polish are good at three things. Beer, Sausages and Donuts. I tried them all and it made for a pleasant evening. We played for about an hour and a half and then I headed down to Rossini's at Kits to meet Chris and Nicky for a beer. I had no intention of playing, however, I did have my horn and they practically dragged me up on stage. Ok, I didn't resist too much, but I only played one set. I'm not addicted, honest! After a few beers, we headed down to the beach to watch the meteor shower that was scheduled for that night. Sure enough, we saw shooting stars. We all had minor arthritis in our necks the next morning but it was worth it for the light show.

This weekend I played with Foundation, the group that I stood in with back in June. It went off!!!! Straight Funk, no chaser! We were the headline act at the Backstage Lounge on Granville Island. It was a kick off for their 10 day tour of Canada. Unfortunately I won't be tagging along, but they assure me they'll have a few gigs back in Van before I leave. Chris, lead guitar and vocals, asked if I really, realy had to go back to Australia. I said he should bring the band to Aus and I'll tour with them down there. Here is the gang.




Jamming with Foundation in Mike's Kitchen


On the Aquabus crossing False Creek from Granville Island to downtown after the sound check.


English Bay at sunset after dinner at Chip's place. The calm before the funk!


Post gig hug.

If I wake up on a Saturday morning with nothing to do, I usually go for a walk. Here are some photos from yesterday's outing.


West End


Welcome to Kitsilano


The Burrard Bridge from English Bay


Downtown from Point Grey


The Burrard Inlet from the Burrard Bridge

Hope all is well in Aus. See you all soon.