Tired of I.T! » British Columbia

None of the above

Dave — Mon, 02 May 2011 03:00:38 +0000

None of the above
Posted on: Monday, May 2nd, 2011 at 12:00am

This isn’t news for 30% of my readership – but today May 2nd, 2011 is the day that we as Canadian Citizens choosing who is the most capable party to lead our country. Unlike the United States directly below us, we have multiple parties with significant support which has made our past few governments result in a minority government causing endless bickering between parties, laws not being passed, and a whole series of deceptive activities by the party with the most votes. Parliament sessions have been stayed and delayed, questions left unanswered and new federal elections have been called more often than we’d care to have. In Fact, this is the 4th election since 2004 that we’ve had to deal with, being bothered at 6pm by politicians banging on our front doors attempting to convince us that they are truly here to serve us and the people and want to lead us into a new phase of our countries growth.

To be frank, I’ve had enough of the rigamarole, the corruption and the details of our government misleading the public that continue to seep out of the cracks, misappropriating funds, and threatening to overturn laws and regulations that inflict on basic human rights. Corporations seem to have more leverage than the individual and our liberties are starting to erode over time. When the election was announced due to our existing government found to be in Contempt of Parliament (this is a 1st in all our our 41 previous sitting of parliament) the first 2 weeks of the election campaigns all one would hear is constant mudslinging from one party about how the other party did something wrong in the past, but still didn’t come out with any ideas on how they were going to solve the problem on its own. Over the course of our 143 years of being unified as a country the politicians have backpedaled from their promises, misappropriated our limited resources, and recently altered our perception globally with military engagements morphing Canada into a 5 legged monster with wavy arms, with the people at the end of the finger tips.

No matching videos

I’ve yet to vote in any election in my life, but have a sneaking suspicion this may be the last thing I do while in Canada, to head into a voting booth and choosing the final option ‘None of the Above’, because I don’t really hold any regard for any of the leaders to effectively manage our country, but also since I’m so out of touch with my regional riding way back in Vancouver, BC. If I was to make a decision and vote for a general leader of the country I’d say let’s have the New Democrat Party take the reigns for a bit and muck things up, they haven’t had a chance for a few years to really screw things up royally. Laws and rules benefiting the corporations take days to implement but decades to reverse - Let’s take the money out of it and stop doing things such as importing Idaho Potatoes into Prince Edward Island, milking cows in Lavington, BC before sending it by big truck for processing in another province only to have it return 15km away for sale 2-3 days later for starters – lets put more focus into our education system which seems to be getting bludgeoned more and more every year and make sure our youth are adequately prepared for their adult years by holding them back (read: failing them) if they aren’t catching onto the concepts and curriculum as opposed to pushing them through in order not to hurt their feelings and finally lets see some accountability by all of the politicians elected to be forced to be required to address our nation and answer questions that are posed to them, take action by providing us with timely updates as to their progress and finally, enforce real criminal punishment to these leaders who willfully do not serve the needs of their citizens.

Anyways, this isn’t a political blog, so I’m going to stay away from ranting too much more, but would like to present to you how I really feel about politics in this country:

This is the pool of the black star, in the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg. The room seems to be very special with lots of rumors that it contains many hidden meanings as it was built by the masons. If you look directly up you can see the top of the roof where the Golden Boy, a modified version of the Greek God of Hermes who is now carrying a bushel of wheat, covered in gold. It is also said that the room is harmonically tuned to the 5th transforming ones voice.. Photo taken by Jennifer Darkly.

This is the “Room of No Secrets” in the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly built in 1999. The room is specially designed so that even whispers are heard from across the room, which is the way it should be in the caucus room. Photo taken by Lindsey Reddin.

Here we are in the Province House located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. You can see where the speaker generally stands when they are announcing new laws, regulations and guidelines as they look out for the residents of this province. This is the oldest legislative assembly in all of Canada, over 300 years old.

Let’s keep this one a secret, here’s the Newfoundland Confederation Building in their capital, St John’s which was built in the early 1950′s as they were the last province to join our country. This is the caucus room, and somehow I managed to get a picture on top of their table. Photo taken by Sarah Crocker.

Our smallest province, Prince Edward Island has another Province House in their capital Charlottetown. It has the history of where Confederation was signed, and has a great set of old historical and blocked off areas for your viewing.

This is the spiral staircase in the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly building in Fredericton built in 1882. The carpet is a wonderful velvety plush substance which allows for wonderful cushioning of your hands. Photo taken by Kelsey Wilson.

Before you can go really out of bounds, you need to head up the staircase here in the Ontario Legislative Assembly building which is in Toronto. There are intricate carvings including some political comics of the Queen of England, which was unveiled at the last minute depicting her smiling like a joker. She was known for not smiling, and if she had noticed the carving, she would have had the room demolished and rebuilt. Photo taken by tour guide.

Oh Quebec, we love your fierce devotion to the French Language, your insistence on retaining your culture and your wonderful way of living. The National Assemblage building is actually located in Quebec City is heavily guarded from top to bottom and contains impressive architecture.

One can’t deny the rich colours of this photo, unfortunately do to the fact that I ran into the area to get this photo snapped it did not come out as clearly as possible in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly in Regina. I was promptly asked to leave the building. Photo taken by Steven Kowalsky.

Oh Canada, how I love thee, I wouldn’t change my citizenship for anything, but let’s just keep things clean k? Best of luck to all the candidates. The headstands were a fun part of visiting all of the Canadian Legislative Buildings, and were done in challenge not a jest. After all, Pierre Trudeau was well known for his headstands, don’t you remember?

I managed to do a headstand in every building in Canada, with the exception of Aberta, where I was removed from security and barred from re-entry. Lighten up Oilbertans. More pictures to appear on this entry as soon as I can find them!

Oh, and you know how Stephen Harper likes cats?

Little did you know, that there is a cat sanctuary on Parliament Hill where the government resides in Ottawa, Ontario. It is being run by volunteers, and receives no funding from the government whatsoever. Harumph.

You're reading the RSS feed for Tired of I.T! Did you know that the website contains much more information such as articles, gear list, daily statistics, videos and photos and more! You can also get real time micro-updates by following on Twitter and Facebook!

BC Statistics

Dave — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:50:29 +0000

BC Statistics
Posted on: Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 5:50pm

My route while traveling through..

Information

Info:
Formed: 1871
Population: 4,494232 people
Area: 944,735 sq/ kilometres
Languages Spoken: English, French
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada’s provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu (“Splendour without Diminishment”). Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858. In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.

The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the fifteenth largest metropolitan region in Canada. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada and the second-largest in the Pacific Northwest.

Much of the province is wild or semi-wild, so that populations of many mammalian species that have become rare in much of the United States still flourish in British Columbia. Watching animals of various sorts, including a very wide range of birds, has also long been popular. Bears (grizzly, black, and the Kermode bear or spirit bear—only found in British Columbia) live here, as do deer, elk, moose, caribou, big-horn sheep, mountain goats, marmots, beavers, muskrat, coyotes, wolves, mustelids (such as wolverines, badgers and fishers), Cougar, eagles, ospreys, herons, Canada geese, swans, loons, hawks, owls, ravens, Harlequin Ducks, and many other sorts of ducks. Smaller birds (robins, jays, grosbeaks, chickadees, etc.) also abound.

BC Government Webpage

Wikipedia Entry

Tourism BC Webpage

My Experience

I cycle toured through British Columbia, my home province on a few seperate tours:

The first tour involved traveling from Vancouver through the Fraser Valley to Abbotsford and back to see if I actually liked riding a bike after not riding one for close to 20 years. The weather was a mixed bag, and I was exhausted at the end of it, with multiple flat tires. I was frustrated, but not going to let that deter me from further tours.

The second tour was a shakedown test to get on the bike and test equipment. I rode this tour with a partner and cycled up the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, taking multiple ferries across different passage ways trekking to a beach on one of the farthest western points of Canada to celebrate my 31st birthday and to partake in the Soundwave Musical Festival that occurred from July 10-12, 2009.

The intent of this tour was to shake out any issues with equipment, understand logistics of cooking, camping, and water consumption.

The path taken is partially based upon the book Bicycling the Pacific Coast: A Complete Route Guide, Canada to Mexico. An excellent resource detailing distance, elevation, sights and waypoints such as campgrounds and hostels. Highly recommended.

The next tour was very brief. Less than 35 km as I traveled through on the way down to Mexico via Washington, Oregon, and California.

Finally, on the fourth round going across Canada, I took the long way and spent the most time out of any province or territory exploring the beautiful gulf islands, Vancouver Island, Haida Gwaii, and visiting the pristine Kootenays, capturing a couple thousand photographs of beautiful landscapes, rare wildlife like the Kermodei Bear (Albino White Black Bear), and stopped in to say one final goodbye to family members and friends. The weather was great for the majority of time, however the climbs were some of the toughest of the entire trip.

For the most part, BC roads are reasonable for cyclists, most have proper shoulders and traffic generally gives you ample space, unless of course when you are riding through cities. Many cities are now including dedicated Bicycle Lanes to ensure your safety.

Pictures

View at Flickr">

Journal Entries

The following is a list of journal entries I wrote while traveling through. Click one to read!

2011-05-02 – None of the above
2010-07-08 – BC Statistics
2010-07-03 – Sparkles from the Diamond in the North
2010-06-10 – It sets in.
2010-06-10 – Parting shots from Mother Nature
2010-06-07 – Night of the living bugs
2010-06-06 – An even slower way of looking at the world
2010-05-24 – One wrong turn, two big climbs, countless grins
2010-05-20 – Don’t let your innerspace become your Outerspace
2010-05-17 – Desolate Stretches
2010-05-11 – Travelling down the Highway of Tears (and sweat, and snot, and..)
2010-05-09 – Hey, Mom!
2010-05-06 – The great not so white North
2010-05-03 – Till we meet again Pacific..
2010-05-01 – If you don’t like the weather, wait half an hour…
2010-04-28 – Heading North.
2010-04-24 – Bugs and Bear Country
2010-04-23 – Growling a bit at the Garmin GPS
2010-04-21 – Suffering up the switchbacks
2010-04-20 – The Velvet Rut
2010-04-10 – Island hopping
2010-04-08 – First Day Fumbles
2009-09-13 – Onwards!
2009-08-07 – On being injured….
2009-08-05 – Advertising Rejected!
2009-07-26 – $tatus check
2009-07-21 – Itching to get back into the saddle..
2009-07-16 – Re-entrance
2009-07-07 – One year older, in Port Alberni
2009-07-04 – And we’re off!
2009-06-29 – Men who cycle more than 186 miles a week face fertility risk
2009-06-29 – Sleep Deprivation
2009-06-28 – Human Billboard
2009-06-26 – Nervous Anticipation
2009-06-22 – Best Shave Ever
2009-06-21 – Battery Powered Speaker System for Bicycles
2009-06-20 – Slight Miscalculation in Distances and Timings..

Statistics

Totals:

Total Days: 73	Total Cost: $2720.37 ($41.85/day)
Distance: 5,119.77 km (Most: 2010-05-09 – 169.54 km)	Food Cost: $1,341.58
Ascended: 41,489 metres (Most: 2010-05-21 – 1,470 metres)	Drink Cost: $452.47
Energy Consumed: 193,439 calories (Most: 2010-05-12 – 6,460)	Equipment Cost: $137.20
	Transportation Cost: $573.42
	Lodging Cost: $105.95
	Entertainment Cost: $0.00
	Misc Cost: $94.75

Below shows the statistics while traveling through the area. Click on a date for more information!

Date	Location	Distance (km)	Cost	Map
2011-09-13	Surrey, BC, CA	0.00	$0.00
2010-07-06	Crooks Meadow, BC, CA	95.50	$79.29	Chart
2010-07-05	Fairmont, BC, CA	115.59	$63.13	Chart
2010-07-04	Cranbrook, BC, CA	75.71	$49.15	Chart
2010-07-03	Kragmont, BC, CA	0.00	$0.00	Chart
2010-07-02	Kragmont, BC, CA	0.00	$0.00	Chart
2010-06-13	N59 35.826/W123 06.925, BC, CA	119.94	$38.00	Chart
2010-06-12	Fort Nelson, BC, CA	3.57	$152.77	Chart
2010-06-11	Fort Nelson, BC, CA	103.95	$120.88	Chart
2010-06-10	Tetsa River Regional Park, BC, CA	96.30	$42.25	Chart
2010-06-09	Toad River, BC, CA	114.06	$14.25	Chart
2010-06-08	Liard Hot Springs, BC, CA	114.84	$18.50	Chart
2010-06-07	N59 52.580/W127 24.341, BC, CA	103.33	$28.11	Chart
2010-05-28	Vancouver, BC, CA	2.58	$93.50	Chart
2010-05-27	Cranbrook, BC, CA	10.86	$356.11	Chart
2010-05-26	Cranbrook, BC, CA	112.20	$19.65	Chart
2010-05-25	Creston, BC, CA	96.66	$20.00	Chart
2010-05-24	Riondell, BC, CA	32.65	$35.00	Chart
2010-05-23	Nelson, BC, CA	106.60	$68.55	Chart
2010-05-22	New Denver, BC, CA	105.55	$63.50	Chart
2010-05-21	Fauqier, BC, CA	122.93	$16.00	Chart
2010-05-20	Lavington, BC, CA	74.37	$22.00	Chart
2010-05-19	Westbank, BC, CA	68.98	$32.50	Chart
2010-05-18	n50.17.531/w119.23.599, BC, CA	120.90	$16.50	Chart
2010-05-17	Kamloops, BC, CA	85.39	$23.00	Chart
2010-05-16	Barrierre, BC, CA	131.73	$25.60	Chart
2010-05-15	Avola, BC, CA	132.10	$60.00	Chart
2010-05-14	Valemont, BC, CA	86.00	$20.00	Chart
2010-05-13	McBride, BC, CA	100.00	$41.00	Chart
2010-05-12	Dome Creek Rest Stop, BC, CA	134.90	$28.50	Chart
2010-05-11	Prince George, BC, CA	2.86	$12.75	Chart
2010-05-10	Prince George, BC, CA	145.17	$22.25	Chart
2010-05-09	Fort Fraser, BC, CA	169.54	$27.50	Chart
2010-05-08	Houston, BC, CA	94.74	$24.55	Chart
2010-05-07	Moricetown, BC, CA	103.80	$24.40	Chart
2010-05-06	Kitwanga, BC, CA	110.00	$21.50	Chart
2010-05-05	Terrace, BC, CA	63.38	$22.00	Chart
2010-05-04	Exchamisks River, BC, CA	95.33	$23.36	Chart
2010-05-03	Prince Rupert, BC, CA	20.38	$72.00	Chart
2010-05-02	Queen Charlotte, BC, CA	137.10	$6.75	Chart
2010-05-01	Agate Beach, BC, CA	90.32	$28.00	Chart
2010-04-30	Port Clements, BC, CA	95.88	$12.00	Chart
2010-04-29	Queen Charlotte, BC, CA	17.97	$101.30	Chart
2010-04-28	Ocean, BC, CA	11.88	$151.00	Chart
2010-04-27	Port Hardy, BC, CA	100.12	$15.05	Chart
2010-04-26	Woss, BC, CA	67.00	$18.25	Chart
2010-04-25	Sayward, BC, CA	95.76	$42.70	Chart
2010-04-24	Miracle Beach, BC, CA	100.26	$18.95	Chart
2010-04-23	Parksville, BC, CA	79.73	$51.00	Chart
2010-04-22	Chemanius, BC, CA	105.22	$15.22	Chart
2010-04-21	Port Renfrew, BC, CA	68.74	$10.25	Chart
2010-04-20	French Beach, BC, CA	73.85	$5.25	Chart
2010-04-19	Victoria, BC, CA	24.00	$26.00	Chart
2010-04-18	Victoria, BC, CA	0.00	$40.00	Chart
2010-04-17	Victoria, BC, CA	7.79	$11.00	Chart
2010-04-16	Victoria, BC, CA	11.52	$32.00	Chart
2010-04-15	Victoria, BC, CA	6.09	$63.00	Chart
2010-04-14	Victoria, BC, CA	10.03	$42.00	Chart
2010-04-13	Victoria, BC, CA	42.99	$44.50	Chart
2010-04-12	Galiano Island, BC, CA	51.80	$64.50	Chart
2010-04-11	Galiano Island, BC, CA	34.62	$18.90	Chart
2010-04-10	Mayne Island, BC, CA	40.62	$46.70	Chart
2010-04-09	Saturna Island, BC, CA	27.67	$28.00	Chart
2010-04-08	Saltspring Island, BC, CA	0.00	$0.00	Chart
2010-04-07	Saltspring Island, BC, CA	73.72	$30.00	Chart
2009-07-08	Ucluelet, BC, CA	25.00	$
2009-07-07	Port Alberni, BC, CA	45.00	$
2009-07-06	Coombs, BC, CA	102.00	$
2009-07-05	Saltery Bay, BC, CA	82.00	$
2009-07-04	Robert’s Creek, BC, CA	66.00	$
2009-05-25	Vancouver, BC, CA	61.70	$
2009-05-24	Abbotsford, BC, CA	55.70	$
2009-05-23	Surrey, BC, CA	35.30	$

Sparkles from the Diamond in the North

Dave — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:41:54 +0000

Sparkles from the Diamond in the North
Posted on: Saturday, July 3rd, 2010 at 6:41pm

First off, I must apologize for the lack of updates since arriving in Yellowknife. The fact of the matter is that I’ve been incredibly busy, if you can call sitting on a sun porch watching the endless sun from a far, safely protected by the mosquitoes, wasps, and brief amounts of rain ‘busy’. The beauty of the capital city of the Northwest Territories has impacted me in more ways than one, and I found myself quickly settling into a very comfortable spot in life. So far, this has been the pinnacle of the tour, and I liked it so much that I canceled my flight out of the city, and extended my stay for another week.

Yellowknife, population 18,000 is at the end of the road – In the summer. Concrete and gravel are the only ways during warm months to get around on wheels, where as the landscape opens up nicely in the winter, when the many lakes, rivers and bays freeze up, allowing for transport of goods to remote communities, creating makeshift driveways to park in front of your houseboat, and opening up a whole opportunity for new forms of recreation.

My stay, was a full on summer experience however. Meeting my target of arriving for Solstice was the best decision I made of all trip. Within minutes of arriving, I met new people in the Coffeeshop ‘Javaroma’ which had some of the fastest internet connectivity I had seen in months, which offered a wonderful opportunity to upload photos, video, and send another copy to another location for backup paranoia. On the first day, I ended up riding over to the campsite to grab a spot and caught a wave from someone out of the corner of my eye. It was Anne, one of the women I had met before at Chan Lake, who invited me over to her daughter and soon to be son-in-laws house. Highlight of the moment was being offered to have a sleep in the backyard shed – darkness for the first time in a month! I slept until the late morning before having a little chat, and headed over to the coffee shop again. It was raining for the entire afternoon, and the sun poked its head out until another set came down – rain coming down in sheets nearly sideways. I wasn’t moving.

I ran into a series of people, all interested in the hairy guy with a bike fully loaded down, some cyclists who had performed a long distance run down to Hay River a few weeks before, and some planning a longer excursion to Edmonton. 180km days were being planned, and I shuddered a bit thinking about it, definitely needing a rest. The shop closed and I was approached by a few cyclists, who asked if I wanted to go for a midnight solstice ride – but of course! It was a nice 80km route, and I was invited over to two of their houses afterwords for Brownies and Blueberry wine. They were nice enough to have me stay in their guest room and giving me the key to their house should I wish an extended stay. I took off the next morning dealing with some laundry and looking forward to checking out the celebrations on National Aboriginal Day, a territorial holiday.

When I arrived, a huge lineup was snaked down onto the street for those interested in getting a free meal served by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a fish fry complete with pop, bannock, and corn on the cob. I went back for seconds it was so savory. I stopped and watched some of the local bands while people were invited to dance jigs and then headed over to my bike to perform some maintenance, change my shirt (I change my shirt every 30 minutes to body dry the fabric as its all wool). In the process I managed to snap the tip off of my other knife – The SpyderCo Mini Manix that has a very nice grip, sharp blade and smooth operation. Frustrated, I packed it up, headed back over to the celebrations before getting a nudge in the ribs to a familiar face – The massage therapist I met on my first 10 minutes in town! We chatted for a bit, watched the celebration and made plans to go riding on down to Yellowknife River, where another celebration was going on. It was great! She hadn’t ridden much on her new bicycle and the 12km ride was good for her, with the end result in us watching another traditional fish fry, more bands, aboriginal handgames, jig dancing, and throat singing. The sun was shining, and we ended up going over to a showing of a movie titled ‘Reel Injun’ put on by a local film collective known as Cinema Politica. The movie was interesting, an hour and a half documentary on the travels of a film maker seeking to understand and showcase how Hollywood portrays aboriginal people. Informative, with a dash of hilarity the end of the movie brought out the director Neil Diamond for a lengthy question and answer session. Beaming, we headed off and had a few cocktails and had a meal afterwords – the midnight sun blazing.

It turns out we shared a few things in common, both had itchy feet for travel, and we shared stories and trip adventures well into the late night, and I had the opportunity of watching a presentation of the recent 5 month travel across parts of the USA, Canada, and Mexico and an impressive amount of different beds slept in – 53! Couchsurfing.com was a major part of the stay for her and I relayed my experiences with Warmshowers.org. It turns out her parents have been hosts in Prince Edward Island (and even wilder, for 11 years the longest I’ve seen anyone on the site) – so I made some notes to look them up when I make it over there.

The next couple of days went by quick. Bike Rides, meeting new people, coffee shop excursions, and dinner parties peppered the long days with warm weather. The community, with the average age of 32 was very welcoming, eco friendly, progressive and full of creativity. Yellowknife’s uniqueness stretches many different ways. For example, the dump is the equivalent to the Craigslist in local cities. One can find many gems in a seperated section away from the majority of the messy stuff. A glass recycling shop, which spends its time cutting wine bottles into drinking glasses also operates a bicycle repair/co-op facility. I quickly fell into a real solid group of individuals, eventually being asked to stay in Old Town, on a house elevated on the top of a rock. It seems everyone has their mitts in something, piano, guitar, painting and I was happy to take in an environment that had so much positive energy circulating.

A community of houseboats exist in one of the bays, where many people live year round. It’s a vessel without a motor, so one must canoe to them when the whatever is flowing and live on it property tax free while it is in ‘distress’. Some of the loopholes in the law are certainly being executed and at Government Wharf there is a barge currently being assembled in very short order for another couple to partake in this popular activity.

Dumpster Diving is alive and well in the city. Grocery stores, restaurants and stores refuse are routinely picked through, and some of the friendly folk I met routinely distributed this food to others in the city. I’ll just say that the potlucks and dinner parties were fantastic, diverse sets of food, and good times had all around. The cost of living is incredibly high in the area, Electricity costing 3x the amount I would have paid in Vancouver, food typically 2x the cost, and even water in some parts of the city requiring to be trucked in and out on a regular basis. Luckily, there is ample work for everyone, and the occurrence of minerals from Ore to Gold to Diamonds that are being routinely discovered ensure that one is able to keep finances in order.

I accepted an interview request from a local news website, talking for 25 minutes about some of my past experiences, in an attempt to inspire other viewers. I was known as ‘that guy’ who cycled in, some chuckling that I was a local celebrity. All was taken in good jest and I was able to exchange many contact details for later hangouts in the week, or to be used as a contact should I run into trouble. Another weird, but oh so necessary experience was when I was riding my bike around and noticed that a big truck was beside me, with a woman yelling at me asking what I was doing. “Riding my Bike” was the logical reply, and I was told that I needed to come for dinner at her house that evening. Sure – why not – I’m saying yes to things I normally wouldn’t on this trip and it just worked. I brought Lindsey, my friend along for the experience, which turned out to be one of the nicest, prolific encounters I’ve had while on the trip. The woman, who had never invited a stranger into her house was trying things new as well. A tumor was discovered and she had to deal with brain surgery years before, and she had one of the most positive attitudes of anyone I met. Sharing stories, handmade aboriginal gifts, and teaching us phrases in Denai, the language of the local aboriginal tribe made for a real heart warming experience. I took her address and will send over a few postcards along the way, with her stating that she’d make sure she beats it and lives another 5 years. It was because of that experience, and some other positive events that prompted me to change my flight, and continue to rest – not feeling complete from my experience in Yellowknife. The extra days would allow me to forge further relationships, and celebrate Canada Day, hoping to meet up with friends that I had met while on the road who would be in at the end of the month, not to mention the film crew, who of which I had heard were making their way slowly up, encountering a few issues, animal encounters, and welcomes that I shared on the very same roads.

A young city that only really exploded in population in the 1930s, the area of old town still has many of the old buildings standing, where as the newer downtown core up the hill on its main drag makes way for a few skyscrapers. A visit to the heritage museum offered a glimpse at northern life over the past 100 years, touched upon traditional cultures, aerospace, and mining. It’s a great place to spend an afternoon, and is right beside the Legislative Assembly building, an architectural marvel designed to allow as much light as possible into the building. It’s fairly new, 10 years old or so – Members of the parliament used to convene to discuss matters of the territory in Regina, Saskatchewan – something that confused me greatly. I got so excited in my trip, that I didn’t leave enough time to even visit the inside of the building, dulling my goal of checking out the caucus rooms of each Province and Territory. Not sure what to do about that one at this stage.

I’m entranced by the beauty of the area. NWT does a spectacular job of promoting themselves, and keeps a number of recreation sites available for those wishing to check out its beauty. I had the opportunity to head over to Prelude lake, for a late night camping trip, leaving at 6pm, arriving at 9 and camping on a huge rock overlooking a beautiful bay. Good company, good food, and minimal bugs allowed us to laugh, reading a children’s book aloud to each other (Gary Larson, one of my favourite cartoonists used his quirky humour to put together: There’s a hair in my Dirt!), listening to music, sharing stories, and later catching a movie in the tent. The campsite manager was excited to see a bunch of cyclists come in and even asked to ride my bike around! He was beaming, nearly took a tumble during mount but took it all in stride.

Canada Day, due to the loop of the sunlight, I missed the parade festivities but spent the time meeting up with the film crew, who arrived, visibly haggered, did a few video shoots with them, and went for a nice dinner, before sharing a bottle of champagne with some other friends. Sleep was minimal, as I wanted to take in the most experience I could of the city before departure. I’m now in the southern part of British Columbia (more later) and in a whole other world, dearly missing the warmth, hospitality and wonder of this Canadian Gem.

My next stage of the trip has me heading up north, through the rockies another time, into the small communities of Fairmont, and Invermere, where I’ll wave goodbye to British Columbia finally. It’s going to be good run to get to the other side of this continent before the weather turns sideways, and I’ll need to be diligent, focused, and in good health. 14 days of rest has been good, yet I do worry about how the next few weeks will be. I experienced a bit of body pain with my knees, and want to make sure I don’t harm myself any further. My Bicycle, is holding up well, but visibly showing wear. I managed to destroy my left pedal, and need to get something replaced in Edmonton. I also did a good job by snapping the head off a bolt which will impact how my front rack will hold up. Zip straps on hand for the ensuing carnage. My health is good, even though I’ve been known to have been smoking Djarum clove cigarettes over the past few weeks and I’ll nip that habit once riding, and may get a bit of weaving, hacking and short breath symptoms – solidifying my goal to not inhale those horrendous sticks of poison. A few posts back, I posed the question of what should I do with my hair – One person publicly commented, and I’m getting the gears from my friends on Facebook and other Social networking sites, that I am looking quite like a hippy. I do like the feeling of running my hands through it, and find I’m looking a little bit less intense, even though it does have a little itch factor associated with it. I’ve never grown my hair out like this, and it just seems fitting. New stage of life, so give it a whirl until I’m good and ready.

I’m now ready for the next step, even though the tearing away from one of the most enchanting environments is going to be tough – I’ll push forward. Thanks Yellowknife, the people, the creativity, and the magic – it’ won’t be forgotten. Hopefully you readers will undertake the journey up to this little goldmine, as rough roads reap large rewards.