The time between...

A few months have passed since my last entry. I don't particularly feel like recounting stories from the time between now and then, so I'll just give the quick and dirty version (this post is PG, so I will leave out the joke about how it's not so unlike my sex life).

Right, so after a month of this...



(not me)

... was a month of this ...


(toronto)


(montreal)


(ottawa)


(madoc)

... with zee Germans ...



... next, southbound to Hotlanta (which I found was inappropriately named) where I was trained by a master in the art of chasing these (aka, a DONK)...



... and did a bunch of this...



... with a dog that didn't respect my personal space ...



... but he got his ...



(yes, this is a poodle with a mohawk)

.. then off to visit my completely normal parents ...




... which explains why I'm so normal ...



... and now...

...MEXICO!

The blogwebs and Sailing

Sorry about the lack of content lately. The internet just hasn't been readily available or high on my priority list of late. But I'll make an attempt to shake off the blogwebs and throw up a little content.



Let's start with sailing. The first night I was in Thunder bay, I met some German girls who were drinking wine in the main room of the hostel (which is really more like a home, and is where I'm staying). Of course, I joined them, regailed them with some on-the-spot guitar songs and tales of times gone by, and we laughed and spend a lovely time. So they took me sailing.



Sailing is awesome. From what I can tell, all you need is:

• a high-strung captain who can scream, and curse, a LOT...
  
• a fairly incompitent crew with a complete lack of experience
• a lot of beer

Little did I know when we started, but our sailing adventure was part of a sailboat racing league. The standing were close, and the ship I was on was in a dogfight for first overall. Everything was great out of the gate, we won that part of the battle... but things started to go awry when we dropped the sail in the water. Holy crap was the captain pissed. I thought the vein in his neck was going to explode. And as if that wasn't bad enough, it then got dragged under the boat, completely demolishing any chance of our victory. The captain then put on an astonishingly curse-tacular oral lashing on the experienced members of the crew. Slowly the red in his face drained as he accepted our fate.

But let me tell you, I have never enjoyed losing so much. It meant beer.


And a relaxed captain.



That is until his friend dropped the $600 rope into the water, at which point the neck-vein tagged in the forehead vein, and they put on a spectacular throbbing display. Thankfully, he lived through the experience.



And all is well that ends well. We got back to shore, and went out for an evening of merriment at a fine local establishment.




PS: Thanks to Bianca for the photos!

Nice Dress, Beer

I know, I know, I've always looked good in blue and white, it works so well with my eyes.

As you may or may not be able to tell, this is not just another of my dress up fantasy parties, this is actually a hospital gown. After a few days of excruciating pain that started in the outside joints of my knees, and progressed in both up and down my legs, I decided that I needed to see a doctor about this. So on my way into Thunder Bay, I went to the hospital.

Went to the doctor, the doctor said,
"Sorry Jonno, your IT bands' are dead"
"Dead? heck no! maybe inflamed,
listen doc, what are you REALLY saying?"
"I'm saying if you ride, a monkey you are,
I suggest your trip is done, take a bus, or a car."
"How can I fix it? Pills? Intravenus?"
"Well we can stick this here tube in the end of your..."
"*gasp*"
"Just kidding." Man doctors have a sick sense of humor.

And on we went like this for some time, until he finally gave me the 3 step process required to fix my problem:

1. rest for a minimum of 1 week, 2 is *much* better
2. go to physiotherapy
3. continue going to physiotherapy

Hmmm. What a shame, I came so close, within a few hundred kilometers of catching Katherine, and now I am laid up.



But not to worry, my spirits aren't down, although when I got the news I was initially disappointed, until I realized that there must be a reason for this. So I went and found a hostel, drank wine with beautiful women and played guitar until bed. Then the next day I went sailing. Now I'm hitchhiking to Timmins, to visit a Chinese medical doctor friend of mine who I'm going to convince to poke me with needles for a few days. Then, who knows!

Kakabeka Falls

Wow. And I didn't even know Kakabeka Falls existed.



They call it "Niagara du Nord," and for good reason, as it's only 13m more shallow than Niagara Falls, although the amount of water that flows over the falls is quite a bit less.



It's 70m across by 40m deep. If you're ever around Thunder Bay, go the extra 30 km outside town to see this. They've got a great information centre at which you can learn the history of the falls, and the significant role the river that leads into it played in the formation of our country (specifically the use during the rise and fall of the fur trade).

Passing on good advice

As I sat in a coffee shop, waiting for the rain to pass, an elderly man came in and got a coffee and sat at the table next to me. I sat looking at this man, his back straight, although his body well weathered. His eyebrows has stretched with age, so they drooped over his eyelids to the point where you couldn't see them for the eyebrow skin. But his eyes shone, with a twinkle of youth. And he wore this gigantic gap-toothed smile, with creases from his eyes to his neck. Wore it like it wore it every day of his life.

We started chatting about the weather, as all good conversations have to start somewhere. One thing lead to the next, and we ended up talking for 20 minutes, as he told me stories from his time gone by. He worked in a mill when he was 18 or 19. Carried in his lunch box, did his job, at his peanut butter and jam sandwich, breathed in the polluted air, and went home. It was a simple life. Then one day he looked around and saw these 65 year old men, with their lunch boxes, peanut butter and jam sandwiches, breathing in the same polluted air he was, and he realized that they were him, just 45 years later. The next day he quit. He didn't want to live that life, and he saw his future in those men, and heard it in their coughs.

He worked different trades from then until now, learning some skill or another, using it, until a new one was required. You could tell he didn't have a lot of money, his clothes were well worn and his discourse was grough. But he was happy.

As the rain had temporarily let up, I had to go and move my tent from the bear path (the previous night, I'd set it up on the path the bear walks nightly to get to the garbage bin) to the church (talk about getting closer to God). We said our goodbyes, and I headed for the door. As I had it pulled open, he called out to me "Hey," and flashed his gap-tooth grin my way, "enjoy your life, it's the only one you've got!"

I thought that was some pretty good advice.

Ta ta Manitoba, Hill-o Ontario

Sorry about the lack of updates lately, but my internet access has been quite limited for the last 10 days or so.

Off the grass, and onto the rock. Usually this would be a bad progression, but in this case, it's quite a blessing. I was sick of the Prairie's. They went on forever. After doing this by bike, I suggest you take a car. So here I am, in northern Hilltario. It was really amazing, within about a 1 km stretch just inside the Manitoba/Ontario, the scenery went from tall Prairie grass as far as the eye can see, to rocks and trees and lakes, and beautiful coloured leaves, and HILLS! I never thought I'd be so happy to see the road rise and fall. The feeling only lasted for the first one or two :)

Wow, so much has happened since my last entry... I'll just recount some of the events quickly:

• given free beer on many occasions
• given free food a few times
• wiped out at about 3 km/hr and cracked a rib (this is not verified)
• camped for free since, basically Alberta, minus a few exceptions
• invited to stay in a couple's bunk house for a night, because they like cyclists
• went to Winnipeg, got a guided tour by a nice local girl of all the touristy areas and was offered a temp job by a guy that runs the Beatnik bookstore
• played lots of free pool

People have been wonderful.

Now I have to get going, because there's a massive storm blowing in that all the locals are buzzing about, and I want to go 100 km today.

I'm probably going to catch up to Katherine's bicycle tour group this week, yesssss... she doesn't know that, I've been very vague in my emails to her about my whereabout, and I'm hoping that she's too busy to check this blog entry before I make it to her. I'd like to surprise her. Any ideas on what I should do? Just leave a comment..