BLOG ON HIATUS - Too Much Transcribing and Logging

Ok, there’s not much happening, and not much to comment on at the moment. I’m still ploughing through interviews, which, while they are extremely interesting, are also very long and make my fingers sore. Though my typing speed has increased phenomenally.

When I get tired of transcribing, I log footage. We shot a bunch of B-roll stuff, the landscapes out the bus windows, shots around the towns and cities, stuff we did in different places (like the Hairy Leg contest, snow carving and careening down Mont Tremblant on a toboggan), and stuff like the crab fishing, and stuff that I can’t even remember right now. Let’s just say that there’s a lot of footage that needs to be gone through, and each separate shot or thing that might be used needs to be described and have its timecode written down, and that’s what I do for fun when I’m not transcribing. This is where an assistant editor would come in handy . . .

But this blog is only occasionally being updated as it is right now, so it’s going to go on hiatus for a while so I can get this stuff done. I’ll see you in the next phase!

Night Shift

I’m starting to get used to this wacky schedule. Sort of. It changes a little bit each night.

We don’t work Friday night, so the footage that they shot on Friday is what we transfer Sunday night. So it’s ready and waiting when we get there. So we show up early, and leave early. Sunday is the best night. Then Monday morning, the production starts shooting early, so we can usually come in early Monday night, and there will be some film ready, if not all of it. However, as the week goes on, the production starts later and later in the morning, usually because they have long working days (12 - 16 hours sometimes) and unions require them to have a certain turnaround period before they can shoot again. So we get the film later and later as the week goes on, and stay later and later in the morning. So Monday morning, I might get to sleep at 4 am, whereas on Friday morning, I might not get off work until noon. (It doesn’t happen very often that we go that late, but it really sucks when it does.)

Beyond all that, I’m still working on The Distance Within whenever I get the chance. I’m in the transcribing phase. This is the part where I play back every interview and write down everything that’s said. It takes forever, but at the end, I will have a better idea of what people were talking about, and how well it fits with what everyone else was talking about. Cause it’s all kind of a blur to me at the moment.

Once I have the interviews transcribed, I can start putting together bits of interviews that talk about the same subject, area, issue, whatever. And I can look at different ways to tell the stories of the trip and the people we met. For now, I have a lot of work to do just to get past this part.

Funding for Post

Ok, I am still feeling slightly overwhelmed by the whole trip. And my bank account is even more overwhelmed. That last month of traveling was made possible by VISA, and now they want their money back. So I’ve gone back to work at a local post-production house for a while to pay off this debt and replenish the piggy bank for my own post-production. I’m a scanner assistant, and I got assigned to Smallville which just happened to start filming again as I got rehired, so I get to be on the series from the beginning of season 6. After the day’s shooting, they drop their film off at the lab downstairs where it gets processed. We take it up to the telecine, where it gets transferred from the negative to HD. My big job is to make sure it’s in sync. I also write out the paperwork on the takes we transfer, the timecode, and problems with the negative. The downside to it all is I don’t start work until 1 or 2 am. So it’s going to take a bit of getting used to.

Some stats on the trip

We’re just taking a look at the last five months. Here are a few stats we're using to get our heads around what we've done and where we've been:

2 filmmakers
1 HDV camera
2 microphones
10 provinces
2 territories (sorry Nunavut!)
30,000 km covered
130 hours of footage
200+ people interviewed
3 languages (French, Inuktitut and English)

Happy Canada Day!

We’re home. Got in last night, just before our bus passes ran out. I feel like I could sleep for a week. The whole journey was so big and all-encompassing, it’s hard to really process. It’s hard to remember what I was like before I started the trip, so it’s hard to say how I’ve changed. I know so much more about Canada, and yet, I feel like it was only the tip of the iceberg. There were so many towns that we passed by on the bus. So many places there wasn’t time (or energy) to visit. But I think we did as much as we could. I feel Canada’s borders a little better, a little easier. I think before I didn’t know what Canada was physically. Having grown up on Vancouver Island, and visited family in Saskatchewan, I knew that the west ended with the ocean, and the east trailed out somewhere beyond the endless fields. Now that I’ve gotten past the last field, seen the Canadian Shield, the St. Lawrence, the Atlantic from the Maritimes, it’s no longer just a line on a map. And, more importantly, the people are no longer just news stories and statistics.

A lot of people helped us get across Canada and back again. So many people were willing to open their homes to a couple of weary strangers with not much to offer besides a jar of jam or a story or two. So many people were willing to go on camera and answer all our personal questions about why they existed, what was important, what life meant to them. I hope this film will belong to all of you. It is your story as much, or more so, than it is ours.

Calgary to Coquitlam - homeward bound

We're heading home. It's kind of fitting that it's an overnight trip, cause we've spent so much time sleeping on buses. I think I've finally stopped beating myself up for not writing more about the trip and the people. I've been trying to think of more insightful things to say about Canada and all the people we've met and how much we've learned, but I'm just always so bloody tired. It's all I can do to make sure the camera's still in my pocket and I've got my bus pass, and I know where we're going next and the phone number for whoever we're meeting, or the address of the next interview. The scheduling has taken over my life. I've found myself longing more than once for the tranquility of that fishing boat. Or the couple of times when interviews just fell into our laps - due to the work of people in the area. Becky in Thompson and Ewan in Fredericton - and if I start listing, I will probably go on forever. We met so many incredible people who were willing to open their homes and lives to us, and take on our project for the brief period we were there. I wish we could have stayed longer in everyplace we stopped.

Calgary included! The guys were staying with are taking innertubes down the Bow River, which runs through the city. Man, if the passes didn't run out today, we'd still be there. I must admit, we took it easy in Calgary. Did a couple of interviews at the house, met up with a couchsurfer and did a really cool interview with her, and then hooked up with Max from Hamilton and hung out with him for a while. And even took some time to sit outside a cafe and have a frappe. That is rare.

Soon we'll be home. It's weird to think I can sleep in my own bed tonight and wake up and not go anywhere. We've been travelling long enough that the thought is kinda relieving, but I know I'll have the travel itch again before long.

Yellowknife to Calgary

Happy Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day!

We had an interview in Quebec (seems like another lifetime ago already) and our interviewee suggested that we might find more unity if Canadians everywhere celebrated French things as well as English things. Like Saint Patrick's Day and Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. Do we really need an excuse to head out to the pub for a drink or two? Instead of green beer, drink blue beer today!

Anyway, we're celebrating by taking another long bus ride, this time down to Calgary. We've been on the bus about 12 hours. Only 17 or so more to go. I hope Darcy doesn't mind if we get to his place and just crash. I find it's easy to sleep on the bus, but when I wake up, I'm still tired.

The interviews and performances in Yellowknife for the rest of the festival were amazing. And we got so many musicians willing to let us use their music for the film. And they're so diverse. Art Napoleon www.artnapoleon.com & Wajjo - West African drummers with Scottish pipers www.telusplanet.net/public/wajjo/index.html and Michelle Boudreau www.michelleboudreau.ca plus the throatsingers. And finally, William Greenland, a Gwich’in Radio Broadcaster, who struck me first because he shares his name with our high school film and video teacher. Small world.

And we met some awesome artists who were working the festival. Martin Goodliffe, first off, who was making incredibly intricate jewelery in a tee pee. I wish I'd had some of my stones for you. Dan the Balloon Man www.dantheballoonman.ca who can make ANYTHING out of balloons in under 2.4 seconds. Zee Artiste www3.telus.net/public/woodbury/zee.html who drew a very cool caricature of me while I was interviewing him and mosquitoes were eating him alive. And Snickerdoodles www.wonderstuff.ca who kept many rambunctious children happy with her face painting magic. We had a really cool conversation about this documentary and its goals. She mentioned it had prompted a discussion with her daughter about success and what's important in life, and it made me realize that that's my success right there.

Yellowknife and the Solstice Festival

Happy Aboriginal Day and Happy Summer Solstice!

Yellowknife and Whitehorse are the two most northern points we've been to on this trip, and we've seen them both during two opposite seasons, with major festivals. Whitehorse was the Rendezvous, here it's the Solstice Festival, with Aboriginal Day celebrations today. www.solsticefestival.ca/index.htm They were broadcasting the performances today on CBC, and there were some awesome musicians. I was really excited to see the throat singers, which Ewan in Fredericton had told us about. I'm not really sure how they produce the sounds, two women faced each other and made rhythmic sounds back and forth and got faster and faster until one of them laughed or lost their breath. It was as much a game or competition as a performance. Check out www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/inuit.htm or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit_throat_singing for more on throat singing. Anyway, we filmed that and the rest ceremonies, and then booked the rest of the week pretty much solid with interviews.

We did find some time when we first got up here to take a tour of the town. I have an aunt and uncle up here who are putting us up (or putting up with us :) for the week, and we got a tour of the town and pilot's monument. Great view. It's really beautiful up here, and the landscape actually reminds me of parts of Newfoundland. Most of the land is rocky with thin trees. I'd love to make it farther north, but it won't happen on this trip. Too busy.

Though we lucked out with our timing here. We went to eat lunch down by the water, I think at Oldtown Landing, and the Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, was just leaving. She was speaking to some of the employees there as she passed by us, but her husband gave us a big smile.

Edmonton to Yellowknife

I really felt like an Oilers fan this weekend. I felt like a hockey fan. I don't think I'd ever watched an entire NHL game (at least not by choice) before Game 6, but hanging out in a pub just off Whyte Ave was about the best way to get properly introduced. The game itself rocked (Oilers creamed Carolina for anyone who spent the game in a cave) and the party afterward was insane. Whyte was just jammed with people, and yet the street wasn't blocked off, so cars were crawling by and honking and people were screaming and hollering and everyone wanted to smack everyone else's hand, no matter what was in the way. It's probably one of the few times I've been in a city and the people are actually acknowledging there are other people around them, and in fact seem to be happy about that. We only feel connected in times of shared happiness and excitement.

Some people were lined up to get into pubs or buy hotdogs, or ice cream or whatever, and the rest just seemed to keep circling around up one side of the street and down the other. Cops lined the sidewalks, keeping people crushed together, so there were intersections where we just couldn’t move once we’d crossed the street, waiting for the swarm of people to inch its way forward. I’m glad I don’t have claustrophobia. I actually enjoy being in the middle of huge towering crowd, having to move with the tide or be shoved over. There’s a lot of power in numbers, you can really feel it when you’re in the middle of it.

So that was our personal encounter with Edmonton. Very cool. But while Game 6 kinda dominated our stay, we also managed some cool interviews with Marshall, the guy who put us up on his couches, and his girlfriend, Stephanie, both of whom are going to university to become teachers. And Neil has been thinking of that path himself, and he’s back considering it again.

We also managed to hook up with Frank at the 11th hour. Frank started up the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign with a friend while they were business students. They spent 5 days homeless, unable to leave the campus, sleeping outdoors with only sleeping bags, with no money or food except what was given to them during the five days, and this was done in Edmonton in March. Not the warmest time of year. They also had to attend all classes during the 5 days. No bed, no showers, no shelter. By the time all was said and done, over $5000 had been raised and presented to YESS – the Youth Emergency Shelter Society. They even managed to get one of the professors to hunker down with them for three nights. We got a great interview with Frank – he is a really inspiring guy, and I hope that the campaign finds students who are willing to take over now that these guys have graduated. I wish it would spread to the rest of Canada’s universities . . .

Now we're back on the bus. One of the longest rides of the trip - 23 hours - and we get in late tonight, so it will be our first chance to see the midnight sun!

I must admit, I slept through most of northern Alberta, though I remember Peace River was really pretty. We were in there for an hour and a half for breakfast at about 6:30. So I fell back asleep once we were on the bus again. We stopped again not long after we entered NWT, and my first impression - the bugs are big. REALLY big. When people say the bugs are huge up here, they aren't exaggerating. And the crows are huge, too, but they didn't divebomb us like the bugs did, so I didn't mind them.

The coolest thing so far has been getting off the Fort Providence ferry and being greeted by a bison. Granted it wasn't nearly as impressed seeing us, it just kinda munched away at the side of the road. But it was a real, wild bison.

Grande Prairie to Edmonton

Ok, first off, Grande Prairie is neck-in-neck with Fredericton for biggest party. Perhaps that was just good timing on our part.

We got in to Grande Prairie and our couchsurfing host, Veronica, graciously picked us up at the bus station. It turned out she was having a birthday party at her place the next night, and told us we should stick around an extra night. How could we say no? And she still found time to give us a tour of Grande Prairie yesterday morning. She gave us the rundown on how the oil boom was affecting her part of Alberta. Similar story that we’d heard, expensive housing, and not enough of it, but relatively huge wages for what would normally be minimum wage jobs. So you don’t have to go as far as Fort McMurray.

Last night we got to meet a bunch of her friends while they were all getting ready to go out. They started off the evening with pedicures, and we interviewed people in between. I hate to admit how much we suck, but by the time they were heading out to the club, it was midnight, and Neil and I were just too tired to go along. I’m blaming it all on the traveling – it sucks the life out of me. And maybe the filming too, I get so focused on the interview. After a bunch in a row, it was getting late, and I just wanted to fall unconscious. So Veronica, sorry again that we bailed, but we’ll catch you next time!

And thanks again for the lift to the bus station this morning. Everyone was understandably hung-over, but we still got to the bus on time. And now we’re heading for Edmonton . . .

Spirit River to Grande Prairie

Neil's extended family has been very good to us this trip. We stayed with Ernie and Cora, his great uncle and aunt for our time in Spirit River. It was a really cool experience.

Spirit River has about 1000 people (including the farmsteads), has one real main street, and an extensive museum for such a small town. It's one of the oldest communities in the area, so I guess it's not too surprising.

We spent the first day catching our breath. Since leaving the Charlottes, we hadn't had much of a break, and the slow pace of Spirit River was beckoning. The next day, Ernie drove us around the area. Got some beauty shots of the fields, some oil pumps, fenced-in bison, and a couple of wild deer. We also got to take a drive up to Dunvegan, the site of an old fort, with a couple of original buildings and a gorgeous view of the Peace River.

That evening, we met and interviewed a couple of longtime residents, Gerard and Eugénie, and this morning we got to interview the mayor, Theresa Sandul. It was awesome that we had so much time there – it really gave us a better appreciation for small towns to be able to sit with someone for a few hours and just talk about how they see life. And we had the chance to take a guided tour through the museum. They had several buildings – including a one room schoolhouse, blacksmith’s, cabin, and a homestead house, all done up in original or period accessories.

And now we’re on to Grande Prairie. It’s a quick bus ride, so we’re almost there now.

Prince George to Spirit River

I've never seen Prince George the way Goji showed it to us. I didn't know that side of the city existed.

Actually, before visiting Prince George (or most of the cities and towns on this trip) I didn't know much about the place. It's in "the north," it doesn't make the news very often, I might have heard something about the forestry industry, probably something about layoffs. It was far too easy to just stay contained in my own little world between Coquitlam and Vancouver, and I didn't really hear much about the rest of BC, especially the Prince George area and points north and west and east.

Goji brought the place alive. He picked us up at the bus station on his pedal cab. I felt really bad, cause we have these two huge packs, plus another backpack that makes up for its smaller size with weight, plus Neil and I sitting on the back. But Goji managed to pedal us uphill while entertaining us with the history of the area and the story of how he's gotten the nickname "Jesus" because of his all-natural lifestyle, pacifist ways, vegan diet and his striking resemblance to the long-haired, peace-seeking deity. The response to the pedal cab, and to Goji himself, was amazing. I'm used to people walking around with blinders on in cities - pedestrians don't look anyone in the face, and drivers rarely acknowledge there's anyone else on the road, unless an accident is emminent, or they have the opportunity to yell at someone. Here, people were waving, making appreciative comments about the bike - even the cabbies were considerate.

We got in fairly late that night though, so we didn't have much time before we crashed. The next day, Goji took us on a tour of Prince George, with our first stop at a local naturopathic store. We got some cool interviews in there with the employees, and an unsuspecting customer or two. Then we met up with one of his friends for an interview. Anita Hotty, who described herself as a super sexy socialist. Actually, that might be the best way to describe her right now. Wait for the documentary, then you can meet her in person :)

and we got to interview Goji's housemate, and in the middle there somewhere, found some time to interview Goji as well. And got to stop for ice cream. And then ended up flagging down a woman who drove past in her van, and interviewed her as well. It was a really cool day for meeting people. I was sad to leave, but we had to keep pushing on, so we were back at the bus station last night at 11:00 or so.

Today we're still on the bus - this is the 15 hour ride to Spirit River, Alberta. I was hoping we might be able to stop for a night in Chetwynd or Dawson Creek, but it's really difficult co-ordinating interviews and getting stuff done if you're only in a place for an afternoon and evening. So we're gonna spend a couple days in Spirit River and get a good feel for the place instead.

Prince Rupert to Prince George

Well, we're off our schedule, but we got to see Prince Rupert with the SeaFest going on, which was pretty cool. We even got to catch a performance by some Haida dancers. It was really quite cool they way they began - there were some drummers on stage, and very slowly, all around us, this singing became apparent. It sounded like the audience was singing. The performers appeared from behind us, and made their procession down to the stage. I'd been to performances with that sort of entrance before, but this was really effective.

We also got to check out the old cannery - which even has a hotel in it, if you want an authentic old-timers northern BC experience. And we went wandering through the brush above the beach, checking out the World War II underground bunkers and tunnels that were built in case of an attack. That was kinda creepy. They're all overgrown and partially filled with water, so we couldn't go in very far, but far enough to get the picture.

I would have loved to stay longer - exploring more of the bunkers, and seeing the rest of the SeaFest - but we have to get going. So we're on our way to Prince George. At this point I'd like to put in a word about the various bus drivers across the country. They are, for the most part, extremely cool. I remember being on a night bus heading across Ontario the first time. We'd just switched drivers, and I was sitting in the front row, slumped up against the window, attempting to sleep. The driver brought his satellite radio on, and turned it on very softly, and Ozzy was on with Crazy Train. I love that song, and you can't not get into that intro. So I was leaning closer to hear it better, and I mentioned that it was a pity it was so late and he couldn't blast it, the way it was meant to be played. He told me it was being fed through the system, and I could put my headphones on and listen to it there. It rocked! I was up all night, and it was absolutely awesome.

And the drivers in northern BC, time and again, are the funniest group. Sorry to generalize, but heading up to Prince George the first time, as we were pulling in, the driver thanked us for choosing Greyhound over all our other options. This time, we have a new driver, who's learning while watching another driver work. And as we continued down the highway, we switched drivers, but the first guy stayed on. So there are three of them, cracking jokes, enjoying their job. It's really quite cool. I wish all bus rides were like this one.

Queen Charlotte City to Prince Rupert

We pulled into Queen Charlotte City just as Monday was turning into Tuesday. Paul docked the ship for the night, so we were able to spend one more night on board. And got to interview him and Johnny before heading onto land in the morning. It was a strange feeling, climbing up the ladder to the dock, the sun still low in the sky, the village still sleeping. (Don't let the name fool you, Queen Charlotte City is very small - it was actually incorporated as the "Village of Queen Charlotte" last year, but QCC just sticks.) We watched the boat pull away,then headed up to the main street.

Just off the dock, there was a small convenience store. Just up from that, there were two cafes across the street from each other, where most people seemed to be grabbing their morning coffees. Further up, a pub on the left (still closed) and on the right the fishing and tackle and general store. We kept going to the highway (two lane road that travels most of the island) and headed along it to the hostel. We probably looked drunk, cause we still had our sealegs, and the ground seemed to be teetertottering back and forth.

We got settled and decided to take it easy - checked out the local supermarket, bought some lunch, went back to the hostel, slept a bit. Being on the water for that long had been really tiring, and that first day was kinda a write off. But we met two women, one from Germany, the other from Japan but currently living in Vancouver, who were also staying at the hostel and we had a barbeque with them that night. They'd been WWOOFing on a local farm for the past couple of weeks or so. WWOOF is Willing Workers on Organic Farms, or World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Basically if you want to travel and work, you can volunteer on an organic farm, and you get meals and accommodation in return. And the cultural exchange - chance to meet people in the local area, chance to "live" in the local area for a while. Check out the Canadian website: http://www.wwoof.ca/canada/homecanada.html

The next day we got our butts into gear and did some interviews in QCC and then hitchhiked to Skidigate and got a couple of interviews there. Yeah, I swore I'd never hitchhike again, but Skidigate is fairly close, within a couple hours' walk, and as there is no bus service, everyone hitchhikes. So we were quite successful. Maybe mainly cause we'd already met the guy, so he offered us a lift, and he was a minister, but our other hitchhiking attempts were also successful.

Anyway, Skidigate was really pretty. We popped into the pub, interviewed the bartender, and then met with one of Noelle's friends for a bit. She took us down to the main beach, where there was a Longhouse, which houses the Haida language school. I really wanted to get some interviews in the Haida native language, but it just didn't work out this time around. Maybe if I could head up there in the fall . . . it's not that far away.

Anyway, this morning we got going early and headed down to the coffee shops. There's a really nice outdoor area in front of The Purple Onion Deli, and we interviewed a bunch of the customers over coffee and sandwiches.

And now we're on the ferry heading back to Prince Rupert. It's a bit strange looking out over the Hecate Straight, having spent so much time in it in the fishing boat, and now plowing through it in (relatively) no time. Everything is relative.

Prince Rupert to Queen Charlotte City

Man, it's been really easy to lose track of days.

We spent a night in Prince Rupert at Noella and Paul's. Noella took us on a bit of a tour the next day, and then we got on Paul's fishing boat that evening. He offered to take us across to the Queen Charlotte Islands, cause he's heading out there anyway doing some crab testing for the Department of Oceans and Fisheries. So we should be docking in Queen Charlotte City tonight.

The boat's really cool, all decked with a fully stocked kitchen, and a tv and dvd player and a large selection of movies. We've eaten really well, a huge roast one night, a slab of ribs the next. The guys working on the boat need it though, they work hard. Long hours, fairly repetitive work. Bring up the trap, unload it, keep the good crabs, toss away the small ones, the fish, the starfish, rebait the trap, wrap it up, stack it, move on to the next on. They took a bunch of crabs aboard to test them - size, sex, shell hardiness, injuries. I've shot a lot of footage of them working, but didn't get much of a chance to do interviews unfortunately. The engine was too loud and by the time it got shut off, the guys were exhausted.

I spent some time talking with Paul in the cockpit though. He's got some stories to tell about problems with sports fishing - the overfishing, or at least the lack of record keeping. He's been fishing over 40 years and says there's more salmon now than there was back in the hayday. He also has issues with farmed salmon - there's no regulations, no organic farming, and the fish are pumped full of chemicals. Mmm, I think I'll keep a look out for wild salmon next time I'm shopping . . .

Neil's jumped into the life of a fisherman. He's been out back sometimes helping the guys, sometimes just trying to stay out of their way. But he's having fun.

And I've been sitting on the deck, journal in hand, doing some writing, doing more thinking. What I am looking for, where am headed - both physically and metaphysically . . . heh, you think being on a bus gives you time to think, try three days on a boat. At least on the road, the scenery is always changing, here it's just endless water, and far off mountains. It's gorgeous, but maybe I'm just too antsy and worried about not filming enough stuff, I can't really relax and enjoy it and appreciate it. In two months, I'm gonna wish I was back here. Right in this moment. I should enjoy it now.

Coquitlam to Prince Rupert

So we're heading out on the final leg of our trip (excluding any pick-ups that may come later this year or next). I decided we've had a long enough break, we can do 23 hrs straight to Prince Rupert no problem.

Neil started off the trip hungry. Always an ill omen . . . but we got all stocked up on granola and trail mix before we left.

The bus is pretty full, and everyone seems to be decked out in shorts and sandles. These are the first major signs that we no longer have to worry about winter travelling and getting stuck in a snow drift.

We left Coquitlam on a night bus, and I faded in and out of sleep all through the darkness, and most of the morning. We had a bit of a stopover in Prince George, but it wasn't even really worth it to leave the bus station, it was so short and we were so tired.

Now we're on the Highway of Tears. There are a lot of crosses along the side of the road. And rain clouds hug the mountain peaks like a mourning veil. It's breathtaking scenery, but somber.

We've passed through Smithers (stopped for A&W burgers), New Hazelton, and several other towns. We're coming into Terrace now. I've been kinda semiconscious for it all, but I was awake enough to spot the black bear on the side of the road as we were coming out of Prince George. I think I'm gonna fade off again and stare out the window. They say it's especially gorgeous between Terrace and Prince Rupert, and I think they're right.

Saskatoon to Coquitlam

Well, we are home for a quick stop. My best friend Susy is getting married in two weeks and I'm her maid of honor. So I'm afraid this documentary will be put on hold for the most part (not including the scrambled planning for June's travels that still need to be done).

The trip from Saskatoon was not too eventful. We stopped in Edmonton again, met a woman from Australia who's travelling across Canada as well. I slept through most of the trip through the Rockies, though I do remember my nightmare come to life - the crying baby. Though even that wasn't too bad. It's amazing what you can learn to sleep through.

But it is nice to be home for a bit. Sleep horizontally in my own bed. It's the little things in life.

Winnipeg to Saskatoon

Well this is a very pleasant surprise for me. I've only ever visited Saskatchewan when they're hip-deep in snow in the middle of a deep freeze (like last time) or melting from the heat. I tend to be here at Christmas or in August. But the weather is awesome right now. Warm, but not scorching, and the grass is green, not brown. I like it.

And how Canadian of me to talk about the weather, eh?

So we're back at my aunt and uncle's farm. We'd hoped to get down to Regina, but discovered that there's a bus to Regina from Winnipeg, and a bus to Saskatoon from Winnipeg, and nothing in between. At least nothing that our Canada Pass is valid for, and we're running out of money. Fear not, Regina, I smell pick-ups in the future, so we'll make it down your way someday. Besides, I really want to get an interview with Brent Butt. (Heh, might not have to wait, I just noticed he's going on tour this fall http://www.brentbutt.com/brnews.htm )

Anyway, I'm getting the opportunity to take the same shots I did before in a completely different season. And we headed out to North Battleford for a day to visit some more family. And cause we actually had a car to use, I took some of the back roads back to Saskatoon. Neil’s never been out here before, so it’s a bit of a treat experiencing it all through him. Saskatchewan has always felt a bit like a second home, and now I get to see it like it’s new. And the change in weather helps.

Hamilton to Winnipeg

It amazes me how big Ontario is. Even the second time doing this route - I coulda sworn it didn't take that long the first time. But it's about 36 hours or more to cross the province. And the weather continues to be crazy, too.

Toronto was warm, Niagara Falls was hot, Hamilton was hot. Most of Ontario seemed to be imitating summer pretty well. I fell asleep Thursday night looking out over clear "northern" Ontario, and woke up Friday morning to a fresh snowfall. And it was sticking, too.

Happily it didn't last too long. It was gone by the time we paused in Kenora, and sunny again as we came into Manitoba.

Two women were travelling with a kid from Toronto to Langley on the bus, and when we got off in Winnipeg, they still had a couple more days to go. The kid was a dream to travel with though. My worst nightmare is a long bus ride with a screaming kid. I don't normally like kids. This one was cute.

We're staying with Rod in Winnipeg. I was hoping to catch up with Carolyn again, but her parents are in town this weekend, so her place is kinda full. I've tried calling, but haven't gotten a hold of her yet. Hopefully we'll meet up yet.

But Rod will be a really interesting interview. When he goes on vacation, he hops trains. I knew a guy in junior high who used to do that, but I didn't realize it was so widespread still. It's like there's a whole sub-culture of train hoppers. He's also an activist, primarily for squeegee kids, and has been fighting in Winnipeg for their right to exist for years.

But before that, we're going to do a bit of sightseeing and get some beauty shots of Winnipeg down at the Forks and the Exchange District.

Hamilton to Niagara Falls and back

Ok, we had to go to Niagara Falls. It's a national landmark, part of our Canadian identity, and too many people have asked me when I've travelled if Niagara Falls is all it's cracked up to be.

We grabbed the bus and ended up in the town or Niagara Falls. We walked down to the main street, and it was like a ghost town. A few tourists, but most things were closed. We found one of the only open diners and had a bit of brunch. But it felt like the whole place had fallen on hard times.

Then we walked out to the falls. This is where all the money is going apparently. Huge hotels, and a market, and walkways, and souvenir shops. Manicured gardens and beautiful flowerbeds. A very different sight from the town proper.

We spent some time running around trying to find some allergy pills. Neil has never had hay fever, but he was allergic to something. His eyes were running, and he was sneezing constantly and generally rather unhappy about everything.

So I dragged him on the Maid of the Mists boat tour, and that seemed to cure his allergies for a bit. The boat goes close enough to the falls that the mist is no longer a mist but a torrential rain. We had the camera rolling inside a plastic bag the whole time. Can't wait to see how that footage turned out. The camera stayed amazingly dry while we got completely soaked. The plastic poncho they gave us only helped so much. I couldn't keep my eyes open through it, and all I could do was fight to keep the poncho from flying off. And the falls are roaring all around you. It's an absolutely awesome experience. The best thing about visiting the falls.

And once we were off the boat, it was hot enough that we were dry pretty fast. We walked down further so we could stand right next to the falls, and got some shots. But time was marching on, and we had to catch the bus back to Hamilton. And we were running late. Happily, we managed to be in the right place at the right time when a local bus stopped, and the lady let us on even though we didn't have tickets. When we told her the bus we were trying to catch, she just laughed at us and said good luck. But she did manage to get us to the bridge stop in about 10 minutes, and after a quick run we actually made it to the bus station with a minute or two to spare. We still haven't missed a bus yet!

Perth to Hamilton

I am never hitch-hiking again. Well, the hitching is ok, the hiking sucks.

We weren't really sure we were gonna hitch-hike, we were still considering just staying an extra night in Perth and taking the bus on Sunday. Or maybe trying to get to the VIA rail station at Smith Falls, about 20 minutes away. However, when I tried to call VIA, they didn't know if our bus passes would be good for the train (apparently the Canada Pass is good for some VIA rail routes, and VIA is supposed to know which ones, but they don't). She didn't even know how much it would cost to get to Peterborough or Toronto if our passes weren't good. And the next train didn't come for another 4 hours or so. Instead, we went to the highway (if you can call a little two-lane road a highway) and stuck our thumbs out. We weren't out there two minutes when a guy pulled over. I figured luck was finally on our side.

The guy was only going about 20 minutes down the road, and he let us out at the start of Silver Lake. We ended up walking all the way to the convenience store. Anyone reading this who lives out that way will have a better idea of how far we walked, I just know it took about 3 hours, which felt more like 6. The sun was beating down, but when we finally found a bit of shade that crossed the gravel shoulder, the little black flies (which were up until that point only annoying) would swarm and become absolutely maddening. I breathed one in through my nose and it bothered me for the next 18 hours. Yeah, this is a long story.

Most of the cars flying past us carried either elderly couples or young single women, the least likely categories to pick up weird people at the side of the road. At one point a guy in a U-Haul with Arizona plates pulled over, and we hurried up to him just to find that he didn't actually have any room. He'd picked up a hitchhiker a ways back, so the cab was full. He was gonna let us ride in the back, but he didn't know the combination to the lock. Looking back, that sounds a bit odd, but at the time, I woulda offered to try to pick the lock if I thought it woulda worked. So we thanked him for at least stopping, and then continued the trek.

We finally found the convenience store (after a bunch of roadside signs that mocked us with distances) and bought some water - priority number 1 at that point. Don't hitchhike without water. We told our tale to the guy behind the counter, then asked about a taxi service. There was none, but the guy said he'd be leaving in a couple minutes, and he'd take us down the road a bit. So we got a 10 minute ride closer to Peterborough. We got walking, watching the sun get lower. It was about 8 by this time. We started to get to this marshy area where we'd seen beaver dams from the bus. I stopped to try to look around the marsh and saw something moving through the water. It turned out to be a beaver, first one I've seen in the wild. It was hard to tell in the light, but it looked like just the tip of its snout and the tail, the rest underwater. I scrambled for the camera, and Neil was getting really annoyed, and then the thing went underwater, and then came back up for air, and I was still waiting for the stupid camera to turn on, and then it vanished again. Grrr. After waiting around, it didn't show again, and we started walking.

The light was really fading fast at this point. We bridged a small hill and started to turn a corner. Two cars were flying up behind us, and I started thinking we were screwed, we weren't going to get picked up, and we would have to be careful not to get hit. Then one of the cars was braking, and we were running after it, and I had this one moment where I thought it was gonna just pull away like some cruel joke, and then the guy was clearing room for us. And he was going all the way to Peterborough. It seemed perfect, we could grab the express bus to Toronto when we got there.

The guy who’d picked us up was really cool, too. He’d just graduated from a police foundations course a couple days before, and he wanted to get a job with the OPP eventually. He talked a lot about the training he’d gone through, and some of the differences between the OPP and the RCMP. I didn’t realize that the RCMP is actually part of the military.

Anyway, we got to Peterborough at about 10. The guy dropped us off at the bus station, which was closed. We managed to call Greyhound, and discovered the next bus didn’t come by til 4 am. I was ready to find a motel room and catch a bus later in the morning. Unfortunately, the first place we stopped at told us every place in town was booked except the Rock Haven. The guy there said it was a long walk, but we figured it couldn’t be that bad after how far we’d already walked. It probably wouldn’t have been too bad, but we walked down one of the main drags, and then made a left when we shoulda made a right. We passed the arena where the local hockey game had just let out. We passed over some bypass, and felt like we were heading out of town suddenly. Then we came across a Best Western and stopped in. They were full, and they told us we’d been walking the last 20 minutes in the wrong direction. Now I was ready to get a cab. Unfortunately, what with the game just gotten out, there was a 30+ min wait. By this time it was almost midnight. We’d left Perth at 4 (we’d probably eaten around 2 – the usual fair junk: ice cream, maple taffy, other nutritious stuff), and we’d had a couple of bottles of water since then. We decided to skip the motel, find a 24 hr restaurant, and wait for the 4 am bus.

We ended up in a pub – the aptly named Thirsty Canadian – and had caesar salads and nachos. At about 1 am we wandered over to Tim Horton’s. Here’s another Canadian constant – if there’s anything that’s open 24 hrs, it’s gonna be Tim’s. From Whitehorse to Peterborough. At 3:15 we started our saunter over to the bus station, and by 4 a small crowd had gathered. I was kinda surprised at how many people were getting on such an early bus. I was even more surprised at how many people were already on it. When everyone had gotten on from Peterborough, it was completely full.

We got into Toronto at about 6 am. That was actually really cool, and worth all the trouble. We got some footage of the sun rising over a sleeping Younge Street. Well, the taxis were awake. Every time I stepped onto the road to get a shot of the empty street, a swarm of them would converge on me. Neil would stand behind me trying to wave them off. He has many jobs on this film 

Anyway, we went for breakfast, killed some time, then went to Lyle’s place to pick up our packs. We didn’t want to get there too early. But he was up, and all was well, and we ended up back at the bus station and then headed toward Hamilton.

For some strange reason, we unpacked everything before taking showers and going to bed. And then when I finally was lying in bed, I couldn’t sleep. Just stared at the ceiling. But when I finally did fall asleep, I got about 17 hrs worth. Now that was nice.

And today is all about relaxing. I did some packing, did some laundry, did some writing.

Toronto to Perth

While we're out here, we had to hit a Maple Festival. It seems to be a staple for Ontario and Quebec this time of year, just not in the areas we've been in up to this point. So I had to make a point of getting to Perth's Festival of the Maples, the last festival I could find. And sandwiched between Toronto and Ottawa, Perth seemed like a good place to stop and try to find some small-town life off what one might think is the busiest route in Canada.

We ended up out here last night, and found a motel. There are a few bed and breakfasts, but anything affordable on our budget is booked or closed this weekend. This morning we headed down to the festival, the bulk of which runs along the main street. Besides the various maple producers, they've got booths for Green Party and some local social causes. We ended up talking to Jackie Seaton, a potter who creates and donates stoneware bowls to the Empty Bowls program to promote awareness of hunger and child poverty in the community. www.emptybowls.ca You can buy a bowl of gourmet soup and take the bowl home, and money goes towards the Perth Food Bank. It's a nice example of people putting their talents to good use.

So after getting some footage of Ukrainian dancers, Scottish pipers, crowds of people, and a quick lesson in tapping maple trees, we're going to try to make our way back to Toronto, where we've left our packs with Lyle, Neil's second cousin, and then on to Hamilton. There is no bus running today though, so wish us luck . . .

Ottawa to Toronto

Ottawa was over too quick. It was great to see Heather again, and here's hoping she comes back out west sometime before the fall, or we end up out east again by some miracle. But we had to keep moving on as the song goes. On to the centre of the world.

Toronto has always been something of an enigma for me. As a Vancouverite, I'm caught up in the anti-Toronto debate (hell, as a Canadian from somewhere other than TO I'm caught up in that debate . . .) I'd been there once as a kid, so it didn't really count, and I couldn't form any opinion on personal experience. And now having spent a few days, I wish I could stay longer. It's actually a cool city.

Yes, I'll give you that it's crawling with businessmen and women, and it's loud and busy and a lot like any other big city when you're standing on some street corner staring up at a maze of skyscrapers, taxis flying around, and people rushing by. But it's not dirty like New York, not really insane like London. I guess it's not yet so big as to overcome itself. It's just big for Canada. And you can take a wander down to the waterfront and suddenly it's all nice and peaceful. There's even an island with regular ferry service if you really want to get away from it all. Not that we made it that far. We took a quick break, checked out the view, and headed back into the fray.

Three days in any city or town is really not enough to do it justice. So attempting to do TO in that time felt ludicrous. Or worse, pointless. But we ended up exploring a sub-culture with wide-reaching influences. A sub-culture that touches celebrities, bikers, carnies, students, grandparents - even the endless businesspeople. We ended up in a tatoo parlor, where one of Neil's relatives works. We even got to film one lucky guy getting tattooed. I've never been one for tattoos or piercing - I had my ears done as a kid, and that was as much pain as I needed to inflict on myself. But after a day in there, I might have been convinced if I coulda figured out what design to get done. And the interviews were awesome. We even got a former mermaid who'd travelled with a carnival one summer.

And we also made a quick stop at the CBC to interview one of the executive producers. Arnold Amber has won three Geminis, is president of the CBC branch of the Canadian Media Guild, and Director of The Newspaper Guild Canada. Not only cause I'm hoping to try to sell the documentary to the CBC at some point, but mainly because I'm interested in media in a wider scope. This guy is part of the backbone of all media in Canada, and I wanted to know his opinion on how people are getting their news, what news they're getting, where it's coming from. It wasn't the usual interview, so I'm not too sure yet how it's going to fit in, but hopefully we'll find time to be self-reflective at some point.

Montreal to Ottawa

Well, we're back hanging out with Heather in Ottawa. Montreal was a bit of a bust, but with the rest of the footage we've got in Quebec, I can't feel too bad. Besides, Montreal always shows up in Canadian documentaries, I want more off the beaten path. So, yeah, that's why I'm in Ottawa again. Right . . .

Well, we didn't really do too much last time, so this time we popped in to the parliament buildings and did some filming. Got some nice shots of the city from the clock tower. And got to sit in and watch a bit of halfhearted debating. No cameras allowed there, and I can kinda understand why. They might be afraid that Canadians would see how unimportant these meetings/debates appear to be to our elected officials. We came while a Conservative was going on about things we'd heard a million times during their campaign. Nothing new. The Speaker (who wasn't even the usual Speaker, he was just sitting in) was texting someone on his cell phone. Or playing Snake. And not really listening. Then a Liberal got up and launched into a long, winding speech that tried really heard to make some good points, except it was really badly written, and the woman was not a speechmaker. While she was trying to get her points across, someone went up to the Speaker and they had their own little conversation. No one was listening. To anyone. The speeches had next to nothing to do with what other speeches were about. It seemed completely and totally pointless. Oh, yeah, there was maybe 20 people there all together. Granted we couldn't see the NDP from where we were. But still. It was sad. These people make too much money.

Anyway, after being completely disillusioned by the government, we went to the pub. There I got into a really cool conversation with some students about this film, and Canada and how everything fits together.

Chicoutimi to Montreal

I could have stayed longer in Chicoutimi, but time is pushing us onwards. We interviewed such a range of people - the director of ELFCQ, the French Language and Quebec Culture School at the university, several independent filmmakers at the local film co-op, some hippies smoking joints in the park . . . it was really cool. I would defiantly recommend heading away from the obvious tourist spots of Quebec and heading into lesser travelled areas. Not just Chicoutimi, that was as far as we were able to make it this trip, but farther north, or farther up the river. It is awesome.

We headed for Montreal next, and after a long bus ride, I was not feeling well at all. I'm not too sure what got me, but it probably just boiled down to the nonstop travelling. We got into Montreal, and couldn't get a hold of the guy we were hoping to stay with, and then found a hostel, and then got a hold of the guy. But by that time, I didn't want to do anything but lay down and find a nice state of unconsciousness, and the hostel was only a block or so from the bus station, so we went there. It was kinda scary back there, not the best hostel we've stayed in, but then, most places near the bus station or train station are usually not in the best area and aren't the nicest, cleanest or safest. This did not stop me from falling into that nice state of unconsciousness as soon as my head hit the pillow. So thanks again to Neil, who did guard duty and slept with one eye open, watching the gear.

Montreal has not been the best place to get interviews, either. We had some success at McGill, but it's exam time, so most people are tucked away studying. We didn't get much from the shops we went in, though we did get a couple of people in a sex shop. And really, isn't that quintessentially what Montreal seems to be known for throughout Canada? Sex shops and parties. Maybe if I'd have been in more of a partying mood, we'd have been more successful, but I'm not sure how good the sound would have been anyway . . .

Rivière-du-Loup to Chicoutimi

So I feel kinda dumb today. I'm gonna blame it all on sleep deprivation.

We got up before dawn, got all packed, showered, even ate breakfast, then got outside and waited for the taxi. And waited. And waited. And started freaking out cause the ferry was gonna leave in like 20 minutes, and the taxi we'd ordered the night before still hadn't shown. So I ran inside and called and freaked out in French (thankfully the guy understood English or we'd probably still be in Rivière-du-Loup) and the guy said the taxi would be there soon. Actually, it was pulling up as I stepped out the door. And we made it to the boat with 5 minutes to spare. Except there wasn't anyone around.

We sat inside this little booth for a few minutes, and I was again getting antsy. Then some people walked past towards the boat, and one of them noticed us and motioned towards the boat. So we got our packs back on and headed on board. Still no one around, and the people we'd seen were gone. But at least the boat wasn't gonna leave without us. We settled in and waited. And waited.

It took me half an hour to realize the clock behind the desk was an hour behind the clock on my cell phone. We'd changed time zones between New Brunswick and Quebec, which I'd completely forgotten about. The worst thing was that we'd missed out on an extra hour worth of sleep - something we really could have used. But it was all worth it in the end. While I was staring out at the St. Lawrence bemoaning the fact we were awake, I noticed this white thing that looked kinda like a seal. Again, I blame it on sleep deprivation. It turned out to be a beluga whale, and there were a whole bunch of them. So we ended up with about 20 minutes of whales on tape. Totally awesome.

We ended up in Saint-Siméon before noon, and had hours to kill before the bus showed up. So we decided to walk up to the restaurant. Let me reiterate how much I need to start hiking again. I was hot and sweaty and exhausted to start with. Then we walked an hour uphill with 50+ lb packs. All I wanted to do was sleep by this point. Instead we had a few hours still to kill, so we ate a long leisurely brunch.

The bus took us to Chicoutimi by way of Tadoussac. It is absolutely gorgeous in that area. We had the opportunity to get out and explore a bit when we changed buses. There's a park that overlooks the town and the river and the mountains across. It's a view to die for. I'll have to figure out how to post the video online at some point. Absolutely amazing.

The journey through the mountains to Chicoutimi was beautiful as well. It actually reminded me of travelling through BC with the trees and mountains. It's amazing how parts of Canada can look so similar to each other and be so far apart.

Upon arriving in Chicoutimi, we hadn't exercised enough, it seems, cause we decided to walk to the university where Jonathan's place is. We're crashing at his place tonight - another guy we've met on couchsurfing.com. Again, it's all uphill to get to the university. I must admit though: I love Chicoutimi - beautiful scenery, beautiful river, beautiful people. We were trudging uphill and a guy pulled over on the other side of the road in the middle of traffic and called to us in English to see if we wanted a ride. Man, I don't know who you are, but you restored my energy that day. I would have gladly taken him up on the offer, but we were a block from the campus by that point. And I'd just spotted a karaoke bar. And we still had about 4 hours to kill before Jonathon got out of his class. Yeah, today was all about killing time. So we thanked the guy but declined his wonderful offer, and instead opted for cheap drinks and cheaper poutine. Tomorrow we'll do some work - today's all about getting where we need to go without completely killing ourselves.

Fredericton to Rivière-du-Loup

We left the Maritimes today and made it back into Quebec. In some ways, the trip didn’t feel quite complete - we didn't see the Bay of Fundy, missed Magnetic Hill, didn't see the little fishing villages or the rocky shores. However, the people we met were amazing, and the interviews were awesome. So really my problem is that sometimes I start thinking like a tourist and not like a filmmaker. In the end, our main reason for doing all this wasn't to see the highlights, but get some kind of understanding of what the place is all about. And I think we got close to that.

And the good sign is that I'm not stressed right now (which is surprising for me). It could be because I'm still slightly hung-over and crashing off sugar and cake from last night's party at Ewan's, but I'd like to think it's cause I'm excited about the footage we've gotten. I can start to see how it fits together. Here's hoping it looks the same when we get to the editing . . .

I have one last observation - there was a huge amount of public works going on in New Brunswick. Maybe it's just that time of year starting up, but we seemed to pass a lot today. Two bridges being built, a team repairing or rewiring or re-something some telephone poles, a crew putting up a whole bunch of reflective fencing along the road. For whatever reason, that comes to mind.

We got in to Rivière-du-Loup and decided to walk up to the hostel. Up being the operative word. I don't mind all the time spent on the bus, but I am really gonna have to do some hiking when I get back home. We lugged our packs up a big hill, then kinda wandered in what we hoped was the right direction as the sun vanished. We met a couple people along the way, and through our broken French, managed to find out we were heading the right way. And finally made it here, where we discovered we have to take the 8 am ferry if we're gonna catch the bus to Chicoutimi. As we're only going to get about 5 hours sleep, I'm gonna crash.

Halifax to Fredericton

Well, we said goodbye to Nova Scotia. But we got to see Ewan again. He's awesome, and he arranged to get us two games to film. In our eternal struggle to find unique people across the country, we are now going to film and interview gamers. And not just any gamers, these guys are into LARP (live action role playing). This will be new for me, I've only been around the table-top type.

But first a day to regroup and repack (our extra stuff was sitting right where we'd left it - I think I was kinda hoping it would vanish. Well, maybe not the tapes, but really, I don't think we're gonna need snow pants anymore. I hope.)

I also got the chance to finally update a bunch of these posts, though it will probably be a bit before this one makes it on the blog. It'll be nice when it's finally all up to date.

Friday night we got to hang out with some Werewolf gamers and film them playing. We left the mic adapter behind, so interviews were out of the question, but people were fairly busy playing anyway. I still have a hard time interrupting people if they're doing something to bug them for an interview.

And Saturday we got all we could hope for. NERO runs a fantasy LARP game over the Easter long weekend at an acreage. They were having tournament type jousting when we arrived, and we filmed a bit of that, and interviews with some of the players. We also got an interview with the reverend who put the game on and owns the land. Then Neil decided he's gone through enough withdrawals, and headed over to the NPC (non-player character) shed to get a costume and weapon. If people show up and want to play just for a session, they can be NPCs, usually minions of a villain or other lesser enemies that get killed off in a fight. Which is what happened to Neil, he played a mummy and got killed off in the battle. But it was fun, and when 25 people step out of the forest like it's the 15th century where they came from is awesome. Actually, I think I'd like to see something like this set up back home. And we also got a group interview with a couple of paladins, a few dark elves, and a bunch of assorted fighters.

And Ewan got some more awesome interviews for us. We spoke to two women who'd been living on the streets in Vancouver, and their perceptions of the cops and the situation. And we got to interview another friend, Sarah, who was really cool. She also makes a mean cheesecake. She came over for dinner, and then we had desert, and then we got drunk and made a huge giraffe/pig creature out of pink balloons. It was a lot of fun, really great night. And there were a bunch of other people who ended up coming over, but I totally can't remember their names now. Ewan, help me out :)

Ferries and buses to Halifax

After a night of attempting to sleep on the ferry and a 7 hour bus ride, we are in Halifax. The extra days in Newfoundland have bitten into our time in Nova Scotia unfortunately. We'd been hoping to stop again on Cape Breton Island to see Werner, but we ran out of time. And we won't be able to make it to Peggy's Cove. But we've seen a lot of stuff off the beaten path, which I think is more important.

And we've gotten some cool interviews in Halifax. We started with the mayor, who spent much of the time poking fun at Neil. I'm no more of a morning person than Neil is, but apparently Neil showed it more that day. But the mayor quite impressed me, he seems pretty cool, has a bunch of editorial cartoons about him spread out under glass on a table in his office. He also picked up some litter while we were outside doing his interview. He was more formal than the mayor of Bonavista, though.

And we also got to interview the guy who started the Propeller brewery, and got to tour the place. Neil's been going on about Propeller since we got to Nova Scotia, and I must admit their London Porter is really, really good. So in a land of Alexander Keith's, we stuck with the better tasting truly Canadian. (Alexander Keith's is actually owned by Labatt, which is owned by Interbrew, a Blegian brewer. Yeah, you try and list as many national Canadian-owned companies as you can.)

Anyway, we stayed with couchsurfers Breagh and Nathan, who let us take over their living room for a couple of nights. They were really cool, but pretty busy at the time. But they pointed us toward a great breakfast place run by an interesting Greek family. Cool place, good food. And a coffee shop we kept meaning to check out, but didn't get the chance.

And we met another couchsurfer, Robert, who gave us a great interview about life, the world and everything. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to catch the bus, and in the end we were waiting at the wrong bus stop anyway. Finally after watching buses go by in every direction but ours, we wandered over to another bus, and got enlightened. So we were really late getting back.

Bonavista and heading for Nova Scotia

Well, we came to Bonavista thinking we'd stay a night, and take the taxi back the next day, and be on the ferry for Nova Scotia that night. Yeah, right. We ended up three nights, cause this place is just too beautiful. I'm consoling myself that I'll be back here again someday.

The bed and breakfast we're in is a five minute walk to the ocean, and a 15 minute walk to the lighthouse. We first figured we couldn't leave til we saw that, hence the first extra night. So we headed out there in the morning. It was like the backdrop to my fantasy script. Huge waves crashing against black slabs of rock, little windswept islands. At one point we could see huge needles of rock jutting up from the ocean further down the coast, almost lost in the spray and fog. I'll have to post pictures here when I finally get home. It was spectacular. It's the first thing to remind me of the northern coast of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.

Anyway, as we were heading back to town, a couple asked us if we wanted a lift. They took us on a tour to the waterfall and cave, some nearby villages, and the town. Then Ray mentioned he could take us all along the peninsula to Trinity the next day if we'd still be around. We couldn't pass that up, hence another extra night.

That night we met up with the guys we'd met on the taxi. Did some interviews with their friends, and drank, and hung out, and had a lot of fun. And I actually won a game of pool, which does not happen often.

So the next day we ended up with Ray and his wife again, and got to see the villages along the coast. Trinity was beautiful. I'd heard about a theatrical troupe run by Donna Butt, who was awarded the Order of Canada for keeping the culture alive. She wasn't around unfortunately, but again, I gotta come back.

And that night we ended up interviewing one of the most successful people in the town, who's about to open an elderly home. We also got to interview the mayor, which was awesome. She had a lot to say about everything from tourism to sealhunting.

And today we've left Bonavista, heading for Halifax. We have an hour taxi ride to the highway, then about a 12 hour bus ride to the ferry. But they have movies! We've watched Miss Congeniality 2 twice and the Wedding Planner twice. No, not the one with Adam Sandler, the one with JLo. No, she can't act, and she really doesn't help a 12 hour bus ride . . .

St. John's and the taxi ride to Bonavista

We kinda picked the wrong time to be in St. John's to get the fisherman's perspective on camera. About a month ago Paul and Heather did their thing about the seal hunt on Larry King Live, and now the sealing season is about to go onto high gear. Most of the boats have already left - it apparently takes over 24 hrs to get out to the areas where they actually hunt. Anyway, of the boats that were still around, we got lots of cold stares when we went too close with the camera. Which I can't blame them for, there's a big protest planned for this Saturday, and protesters have already been getting in the way of the fishing boats, and it's a dangerous job without the excess people in the way. Though we did manage to get an interview with one guy on the boat he was working on. We told him what we tell everyone - he could talk about whatever he wanted to, if he wanted to mention the seals, cool, if not, cool. So when he talked about fishing, he mentioned seals as just part of the industry. Very down to earth, very reasonable. Not some mad, wild-eyed, crazed basher of fluffy things. Just a guy who actually has a job in his own province. Which is more than can be said for most people in Newfoundland.

We took a taxi to Bonavista yesterday and when it broke down on the way, we met a couple of guys from the area. Actually, the breaking down part was kinda funny. I figured in four months of travelling, something like that would have to happen sooner or later. First the guy was late picking everyone up (it's a regular taxi service that leaves St. John's everyday at about 1, or in this case, 2). About an hour out of St. John's, the driver mentioned he'd been having some problems with the alternator, but he was sure it would be fine. About an hour after that, the van died while attempting to chug vainly up a small hill. So while we waited for the other van to come give us a boost, I interviewed one of the guys by the side of the road. He was really cool. Had a rather cynical outlook, but then he has to go to the other side of the country in order to find work that will pay enough so he can come back home and spend time here. He's one of many heading out to the boomtown of Fort McMurray. And yet, Newfoundland is sitting on its own deposits of black gold and natural energy, but it's not able to reap the same rewards because of bad business and politics. It seems a premier made the bizarre decision to sell off the natural gas (or some other natural resource - I must watch the interview again) to Quebec, who in turn is apparently selling it to the States. Quebec is making a crapload, Newfoundland made a lump sum back in the 70s or whenever this happened, which probably seemed good at the time, but now looks like the cat’s breakfast. And the deal still holds today, they have another decade or something before the allotted time finally passes and Newfoundland gets back their own resource. This post is probably gonna change when I finally get around to watching the interview again. I've probably got the details wrong, but the gist of it is there.

On the upside - tourism should absolutely boom out here. Everyone in Canada should just get up and jump on a bus or a plane or get in their car and come to Newfoundland. It is so gorgeous, I can't believe it. The rocky beaches, the black cliffs, and the waves crashing against them, and the gusting winds . . . I can't do it justice. It feels like you're standing on the edge of the world looking out at infinity. It's like the most rugged tips of the Western Isles of Scotland. I love it, I want to move here. We were only supposed to stay one night, but we didn't catch the taxi back this morning, so we're here another night. Just can't leave. I can see why people keep coming back.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention - before we left St. John's we headed over to the curling rink, cause the 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist team calls it home. We were talking to the manager, trying to get an interview and see if there was any slim chance the team was in town, when Jamie Korab, the team's lead, walked in the door. So we rushed him, and pinned him down and he agreed to do a quick interview :) That was really cool. Almost makes me want to start curling actually. That seems like another way we're the oddball of the Canadian family, Vancouver has curling rinks, but they seem to be hidden, and no one acknowledges them, or the fact that the sport exists. Yet I went to Saskatoon and got stuck watching the Scott Tournament of Hearts, and then the BC team wipes the ice with everyone else. Why aren't we aware of this stuff? Sigh.

Stephenville to St. John's

We'd left Werner in the pub Friday night, and assumed he was still sleeping when we got up Saturday morning. Considering we were up at 8 and had to be at the bus stop at 10, I'd hope most people on vacation would still be asleep. We'd decided to try our luck hitchhiking from Deer Lake. (Actually I think I'd finally driven Neil crazy, and he'd reluctantly agreed. It must be hard being the sherpa - he's there keeping me sane, but no one's keeping him sane . . .)

So about noon the bus pulled in to Deer Lake for the lunch stop. Deer Lake appeared to consist of two buildings - a bas station/restaurant on one side of the highway, and a motel on the other. Oh yeah, and a big statue of a moose. Where the "Deer" and "Lake" parts fit in, I'm not too sure. But, it did appear to be the transport hub James said it was. Most of the traffic seemed to pull in there.

So while the rest of the bus went in for burgers and fries, we sauntered up to a couple of truckers (the only truckers) who were standing next to their rigs. When we asked about getting a ride towards St. John's, they told us they weren't heading in that direction. Not seeing any other option - besides pestering people in the restaurant (which really isn't an option when you're really faced with it) we headed out to the road.

I should mention that we had huge packs. Not as huge as they'd been before we dropped stuff off in Fredericton, but we were still carrying hobbits on our backs. So as cars flew past, if the drivers did acknowledge us, it was usually with a shrug or motion to show they had no room for us. Or with a wave. Thanks. That helped. And then the bus pulled out, the lunch break over, and the driver laughed at us. That was a bad sign. We'd been out there a half hour, not long, but long enough to start to think about how long we were actually gonna stand out there before we went over to the motel and booked a room for the night. And then we started joking that maybe Werner would get tired of Stephenville and head to St. John's, and suddenly a familiar looking car drove by, slowed down and stopped. As we floundered over there with our packs, Werner got out and popped open the trunk. And we continued our trip.

We'd been hoping to make it to Gander cause a guy had offered us a place to crash through couchsurfing.com (check out this website!!). We thought we'd make it there around 5 or so. Werner got us there over an hour earlier, passing the bus, most of the people who's driven past us, and the two truckers who's said they weren't going our way. Grrr. Hitchhiking in Newfoundland is not as easy and accommodating as we'd been told. Anyway, we grabbed a bite to eat in Gander, but Werner was ready to press on to St. John's, so we figured we'd take the ride and hit Gander on the way back.

The landscape of Newfoundland is amazing. It blew my mind coming in to Port-aux-Basques. The route past Stephenville was nice, though not spectacular, but Corner Brook looked beautiful. This little city hugging the mountains and the bay - I wish we could have gotten out and checked it out, but we were on the bus at that point. The long road from Deer Lake to Gander and beyond was pretty, but then we hit Terra Nova National Park, which was beautiful, and I think it was there, with the sun going down, that we saw our first Newfoundland moose. Werner slowed down, and I scrambled to get my camera going, and then we noticed it wasn't moving, and then we noticed it was one of those big provincial signs that look like moose and say "watch for moose." Anyway, we felt like idiots, but it was pretty funny at the time.

Anyway, the highway started climbing around there, or had been climbing, and then we came onto the Avalon Peninsula. The mountains weren't huge, even compared to those on the north side of Newfoundland, but the landscape was awesome. It was really dark by this point, which might have had something to do with it. There weren't any trees, just open spaces with rocky patches and dark lakes, and it looked like the backdrop to a fantasy film come to life. I have got to go back there and go hiking.

Anyway, we came into St. John's and found a B&B and then found the pubs. George Street rocked. You could stand in the middle of the street and hear rock music from one pub, a fiddler in another, country down the way, dance music from the second floor on the corner. And people spilling onto the street, which is ok, cause it's all closed to traffic. It was really like a huge party. We ended up in Trapper John's - home of the St. John's Screech-In which we didn't try last night, but watched. Something we'll have to get into before we go. Anyway, we listened to Gregg Bolger all night. He's part of the band Fuse (fuseonline.ca) but was doing a solo show that night. So far, we haven't heard any "traditional" music here, but the rock is awesome.

Anyway, today we are taking a much needed break. Part of that includes AFI’s 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award to George Lucas. I got sucked in by William Shatner's intro and the dancing stormtroopers. You have to watch it to believe it.

North Sydney to Stephenville

Well, we're finally in Newfoundland. We had a bit of a start when we got to the ferry - apparently we were supposed to reserve spots, even as walk-on passengers. However, while the guy behind the desk was putting us on the waiting list (and making us sweat), more places became available or something, and we got our tickets. I'm not too sure what the deal was - considering there were maybe 20 other walk-ons and not much traffic - but I guess I'd have to suggest booking tickets to anyone taking the ferry to Newfoundland. Just to save yourself a scare if nothing else.

But all that was forgotten once we were on the ferry. First thing that surprised me, it was really, really empty. I had thought there wasn't much traffic, but this was crazy. I'd been hoping to run around and get interviews - and maybe find a ride to St. John's or somewhere along the way to St. John's - but the truckers had vanished - sleeping I was told, and most of the other passengers were getting wrapped up in the crappy movie.

We met James on the ferry and hung out with him for a bit. He was also looking to hitchhike out towards St. John's - only he lives out that way, so he probably has about 1000x better chance of getting a ride. He told us that Deer Lake, about 4 hrs east of the ferry terminal in Port-aux-Basques, is a good place to hitch though, cause it's a crossroads for the east and the north and a lot of truckers stop there.

I wanted to catch him for an interview, but we ended up on deck instead as the ferry was pulling out. Good thing, there was a thin layer of ice burgs out in the distance. It was kind of surreal, this line of white cutting through the ocean. And even more surreal as we plowed toward it, and then through the ice. And Neil even spotted a seal out on the ice which I missed. Grrr. Next time.

The ride was about 7 hours long. We ended up meeting up with Werner, who owns a lodge in Margaree Forks in Nova Scotia. He'd never been to Newfoundland, and didn't really know where he was gonna end up for the night. But he offered to take us along, and we happily agreed. So, against the odds, we managed a ride, and got to interview him. Things were looking up.

And when Newfoundland came into view, I decided that no matter what happened or where we ended up, it would be worth it. I can't describe the feeling seeing Newfoundland for the first time, it was just too gorgeous. I'll post some of the footage on here someday, but that won't do it justice. The cliffs, and the snow, and the little craggy islands. I thought we'd crossed over into another land. I guess we kinda did.

Werner took a look at the map, and Stephenville seemed close enough and big enough to check out for the evening. So we headed that way. It wasn't exactly what any of us expected, though I probably couldn't have told you what I did expect. Though it did have karaoke, so it can't be that bad a place. After dumping our stuff at a motel, we went to check out the nightlife. Too late to work tonight. And there are a few pubs. And a live performance that we caught a bit of. It was one of the last pubs by this point, and Neil and I were exhausted. We must sound like the height of wussiness, but this next-to-nonstop travelling is about as far from a vacation as we could get I think. Anyway, we ended up back at the motel. And I'm gonna crash. But if you would like to enjoy more of the live performance, you can check out Alex's stuff online: http://spaces.msn.com/alexstolethesun/ Personally, I like "My Mess" and "My Way Back"

Charlottetown to North Sydney

Well, the schedule has been sorta up in the air. The only thing really concrete is that we have to get back to Fredericton for April 14 or so. And as I think we're gonna attempt to hitchhike across Newfoundland and back, we should give ourselves as much time as possible. So we're heading there first, and then we can hit Nova Scotia on the way back.

I was a bit torn over whether or not to take the overnight ferry to Port-aux-Basques, but I really want to get some footage of the trip, so we've found a bed and breakfast in North Sydney. The bus dropped us off outside a hotel overlooking the ferry terminal and the downtown, and it was quite pretty with the sun going down. Yeah, another long day on the bus. I had thought that once we got to the Maritimes the rides would get shorter, cause the cities are closer together. It's not working out that way so far, there's just not enough time to stop everywhere I'd hoped.

The b&b was only a 20 minute walk - if that - but I had hardly eaten all day, so it seemed a lot farther. I gotta remember to eat when I get the chance, cause when I wait, I never seem to get another chance til I feel like I'm on my last legs. And even though we dumped stuff off in Fredericton, these packs are still too heavy. We've got summer clothes, and winter clothes, cause St. John's just had a huge dump of snow. Very strange weather in this country.

We'd planned to take the ferry out this morning - we'd even packed before heading down for breakfast, but exhaustion was setting in again, and it wasn't too hard for us to convince ourselves to stay an extra night, let Newfoundland warm up a bit, enjoy the ocean view from the Heritage Home B&B, wander the docks, maybe get a few interviews. We mentioned the project to Juana, the woman who runs the b&b. She made a few phone calls and half an hour later she gave us a list of about 10 people we should go speak to. One guy was already waiting for us. So we grabbed the gear and were running out the door and it was another day of filming.

It turned out to be awesome, we were interviewing people until the sun was setting, and a couple were especially outstanding. Thanks again, Juana! One thing I learned about Cape Breton Island is that cancer is really, really prevalent. It seemed everyone we asked could name family and friends who had suffered from it, or recount their own stories, and most people blamed the tar ponds. These are basically pools of leftover toxic waste from the steel mill. I'd never heard of these - probably cause I don't read the papers like I should, but check out these links for a bit of a background: http://www.agrnews.org/issues/124/environment.html http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tarponds/
http://www.safecleanup.com/jag/timeline.htm

We were in Sydney (about 30 min from North Sydney) to change buses, but didn't see the tar ponds. We'll have to try to get there on the way back. I wouldn't have thought something like this could exist in Canada.

Canoe Cove and Charlottetown

We spent our time in PEI staying in Canoe Cove with Karyn and her son Rory. Karyn has an absolutely gorgeous house on a hill with a view over Canoe Cove, the Northumberland Strait, the Confederation Bridge in the distance, and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on the horizon. I could just stand there and stare for hours.

Canoe Cove doesn't really seem to have a centre, but we wandered the 15 minutes down to a park next to the water, past one of many churches in the area and an old, one-room school house that is now used as a community centre. We actually got to interview a woman who was the schoolteacher there in the 60s, which was really cool. Her husband was a potato farmer (very prevalent on the island) before he got into landscaping.

Rory took us for a ride up to Cavendish to see the Green Gables house and the beautiful beach. I'd never seen ice in the ocean before coming across the bridge to PEI, but here I could get up close. And the sand dunes juxtaposed against the red dirt was beautiful. I could have spent the whole day filming there. Probably was a lucky thing we had to keep moving.

We also spent a day wandering around Charlottetown. My Canadian history is pretty pitiful, but I did remember Charlottetown as the Birthplace of Confederation. At least that much got drilled into my head in school. However, as I took another look at the history, nothing was actually ever signed until London, three years later, with the BNA Act in 1867 (our first constitution) and PEI wasn't even a part of it at that point. And apparently, Ontario and Quebec weren't even supposed to be a part of the Charlottetown conference, originally Britain had convinced the maritime provinces to get together and try to find strength in unity. Ah, whatever, the whole thing is a can of worms I don't want to get into right now. But this is something I'll be coming back to, the constitution should be the basis of Canada.

Anyway, PEI was great, the Islanders were extremely friendly, and we even managed a local hockey game in Kensington. I'd never been to a hockey game, and though I'm not exactly hooked, I'd hit another game if I had the chance. And I really want to go back to PEI and see the other parts of the island. I think what struck me the most was that the entire province is only about 140,000 people. The entire province. After taking 19 hours to drive across Ontario, and not even touching what I would consider the northern parts, to have a province that is 4 hours across the length and 45 min top to bottom kinda blew my mind.

Fredericton, and the trip to Charlottetown

Neil came to the rescue with New Brunswick and got us hooked up with a place to stay in Fredericton, and I must admit he outdid himself. We're crashing at Ewan's place, and Ewan is awesome. We managed to take it easy and get a variety of interviews over a couple of days at the same time. I'm not sure how we managed that.

I got introduced to a katimavik alumni here, who did an interview. Katimavik is a national youth program that places kids age 17-21 in groups that represent the demographics of Canada, and they all live together in three different provinces for three months each. For a better description see: http://www.katimavik.org/

I love the idea of this program, and only wish I'd heard about it earlier. There are rumblings that the current government may not keep up the funding, which would be a shame. We keep hearing about national unity and we need to keep Canada together and blah blah, but do they ever do anything concrete about it? And when something concrete is done, like Katimavik, why isn't there better advertising or media for it? And why do they now have to fear for its future?

I also got to interview the Secretary to the Chief and Council of the St. Mary's First Nations community. He was really interesting, and very open to speaking about his life and experiences and culture. Fantastic interview.

And we even got to take a much needed day off. Neil spent the day watching season 2 of Battlestar Galactica, and I finally got to watch the first season of Dr. Who, which I'd started before leaving the UK. I find it kinda odd that we're both hooked on remake series. There's really nothing new anymore.

And now we're off to PEI. We're staying with another couchsurfing host, and are getting picked up at the bus station in Charlottetown. It still amazes me that people are so willing to go out of their way to pick us up and put us up. If everyone could be this way, the world would be a better place.

Québec, and the trip to Fredericton

I spent most of the trip to Québec in a total fog. The toboggan ride really took everything out of me. At least that's what I'll blame it on :) But I spent the bulk of the bus ride unconscious. I was still really out of it when we arrived, and happily Sandria, another person we met off couchsurfing, was at the station already. She took us back to her place, and after dropping our packs, Neil insisted we go look for dinner. It was about 9 pm and we hadn't eaten since breakfast, which was maybe a couple of bagels, so on top of the exhaustion, my head was swimming from lack of food as well. So my first impression of Québec was a bit foggy.

We were able to sleep in a bit the next day though, which helped. And then wandered the old city. It was like being transported to some European city, and the weird fog of travelling of the previous day resembled jetlag, so maybe that's why I spent that first day in a daze of not really knowing where I was. Row houses, tiny streets, old gateways and towering walls. And suddenly stepping out to a view of the St. Lawrence and realizing that it's THE St. Lawrence, the same river I had to draw on all those maps back in social studies class.

And we had to get some tire d'érable (maple taffy served fresh and steaming on a bed of snow, and rolled around a stick as it hardens). I'd had it at the Festival du Bois in Coquitlam, and then at the Rendezvous Festival in Whitehorse, but it was a bit surreal slurping it up while watching the St. Lawrence river go by.

We ran into our first problems here trying to get interviews. I can't speak French unfortunately, but I really want the documentary to be multilingual. So I've approached people and said I would ask questions in English, and they could answer in French (or whatever their first language is), and though I wouldn't really know what they were talking about, I could get it translated later. It's worked a few times, and people are usually more than happy to find out they can answer in their own language. However, we got a lot of people who just weren't interested at all. I was sorta expecting that, I guess what I wasn't expecting was that it would all be concentrated in one area.

Don't get me wrong, we got our quota of interviews for the city, and they were really good, and the people we spoke to were really insightful. I'm just starting to worry that we're approaching the same types of people, or maybe attracting the same types of people, and not reaching the diversity that I'd hoped for. Though really, the diversity I originally wanted would require at least a month in each province. We can only do what we can. Maybe this is Canada through rose-colored glasses, and is that so bad? It's a beginning.

We're heading to the Maritimes now. Now the schedule starts to get sketchy. Fredericton is the first stop. I'm still beat from Mont Tremblant . . . I'm gonna sleep.

Mont Tremblant to Québec

I am so glad we stopped in Mont Tremblant. When I first got onto couchsurfing.com I started a thread on the messageboard about the documentary and asked for people who were interested in participating. Karen got in touch with me, and I figured we could pop by between Montreal and Québec, and so it ended up on the schedule. I had no idea what to expect, and I'm finding that's the best way to travel. No expectations, and no preconceptions.

The village of Mont Tremblant has the feel of a Swiss town nestled in the Alps. There are some fundamental differences, but the feel is the same. With creperies and cafés and specialty resort shoppes. Dylan, Frank's son, was our guide for the day. He took us around the village, and up the lift. We hooked up with the ski patrol and hung out with them for some time, interviewing patrollers including Victoria Fletcher, a World Cup Telemark Skier. We also got to meet Luc Bombardier, who's devised a sort of steadycam to be skied with, and he went down the hill with Victoria to film her skiing. Awesome footage, can't wait to play with that.

To top off the day, they agreed to take us down the run on a patrol toboggan - Dylan, Neil and myself all on one. It was like going down the hill headfirst at top speed. They had a patroller at the front and one behind to keep us steady and upright, but it was still a close call a couple of times. Snow flew everywhere, and little ice nuggets pelted our faces. I was sitting in the middle and had my head buried against Dylan's back, and my fingers digging into his shoulders. Neil was stuck at the back and was leaning back, so he didn't have the same cover I did. But I could hear him howling and laughing all the way down the hill. It was such a rush.

That pretty much wiped us out for the rest of the day. I went out with Karen after she got off work, and I was just exhausted. Though I did try the sampler of the locally brewed beers - the wheat beer was awesome.

And now off to Québec. (The first thing I learned about the province Québec, the capital is also referred to as Québec, not Quebec City. Hence the confusion, which will probably continue.) We have to go back through Montreal, but we won't be stopping to do interviews here until the route back. What with stopping in Ottawa instead of Montreal, and then staying an extra night in Mont Tremblant, we gotta get moving before the whole schedule goes completely out the window.

Ottawa to Mont Tremblant

Ottawa was really cold. It's kind of horrible and sad that that's the first thing I can find to describe my first visit to the nation's capital, but it really was bloody cold. The wind made it colder than Whitehorse. Or maybe I was just being a wuss, cause I know that back home the daffodils are probably out by now. And the dump of snow we got has probably melted. Yeah, yeah, it's also probably into its fifth consecutive day of rain, too.

We were a bit late getting to Heather's the other night. We had no idea what Ottawa looked like, or where we would be getting in, or where we would be in relation to the university. It turns out they have an awesome transit system there though - we picked up the free phone that connects directly to the bus line, and the friendly person (who answers in both French and English) tells you exactly what buses to take, where to transfer, approximately how long it will take, and how much it will cost. Of course, we didn't bother following the directions.

We didn't really want to show up at Heather's starving, and she had a night class, so we also didn't want to show up too early, so we decided to wander. That, and we needed to set up accommodation for the next night, cause Heather couldn't bail us out every time we realized we were heading for some strange city we didn't have a map for. So after wandering around in the dark, we finally found a friendly police station that was still open and had people in it, and they performed their tireless task of giving the dumb tourists directions. So we retraced our path back to the bus station, and discovered that a block away was the main drag. So we found an internet place and Neil foraged for food while I got online, and half an hour later, Heather was out of her class, and we were officially late. So we finally got on a bus, and discovered we were a long way from the university. We took it to pretty much the end of the line, and then took another one to pretty much the end of that line - and got a tour of Carlton U in the process - before arriving at Ottawa U where I called Heather, cause we got lost about a stone's through from her residence, and she asked me if we were actually in Ottawa.

And it turns out if wasn't as late as we'd thought - Heather took us on a tour of the university, and around the outside of the parliament buildings, and over the canal, and on the way back to her place we discovered that the pub across the street had karaoke the next night. So it was a bit of luck that we hadn't secured a couch to crash on, cause we decided to stay a couple nights in Ottawa. Who can resist karaoke?

We spent the next day wandering around the university, interviewing idealistic students. I am an idealist at heart, and I think that if more people stuck to their university beliefs 10 years after graduating, the world might be a better place. I've heard the saying - if you're not a socialist at 20 you have no heart, if you're not a capitalist at 30, you have no brain. Well, I'm not 30 (quite yet), so I still see lots of nasty things about capitalism that should make it difficult to sleep at night. But I've seen a lot of things along this trip so far that make me realize capitalism is not the only force out there. Even being able to do this sort of film such a small budget, and having people who are willing to open their homes and offer their couches or beds in the name of sharing culture and information and lives and stories, it's a force all its own. Maybe there's more idealists out there than we're lead to believe.

Anyway, I got my karaoke fix that night. It was a bit of a shock that it didn't start til 10. I'm used to London, where it started at 7 and finished at 10:30. But I could get used to it.

And today we headed to Mont Tremblant. We discovered last minute that the hop-on, hop-off Canada Pass we're on doesn't cover the trip past Montreal, but $50 return for each of us is reasonable enough. And it was a fun trip. We're staying with a couple we met through couchsurfing.com - Karen and Frank. They are really cool, and Karen's going to get us passes to get up the ski hill so we can do some interviews and talk with the ski patrol. And get some great shots of the village.

Hamilton to Ottawa

I now have a sherpa. Neil has quit his job in Hamilton to join me on this crazy journey and carry equipment and shoot interviews and make sure the sound is reasonable and generally keep me sane. Which is rather a tall order, we'll see how well he does.

I got a bit of a break, and a day to completely reorganize the packs. We've got a smaller backpack that I can now use as our portable studio - the lights, the clamps and fixtures, the extensions cords, 2 mics with cables, a couple of gels, tissues, lens cleaner, chargers, and other assorted crap that I crammed into a fanny pack and stuck at the bottom of the pack. I also got to dump some more useless stuff off to pick up on the way back through, and another 10 hrs of footage that I won't need til the summer. I'm still carting around a full box of 50 tapes though, it will be nice to break that open. I'm hoping for somewhere between 100 and 125 hours of footage when we get back to Vancouver in July.

The weather has been a bit bizarre. It was so warm yesterday, I was running around in a t-shirt - in fact the only t-shirt I brought on the trip, and I was starting to rethink that choice. But Canada didn't let me down, it was snowing again this morning as we left Hamilton. A very dry snow, it didn't feel wet to the touch, but furry. Weird.

We headed to Toronto for a few hours this morning to check out the city and meet with one of Neil's 2nd cousins, Lyle, whom he'd met for the first time a couple of weeks before. Really cool guy. We'll have to hook with him again in April and interview him.

We were on the bus to Montreal this afternoon, when I took a look at the times and realized we'd be getting in after 10 at night with no map of the city, no place to stay, no idea where a hostel might be, and if it might have room. The last time that happened, we were in Turino last summer, and we got stuck with a really expensive hotel. This time, it's Heather to the rescue - she's a friend I met in London, and she's going to Ottawa University, and it's on the way. And thankfully she doesn't mind last minute couchcrashers. Maybe we can even find some karaoke . . .

Winnipeg to Hamilton

After travelling this much of Canada, I was starting to think that Vancouver is the oddball in the Canadian family. There's snow everywhere - it's really the Canadian constant so far - except when leaving Vancouver. And then I remembered that the wet coast just got about 10 cm dumped on it in the last week or so, so maybe we're not as odd as we'd like to think.

Though the snowmobile tracks that have paralleled the highway throughout northern BC, up to Whitehorse, and now points east are companions I'd never travelled with before.

So far I really like "northern" Ontario. I still find it a bit difficult thinking of Kenora as northern after checking out Thompson and Whitehorse. But it is quite beautiful, and the falling snow is covering the highway and reminds me of the Alaska highway, so I guess it's north enough.

At the last rest stop I heard a distressing story from a woman from Calgary. It seems they have a large homeless population there, and a lot of untreated mental illness as well. Sounds familiar - from the days when they emptied out Riverview after government cuts. I heard the story of a woman who had been under care for a week, and the day she was released, she committed suicide. And her war veteran son, who ended up homeless, and his legs froze in the prairie winter and had to be amputated, and then he was back on the streets, where his legs became infected before they found him housing.

Just another Canadian story?