Vancouver Island

I send you greetings from the nicest hostel I have ever stayed at. I am at the moment in Whistler and the hostel is really nice... but enough of that, it's time to tell you all what has happened in the last few days and that doesn't include Whistler just yet. I wanted to post all this yesterday but the Internet at the hostel in Vancouver sucked major donkey ass.. yes that bad.. so with one day delay, here is the newest info on my travels.....

The last few days involved big trees, beautiful cost lines, an island, and lots n lots of rain.

My travels took me far a 3 night stay on Vancouver island. On the first day we (6 other travellers and me) drove to Ucluelet (B) where we stayed for two nights. Then we went on to Victoria (C) which is actually the capital of BC.. bet you didn't know that! After one night there we headed back to Vancouver (D).

How was Vancouver island? As mentioned above, really rainy but overall really beautiful. Some in the group went whale watching, some went to explore Tofino and some went canoeing. Me? I went for a little 3 hour hike on the wild pacific trail. I am so glad I made that decision. The Trail leads right along the coast and the views were just stunning (see below). I can't believe the Moose driver didn't mention the trail when he told us what there is to do around our accommodation.

Victoria was not that exciting.. sure it had a few nice houses but well.. meh! I Spent the day I had there with walking around and soaking up the sun. Oh yes, forgot to mention that the weather got better n better. The highlight was definitely eating dinner at ReBar. Probably the best vegetarian meal I ever had! And don't get me started on the strawberry rhubarb pie... yummy!

We then left the island again and I enjoyed Vancouver for a night before I started my journey to Whistler today. I have been travelling with Moose Travel for a few days now and I am not totally won over yet. I love the fact that the buses and groups are a lot smaller than when I travelled with Stray in NZ. But still, I am still a bit sceptic. I can't really say why exactly but it just doesn't feel right yet.. Maybe this is because I have been travelling in near total solitude in Alaska. I can probably tell you more in a few days :)

I guess that's all for now.. as always enjoy the pictures and thank you for coming back here every now to see what I have been up to! I appreciate to see that the blog is actually read.

stay happy!

Part of a Totem... or whatever you want it to be

wild pacific coast

more wild pacific coast

big trees...

A storm is coming

I just loved sitting here, watching the waves crashing against the rocks

a big hotel in Victoria

Parlament building or something ;)

Guess who won...

.. I'll give you a hint, it was the canadian team. Wohooooooo.
Now everybody knows I am a sucker for the Montreal Canadians but when you get to see a team qualify for the Stanley cup finals for the first time since '94, you can't help but cheer and feel like being part of something epic.. more good times to add to my memories of my trip :)

Flag Galorea... and seems they want some cup.. from what they are chanting all the time

I wouldn't know.. I'll ask!

pure, I repeat, pure epicness.. and this on the street in front of my hostel

I guess he is happy

 The Martians support the Canucks....

.. and the pimps too

A Taste of Canada

Welcome back!

I send you warm greetings from Vancouver. I have left Anchorage and Alaska two nights ago and now wait for my travel around Canada to begin. The Bus will pick me up tomorrow morning. Can't wait! First leg of the trip will be over to Vancouver Island. Everybody that knew I was going to Vancouver and knew this region, told that I absolutely have to go to Vancouver Island and spoke of it like it's the greatest place in the world... we shall see! After Vancouver Island it's back to Vancouver for one night and further on to Whistler.


I really like Vancouver so far. Not the best city I have seen on my trip but is quite a sight. I am eager to get back into nature again though!

What else? not much really, I haven't had that many exciting adventures in the last few days. I wanted to postpone this post till later tonight or tomorrow but a) the Canucks play in the conference finals tonight and I expect to be too drunk to post later tonight and b) I don't want to spend my first evening on my moose trip hiding behind my laptop... If the Canucks win though, prepare for some epic pictures.

Speaking of pictures. I was planning to post more today but I just wasn't happy with the results I got of most of them so you will have to do with the few that are here.

On a side note, I have started applying for jobs in Switzerland, a sure sign the end of my trip is coming ever so closer :(.. better enjoy the hell out of my last few weeks!

till soon my friends!

Vancouver Skyline

Skyline Vancouver

Gastown

More Gastown

and then some

The great Alaskan Road trip: Kenai Peninsula

After hours and hours of editing pictures (yes most was automated but still) I am finally here to do my next blogging. First as always in the last few days, a picture of where I went. I drove from Anchorage (A) to Seward (B) where I stayed for 3 nights. After that I drove on to Homer (C) where I will be spending my second night tonight.

my path in the last few days

Sadly after a few days with great weather, it got worse and worse the further south I drove. The last few days have been very cloudy and sprinkled with plenty of rain. Due to that fact I didn't do much in Seward. I drove to Exit Glacier and did a few small hikes but that was about as much exploring as I did. Still I had a few good days.

Funny little fact; the hostel in Seward is run by a Swiss family and the day before me another Swiss guy checked in. It felt like a little piece of Switzerland in the US of A. On my second morning in Seward I was standing in front of the hostel for a smoke and the owner came outside with a pair of binoculars. He asked me if I had seen a bear yet, which i told him, I hadn't. He gave them to me and pointed up the Mountain and sure enough, there was a black bear there. I can't believe how much wildlife I have seen since I arrived in Alaska.

I also enjoyed my stay in Seward because the hostel was full of travellers and we had good times exchanging stories. The other hostels in Alaska were mostly populated by old long term guests.. not exactly the most entertaining or talkative crowd.

I am not all that disappointed about the fact that Seward was not that exciting because it did give me time to get my resume up to date. I currently have it checked for errors, spelling mistakes and general flaws. I hope to have it back soon and shortly afterwards I will start to apply for jobs. I am still interested in taking a job outside of Switzerland but need somebody to translate my resume to English. Anybody know somebody that good give me a good price??

After those three nights in Seward I drove on to Homer. Another moose sighting, well two actually.. it's weird but it's already at the point where I am not very excited about this anymore. They are just everywhere. Although the weather won't permit me to see a lot around here, the glimpse I got promises a truly great view. see the panorama pic to see what I mean.

Tomorrow I will drive back to Anchorage where I will stay until I fly back to Vancouver on the 22nd. I am slowly but surly running out of money so I don't have much planned in the next few days. Lay low and save money is the Idea.

For Canada I have another trip ala Stray (NZ) planned. I will travel around western Canada with Moose Travel. It's also a hop on/hop off bus. Since i am also running out of time, I will probably not hop off that often though. Let's see.. for the same reasons my travel plans for the last few weeks of my trip have changed quite a bit.. more about that later though!

Have a good time all, enjoy the pictures and till soon

click me for panorama awesomeness

Homer Spit Harbour, I think Containers speak perfectly for a harbour pic

driving to east end

driving from east end

up close and personal with Exit Glacier

View from Exit Glacier

More Homer Spit

My first glimpse of the Kenai Peninsula

Seriously, shooting at signs is like a national pasttime up here.

Love this pic, what do you think?

House in Seward in front of Mt. Marathon

The great Alaskan Road trip: Flightseeing

So yeah, since I first thought about it back in Queensland, Australia I have wanted to a scenic flight. Somehow it never worked out. Either the weather was bad or it was just way too expensive. Yesterday, I FINALLY got around to it.

The flight was expensive but so absolutly worth it. I would do it again without thinking twice. The weather was beautiful and the scenery.. oh my god... I don't have words for it. This is certainly one of the major highlights of my trip. If you ever find yourself in Alaska, you can't leave without doing some Flightseeing!!

Enjoy the pictures.

The great Alaskan Road trip part2

... so yeah, this is the second time i am posting this.... seems blogpost decided to delete it the first time around, yay!

Welcome back to my travel blog.

Another few days have passed and I got another 500+ miles under my belt. Yes I did promise to update more often but the days pass. After I left Delta Junction (A) I drove two Fairbanks (B) and to be honest, I don't know why I stayed there for two days. It was boring as! The town is a sh*thole and there are no big attractions near by. Sure I drove to Chena Hot springs (C). I planned to go for a Hike there buuuuuuuuuuut the weather was bad and to be honest the scenery was rather underwhelming so I did not hike and just drove back to Fairbanks.

The next morning I was eager to leave Fairbanks behind me and headed to the Parks Hwy to start my way down to Anchorage again. I am in no rush so I planned two stops on this 300+ miles journey. On the first day I drove to Healy (D) just north of the Denali National park.. well actually I drove past and then back again.. I wanted to stay in a Hostel just south of the National park but sadly that was still closed for the winter season. I drove at a leisurely pace and I think the locals must hate me by now but hey.. for me it's all about the journey and not the destination. The drive was nice but not fantastic. Since the weather was „meh“ once again, I decided to call it an early night and head to the National park today morning. After all they did say the weather was going to get a lot better.

Oh boy were they wrong, I got up to a cloudy and snowy morning. I was a bit furstrated but decided to go for a walk in the park anyway. Sadly you can only access a few trails right at the entry to the park (cause they are still closed for winter). I got out of the car, turned around and a moose just started crossing the street.. a great moment I tell you my friends!!! I felt very in touch with nature ;). I started along the first trail and then turned around after 30min because the snow was getting to high.. It hadn't stopped snowing yet. I walked back to the car and went for another trail. I walked along that one but soon noticed that it was really icy. So I turned around again. I walked past a group of new rangers being instructed by another ranger lady.. when I walked back she was lying on the path with a broken wrist.. I guess my decision to turn around was wise!

So yeah, my visit to Denali was short but a lot happened in a short time.

The further away I got the better the weather got.. First I was a bit disappointed but just until I got my first glimpse of Mt. Mckinley. Oh this was a sight to behold! I was really lucky to have such a clear view of it. Usually it is shrouded in clouds. By the way, this is the highest mountain in north America!

I drove all the way to Talkeetna (E) where I will stop for a night or two. I am not exactly sure yet. It all depends about that thing tomorrow. That thing is a Scenic flight over Mt. McKinley and Denali. A Scenic flight is something I have wanted to do on my trip for a long time now and I am finally booked for one tomorrow. I had to do some math to see if I can afford it but then again, I am here only once in my life eh? Please pray for good weather tomorrow!!!! I am really really excited about this!

To show you all how big Alaska is, I have compiled a few panorama pictures I took over the last two days... and spiked it with some wildlife and other stuff... please enjoy!

spot the caribou
spot the moose
spot the donkey