Lazy Days are here again

MP3 track of the day - Hurricane - 30 seconds to Mars

Weather: hot and sunny with a cool breeze ... perfect

After my 15 hour ferry journey yesterday, and late night, I had a lye-in until mid-day (that's night, 12pm ... must have been tired) and so I got up and ready before watching the second half of the world cup final (well done Spain).

After this I headed into town (I use the term 'town' loosely here in Port Hardy ... the place isn't very big, with 20/30 buildings maximum) to have a look around and to find something to eat at the local supermarket. There is one big problem in North America and that's finding a cheap lunch that is healthy and filling; in the UK I would go to either Boots (and have there sandwich, crisps and a drink for £2.99) or head to Birds (for a sausage cob ... yum) but not in north America, no sir. Firstly you can't buy normal size bag of crisps (which the colonials call 'chips' ... don't know why) and instead you are left with a huge bag that could feed a family of four for a month. Trying to find sandwiches is difficult and coke is cheaper than bottled water. Therefore I have a bottle of coke, a bounty and a 'feed a family of four for a month' bag of Doritos ...

... If I see another Dorito ever I think I'll scream. It took me almost half of my planned walk to eat this bag and at the end I felt very full, but also a little sick.

As mentioned previously, after my look around 'town' I headed for a small walk along the harbour and a salmon stream. It was lovely if a little short but it was very scenic and I met a lovely dog (and her owner) called Shia who, for half of the walk, was turning around and looking at me (the owner said she just wanted to say hello but I was unsure ... the dog had quite allot of teeth). For the next hour I just walked around the area taking a few photos and going in and out of the trees before returning back to 'town' to purchase my Greyhound ticket, have a look at the other end of 'town' and finally return back to my hostel to prepare for tomorrow.

Tomorrow I take the Greyhound (I never thought I would say this but I have missed the Greyhound ... 12 hours of travel for $89.00 ... not £210.00 for a plane ride or $170.00 for the ferry ... no $89.00 ... brilliant!) to Tofino which I can't wait, it's supposed to be really beautiful around there.

Toodle Pip

Vancouver Island here I come!

MP3 track of the day - Say (All I need) - One Republic

Weather - Foggy to start with but then clearing up for a bright, beautiful day and then finishing with more fog

Waking up again at some stupid hour (4:45am) to get my 6:00am taxi to the ferry terminal I got ready for the long journey. Luckily two other people from the hostel (Matt and Michaela from Seattle) were going for the same ferry and so we shared the same taxi (therefore only cost $3.50 ... result). Both Matt and Michaela seemed very nice and, throughout the ferry trip, we chatted occasionally.

Once on the ferry the weather was dense fog, therefore sightseeing was impossible. Struck by boredom (boredom is a state of mind my dad would say .... NO IT'S BEING STUCK ON A FERRY FOR 15 HOURS WITH NO VIEW) I purchased a cheap Sudoku puzzle book and started to work my way through it.

A couple of hours later the weather cleared to leave a bright, sunny beautiful day. I therefore headed to the top deck and looked around. Once again the scenery was spectacular (smooth calm water, with forested islands dotted around backed by snow-tipped mountain ranges ... bliss); very much like the trip down from Juneau and I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

Time flew and it was 6:00pm before I knew it; I hadn't really had any lunch today (I don't call biscuits and crisps lunch) therefore I headed to the cafeteria for something substantial (Halibut burger and fries ... yum). On my way out of the cafeteria I saw a huge piece of chocolate cake and cheesecake in the fridge which, after a small internal debate with myself, I decided to leave it and, if I was hungry later, I would pop back for one of them.

I then headed back onto the top deck for a little while, checking out the view again, however this didn't last long as the weather, once more, was starting to turn very cold and foggy. Once back down inside the ferry, the seas started to get a little choppy and I started to feel a little ... err ... funny. Anyway I decided to give the chocolate cake / cheesecake a miss.

This ferry was okay, but the journey is waaay too expensive. I miss the Taku (the ferry from Juneau to Prince Rupert). If you were to compare the two, the Tau is much more of a working ferry, with a few rough edges, but very nice indeed. This ferry was more grander, however it was too artificial for me, there isn't any character to this one and that's what I miss about the Taku.

I said goodbye to Matt and Michaela at Port Hardy's ferry terminal and I took the shuttle service to my hostel ($7.50 ... ouch!). Once here a very helpful gentleman got me booked in and showed me to my dorm ... of which I am the only person (apparently there is a huge group of people in another couple of dorms, however they are leaving for the ferry tomorrow at 4:00am and the hostel doesn't mix arrivals and departures ... good idea). It's nice having my own room but it's a bit lonely ... no way of making friends :(

Tomorrow I'm going to have a long lie-in and then a look around Port Hardy and my first look at Vancouver Island ... until then.

Toodle Pip!