So it appears that I'm finding it easier to do a blog every second day. This will be a problem when I have to make up for lost days by wearing shorts and thongs as part of my bet with Marci..
My discussion for today is about a friendly man I met in Lennoxville today when I was out buying some essentials. I was busy going between the three stores in town to work out which was cheapest (will save money in the future!), and this guy walking on the path a distance in front of me saw me and stopped to have a chat. He introduced himself as Dave, and like (almost) all Canadians, he had terrible trouble understanding my name 'Jono'. They all think I've said either 'Jonaa', 'Jonah', 'Jonee', or something of the sort... it isn't till I spell it out that they understand.
Anyway, after having been excited to work out I was Australian and subsequently try out the accent, I had a bit of a conversation with him, and he was very good to talk to. When I told him I needed to cross the road for the shop, he casually asked me if I were Catholic. He was not intimidating about it, and I had no problem in saying I was but hadn't been to Church in a long time. All he did then was assure me that it was OK and all would be fine in Jesus' second coming. A break in the traffic allowed me to cross, and I was surprised to see him still standing there watching me as I entered the shop, calling 'Jono!' and waving...
A retelling of this to some local Bishops students resulted in them exclaiming, "oh, its Dave the Preacher!". Apparently he has a bit of a reputation (not bad) of being the friendly chap in town who will talk to anyone. As I said, I never felt uncomfortable around him, and as long as he can maintain a non-religious conversation I would not try to avoid him...
In other news, I can't wait till this Wednesday (December 2nd), when I'll be finished the bulk of my work, except for 3 final exams starting on the 12th. That means 10 days of freedom, where I'll hopefully be able to hit up the slopes as often as possible, and enjoy the last time I have with all the exchange students who will be leaving...
I may or may not do an update tomorrow. Its not like its cold yet.
Bonne nuit!!!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Day Eight - It snows!
Hello Everyone!
I apologise sincerely for my recent absence. I had planned to have a special post up on Day 7 - a video, which as well as having me in it, would also include a 'show and tell' of my photos and videos from my trip to Toronto. I started doing that at like 12am that day, and by 3am my computer was struggling so much and the editing was more difficult than expected, so I didn't get to finish it, and I've put it off since. Also, I was actually stressed for the first time ever on Thursday - I have an exam on both Monday and Tuesday, and group presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. So yeah, I've actually been studying....
So its 2am here as I type this, and its late because I just spent the last 2 or so hours on the phone to my grandparents - it was the first time i've spoken to them since I left, as they do not have a computer to follow what I've been up to! They were trying to hurry up the phone call, and were utterly amazed when I told them Skype only cost 3c/minute from the other side of the world :D
Oh, and here is some news for non-Bishops students: It started snowing this evening!!!! While its snowed on a few other occasions like over 2 weeks ago, it never settled.. tonight, we'll have between 5 and 10cm of the white stuff! While it doesn't sound like much, it is so exciting to know that Winter is finally here, and the campus looks so much more beautiful now. I've already been out in it (see photos), acting like an immature little Australian that hasn't seen snow before (hang on a minute, I am one of those).
(written on my 3rd floor bedroom window - its harder to do than it looks!)
(the gang at the Christmas tree in the university Quad)
(me with the tree! and yes, I am only wearing shorts and a jacket...)
(a crazy guy wearing only underpants :S)
(umbrellas have a new use!)
(let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!)
(yep, lying on the ground in shorts)
(Hallelujah! its snowing!!!)
Anyway, I'll be off for now, but expect a double post in the next few days when I've got on top of my university work. Hope you are all well!!!!!
Much love
Jono
I apologise sincerely for my recent absence. I had planned to have a special post up on Day 7 - a video, which as well as having me in it, would also include a 'show and tell' of my photos and videos from my trip to Toronto. I started doing that at like 12am that day, and by 3am my computer was struggling so much and the editing was more difficult than expected, so I didn't get to finish it, and I've put it off since. Also, I was actually stressed for the first time ever on Thursday - I have an exam on both Monday and Tuesday, and group presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. So yeah, I've actually been studying....
So its 2am here as I type this, and its late because I just spent the last 2 or so hours on the phone to my grandparents - it was the first time i've spoken to them since I left, as they do not have a computer to follow what I've been up to! They were trying to hurry up the phone call, and were utterly amazed when I told them Skype only cost 3c/minute from the other side of the world :D
Oh, and here is some news for non-Bishops students: It started snowing this evening!!!! While its snowed on a few other occasions like over 2 weeks ago, it never settled.. tonight, we'll have between 5 and 10cm of the white stuff! While it doesn't sound like much, it is so exciting to know that Winter is finally here, and the campus looks so much more beautiful now. I've already been out in it (see photos), acting like an immature little Australian that hasn't seen snow before (hang on a minute, I am one of those).
(written on my 3rd floor bedroom window - its harder to do than it looks!)
(the gang at the Christmas tree in the university Quad)
(me with the tree! and yes, I am only wearing shorts and a jacket...)
(a crazy guy wearing only underpants :S)
(umbrellas have a new use!)
(let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!)
(yep, lying on the ground in shorts)
(Hallelujah! its snowing!!!)Anyway, I'll be off for now, but expect a double post in the next few days when I've got on top of my university work. Hope you are all well!!!!!
Much love
Jono
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Day Six - What does the future hold?
Hey again. So today I'm going to do more of a reflection:
Ever since school when I started about what I wanted to do for a career, I have always told myself (and which all teachers drummed into me) that I'd do something I'd enjoy. I take the idea quite seriously. For example, I am excellent at accounting and have passed all school and university courses with over 90%, but I could not imagine waking up every day to be working through numbers at a desk.
Since starting university, and having done international business and realising how different and exciting the cultures of the world are, I have always loved the idea of being able to travel as part of my career (or at least part of it). Originally I was unsure what job I wanted to do exactly, until I realised that I could combine it with my love of marketing and cars. And so I came up with the idea of working in the in-house marketing department of a major car maker (preferably a premium one such as Audi), where I would have to conduct market research and build relations with different countries to decide what car models and their specifications should be sent where. A simple example is that the Japanese don't need big v8 four-wheel-drives, while the same thing would be perfect in America. I don't even know if such a job exists, but I'm sure it does.
So today I went to a seminar called 'Global Career Skills', and the bloke spoke about all the things to do with increasing your international IQ, getting international experience, searching for an international job, etc. It made me think about what I want to do to reach my goal. There are so many things I want to do before settling down into a day-to-day job: I want to backpack around the world, I want to master French and learn even more languages (Spanish and an Asian language would be great), and I want to do internships that lead me on the path to my career. This seminar got me thinking about all the possible options I could take, and consequently left me in confusion of just not knowing what I should do, and when.
I think I will return for another year at QUT and do my honours degree before any of this. It gives me time to save up more money, learn more about what I am interested in, have a decent qualification on my resume, and get a little bit older before venturing out too far into the world (yes, I know I'm already in Canada). But then what?
- Do I try and get an internship in France, and stay with a family there or something where I can master the language?
- Do I just study French outside of uni during honours, then backpack around the world afterwards for a year or two and do basic labour while half-learning a variety of local cultures/languages along the way?
- Or do I just aim to find a job straight away that will lead to all the travel I've wanted to do?
And then I wonder: What about refereeing? I've worked so hard at it, progressed really far... When I think about all this other stuff, refereeing slips out of my mind. But it could also be my ticket to travel, if I work hard enough and get to go to different countries to officiate. Then I could move to a marketing career after that. So many options... I think I'm just going to have to take it as it comes.
I'd like to know what you think about all of this :)
Oh, and here are 5 more cultural differences I've noticed (I thought of the first two whilst in the shower haha):
1) Canadian toilets are huge water wasters. They use like 15L per flush (they aren't dual-flush), and they reset so that half the bowl is filled after each flush. Without being too crude, it makes it difficult to avoid a 'splash'...
2) Canadian showers have awesome pressure compared to Australia! Obviously no water restrictions here... and bizarrely, most of them have what appears to be an overflow outlet in the form of a tap, which has water coming out of it even when the shower is running. Haven't figured it out yet. And no, its not to make the shower a bath.
3) Canadian (or at least Quebec) cars do not require numberplates on the front. It took a while to get used to seeing nothing there, and not thinking that every car was unregistered or stolen. It makes me wonder how they do speed cameras from head-on...
4) Donuts are so much cheaper here! Well, at least at Tim Hortons, Canada's favourite coffee shop and the equivalent of Starbucks. One donut here is just $1 while an assorted dozen sets me back $6.50, whereas at Krispy Kreme in Australia they are like $2-2.50 each and $20 for an assorted dozen! As there is a "Timmies" on campus, it makes for a great treat during the night class breaks.
5) There are a lot more homeless people in major Canadian cities compared to those in Australia. Maybe they are just more obvious and are not hidden like in Brisbane, but in Montreal and particularly Toronto there can be homeless people on every corner, in subways, or even holding doors open for the public in the hope of some spare change..
Alright, time for bed. Please don't forget to leave a comment if you read this - it doesn't take much time! And it makes a world of difference for me :)
Ever since school when I started about what I wanted to do for a career, I have always told myself (and which all teachers drummed into me) that I'd do something I'd enjoy. I take the idea quite seriously. For example, I am excellent at accounting and have passed all school and university courses with over 90%, but I could not imagine waking up every day to be working through numbers at a desk.
Since starting university, and having done international business and realising how different and exciting the cultures of the world are, I have always loved the idea of being able to travel as part of my career (or at least part of it). Originally I was unsure what job I wanted to do exactly, until I realised that I could combine it with my love of marketing and cars. And so I came up with the idea of working in the in-house marketing department of a major car maker (preferably a premium one such as Audi), where I would have to conduct market research and build relations with different countries to decide what car models and their specifications should be sent where. A simple example is that the Japanese don't need big v8 four-wheel-drives, while the same thing would be perfect in America. I don't even know if such a job exists, but I'm sure it does.
So today I went to a seminar called 'Global Career Skills', and the bloke spoke about all the things to do with increasing your international IQ, getting international experience, searching for an international job, etc. It made me think about what I want to do to reach my goal. There are so many things I want to do before settling down into a day-to-day job: I want to backpack around the world, I want to master French and learn even more languages (Spanish and an Asian language would be great), and I want to do internships that lead me on the path to my career. This seminar got me thinking about all the possible options I could take, and consequently left me in confusion of just not knowing what I should do, and when.
I think I will return for another year at QUT and do my honours degree before any of this. It gives me time to save up more money, learn more about what I am interested in, have a decent qualification on my resume, and get a little bit older before venturing out too far into the world (yes, I know I'm already in Canada). But then what?
- Do I try and get an internship in France, and stay with a family there or something where I can master the language?
- Do I just study French outside of uni during honours, then backpack around the world afterwards for a year or two and do basic labour while half-learning a variety of local cultures/languages along the way?
- Or do I just aim to find a job straight away that will lead to all the travel I've wanted to do?
And then I wonder: What about refereeing? I've worked so hard at it, progressed really far... When I think about all this other stuff, refereeing slips out of my mind. But it could also be my ticket to travel, if I work hard enough and get to go to different countries to officiate. Then I could move to a marketing career after that. So many options... I think I'm just going to have to take it as it comes.
I'd like to know what you think about all of this :)
Oh, and here are 5 more cultural differences I've noticed (I thought of the first two whilst in the shower haha):
1) Canadian toilets are huge water wasters. They use like 15L per flush (they aren't dual-flush), and they reset so that half the bowl is filled after each flush. Without being too crude, it makes it difficult to avoid a 'splash'...
2) Canadian showers have awesome pressure compared to Australia! Obviously no water restrictions here... and bizarrely, most of them have what appears to be an overflow outlet in the form of a tap, which has water coming out of it even when the shower is running. Haven't figured it out yet. And no, its not to make the shower a bath.
3) Canadian (or at least Quebec) cars do not require numberplates on the front. It took a while to get used to seeing nothing there, and not thinking that every car was unregistered or stolen. It makes me wonder how they do speed cameras from head-on...
4) Donuts are so much cheaper here! Well, at least at Tim Hortons, Canada's favourite coffee shop and the equivalent of Starbucks. One donut here is just $1 while an assorted dozen sets me back $6.50, whereas at Krispy Kreme in Australia they are like $2-2.50 each and $20 for an assorted dozen! As there is a "Timmies" on campus, it makes for a great treat during the night class breaks.
5) There are a lot more homeless people in major Canadian cities compared to those in Australia. Maybe they are just more obvious and are not hidden like in Brisbane, but in Montreal and particularly Toronto there can be homeless people on every corner, in subways, or even holding doors open for the public in the hope of some spare change..
Alright, time for bed. Please don't forget to leave a comment if you read this - it doesn't take much time! And it makes a world of difference for me :)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Day Five - Back to normal...
I apologise. That last post was waaayy too long. Dont get me wrong, I think that it was all worth saying, but I can understand why people wouldn't want to read it all. But I hope you enjoyed the photos.
Today was a return back to the normal Bishops life. We got up ridiculously early in the morning to return the car (note: we did 1275km all up, and the whole trip cost less than $150 for everything inc. food!), and after breakfast I slept until 2.30pm. I then continued to do nothing all day until my 3rd year marketing class, which is my favourite of the week regardless of its 7-10pm timeslot. I have since watched the latest Pixar movie 'Up' with Anton. While it was great, its probably my least favourite so far.
Actually, I also spent $225 today. More money 'down the drain', but not wasted as far as I'm concerned. Why? That money will pay for two separate trips to the snow; one to Jay Peak on the 22-24 of January including transport, breakfasts, drinks and accommodation, and one for another weekend in February to a resort called Mount Snow, apparently voted the 'Best in the East' recently. I am not going to hold back when it comes to opportunities to go skiing - thats why I came here!
In other news, I am in the process of selecting my classes for next semester, and not only should it all work out with getting credit for QUT units back home, but my timetable should thankfully be a lot more reasonable.
OK, here are my next five differences between countries that I've noticed:
1) Mobile phones are very cheap here. I had planned to buy a new SIM card to put in my Australian phone, but it would have cost $30 to activate it, plus whatever amount of credit I wanted to put on it. For the same price I scored a brand new (albeit cheap) Nokia phone with new SIM card and $25 of credit for $55. You do the math.
2) In addition to this, the rates are incredibly cheap. With my company, I pay 30c/day for 10 texts (alternatively you can do them for 15c each, or 50c/day for unlimited), and 20c/minute for calls. To send a text internationally is only 25c!!!
3) Canadians don't like spray deodorant. Almost all of it is the stick or roll-on type, and the spray ones they do have aren't the 'dry' ones that are common in Australia. Its annoying.
4) Speed is not a priority for police to enforce here. On the roadtrip, I only saw one police car for the whole time. I don't know of any fixed cameras either. This is good.
5) In Quebec, there is no such thing as KFC. Instead, they literally call the same thing 'PFK', to ensure that they are 'French'. It stands for Poulet Frit Kentucky, and the direct translation is Chicken Fried Kentucky. How bizarre - so much for everything I've learnt in marketing about 'brand consistency'.
Alright, I'm off to bed. Goodnight!
Jono
Today was a return back to the normal Bishops life. We got up ridiculously early in the morning to return the car (note: we did 1275km all up, and the whole trip cost less than $150 for everything inc. food!), and after breakfast I slept until 2.30pm. I then continued to do nothing all day until my 3rd year marketing class, which is my favourite of the week regardless of its 7-10pm timeslot. I have since watched the latest Pixar movie 'Up' with Anton. While it was great, its probably my least favourite so far.
Actually, I also spent $225 today. More money 'down the drain', but not wasted as far as I'm concerned. Why? That money will pay for two separate trips to the snow; one to Jay Peak on the 22-24 of January including transport, breakfasts, drinks and accommodation, and one for another weekend in February to a resort called Mount Snow, apparently voted the 'Best in the East' recently. I am not going to hold back when it comes to opportunities to go skiing - thats why I came here!
In other news, I am in the process of selecting my classes for next semester, and not only should it all work out with getting credit for QUT units back home, but my timetable should thankfully be a lot more reasonable.
OK, here are my next five differences between countries that I've noticed:
1) Mobile phones are very cheap here. I had planned to buy a new SIM card to put in my Australian phone, but it would have cost $30 to activate it, plus whatever amount of credit I wanted to put on it. For the same price I scored a brand new (albeit cheap) Nokia phone with new SIM card and $25 of credit for $55. You do the math.
2) In addition to this, the rates are incredibly cheap. With my company, I pay 30c/day for 10 texts (alternatively you can do them for 15c each, or 50c/day for unlimited), and 20c/minute for calls. To send a text internationally is only 25c!!!
3) Canadians don't like spray deodorant. Almost all of it is the stick or roll-on type, and the spray ones they do have aren't the 'dry' ones that are common in Australia. Its annoying.
4) Speed is not a priority for police to enforce here. On the roadtrip, I only saw one police car for the whole time. I don't know of any fixed cameras either. This is good.
5) In Quebec, there is no such thing as KFC. Instead, they literally call the same thing 'PFK', to ensure that they are 'French'. It stands for Poulet Frit Kentucky, and the direct translation is Chicken Fried Kentucky. How bizarre - so much for everything I've learnt in marketing about 'brand consistency'.
Alright, I'm off to bed. Goodnight!
Jono
Monday, November 23, 2009
Day Four - Honey, I'm home!!!
Well, here I am again. At Bishops. It was so nice to escape for a while, be on the road, see new sites, and again venture into deeper 'French' territory where I can test and learn some new vocab. With four great people too, who I got to know better than I did before :)
Last night was excellent - we drove for an hour to Chicoutimi, and by the time we got there we were starving, so our first stop was a restaurant. We were fooled into thinking that a (very) premium steakhouse which had a very 'exclusive' feel to it had meals going for $16, but we didn't realise the menu was just an artefact from 1975! Today a decent steak is $35-40 there. So we abandoned that dream and found a fast food place called St. Hubert, which is actually a proper restaurant, sort of like Pizza Hut but with a specialty in chicken. We scored a 4-course meal - i had a coleslaw salad, chicken noodle soup, quarter chicken with chips, and triple-choc brownie & icecream dessert - for the same price as a steak in 1975, meaning we left feeling very satisfied :D
After a bit of waiting around we caught a movie at the local cinema - we saw '2012', in French. A very interesting experience. Being an action movie, the script is not the most important aspect so I caught the general gist of what was happening, but would like to see it again. It was very unrealistic, but the action scenes were great and the sound exceeded that. Next stop was a club that we found in a Quebec guide - I was pessimistic and did not have high expectations, but it turned out to be fantastic! We managed to get in even though two of us were under the 21-year-old age limit, and the DJ/music was excellent with a good variety of house and rock, meaning we danced until 2.30am. It also meant that on the trip back, contrary to all expectations, I somehow fell asleep in the car.
So now we're up to today. Please tell me if you get sick of hearing every little detail - I'm not very sure what I should be writing, and compared to other blogs I see, this is very boring and to the point.
We spent most of today in the car. Originally hoping to take a new route home by taking a ferry across the river and bypassing Quebec completely (a total cost of more than $80 put a stop to that idea), we had to take the same road back that I did last time I visited the region during Thanksgiving. This was no problem though, as our little car had a good sound system and was quite comfortable - including lunch at Maccas, we didnt get home till 7.30pm. A long day indeed, I'm not sure where all that time went!
Here are the best pictures of the trip:
The start of our hike...
Our first destination (the waterfall)
The bridge over the waterfall (From left: Elodie, Me, Flora and Jezza)
What we could see above us - its massive!
What we could see below us...
Experimenting with some macro photography
The tracks were still very muddy from all the rain
Nice view in the background
A lovely clearing towards the top of the mountain
Walking around a fallen tree that had blocked the path...
This was taken further up the path of the waterfall
Obviously a beaver had been here
Some more macro photography
Beautiful colours...
Jezza and the girls (and my attempt to change the camera settings to get the blurred water effect)
Same picture with the girls...
Another massive clearing - I can't believe this is in the middle of a steep mountain!
Our lunch spot at (almost) the end of the trail
Including outhouse.
More beautiful colours
A lookout halfway up the trail
From left: Elodie, Jono, Flora, and Jerome
The upmarket steakhouse that was far too expensive for us!
Clubbing in Chicoutimi!
Me
Packing the car - we never game it a name - outside the hostel
The hostel (we were staying on the bottom floor of the house-looking thing on the right - we had it all to ourselves!)
Now for a little sidetrack:
I'm not sure who my readers are, so if you don't know already, both myself and a Swedish guy (by the name of Anton) that I'm good friends with here at Bishops are planning to do a 2 month roadtrip at the end of our second semester, starting in May. There is no definite route yet, but we are hoping to head south immediately along the east coast to Florida (making stops along the way of course) to get to the heat asap, and then head west along the bottom of the USA until we get to the west coast where we'll head north up until Seattle or something. We'll probably then head back across the top to Montreal, and fly home from there (I'll have to go via LA).
Anyway, the point of me talking about this is that we will likely be buying a 2nd hand car - preferably a station wagon with lots of room - and a tent, to make it as cheap as possible for such a long time. The roadtrip I just got back from has got me wondering whether we should be buying the car now for the Winter, or waiting till just before we leave. Here are my thoughts:
Pros:
- Convenience of always have a car for any shopping in Sherbrooke, to go to Montreal (cheaper than bus), go on roadtrips, etc
- The car could also be used regularly to get to ski destinations without worrying about finding transport. Just chuck the skis/boards in the back, charge some friends a bit to come (and cover fuel), and we can go whenever we don't have class.
- I will get my driving fix, sooner rather than later :P
Cons:
- Its obvious: The cost. While no matter what we will be buying a car, if we get one now we have to pay insurance for an extra 5 months (could be expensive), may have to buy a set of winter or summer tires (depending on what it comes with), pay for anything that may go wrong with it up until May, and of course our own fuel costs.
The cars are dirt cheap here though: I saw a used 1997 Volvo 850 wagon with 170,000km on the clock, all-wheel-drive, and two sets of tires (summer/winter) for $3900. There is no way you can get something like that in Australia! Anyway, I'll have to have a chat with Anton about it - but let me know what you think of the idea...
OK, so there is one (make that two) things I have to do before I finish up. First, I have to list my first 5 cultural differences in the series I said I would do, and I will also write a quick manual on how to post a comment on the blog for those who don't know how.
Here are 5 things that are different between Canada and Australia:
1) They have 1c coins. This means that there is no rounding up/down of prices - paying $4 for something worth $3.93 results in 7c change. The coins are useless and annoying, but i've been collecting them and hope to have a significant amount by the end of my time here. It is also worth mentioning that the 20c and 50c coins of Australia are substituted for a 25c coin (quarter) here.
2) Prices do not include taxes, or tips. It has taken me so long to get used to working out that a $15 meal is actually $20. There are two taxes totalling 12.5% on every single product sold (except private sale), and the expected tips are 15%. It sucks, and it needs to change.
3) They don't just drive on the opposite side of the road. They also walk on the 'wrong' side of the footpath, stairs, and escalators. It took me forever to get used to it!
4) Transport is expensive. Over $3 to catch a 10minute bus ride into Sherbrooke. The same price gets you a ride on Montreal's subway - it doesn't matter if you only catch it one stop or 30 stops, its the same. For a comparison, I can get a return bus trip from home to Brisbane (50min each way) for the same price. A few dollars more will get me to the Gold Coast and back! Oh, and there is only one company that can get you to Montreal from Sherbrooke, and they charge $30 per ride one way. Very, very expensive.
5) There are many language differences. They call utes 'pick up trucks', they have no idea what Maccas is until you say McDonalds, and lollies are know as 'candy' here. There are plenty more, but I might just compile a separate list just for that!
Now, how to comment (and I expect you to leave one after all this typing I've done!):
- Read the blog
- Scroll to the bottom of the post to the white box that says 'Posted by Jono at ....' and 'x Comments' (x = number of comments that have been posted so far)
- Click on the 'x Comments' button
- It should come up with a larger white box with the title 'Post a comment'
- Simply type "Jono your blog is super awesome, from _____" (or something along those lines :P)
- Click the drop-down box underneath next to the 'comment as:' bit. From there, you should be able to click 'Name/URL'
- It will then give you a section to type your name (please do!) and a URL (don't worry about), and once you click 'continue', that name should now be there next to the 'Comment as:' bit
- Simply click 'Post comment', type in the letters you see for the security/validation check that it asks you to do, and hit 'Post Comment' again. You should now see your comment there, and I'll get an email saying that someone has posted on my blog :D
Hopefully this is a good-enough explanation. If it is all too difficult, send me an email at aussie_jono@hotmail.com, or add me on skype with the username 'aussie_jono'
Till tomorrow!
Jono
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Day Three! A beautiful hike...
This will be short, gotta head out soon for an evening that is bound to be late... We woke up today to a blackout - this meant no lights, no hot water, nothing to cook our planned pancake breakfast with... that sucked.
We were out of the hostel by around 10am, then got to the base of the hike trail at 10.20am. The hike was massive and beautiful - it was exactly what I had wanted to do. It was rough terrain that you could climb without needing to use your hands, the scenery was absolutely stunning (pictures or maybe even a video will come soon), and even the weather held up. The trail followed a river from the waterfall at the bottom upwards, but there was always something new to look at, and at the end there was a little camping area that we had lunch at. It was 5km walking there and back again, and we didn't get back to the car until 3pm!
We came back here pleased to see that the electricity had been restored (apparently it was planned work), and we've had pancakes, showers, and are now heading 80km to Chicoutimi for the night. We'll either see a movie or go bowling, go to a restaurant, then go clubbing afterwards! You'll hear all about it tomorrow :)
Time to go, I'm getting rushed by everyone!
Jono
We were out of the hostel by around 10am, then got to the base of the hike trail at 10.20am. The hike was massive and beautiful - it was exactly what I had wanted to do. It was rough terrain that you could climb without needing to use your hands, the scenery was absolutely stunning (pictures or maybe even a video will come soon), and even the weather held up. The trail followed a river from the waterfall at the bottom upwards, but there was always something new to look at, and at the end there was a little camping area that we had lunch at. It was 5km walking there and back again, and we didn't get back to the car until 3pm!
We came back here pleased to see that the electricity had been restored (apparently it was planned work), and we've had pancakes, showers, and are now heading 80km to Chicoutimi for the night. We'll either see a movie or go bowling, go to a restaurant, then go clubbing afterwards! You'll hear all about it tomorrow :)
Time to go, I'm getting rushed by everyone!
Jono
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Day Two - See, I told you I'd be back!
Ok, so again it is late at night (currently 12.52am), but I am proud of myself for showing commitment to this project :D
So, how has my roadtrip been so far? Well, its been great! Unfortunately the weather has been miserable, as we all woke up to rain at 7.30am in the morning, which continued virtually all the way through the 500km drive to L'anse St Jean in the Saguenay region. I can still hear the pitter-patter outside, but it is only light compared to what it was...
Unfortunately I do not yet have a picture of our hire car, which I got all excited about when I heard it was a Pontiac G5, as the Pontiac G8 is a rebadged Holden Commordore. It ended up being a major disappointment, as the car does not have any form of central locking (yeah, you have to push the button and hold the door handle as you shut it) and must be the only car on the planet to still have manual windows. However, it somehow has a boot big enough for 4 people, the stereo is decent (has auxillary input for ipod :D), and the motor/auto transmission is quite good... thats my car rant for the day.
So we got to Quebec no problems, but once there we got lost and spent an hour driving around in circles trying to find our way out - the road signs are terrible! They make no distinction between whether hay are saying that there is an exit coming up, or whether it is informing us of the road we are already traveling on (it varied between the two a lot!). After an enjoyable drive, wee finally reached our destination at around 4pm, and to our surprise it was 'dusk' already! With the help of the low lying clouds and surrounding forests (as well as being very far north), it was as dark as midnight by 4.30pm! (see pictures below for proof!)
Anyway, the hostel itself is wonderful. It is one floor beneath a house (belonging to the owners), and it contains probably 4 or 5 rooms for different groups that choose to stay here. It is about 80km from the nearest major city (Chicoutimi), and to get here we had to drive up a rough, sometimes-steep road to get to the 'middle of nowhere'. But it is beautiful from what we've seen in the dark :P It is clean, has a wonderful kitchen, decent bedrooms, a nice area to play boardgames or use their computer to access free internet (there is also wifi offered, which is what I'm using on my laptop). The bathroom appears to be very luxurious with the showered descending from the roof, but the water just seems to fall from it, with absolutely no pressure at all… its even worse than what we have in Brisbane!!!
So tonight we went to the local grocery store to buy some food, and had some wine with peanut buttered toast, followed by steaks and pasta cooked up by Jezza and myself. We subsequently started to play the boardgame 'Risk', which was good fun but took even longer than Monopoly to finish, so we ended up packing up early. All the while we had my portable speakers playing, and we then attempted to watch a movie (it was now around 12am), but we were all falling asleep. So here I am now, sitting on the top bed on a bunk bed, with Jerome, Flora (both from Switzerland) and Elodie (from France) sleeping soundly as my laptop whirrs…
Tomorrow, we plan to cook pancakes (no premade mixes!), have some cereal, and do a decent hike before it gets dark early. Then we'll head to Chicoutimi and maybe see a movie (preferable 2012 in English!), go to a restaurant, and then go to a bar or club after that. Should be a good day! As you know, you'll (hopefully) hear all about it tomorrow!
Below are some of the best photos I've take so far :) Oh, and please remember to say hello via a comment! I like to know who is reading!
Till next time,
Jono.
P.S. After posting the 16 photos, it is now 1.44am... took a lot longer to do this one! Goodnight!
(Roadtrip!)
(Beautiful scene during drive in Quebec)
(Elodie, looking sly as our awesome driver)
(Jezza was the first to fall asleep, before we even got to Quebec...)
(Yep, the Christmas lights are up already!)
(Proof that it really was dark at 4.30pm!)
(low-lying clouds in the mountain forests)
(the beautiful streets of Quebec - can't wait to have a better look when my family comes over in December!!!)
(This thing is meant for brushing your teeth right? Apparently not. Its for cleaning the snow and ice off the car. If only there was some in the first place...)
Dinner at the hostel!
Cheers!
The bedroom at the hostel - good quality for $20/night!!!
The kitchen - its got everything! Except salt, which we had to borrow from the owners :P
The gang (from left): Me, Flora, Jerome, and Elodie
Playing the game 'Risk' - note how I (blue characters) almost conquered North America!!!
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