Vancouver Island

4,771 km

Nanaimo and Mount Benson

I arrived in Nanaimo on Thursday night and spent a day in and around town. I stayed at the painted turtle guesthouse which was a great and cheep hostel in Nanaimo. 

I decided to take in some outdoors on my own to decompress a little and headed out to hike Mount Benson. I headed up early and already the cloud cover was thick and low, but it did not stop me. I decided to give it a try and hope the sun pops out and visibility improves. 



I got to about the 2,000ft level just after a gruelling steep rock exposure area that you must pull yourself up with ropes. It was fun! Once I got to this point I decided to turn back as visibility did not improve and was not worth teeming on.

I head back to Nanaimo and picked up a six pack of beer and hung out on an embankment in Maffeo Sutton Park and ate lunch and a Nanaimo Bar. The park offers great views of the harbour and surrounding islands, and it was cool to watch all the sea planes take off and land!

Summer Solstice

Later I caught a ride with Mattis from couch surfing down to a summer solstice party near lake Cowichan. The party was fun with great food, music, morning yoga on a lake, and great people. We all camped there and I chose a remote spot to set up camp in the quiet surround of the forest. 


I onlly have this one photo from the solstice party. Haha.

At the party I met Ruth, Malinda, and Dominique and as a group we drove down to Victoria with a stop to hike at Goldstream Provincial Park to climb Mt. Findlay. 

Mt. Findlay offers some great views of Victoria, the Jaun de Fuca straight, and the day we were up there we could even see the Olympic Mountains over in Washington State. A great ending to the longest day of the year.

Victoria

I spent Sunday milling about and taking in the scenes from around Victoria. I started by walking downtown and checking out Chinatown and the surrounding hood. I found a neat little cigar shop called Goodfellas Cigar Shop. The shop has a great selection of cigars, pipe tobacco, pipes from England and Ireland, and even hot sauces! This was not your typical tobacco vendor.

 Next I found a nice bakery called Cascadia Bakery, and it offers a wide selection of pastries, breads, beverages, and sandwiches at reasonable prices.

I then went to the Swans Liquor store and picked up a bomber of Philips White IPA and wandered along the waterfront and across the historic draw bridge to Songhees point.

Songhees Point offers a spectacular view of the Victoria harbour, downtown and the parliament of BC. I sat on the rock bluffs and drank my beer and watched as the ships, rowers, planes, and even a little pirate boat drifted by.

Swans brewpub was my next stop. Being in the craft brewing capital of Canada, I felt I should take I. A bit of the great craft beer there is to offer. Swans brewpub is on pandora street and has an awesome and bright glass enclosed patio and awesome beer. There is also a hotel upstairs if you can't find your way home. 

Now it is Monday and I'm going to head back to Vancouver this afternoon, but I will go for another walkabout through Victoria and discover some more gems hopefully.

W

Final Leg of the Trans-Canada

4,570 km

The rest of my Trans-Canada adventure took me from Saskatoon to Vancouver via a night in Kelwona. I got a ride back with my team mate Daniel from East Van Bike Polo, and stayed with his family in Kelowna.

It was a beautiful drive through the pacific coastal mountains, winding down to the coast on the Coquihalla hwy. The Coquihalla highway is awesome as it winds around the tops of the mountains offering great views of the valleys and rivers. 

At one point near Merrit, BC I couldn't help the feeling of nostalgia as the scenery and look of the mountains and valley looked distinctly like Jindabyne, Australia(a small ski town I had visited several times as a kid)

All in all it was a superb journey across the country and an amazing way to see my country before I see the world!

Enjoy a few more of the pictures I took along the way.

W

Polo on the Prairie, Saskatoon

3,000 km - Saskatoon was the location of my second bike polo tournament ever and first stop to my journey. I arrived on Wednesday the 12th of June 2013 in Saskatoon and couch surfed at Ashtons place the first night there.

Ashton had an apartment juts north of downtown Saskatoon and was gracious enough to host me on short notice. Another great surfing experience and I left his place to stay with a fellow bike polo'er Daren and his family the next day which was an incredibly kind gesture by them.

Thursday and Friday I tried to see as much as I could but because of monsoon like rain I was penned up for most of the two days. I did meet Bryn and Will and there friends and family at a great Mexican restaurant/music venue just off Broadway Ave on Wednesday evening. The restaurant was called Amigo's Cantina and is at the corner of Dufferin and 10th Street. It is cheap and family friendly till 9pm. They serve a wide mix of meat, vegetarian, and pub fare dishes, and I got a great veggie burger.

On Friday my team mate Daniel arrived and we went an found a great diner on Saskatoon west side. The diner was called Park Cafe Diner, and it had a cheep breakfast special as we some really good eggs benny's. Later in the day we built the polo court for the tournament and after being soaked by a monsoon, the weather broke and the sun came out while we assembled. Afterward we played some great pickup with the folks from Saskatoon and Calgary.

For the third annual Polo On the Prairie tournament teams made it out from Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Vancouver making me the farthest traveled for the tourney. It was a full round of seeding on Saturday and the rain kept coming. Sunday morning we played one more game of seeding and our team(DDT) finished in 2nd place in the seeding round.

On Sunday the weather was overcast and rainy but we made due, and the double elimination rounds started. Because we finished in 2nd place in the seeding we got a bye in the first round of games, and ended up playing the 5th seed instead of the 9th seed. We ended up losing and were into the elimination round. In the elimination round after a few arguable mistakes by the refs we were out of the tournament in second last place.

Tough last day but we had fun, I played the best polo of my life, and it left me wishing I could be back next year. So many great friends were met and the level of polo witnessed was great. I am also happy I was not the only one that hit the bottle after we were knocked out... Mark Leoppky... To bad I didn't win a new frame!

It was an awesome tournament and the sponsors, city of Saskatoon, and Saskatoon Bike Polo, should be so proud!

Here are some photos from the next day's paper in Saskatoon. Photographs by: Liam Richards, The StarPhoenix

W

The Begining Of My World Journey

Welcome! June 10th, 2013 marks the day that I started my journey around the globe. So exciting!

For those of you that don't know me or know my story, I'll fill you in with a quick intro. My name is Wes, I am 23 and from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

When I was 22, I quit my government job due to personal reasons mainly to do with being to young for the 9-5 life, and a strong desire to travel. I packed up with no real plan and no friends on the west coast and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. After a little thinking and time to clear my head I decided that I have the resources and the will to travel around the globe. About 8 months after living in Vancouver I briefly moved home(Ottawa) to get some stuff in order and spend a bit of time with loved ones.

So here I sit in a Saskatoon coffee shop about 3,000 km from home, and 3 days into my journey of more than 40,000 km.

I write in a journal, and for this post I will be posting what I have written about the last three days prior.

10-June-2013, The Start

"This morning began with a tough goodbye to my Mom and Dad all after a day prior of goodbyes to my brother, aunts, uncles, and lots of friends. It was very hard but I know they are all proud of me and are sending me lots of love. They know I will have them in my thoughts eternally along my journey.

I started the journey via a rideshare with Greg from Fredricton, NB. Day one was good with our drive taking us through Northern Ontario, just past Sault Ste. Marie, to Pancake Bay Provincial Park.The provincial park cost us 20$ each for a campsite and is located on the mighty Lake Superior, the largest lake in the world(by surface area).

This evening I enjoyed a camp meal of Cous Cous with dried veggies, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and some misc spices. Of course the meal was accompanied by a few James Ready 5.5 beers. Tomorrow I will write form near the Ontario/Manitoba border.

Peace"

11-June-2013, Day Two

"Hello World, I will obviously not be writing a blog post everyday but it is the beginning of my journey and I am excited.

Today was a good day of travel with a spectacular drive through the Lake Superior region and ends here, in Manitoba, just past the border. If you ever do this drive across Canada and the weather is nice, it is totally worth the few extra hours to take Highway 17 over the 11. We holed up in a bush clearing about 50 meters off the Trans Canada Hwy.

This was my very first experience 'wild-camping' and it was a little nervy at first as I was not sure what the repercussions are for doing so, but as the saying goes, 'No harm, No Foul'. It actually became more relaxing after the initial nerves where sorted, the thunderous sound of the transport trucks going by was quite soothing after a while.

Anyway, that is all for now. Peace and good night."

So now I find myself in Saskatoon for 5 days for a bike polo tournament. Check in next week for a blog post updating this stop!

W