Another two weeks have passed and it seems that now, so close to my return to Germany, summer is coming to Vancouver. I spend the last weeks with climbing and relaxing and also visited friends that I haven't seen in a while.
Currently I am planning a BBQ party for my going away. When that is over, it will be time to say goodbye.
Goodbye to one year full of adventure, road trips, great people, parties, beautiful places and inner peace. So many memories are popping up in my mind right now:
climbing in Squamish, summer BBQs in Vancouver, Bruno's Crew along the west coast, hiking the Chief, Victoria and Vancouver Island, house parties, the amazing Sunshine Coast, Christmas with friends, New Years Eve and Avi's crazy party, Hawaii and the Waikiki Yacht Club, with Alex Supertramp to Yukon and Alaska, sunshine on the deck... .
A lot of people asked me these days how I feel about leaving Canada and going back to Germany. I have to admit that this is a really difficult question but I will definitely go with one sad and one happy eye. I am really looking forward to Germany, to all my friends and family and yes, also to good but cheap beer! Although this will mean the end to my Canadian adventure, I know that there are endless possibilities ahead and millions of promising places waiting to be explored.
Will it also be the end of the path of the maple? I don't think so. This path is endless and has no destination. You never know where it's gonna lead you and even though it might change its name, it will still go on into unknown territory full of new experiences. Today before writing this update I thought to myself: "Wow, that's gonna be the last post on my blog!". But now I realize: "No, it is not the last one! There will be hundreds and thousands to follow!". It makes life so exciting and adventurous because I don't know when the next post will go online or where I will wright it but there will be another one!
Enough of this philosophical bla-bla!
I was often asked about my highlights or my favorite places that I have visited throughout the last year. I will try to answer these questions as good as I can. To be honest, it will be tough to do it because I haven't even realized what happened in the past 12 month. Everything that I have seen and experienced is so surreal that it will take time to fully relive my trips.
What was the deepest experience on my trip?
- definitely the fire walk seminar in the Rockies that gave me a completely new feeling about what my body and mind is able to do
What was the most amazing place that I have been to?
- I guess that would have to be the Grand Canyon; I still remember the first moment we have seen the vast valley in the early morning and the endless time after that when we stood on the edge without being able to speak or even to breathe, overwhelmed by the scenery in front of us; I never had a similar feeling although I have seen other amazing spots (like the Icefield Parkway in Albert or the active volcanoes on Hawaii)
What was the most adventurous trip I have been on?
- driving up to the Yukon and Alaska in winter, spending nights at -30°C, driving through pure wilderness without any cars coming from the front or from behind for hundreds of kilometers
I could go on and on but I think everything is said and done and now I will lean back and relax the next days before going back home towards my next big adventure...wherever that might be! ;)
May 19, 2011
May 4, 2011
North - Part V: The return
With still a few weeks ahead until leaving the country, I decided it would be time to give a short update on the last part of our Alaskan adventure and the time in Revelstoke and Golden where I relived my woofing work of last summer.
But let's get back to Alaska first: To cut a long story short, we took almost the same route back that we went up. We were thinking of following a different highway south - called the "Highway of Tears" - but got rid of this idea pretty quick. Not necessarily because of all the crime that happened and still happens along that route, but rather because the road conditions were really difficult. After arriving in Alaska safely and without major problems, we didn't want to challenge our luck by taking a way back that we actually didn't know.
If you think that taking the same road back would be boring, let me tell you this: We were exactly thinking the same but surprisingly were taught otherwise. Simply because a huge amount of snow melted throughout our journey through Alaska, all the spots we have been before suddenly looked extremely different. Sometimes we were really wondering, if we actually came through these areas before.
Let me tell you the highlights of our way back:
1. Finding work in Whitehorse part I
After getting back to Whitehorse, we immediately applied for jobs up in the north. At that time the whole town was looking for employees: restaurants, coffee shops (they payed a surprisingly big amount of wage compared to Vancouver), diamond mines, oil companies, provincial parks, etc.
2. A weekend in Skagway
We decided to use the time we waited for the reply of the several companies to drive down to Skagway and back into Alaska, this time however to the so called "pan handle", a strip of the State that stretches along the coast in the west of British Columbia.
Only one road leads from Whitehorse to the town of Skagway following a path through the mountains down to the ocean. Halfway we found a tiny little border patrol where we met the friendliest border officer every. We thought that guy would invite us in for a cup of coffee right away. He was a real delight and a role model for all the other officers along the Canadian - U.S. border.
Skagway is a wild western-like, quiet little town.When we arrived it seemed like no one would live in that town - a ghost town awaited us at the ocean.
However, by the number of shops, cafes and restaurants you could tell that in the summer time, when all the ferries up to Alaska arrive in town, it would suddenly come to life and fill with tourists from all over the world.
Not so when we arrived in town. That was why we took a small gravel road further along the coast line into a recreation area where we spent the night.
At this spot the salty water from the ocean meets the river water from the mountains and creates a sanctuary for seals, otters, bald eagles, bears, elks, moose, etc.
The next days we hiked a little bit of the famous Chilkoot trail, visited a real old ghost town and finally drove back to Whitehorse.
3. Finding work in Whitehorse part II
Since we haven't heard back from any of the companies that we sent applications to, we thought that it would take to much time to call or get there in person. So we continued on our way home.
4. Old friends
In the Interior of BC we met several of old friends within days: First we hit the town of Quesnel again where we met our lovely Swiss family again. They invited us over to stay for another night and we spent the evening watching movies, eating crepes and drinking beer.
At the town of "100 Mile House" we met up with Nicole, my former roommate form Vancouver. At that time she worked as a social worker on a farm not far out of town.
5. Highway 99
Instead of going further south to finally hit highway 1, we turned west on highway 99, a winding, steep road through canyons towards the Coast Mountains of Whistler and Squamish.
This road is beautiful and if anyone of you might take this route in the future, make sure to stop at the first rest area to the left. It is like a small camping ground right at a little lake. This spot is beautiful and ideal to spend a night or more.
Vancouver welcomed us with tons of rain and we arrived at Rob's place where we stayed for several nights where Richard and I prepared for going to the Rockies to wwoof.
I chose the same spots as last summer (Amble Inn, Revelstoke and Goldenwood Lodge in Golden).
We stayed at the Amble Inn with Stephanie, her new boyfriend Dusty, Rene and Thomas, another wwoofer from Bavaria.
Within these two weeks we had lots of fun but also a load of work to do in and around the house. Although the temperatures were warm (sometimes even up to 20°C), there were piles of snow all around the house....some of them around 2m high.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell the story about the Amble Inn Flood of April 2011:
At one night around 3am I woke up and heard what I thought was heavy rain. I still remember my first thought: "Oh, no. The day before has been cloudless and nice! Too bad weather changes so quickly here!". I decided to get back to sleep but was interrupted by Rene who came running down the stairs to the basement where Richard and I slept.
He yelled and screamed and I - still half asleep - heard him in the next room where he twiddle with a switch. Out of a sudden the sound of "rain" stopped and I knew that my suggestion was completely wrong.
When I got out of the bed, I realized it right away: A water pipe broke and flooded the basement within half an hour. The water stood two inches from the ground.
We immediately started pumping out the water and taking it out in buckets. The whole process lasted for three hours until we finally had everything under control and could go back to bed.
Besides fighting water we also went for a short hike to the Frog Falls which we never arrived because we always heard them but with all that snow couldn't figure out the way to go.
Lots of bonfires, delicious meals and apple crisp stood in contrast to the work and the swimming in the pools of Revelstoke.
When we arrived we prepared a house concert for "Sisrter Girl", the country band of Stephanie and her friends.
Their show was awesome and helped to raise some funds for the production of their new album.
In between I hitchhiked to Golden where I spent a night at the Goldenwood Lodge with Barbara and Andy.
Apparently, they had a lot of visitors (all Swiss!!!), friends and former wwoofers at that time. We made pizza in the evening and went to a concert of country singer Tim Hus. I really had a great time with them again and wish I could have had more time to stay with them.
Now being back in Vancouver again, I have to decide what to do within the remaining few weeks. I am not going to tell when exactly I will be back. Apparently, the date of my return was not kept secretly enough by those who knew it. I still hope that I can surprise at least some of my friends with my arrival in Germany.
But that is future talk! :-)
But let's get back to Alaska first: To cut a long story short, we took almost the same route back that we went up. We were thinking of following a different highway south - called the "Highway of Tears" - but got rid of this idea pretty quick. Not necessarily because of all the crime that happened and still happens along that route, but rather because the road conditions were really difficult. After arriving in Alaska safely and without major problems, we didn't want to challenge our luck by taking a way back that we actually didn't know.
If you think that taking the same road back would be boring, let me tell you this: We were exactly thinking the same but surprisingly were taught otherwise. Simply because a huge amount of snow melted throughout our journey through Alaska, all the spots we have been before suddenly looked extremely different. Sometimes we were really wondering, if we actually came through these areas before.
Let me tell you the highlights of our way back:
1. Finding work in Whitehorse part I
After getting back to Whitehorse, we immediately applied for jobs up in the north. At that time the whole town was looking for employees: restaurants, coffee shops (they payed a surprisingly big amount of wage compared to Vancouver), diamond mines, oil companies, provincial parks, etc.
2. A weekend in Skagway
We decided to use the time we waited for the reply of the several companies to drive down to Skagway and back into Alaska, this time however to the so called "pan handle", a strip of the State that stretches along the coast in the west of British Columbia.
Only one road leads from Whitehorse to the town of Skagway following a path through the mountains down to the ocean. Halfway we found a tiny little border patrol where we met the friendliest border officer every. We thought that guy would invite us in for a cup of coffee right away. He was a real delight and a role model for all the other officers along the Canadian - U.S. border.
Skagway is a wild western-like, quiet little town.When we arrived it seemed like no one would live in that town - a ghost town awaited us at the ocean.
However, by the number of shops, cafes and restaurants you could tell that in the summer time, when all the ferries up to Alaska arrive in town, it would suddenly come to life and fill with tourists from all over the world.
Not so when we arrived in town. That was why we took a small gravel road further along the coast line into a recreation area where we spent the night.
At this spot the salty water from the ocean meets the river water from the mountains and creates a sanctuary for seals, otters, bald eagles, bears, elks, moose, etc.
The next days we hiked a little bit of the famous Chilkoot trail, visited a real old ghost town and finally drove back to Whitehorse.
3. Finding work in Whitehorse part II
Since we haven't heard back from any of the companies that we sent applications to, we thought that it would take to much time to call or get there in person. So we continued on our way home.
4. Old friends
In the Interior of BC we met several of old friends within days: First we hit the town of Quesnel again where we met our lovely Swiss family again. They invited us over to stay for another night and we spent the evening watching movies, eating crepes and drinking beer.
At the town of "100 Mile House" we met up with Nicole, my former roommate form Vancouver. At that time she worked as a social worker on a farm not far out of town.
5. Highway 99
Instead of going further south to finally hit highway 1, we turned west on highway 99, a winding, steep road through canyons towards the Coast Mountains of Whistler and Squamish.
This road is beautiful and if anyone of you might take this route in the future, make sure to stop at the first rest area to the left. It is like a small camping ground right at a little lake. This spot is beautiful and ideal to spend a night or more.
Vancouver welcomed us with tons of rain and we arrived at Rob's place where we stayed for several nights where Richard and I prepared for going to the Rockies to wwoof.
I chose the same spots as last summer (Amble Inn, Revelstoke and Goldenwood Lodge in Golden).
We stayed at the Amble Inn with Stephanie, her new boyfriend Dusty, Rene and Thomas, another wwoofer from Bavaria.
Within these two weeks we had lots of fun but also a load of work to do in and around the house. Although the temperatures were warm (sometimes even up to 20°C), there were piles of snow all around the house....some of them around 2m high.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell the story about the Amble Inn Flood of April 2011:
At one night around 3am I woke up and heard what I thought was heavy rain. I still remember my first thought: "Oh, no. The day before has been cloudless and nice! Too bad weather changes so quickly here!". I decided to get back to sleep but was interrupted by Rene who came running down the stairs to the basement where Richard and I slept.
He yelled and screamed and I - still half asleep - heard him in the next room where he twiddle with a switch. Out of a sudden the sound of "rain" stopped and I knew that my suggestion was completely wrong.
When I got out of the bed, I realized it right away: A water pipe broke and flooded the basement within half an hour. The water stood two inches from the ground.
We immediately started pumping out the water and taking it out in buckets. The whole process lasted for three hours until we finally had everything under control and could go back to bed.
Besides fighting water we also went for a short hike to the Frog Falls which we never arrived because we always heard them but with all that snow couldn't figure out the way to go.
Lots of bonfires, delicious meals and apple crisp stood in contrast to the work and the swimming in the pools of Revelstoke.
When we arrived we prepared a house concert for "Sisrter Girl", the country band of Stephanie and her friends.
Their show was awesome and helped to raise some funds for the production of their new album.
In between I hitchhiked to Golden where I spent a night at the Goldenwood Lodge with Barbara and Andy.
Apparently, they had a lot of visitors (all Swiss!!!), friends and former wwoofers at that time. We made pizza in the evening and went to a concert of country singer Tim Hus. I really had a great time with them again and wish I could have had more time to stay with them.
Now being back in Vancouver again, I have to decide what to do within the remaining few weeks. I am not going to tell when exactly I will be back. Apparently, the date of my return was not kept secretly enough by those who knew it. I still hope that I can surprise at least some of my friends with my arrival in Germany.
But that is future talk! :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)