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deathpixie) wrote2002-09-12 04:09 pm
deathpixie) wrote2002-09-12 04:09 pm
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This week in Walkabout. Part 3
11/9/2002.
Had to stop yesterday’s entry on account of the battery on my computer punking out on me. After that I sat up a bit later, watching the crescent moon rise over the trees and writing a letter to Mel – must find an envelope and post that tomorrow – by the light of the citronella candles. And strangely enough, the mozzies decided to stop bugging me around the same time Gerg sought refuge in the tent and ended up falling asleep in the middle of his own travelling notes. I woke him by crawling out of my clothes and into my sleeping bag sometime round nine – there’s not much to do on a campsite when you’re running behind budget – and we chatted a while before passing out again. Apparently there were Northern Lights last night; and I’m impossible to wake. Surprising, considering Gerg’s nocturnal concerts do wake me up, but shaking my shoulder doesn’t. I’ve told him to be a bit more vigorous next time. And to duck.
This entry comes to you from the International Hostel in Calgary, Alberta. Yep, anothe r province, although not another time zone. This time. It’s a brief stopover, really, enough to grab some stuff from the Mountain Co-operative (an outdoor equipment place I have membership for from my first visit to Canada) and try to update things compu ter-wise. Or at least that was the plan. The internet services here are those basic coin-operated things without the disc drive, so this account of the last two weeks stays on the iBook for another day at least. We’ve just come back from getting dinner at the Falafel King – Gerg’s back is out and he’s too wasted to do much more than lie still and whimper. I’ve given him some ibuprofen and hopefully that and a semi-comfortable bed for the night (without me kicking him periodically) will help things out. It looks like I might be doing some of the driving tomorrow, which will be fun, since it’s up into the Rockies via the Icefields Parkway. We’ll see how it goes.
So, today was Moose Jaw to Calgary. Not as long a drive as some, and we made it to Medicine Hat by lunchtime and through both Dexcon CDs. We stopped at the IGA supermarket (which is becoming a close personal friend) and got some fresh stuff for sandwiches, and then headed to the information centre and then a park, after loading up with free pamphle ts at said centre. And my $2 map of Alberta which has street maps for all the major (and not so major) cities. It came in handy today, hitting Calgary, that’s for sure.
At Medicine Hat we had to make a decision on our course – continue up the Trans Canad a Highway and see the badlands, or divert to Smashed-In-Head-Buffalo-Jump. We chose the badlands, so I’ll describe briefly the whole weird place name thing. There are several places in Canada, especially around here, called Buffalo Jumps. They’re sites wh ere the Native Indians drove buffalo off cliffs for easy meat production. Smashed-In-Head gets its name from the rather foolish brave who decided to watch the whole thing from the bottom of the cliff and got flattened by several hundred tonnes off falling buffalo. Hence the Head-Smashed-In bit.
The badlands, about half way between Medicine Hat and Calgary, are a truly alien landscape of eroded sandstone gullies, with oases of cottonwood groves wending through them where the creeks flow. Honestly, it’s li ke walking on the moon on some parts, as the photos will show. It’s also the site for most of the major dinosaur fossil finds – museums all over the country have bones from this area, including the most complete (to date) Tyrannasaurus Rex skeleton ever f ound. We did a bit of walking around – unfortunately the information centres had all closed, being off season now – and saw a mule deer, which adds to my native animal collection. Include also buffalo, a paddock-full of which we saw on the way into the Di nosaur Provincial Park. All of my final illusions about Canada were shattered – this place was basically a desert, hot, dry and even with cactus.
It was getting late and Gerg’s back was getting painful – so we contented ourselves with a short wander and then continued the trek north-west. Actually, north, then west, straight into the setting sun. And considering Calgary is but in the foothills of the Rockies and not in the mountains themselves (actually, they’re stealth mountains – we were looking at th em for a couple of hours before realising they were hiding behind the cloudline) and trees are scarce in this part of Canada, it meant no relief. At one point we couldn’t read street signs or see the traffic lights, so it’s a good thing we made it in safe ly. Especially when you consider Calgary’s street layout was designed by a psychotic with no imagination for names. Basically the street names repeat – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. NE, SE, SW, or NW, depending where you are. So after unsuccessfully looking for the hostel in 7th Ave NE instead of SE, we were a bit frazzled. Even more so when Gerg inadvertently drove down a train track – it’s like those bits in Melbourne that go from shared carriageway to tram-only. But we got here okay and we’re planning to head in to the Rockies tomorrow.
And on that note, I think I’ll wander downstairs with a couple of toonies ($2 coins here), and check my email to see if there’s anything urgent.
(Addendum: Thanks Dad!)
***
12/9/2002.
Banff has a Net Café with laptop plug-i n. Oh happy day. :)
We’re just signing in before disappearing for a while in the Rockies Wilderness. It’s absolutely amazing here, and I can’t wait to get my feet on those trails. Going Luddite for about a week – possibly not even places to plug this thi ng into electricity. So we may be incommunicado for a week or so. That being said, I think Jasper will have a Net café too, or at least the library has access, so I may check in before then.
ϲ
Had to stop yesterday’s entry on account of the battery on my computer punking out on me. After that I sat up a bit later, watching the crescent moon rise over the trees and writing a letter to Mel – must find an envelope and post that tomorrow – by the light of the citronella candles. And strangely enough, the mozzies decided to stop bugging me around the same time Gerg sought refuge in the tent and ended up falling asleep in the middle of his own travelling notes. I woke him by crawling out of my clothes and into my sleeping bag sometime round nine – there’s not much to do on a campsite when you’re running behind budget – and we chatted a while before passing out again. Apparently there were Northern Lights last night; and I’m impossible to wake. Surprising, considering Gerg’s nocturnal concerts do wake me up, but shaking my shoulder doesn’t. I’ve told him to be a bit more vigorous next time. And to duck.
This entry comes to you from the International Hostel in Calgary, Alberta. Yep, anothe r province, although not another time zone. This time. It’s a brief stopover, really, enough to grab some stuff from the Mountain Co-operative (an outdoor equipment place I have membership for from my first visit to Canada) and try to update things compu ter-wise. Or at least that was the plan. The internet services here are those basic coin-operated things without the disc drive, so this account of the last two weeks stays on the iBook for another day at least. We’ve just come back from getting dinner at the Falafel King – Gerg’s back is out and he’s too wasted to do much more than lie still and whimper. I’ve given him some ibuprofen and hopefully that and a semi-comfortable bed for the night (without me kicking him periodically) will help things out. It looks like I might be doing some of the driving tomorrow, which will be fun, since it’s up into the Rockies via the Icefields Parkway. We’ll see how it goes.
So, today was Moose Jaw to Calgary. Not as long a drive as some, and we made it to Medicine Hat by lunchtime and through both Dexcon CDs. We stopped at the IGA supermarket (which is becoming a close personal friend) and got some fresh stuff for sandwiches, and then headed to the information centre and then a park, after loading up with free pamphle ts at said centre. And my $2 map of Alberta which has street maps for all the major (and not so major) cities. It came in handy today, hitting Calgary, that’s for sure.
At Medicine Hat we had to make a decision on our course – continue up the Trans Canad a Highway and see the badlands, or divert to Smashed-In-Head-Buffalo-Jump. We chose the badlands, so I’ll describe briefly the whole weird place name thing. There are several places in Canada, especially around here, called Buffalo Jumps. They’re sites wh ere the Native Indians drove buffalo off cliffs for easy meat production. Smashed-In-Head gets its name from the rather foolish brave who decided to watch the whole thing from the bottom of the cliff and got flattened by several hundred tonnes off falling buffalo. Hence the Head-Smashed-In bit.
The badlands, about half way between Medicine Hat and Calgary, are a truly alien landscape of eroded sandstone gullies, with oases of cottonwood groves wending through them where the creeks flow. Honestly, it’s li ke walking on the moon on some parts, as the photos will show. It’s also the site for most of the major dinosaur fossil finds – museums all over the country have bones from this area, including the most complete (to date) Tyrannasaurus Rex skeleton ever f ound. We did a bit of walking around – unfortunately the information centres had all closed, being off season now – and saw a mule deer, which adds to my native animal collection. Include also buffalo, a paddock-full of which we saw on the way into the Di nosaur Provincial Park. All of my final illusions about Canada were shattered – this place was basically a desert, hot, dry and even with cactus.
It was getting late and Gerg’s back was getting painful – so we contented ourselves with a short wander and then continued the trek north-west. Actually, north, then west, straight into the setting sun. And considering Calgary is but in the foothills of the Rockies and not in the mountains themselves (actually, they’re stealth mountains – we were looking at th em for a couple of hours before realising they were hiding behind the cloudline) and trees are scarce in this part of Canada, it meant no relief. At one point we couldn’t read street signs or see the traffic lights, so it’s a good thing we made it in safe ly. Especially when you consider Calgary’s street layout was designed by a psychotic with no imagination for names. Basically the street names repeat – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. NE, SE, SW, or NW, depending where you are. So after unsuccessfully looking for the hostel in 7th Ave NE instead of SE, we were a bit frazzled. Even more so when Gerg inadvertently drove down a train track – it’s like those bits in Melbourne that go from shared carriageway to tram-only. But we got here okay and we’re planning to head in to the Rockies tomorrow.
And on that note, I think I’ll wander downstairs with a couple of toonies ($2 coins here), and check my email to see if there’s anything urgent.
(Addendum: Thanks Dad!)
***
12/9/2002.
Banff has a Net Café with laptop plug-i n. Oh happy day. :)
We’re just signing in before disappearing for a while in the Rockies Wilderness. It’s absolutely amazing here, and I can’t wait to get my feet on those trails. Going Luddite for about a week – possibly not even places to plug this thi ng into electricity. So we may be incommunicado for a week or so. That being said, I think Jasper will have a Net café too, or at least the library has access, so I may check in before then.
ϲ