This week in Walkabout. Part 2

8/9/2002

Another day, another motel room. Not the best for the budget, but at 10.20pm on a Sunday night in Brandon, there isn’t much else to do in the way of accommodation. Especially when it’s been raining and the camp grounds are muddy and dark. Beside s, we didn’t actually spend much money in Thunder Bay on account of the wonderful hospitality of Greg and Eva (conveniently ignoring Salvation Army Store splurges), so I think it’s an acceptable cost. Gerg has been driving all day again too – I must remem ber to purchase hand gun so I can force him at gunpoint to let me drive *grins* - and I’m thinking comfortable sleep is going to be a Good Thing. And there are showers.

Today was another Driving Day. Thunder Bay to Brandon. We had intended to stop at Wi nnepeg, which we hit around six pm, but there wasn’t much in the way of camping accommodation and Gerg was keen to get a bit more distance covered, so on we went, nominating Portage La Prairie as the next point of stoppage. As the name suggests, it’s on the plains, which start not long after you cross the border from Ontario to Manitoba. I think. I fell asleep at some point after Kemora and when I woke up it was Manitoba and flat and relatively tree-less. At least compared to the forests of Ontario, it’s tree-less. However, when we hit it – at about eight – we decided to stop only for food and then continue onto Brandon, another 200 km on.

So basically today was drive-y. There were also blueberries, wild ones, being sold in Kemora, a white horse statue outside Winnepeg which has another of those nifty native myths attached, and lots of talking and music and thinking and just general Road Trippiness. Tomorrow is Moose Jaw, where we’re intending to stay a couple of days. It has mineral spas. :)

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10/9/2002

*swats at yet another Super-Powered Mosquito of Doom*

Greetings from Moose Jaw!

We’ve been here two days, and infuriatingly determined (and repellent-proof) mosquitoes aside, it’s a nice place. Friendly, strangely un-provincial for somewhere which is effectively in the middle of nowhere, and it has some nifty tourist attractions.

Yesterday morning saw us depart the Midway Motel in Brandon at a semi-reasonable hour in the morning after complimentary coffee and toast, and the first newspaper I’ve seen in a month and a half. Not terribly much in the ways of international news, tho’ – it was the local paper. Makes me wonder what’s going on out there in the world at large, and home in particular. Any chance of some emails with the edited highlight s? Such as just what’s going on with the Democrats?

The Great Plains of Canada are known for being, well, plain, and that’s exactly what they are. Miles upon miles of wheat in a perfectly flat landscape, with the occasional rolling hill for a change of s cene. It’s beautiful, in a cultivated kind of way, and you can see why it’s the bread basket of Canada (and beyond). I got to experience them from behind the driver’s wheel for the first time, and after the initial stall as a result of not being able to hear the engine on account of loud music, I did okay. Practice is definitely something I need in the driving area. But I don’t want it badly enough to get a car, just yet. I’d turn into a complete slob if I did. ;)

We hit Regina sometime around lunchtime, after crossing the Manitoba-Saskatchawan border somewhere past Brandon. It’s a really nice city, rising out of the plains like a man-made Uluru. We stopped at the information centre, and got directions (and a bunch of maps and pamphlets) to a vegetarian restaurant called Heliotrope. In glorious sunshine – Regina is known as Canada’s sunniest capital – we walked down from where we parked, and sat in the courtyard at the front, where we were investigated by curious bees. Ordinarily I would wax poetic about the food at this place, but after a week of road stops and fried food, I blissed out completely on steamed veggies and brown rice with miso and seaweed. And Gerg was equally happy, especially with his introduction to chai. Such was the atmosphere (aided by the extremely friendly and cute waiter who likes Aussie accents) that we stayed an hour and a half, missing the Mountie Parade at the Academy.

Yes, Regina is the home of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and we headed down to the museum for a rather educational wander. And yes, Nana, I got you something. Not the entire Mountie – they wouldn’t let him through quarantine.

After the museum we headed down to the Wascana Park (Wascana meaning "Pile of Bones", which was the original name of the settlement after the piles of buffalo bones left from the native Indian hunts. We’d already had a short peek after lunch, and decided to go back as it was a nice photo opportunity. Real postcard stuff. Once Gerg gets either his zip drive or access to a high speed connection, the site is going to have some great pictures on it.

Sometime ‘round four we took our leave of Regina and headed west for Moose Jaw, reaching it around five. Once again we sought out the information centre (Mental Note: must contact Lonely Pl anet and tell them it’s moved) and were directed to the Prairie Oasis Campground. Not a bad place, and sites are only sixteen dollars a night. Too bad about the stagnant pond nearby, which is a breeding ground for the biggest and most repellent-proof mosq uitoes I’ve ever seen. These things bite through denim, and made a fair attempt at my sneakers too. It’s interesting, how tent sites are almost universally near water of the stagnant kind. It might be scenic, but I can tell you, it’s hard to appreciate the aesthetics when you need a blood transfusion and a gallon of calamine lotion by the end of the night.

Still, we’d paid for two nights already, so two nights it is. We made pasta for dinner – our first on-the-road made meal – and turned in early-ish in order to evade the ravening insect hordes.

*realises she forgot to purchase earplugs in town today*

Bugger.

***
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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!)

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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.
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Pictures imminent!

Gerg's just dumped a bunch of pictures on his site admin-helper-type. Go and check sometime soon for more of our wacky adventures. :)

http://www.origin.dynip.com/walkaboutˇ