Niagara Falls

Early wake up and made by way by air to Toronto and then bus to Niagara Falls. The once little town is now a bustle with tourist and casino goers. a real mini-vegas!

Took in lots of the sites,went of Maid of the Mist (a boat tour to the base of the falls) and when it all became too much, I popped into a quaint little establishment known as "Hooters" for a beer. Danielle and girls eased the mind for a while and yes Al Barron, I got a pick for you!

After lunch went for a few more walks on the surrounding trails the old part of town here is really deserted, almost like a ghosttown.

In the evening had a few beers with some of the Hostellers and saw the Falls again at night.

The next day I flew to Vancouver and spent the night. About to head out on my Contiki for the next 11 days.

Will try and keep you updated!

Cycle madness in Montreal!

So I got up early and decided to hire a push bike (pedal bike for you Newfie's) and ride around Montreal. Loads of fun as the city is really set up with plenty of cycle ways. I covered a far bit of ground in 4 hours and by that stage I just had to return the bike, my arse couldn't handle the seating arrangement...

Will post some pics when I get to a suitable computer.

Under advice from Jay for uni days, I had to get a Schwartz's Smoked Meat Sandwich. Found the place and it was great is a huge meaty kind of way.

Sunburnt and tired I headed back to the hostel to prepare for my early start the next morning.

All things french!

Sorry guys, computers are few and far between and the ones that do work are very expensive (i know - terry tightarse...).

But here I am! The last few days has seen my travel from Halifax to Quebec City and then onto Montreal, which is where i'm reporting from now.
Quebec City - I stayed right in the heart of the old city walls at the Hostel. This place was picture perfect, as was the weather. Only a couple of Aussies around thank god, but had a few beers with them and ended up at some bizarro nightclub listening to a band place Kylie and Jamiroquai covers. The next day ventured out and walked the perimeter of the fortified section of town and did a tour of the Citadel.

French is the predominant language here and english isn't spoken in great amounts, but somehow i managed. Another walking tour in the arvo allowed me to see some glass blowing and other handicrafts in the lower section of town towards the river. Met a few Englishmen in the hostel bar, and also discovered that a pubcrawl was on. Quite a funny night as we progressively had nicknames for all the crawlers from different countries.

Onto Montreal the next day by bus and as it turned out, just about everyone who was on the crawl, ended up on the bus. a few of which were staying at my hostel. A quick look around the local area of the hostel and then met with Keith and Paul (the englishmen from the night before) for a few quiet ones, followed by a few louder ones including Rye and Dry's (Canadian Club's with ginger ale apparently). Somehow they tracked down an 80's night a a french nightclub here, so off we went. Language was no barrier as the music kicked in! A-Ha, Plastic Bertrand all sounded the same, infact we knew the lyrics to most of the songs better than the locals.

Yesterday i took in the sights of old Montreal around the harbour, and treated myself to the new Cirque de Soleil show. Absolutely fab!

Today I got up early and walked up Mont Royal to get a view of the city then walked over to Little Italy, follwed by the Metro back to the inner city.

Domestic Dan tonight, with some laundry and organising to do for the next few days. One more day here, then off to Niagara Falls.

Screech and finally sunshine

So I got "Screeched In" at one of the Pubs in St John's, it involved saying some phrases in Newfie speak, a shot a Screech (dark rum from the bottom of the barrel basically) and then kissing a frozen cod. A bit of a tradition.

Hung out again with a few local girls (Jen, Alison, Ginny, Reneta) we met the day before and ended up having a late one.

Down in Halifax in Nova Scotia now and finally got a few hours of sunshine today. Had a look around town and went through the old citadel that adorns the top of a hill in the centre of this harbour city.

Quiet night tonight....at this stage! And it was! Smoked Meat and Sauerkraut sandwich known as a Reuben from Bearly's ( a Blues Pub next door).

Next day headed out around town again and got on the Harbour Hopper - an amphibius vehicle that is a great way to see around town and the port areas.

Later that night - Kareoke!