Packing Up

Montreal has been much as I had expected. Good chill time with my boys, catching up with Felix and Myguel, plenty of partying and drinking. I actually got up to a bit of touristy stuff. Going to the Tam Tam's in the park, climbing up Mont-Royal; all much more cultural than I had expected really. The view from up there was pretty impressive. Walking up a hill for 40 minutes reminds me of how unfit I am after almost a year of partying. Speaking of which. In just under a week it will be exactly a year since I left Perth. I think this requires some sort of celebration.

Yesterday a car randomly caught on fire. It was quite strange really. Parked on the sidewalk it started smoking and we all smelled something strange. Simon stuck his head out the door; "Fuck guys, fire, there's a fucking car on fire!" Simon likes to swear a lot. Fire trucks came, hoses were used. How eventful. Apparently There was a car accident a few hours earlier but I was far too deeply asleep at that stage.

Today we're all packing up and getting organised for our trip. Headed to Algonquin park in Ontario for a few days of camping/canoeing. Our buddy Dan is one of those people you always want to plan a trip with. He does everything so efficiently and thoroughly. I'm sure things will run smoothly with him on board. I've pushed back my flight a bit from here; flying to London on the 23rd of May, stay there for just over a week and then it's Sweden baby. This second year is going to be a weird one.

The Boy is Back in Town

James is back in the city many refer to as James' second, if not one true home. Back in Montreal that is. It was good seeing the boys again and our first night out was spent in a pool hall with pool, beer and foosball. I don't think anyone expected to get that drunk that late. That was just the warm up for the first of 3 with the boys and then the 4th night spent with my house mates from Whistler; Felix and Myguel. So strange seeing those boys again. They really come into their own in their homeland. I'm pretty sure that was the first time I have been out and spoken exclusively French. It's hard to understand with all the club noise but I got by, it was good practice and ultimately I had a great time!

It was both a reunion and a birthday. Chloe, Felix's girlfriend was celebrating her 19th birthday. The bar we went to, like much of Quebec, had nice cheap beer of which I had my fair share. An excellent night with plenty of beer racing; my specialty. We headed back to Marieville with everyone and due to lack of space in the car and in order to fit squeeze me in; Felix was a perfect gentleman and lay in the trunk for the whole drive. About 35 minutes all up. You're my boy Fil!

Yesterday we had some good 'chill' up at the plateau. What a crazy atmosphere. Drum circles all over the place, people dancing and tight-rope walking, hackey sack, shisha, guitars, fire twirling... just about every hippie activity you can think of with at least two thousand people around. Insanity. But the piece de resistance was the sword fighting. What the hell. Seriously. The biggest display of nerd aggression you can possibly imagine. The best way to describe it was a scene out of Braveheart with rubber swords and.. well serious. People are actually trying to hit each other with these things.

This weekend we're headed to Ontario for a road/canoe/camping trip. A random surprise but it should really give me a genuine Canadian experience. Maybe I'll run into a bear, some moose or a yak. Quite looking forward to that.

The Bahamas

The next day we jumped aboard our ship; the beautiful Imperial Majesty. Words cannot describe this cruise. The people checking in... oh my god. If by some miracle they were under the age of 300... they were overweight, retarded or just plain hideous. I was borderline suicidal. It got better. After getting our gear into our cabin (admittedly it was kinda comfortable and in a nice spot on the ship) we headed out to the welcome session on deck. This was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. My thoughts leaped from searching the ship for rafters to hang myself from to sizing up points from which to throw myself to maximise the injury and minimise the chances of survival.

The music, the 'horse racing', the passengers, the staff...

We wandered around the ship a bit, took a shower, had a nap, lay by the pool. (I probably should have taken a picture of it; I have seen bathtubs bigger than this thing) 7pm rolled around and we headed down to the restaurant for our dinner. Tables were assigned and we took our seats. As we walked in the host said something a little strange "I have a very special table for you, I hope you can handle six" I had no idea what he was talking about... at the time. Starving... Vic and I tucked into some bread rolls. After a few minutes a couple of young Canadian girls sat down next to us. Then another couple of girls took a seat on the other side. A little older, maybe late twenties, from Michigan. Last to sit down were another two Canadian girls from Montreal. Tara and Candy. We got along pretty well and dinner was served. The food was pretty decent to my surprise, it could have been that I was just that hungry but I think it was a combination of that and it being half way edible. Pan fried sea bass. Yum. We all ate, talked about our common time share experiences and life in general.

Vic and I went back to our room to mix up a few drinks with the vodka we'd smuggled aboard and wait for the 'entertainment' to start. To save myself excessive redundancy just rest assured that all references to music and/or entertainment is a really crappy band with lots of cheesy sounding electric keyboard/organ music. I later found out the dancers are contracted workers from the Ukraine/Russia who live on board the ship full time and work 7 days a week. Viktoria; one of the dancers seemed to like her work. Despite being massively exploited, she did get the chance to go to the Bahamas every other day; but she loves her dancing so much that she, at least on this trip, chose to stay on board to rehearse! Is that dedication or dillusion!?

Once we had enjoyed the show we headed upstairs (with a couple of fresh drinks) to the Kareoke bar. Vic could hardly contain himself- this man likes his bad 80's music and wanted to share his passion with as many people as possible. I got up and sang a few tunes in between chatting with our host; Viktoria.

Tara and Candy came in while I was mid song and everyone seemed pretty impressed with, if nothing else, our ability to liven things up a bit. Vic had a few too many drinks and passed out on the bar and eventually disappeared. The girls, myself and a few other younger guys headed down to the disco cabin which, despite being basically empty, was good fun. I think I went to bed about 4 in the morning so I wasn't all that fresh when we landed at Nassau, The Bahamas.

The next day we were a little slow getting up. Between Vic's excess alcohol consumption and my lack of sleep... but we made it onto the island eventually. When we got out we realised just how crappy our ship was; the one next to ours was about 3 times the size and we could see a climbing wall on the top deck. A freaking climbing wall!

We took a sea taxi to paradise Island and raced around looking for some cheap food. It took us about 45 minutes but we got some Quiznos evenutally. From there we wandered around the hotel for a while. It's called Atlantis and it's pretty impressive - especially the giant manta ray swimming around the lower level.

We headed down to the beach from there - the water was incredible. I have never seen water like that, this brilliant teal colour washing up against beautiful sand - much like the sand in Australia funnily enough. We lay there for a few hours and I spread my burns to new and exciting locations.

After a decent period of reddening we headed back to the ship. On the way I finally found some shoes I liked - my others are beyond a joke. I was pleasantly surprised to find no tax on top of the price. Something I haven't seen since I left Australia.

Last night was much the same as the first; dinner (Mariana and her friend didn't show... no one knows what happened to them?) kareoke and then the nightclub. I sang one song that was so amazingly hilarious. I couldn't believe they had it there; it's a song from South Park about "Chocolate Salty Balls" - Considering most of the crowd were 40-60 it was quite controversial but they laughed it up good and proper. I saw Viktoria looking blankly out to see up on deck and went and chatted with her for a while. Her English is pretty undeveloped but we got the point across. Dancing in the disco again and another 5am bedtime. And what dancing session would be complete without James' trademark 'pick up'?

As we were getting off the ship they were trying to sell us pictures they had taken as we were getting aboard for $13- pffft. How about we just grab it and take a cheeky picture of it with my camera? Too easy.

And that's about it. I am sitting at Fort Lauderdale Airport right now pleasantly surprised to find free wireless internet. Something free in America?? What's going on? The whole trip has been characterised by people trying to get money from me in every way they can, its like its been one big scam - my lesson learned? NEVER get a package Holiday ever. Ever. Particularly if it is too cheap, turns out it isn't that cheap after all. I should get into Montreal about 7pm tonight for the big reunion. It's been about 7or 8 months since I've seen the boys and I am really excited.

Mainland Florida

Hullo kids, I know you've all been hanging off my every posting on here so I am very sorry not to have kept it updated more often. So lets catch up shall we?

My trip in Florida was colorful to say the least! Universal Studios was great fun; what we were told was going to be two buses turned into 5 but we got there in the end! Our hotel was in a pretty crappy part of town and we were pretty far away from everything. But we still had a blast at Universal; some of the rides are insanely designed. My favorite was the Spiderman ride. You hear 3d glasses and sit in a roller coaster ride. The visuals are timed with the movement of the rollercoaster so it feels like you its all real. It looks like Spiderman jumps on the front of the car, throws you around with his web etc. All this is combined with high powered fans, intense heaters and water spray to make all of it seem real. I was well impressed. After our theme parking was taken care of we met up with a friend of Vic's and partied with them for a couple of nights in a row. Good times.

From there we rented a car and drove down to Fort Lauderdale, fuelling ourselves with an IHOP (International House of Pancakes) breakfast along the way. I have been meaning to try that place out ever since Jessalyn recommended it to me in Houston, TX. Once we arrived we checked into the Ramada Plaza; again not the best spot for a hotel... would have been much better off staying at the cheaper, more sociable, on the beach hostel.

That night we took a $60 cab down to the beach front and had some quality American cuisine from Cheeburger. Not too bad at all - in case you hadn't guessed; burgers etc have been my staple diet here in the US due to accessibility and cost factors. From there we bought a couple of beers and strolled down to a place we heard was pretty happening - Los Olas. On the way we passed some pretty impressive properties. A network of canals and bridges linked these houses; most of which had various sized yachts parked out the front. One was in the vicinity of 30metres long. Personally I couldn't figure out how the drove it in there in the first place. But apparently they did. We got down to Los Olas and it was wild. I mean wild. Drinking everywhere, about 10-12 bars and clubs all on 2 blocks with people spilling out everywhere. It was incredible. After a few hours (we got there pretty late) and took a $25 taxi home. (notice any indiscretions in the pricing??)

The next morning we got up and headed to our 'free breakfast' that turned out to be some croissants and orange juice followed by a two and a half hour timeshare presentation; fun! The best part was when they were harassing us to buy, not quite understanding that as a perpetually traveling, poverty stricken, barred from working at the largest resort in North America snowboard instructor... I am not exactly in a position to be spending $48,000 on a time share
investment. No matter how appealing dealing with the same people who managed to rope me into this in the first place and then lumping me with all kinds of hidden costs and charges, presentations and crappy situations might seem.

A little shaken, we headed back to the hotel to hit the pool. I fell asleep in the sun and absolutely barbecued myself, painfully so. It now looks like I am a red man wearing white shorts; the tan line is quite pronounced to say the least.

That night we headed down to the Hard Rock Casino - we played some pool and had a few beers (noticing a pattern here?) but as it was a Sunday it wasn't exactly a cranking atmosphere, besides... a Casino with no Blackjack?? I don't think so.

And that's my time in mainland Florida. Not quite what I had expected/hoped for but I definitely had a laugh or two along the way. I would quite like to do Florida again without the package deal. A word to the wise for you travelers out there. Never get a packaged deal; pave your own way.

Universal Studios

I went to Universal Studios Today.

Seattle

My brief encounter with this city has been quintessentially... well brief. I went to the Space Needle; it was closed for a private function. I went to the monorail station; closed for repairs. Science Fiction Museum? Just plain closed. Pretty awesome city eh? At the Space Needle entrance I did find time for a moment of immaturity as you can see.

We went to see the birthplace of Starbucks and picked ourself up a cup of coffee. When in Rome?






Much of the rest of the day was spent looking for a new pair of shoes. I bought a pair of jeans instead. On my way back to the hostel I noticed Jimi Hendrix is still hanging around Seattle recruiting people to go see him and Jimi Hendrix's best friend playing at a local bar. Funny, I thought he died 37 years ago. Maybe I was misinformed.

Ok, enough of this. Off to Florida.

Taking it to the next level

The exam is over, the results are in. It was a lovely experience finding out as well. They get you all to sit in this room and call you off one by one to hear the verdict- a verdict that seems to take about half an hour each but in reality is more like 5-10 minutes. Of a group of 6 people and through and unfortunate series of rock, paper, scissor games; I went in last. Those before me came back with mixed results and then it was my turn to hear my fate. "Well done James, you got it." He kept talking for another five minutes or so but I didn't really listen to a word. I was happy.

A few of us went out training during the week; pretty important to have a 3rd eye to be able to get a good look at one's riding. A good bunch of people; we have been doing the prep training together for a month or two now so it's a pretty tight group.

We weren't all successful and the celebrations were littered with frustrations; Vicky was so close but didn't quite make it in her riding section. I felt her pain; much of my time spent in the waiting room was preparing myself for the very same outcome.

In a drunken stupor I decided I wanted to demonstrate my elation to the masses and decided to get up on stage and blow everyone away with a rendition of the Overton Berry Ensemble's "Black Bottom". Despite being well aware that I was probably too hammered to hit the notes very accurately, I let them have it anyway. I was a little taken aback when suddenly a bass player and drummer kicked in as my accompaniment; and even more so when the drummer took it upon himself to be my back up singer. My friends tell me it was pretty impressive but then again I have very charitable friends.

Whistler is all said and done. Right now I am sitting in a Hostel in downtown Seattle. My itinerary here? Going up the Space Needle and buying new shoes - pretty exciting huh? Then tomorrow morning jumping on a plane headed for Orlando, Florida. Ah sun, salt and sand - will there be anything sweeter? It is definitely nice to be on the move again. Whistler is a bubble that has finally burst. Ahhhh.

I guess your good vibes worked. Thanks for that pappa.

Excessive snowboarding has its drawbacks

Sure my knees are screwed, I'm pretty much sore/exhausted all the time and that's all well and good but can you see this crazy ass goggle tan I have going here? Jesus Christ!


Admittedly it would seem that alcohol exacerbates the problem... but then what doesn't alcohol exacerbate?

So far the course is going well... ish. It's pretty tough and I have a lot of improving to do. Today, with a severe hangover, I went riding with some others from the course and we did some filming and practice analysing each other's technique. I think I am starting to weed out a few technical aspects that need work and much still remains to be done. Not just in terms of my snowboarding- believe it or not I have to study the manual, design lesson plans and memorise snowboard improvement tactics. I have 3 more days to practice and then, come the weekend. I will know the results. Send me some positive vibes if you can spare them.

Mine Day Hath Arriveth

I start my level two assessment today. The first of four days of learning, practicing and evaluation. It's going to be a tough and most likely harrowing experience for someone who hasn't really done all that much snowboarding; but I plan to rise to the occaision. This will determine how I celebrate my last night in Whistler as the last day of the course and the day before my departure are one and the same. From here it is on to Florida, then back to Montreal to spend a few last alcohol fuelled weeks with the boys. Around mid-May I will be heading over to England and that is as far as my concrete plans reach. As I will be thinking of little else; I will most likely be keeping my progress updated on here for the next 9 days. Wish me luck kids.

Full Circle

From mistake to masterpiece, from accident to accomplishment, from invalid to instructor; I have come full circle. I taught my first lesson today and it went swimmingly. My class went from barely able to stand on a board to linking tuns in less than a full day.

Last night my room mate, Vic, turned 28. Big celebration for the old codger. Dinner party at earls followed by more drinking shenanigans at Moe Joe's Fun was had by all. I presented the old man with a photo album of his time here in Whistler; quite a few pictures he hadn't even seen brought a few smiles out. Another one of my friends is leaving us tomorrow so drinks are again obligatory. I have a feeling that this is going to happen frequently. A feeling that scares me.