I went into town with Aaron and then to the pod to see Claire. She's going scuba-diving with Al on Saturday and she may be getting a job mending fishing nets, so we may stay after all. On days like today, I want to stay, but when it's raining and miserable I desperately want to leave. We went to Chesterman beach this afternoon after running into Mike briefly.
A new plan that I thought of was; finish work here on the 30th, finish off everything we want to do i.e. Kennedy Lake, more hiking etc, persuade Aaron to go to Courtenay for the weekend then hopefully catch a lift with Jamie down to Victoria, then we leisurely cruise to Vancouver. Lets hope we can sort something out, or maybe we won't be leaving....
Sharon called my telekey today and unfortunately got cut off mid-flow, she had received my letter. She's had an interview for working in a solicitors office. I don't know if that message means she's not going to write to me or not. I'll leave it for a bit.
Friday 19th September
After work last night we went to the Sandbar. There were a few British people around amongst others including a very drunk Kelly and Doug, Mike, kayak bloke and his girlfriend. I spent practically all of my tips, $15, and somehow we went back to Doug's apartment. He lives in Sin City, i.e. Arnett Street and we woke up his flat-mate Scott who apparently I served earlier in the evening but I couldn't remember him. Doug cooked us a Sara Lee fruit pie which we ate and then went home. We got in at about 3am, Claire having to get up at 6:50am to start work. I had quiet plans for this morning. Get up, have breakfast, watch my Party of Five video, do laundry. I got up, had breakfast, has a message from Sharon saying she got the job so I called her and had a nice chat. I tried to watch my video but it didn't work, I was quite annoyed. I don't think the video is plugged into the tv. So I came straight here, the Coffee Pod, and am doing the laundry. Claire has plans with Al this afternoon and evening so I'll go to Aaron's I think!
I went to Aaron's and he was already up which is unusual before 1pm. We went into town to the bank, post office and Chevron. He has to work late tonight so I get tomorrow all alone as Claire is camping with Al at his treehouse. I've called various Hot-Springs places and hopefully I'll get on one tomorrow, either at 9:30, 11 or 1pm. James is coming to visit on Sunday so we're all going to go surfing. It costs $20 for a wetsuit and $20 for a board to hire for the day. Should be fun!
Saturday 20th September
Today was cool, I finally found some independence and actually quite enjoyed it. I had phoned around all the whale-watching companies and had arranged 5 times when I could go; 9:30, 11, 3 x1pm. I couldn't get up for the 9:30 so I went to Jamie's Whaling centre for the 11 o'clock. Unfortunately this was full so I walked all the way home, had a nap and went to Tasty Blokes for the 1pm. I got on it and we departed. It was a long ride, 1hr 45 minutes, and we stopped at Ahousat to drop some people off on the way. After a 2km trail through rainforest on some quite decrepit boardwalk we reached the springs. They were amazing and really hot and only slightly spoiled by the fact that there was 3 boats full of people there at once. I talked to a lot of people including an English guy living in Victoria, an American lady and 2 blokes who cam in the Beer and Wine store in the week desperately 'phoning round hotels trying to find somewhere to stay! I felt really confident and happy. I left a bit earlier that the others so I could enjoy the trail but people caught up with me so I got to the end quickly and sat and read my book. When I got in Aaron had called me so I phoned him back and we went out for dinner at the Chinese restaurant. We then went to Chesterman's beach and walked for a bit. It was so dark we couldn't see a thing but the stars were amazing, you could actually see the Milky Way!
<these are extracts from my diaries written whilst travelling and working in Canada and the US in '97-'98>
No comments:
Post a Comment