Espana!! It would be my first ever trip there and I would be meeting a lot of Maite’s family and friends for the first time as well. On the first few days of our trip we stayed in Alcaniz which is where Maite grew up and where her parents and two brothers stay.  While in Alcaniz our days mostly consisted of meeting up with friends and family, wandering around doing touristy things and having long sociable meals.  On two separate nights we had dinner at both of Maite’s brother’s flats, Fernando and Dani, and lunch with her parents.  All consisted of really tasty food and it was nice to take our time over meals and chat, quite a change from non-holiday pace of life at home.  Touristy adventures involved visiting the city tunnels, which are a very cool, network of tunnels under the city leading to the Castle.  We also took in views across the city from viewpoints such as up the hill at the chapel where Maite’s parents were married.  This was a good viewpoint on the edge of the city to appreciate both city and countryside views.  The contrast between this dry desert landscape and the green and “leafy” Scotland was pretty crazy.

 

Saturday was wedding day for Maite’s childhood friend Nuria, which was the main reason for our trip. Straight away there were quite big differences between a Spanish and Scottish Wedding.  As soon as the bride arrived everyone was shouting Guapa Guapa (beautiful)! The ceremony was really nice and afterwards we went up to the very beautiful castle for drinks, dinner and then party! The dinner was soooo loud compared to a Scottish wedding and at times it sounded like a football match but it had a good atmosphere.  A lot of the time we were chatting to Belen and Javi who were lovely.  Afterwards we all went into town to continue the party into the early hours and we also met up with Maria and we all had a good time.

One day we also took a trip to Rafales which is a small village that Matie’s parents have another house in to spend their weekends and holidays and it is the village that Maite’s Dad is the Mayor of. On the way we visited La Estanca which is a really nice man-made lake, apparently one of the few good things that Franco done.  Rafales was a very cute village and we spent a bit of time wandering around and meeting some family friends.  Afterwards, we and the rest of the family had dinner at the house which for me consisted of various tasty barbequed vegetables and veggie hot dogs.

 

 

 

After Alcaniz and Rafales me and Maite went to Zaragoza to stay with her good friend Maria for a couple of days. Again our time here was spend meeting a lot of her friends and doing as many touristy things as time would allow.  We met with her friend Iris who arranged for a free and private tour of Patacio de Sastago which was a very beautiful palace.  She also gave us a free tour of Palacio de la Aljaferia which was yet another beautiful palace and I really enjoyed Iris “less formal” style of tour:P

 

Me and Maite also visited a few tourist areas ourselves which included the Basilica de Nuestra del Pilar which was an enormous and stunning cathedral. Inside it has El Pillar that has a statue of the Virgin Mary on it.  It’s said that Mary gave it to St James herself and instructed him to build a church which he did on the site that the cathedral stands on today.  The Parque Grande was visited as well which was a lovely and massive park in the middle of the city that had no shortage of water features.  Other cool touristy visits included one to Catedral del la Seo which was another massively beautiful cathedral which had an immense collection of amazing tapestries and the Ruinas Del Forno where you can see the Roman Ruins of an old market.  The Ruins were fantastic to see, amazing to think how old they are and still standing strong, they knew how to build things back then!:P  In the evenings we went to some darn good restaurants.  Maria took us to Baobab where we paid for a set menu and they would bring out dish after dish of tasty food until the menu was exhausted.  I was sooo full after I thought my shirt buttons might burst!  On the last night there we met with a lot of Maite’s friends at The Beer Corner which was a lot of fun and they had a lot of nice beers.  Afterwards some of us went for dinner at Birosta where I had myself a very tasty veggie burger.  After this that we continued to party the night away which felt like an appropriate way to end what was quite a boozy trip!:P

 

 

After been away from Canada for two years having lived there for two years previously, I was well overdue for a trip out there.  I flew into Vancouver where my good friends Alex and Jo were waiting.  I would be staying with them while in Vancouver.  As Alex wasn’t working at the moment we spent a few days in Vancouver playing the roles of tourists very well me despite the fact that I had  previously lived there and Alex currently was living there!:P  We took in the sights walking around Stanley Park sea wall and visiting Horseshoe Bay and Whytecliff Park on the North Shore.  A trip to the North Shore also involved a compulsory visit to Greenleaf Brewing.

Loads of micro-breweries have popped up around Vancouver in the last two years and there wasn’t exactly a shortage before.  Four have appeared in Port Moody and what could be a better plan than taking the Sky Train out there on the new Evergreen Line (which I worked on) to check them out.  It was a pretty surreal experience to be riding on the line that I helped build.

After a few days me and Alex went on a trip road trip east in the direction of the Canadian Rockies!  Since it was Canada’s 150^th birthday this year, you can get National Parks passes for free so taking advantage of this was a must do while I was there.  First off we stopped near Golden where Alex’s friends John and Steph were currently living while they worked for a dog sledging company that run tours in Lake Louise.  We had a good time hanging out with them, dog sledging and hiking.  They even cooked us dinner and let us crash at their cabin in the woods with huskies and all!

We then based ourselves over in Banff and Lake Louise for a few nights.  It was great to be able to drive through the epic Rockies again.  Over there we got a bit of hiking done including Yates Mountain near Canmore which was brilliant and it treated us to amazing mountain views!

We also hiked Tunnel Mountain in Banff where we were not treated with good views (a tad cloudy) but Lake Minnewanka near Banff was pretty spectacular.  This was the second time I have been there in winter and it did not disappoint.  Near Lake Louise we hiked up to Lake Agnes tea house which wasn’t open, can you believe it!:P  The walk up there was really peaceful, wandering through a snowy winter wonderland.

On the way back to Vancouver we opted for the southern route for a change of scenery.  Heading south from Golden, there were stunning mountain views as we drove around the outskirts of Kootenay National Park.  We then took the free ferry from Kootenay Bay to Balfour on our way to Nelson and the views from this were beautiful.  Ten points to the tourist information centre who recommended that we took this ferry.

We stopped over in Nelson which was a nice bohemian feeling town and of course another brewery visit was had.  Once back in Vancouver me, Alex and Jo had a few more tourist filled days where we visited Granville Island, many more micro-breweries, Queen Elizabeth Park, English Bay and Deep Cove.  And of course, no trip to Vancouver would be complete without a hike up one of the North Shore mountains for which Dog Mountain on Seymore was chosen.

It was really nice to visit Vancouver and western Canada again as the last time I left was in a bit of a hurry.  It was really good to catch up with friends and it’s always a great and reassuring feeling when it feels like no time has passed.  I also re-appreciated how unique Vancouver is in having so much natural beauty right on its doorstep.

City Number 5 was Vienna.  I checked into Meringer Hotel.  This was a weird place, trying to be a hotel and trying to be a hostel and not achieving either.  I didn’t really care for it but never mi…

Source: Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest – September 2016

City Number 5 was Vienna.  I checked into Meringer Hotel.  This was a weird place, trying to be a hotel and trying to be a hostel and not achieving either.  I didn’t really care for it but never mind, I would only be there for two nights.  I headed into town and got dinner at Swing Kitchen.  A tasty vegan burger and swing music, what else could I need?

I spent a lot of time wander around the city admiring the architecture of the various palaces and museums.  They certainly like the statues in Vienna, certainly the ones depicting scenes of violence:P

Vienna was another vegan dreamland.  I visited the Nasch Market which was huuuuge and had loads of different stalls with food, clothes jewellery and cafe’s. I managed to find another great falafel wrap this time at a stall called Dr Falafel.  I also found myself at I love Veggie Burge where, guess what, I had another really tasty burger.

The art history museum was really interesting which had lots of artefacts from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the interior of the building was beautiful!!

Bratislava, city 6 of 7, was only an hour on the train from Vienna.  I checked into Brickyard Hostel which was just a 5 minute walk from the train station and a 20 minute walk from the town centre.  The hostel was really nice, clean had a good atmosphere and I nearly always count en-suites in a hostel as a bonus! I was sharing my room with a friendly Greek called Irene.  We headed into the old town for a wander around to see the sights.  It was Friday night and I have to say the place was jumping and bars spilled out onto the pedestrian streets.  We also took a walk up to the Castle where the grounds were open and beautifully lit.  Afterwards, we enjoyed some Very reasonably priced beer.

The next day, me and Irene wandered around the old town again before she left for Zvolen in central Slovakia.  Like Prague, I loved all of the small twisty streets surrounded by old impressive buildings.  The UFO Bridge was pretty cool even if it was a bit dated.  If Aliens had indeed landed their flying saucer there they had been there a while and probably spaceship design has moved on a bit:P In the town we were also treated to some Slovak dancing, see the video section of my blog!

The 7^th and final stop was Budaaaapessst! I checked into the Hive Party Hostel.  It was nice and had a massive bar but in hindsight this was not the best choice I made….let’s just say I felt pretty old!:P  On the first night I went to Napfenyes Etterum and had a fantastic vegan pizza for a very reasonable price.

I then wandered around and visited touristy hot spots like Heroes Square, the Chain Bridge and the parliament buildings which were beautifully lit at night.  There were also boards up around the town that described what Budapest was like after WWII under Soviet Control.  Again, like other things I have learned on this trip, this was still going on in my life time not so far from home which I found pretty mental!

The next day I visited various landmarks on in Buda (west of the river) The Citadel offered amazing views of the city.  It was also interesting to learn about the various occupiers of the Citadel stretching from medieval times to the Soviets.  Next I visited the Royal Palace but not before getting an amazing sweet potato burger from Vegan Love.  The Palace was really pretty and also offered amazing views of the city.  The history museum was really interesting to learn about the various skirmishes between Buda and Pest and with various other countries.  Basically it seemed as though that until recently there was never more than a few years between wars involving at least one of the two cities.  Last but not least, Matthias Church was absolutely stunning and the area that it was located in looked like somewhere out of Lord of the Rings.

Overall I had a great time during my 3 weeks in Europe.  I seen some incredible things, met some really nice people and enjoyed some really tasty food.  I wouldn’t hesitate to coming back to any of these cities to try and see more at a future date.

After Amsterdam, Berlin would be city number 2 of 7 that I would be visiting on this trip.  I caught the train from Amsterdam and was in Berlin in a “swift” 7 hours: P When I got in I checked into the Backpax Mitte Hostel which was really nice and had a good atmosphere.  In this evening I took a walk into town and went along the Spree near to the Bode Museum.  There were loads of people in the park just chilling with live music playing; it was such a nice relaxing atmosphere.  The architecture of the buildings around here was absolutely stunning.

Alexanderplatz was a nice contrast to the older buildings with lots of newer architecture including the Fernsehturm.

Fernsehturm

For the next couple of days I basically just walked around admiring all of the amazing architecture.  It was roasting the whole time which didn’t make the walking easy but I really shouldn’t complain when I come from Scotland.  The night time views of the city from the roof of the Reichstag and the Reichstag dome were particularly beautiful.

The Berlin wall memorial was really interesting.  It is crazy to think that this wall was still up in my lifetime! What is even crazier is that you have idiots like Donald Trump who are still talking about building walls.

The memorial to the murdered Jews was  really informing but also really sad.Now this may have not happened in my lifetime but it still wasn’t that long ago which I find hard to get my head around!

Food-wise, Berlin was a fecking dream for a Vegan; there were so many good places to eat.  Places that I ate at included the Falafel Dream Food Truck where I had an awesome falafel wrap and Vegetarisches where a fantastic Thai green curry with crispy noodles was devoured

At the hostel I chatted to a couple of lovely German lassies, Lea and Cheyenne, from southern Germany who told me stories of the not so cosmopolitan and less tolerant of English ways of the deep south!:P  Nevertheless they still recommend exploring that part of the country.

 

City number 3 was Prague.  I checked into Hostel Lipa which was quite small and basic but really nice.  It wasn’t in the best area but for about 10 Euros a night I really couldn’t complain.  On the first night I went to the Loving Hut for dinner which was a vegan buffet.  It was amazing and great value.  Needless to say, I went back there for dinner on my second night as well.

The architecture was amazing in Prague as well.  Some of the highlights included The Old Town Square, King Charles Bridge and St Vitus Cathedral.  The cathedral was a stunning gothic masterpiece and I couldn’t help but be amazed at the amount of detail on it.

I loved all of the tiny twisting and turning streets.  They did make for a bit of a navigation nightmare at times, even with GPS, but I think that is more of a reflection on my navigation skills than the complexity of the terrain: P

 

City number 4…. Salzbuuuuurg, which was not as much of a vegan dream  but it wasn’t that surprising being a smaller city.  I did manage to find the (probably) only vegan restaurant in the city called The Heart of Joy where I had a pretty decent faux ham sandwich. 

I checked into the Yoho International Hostel which was a pretty big hostel with a good atmosphere and a decent bar.  I was sharing my room with an American couple, Caroline and Eric, and we made use of the bar to play some card drinking games which was pretty fun!

As far as I was concerned Salzburg has a bit of everything, an awesome castle, a cool coloured river, stunning architecture and to top it off is situated on the edge of the Austrian Alps.  The audio tour in the castle was pretty cool too which explained how the castle originated as a chapel with some walls around it and was gradually developed and strengthened over 800 years.  In this time it was never taken by force and only captured once by Napoleon…not a bad track record! Exploring the castle was really fun too because I felt like I was in a proper medieval castle.  It also boasted pretty amazing views of the city below and the surrounding mountains. When I crossed the Makartsteg footbridge I may have been the only one on it not with a significant other!:P

Makartsteg Footbridge

Now the next place I visited was not one of the 7 cities but from Salzburg I took a day trip to the village of Hallstatt.  The drive itself was beautiful as mountains and lakes passed by.  Hallstatt is situated in an incredibly beautiful setting on the edge of a gorgeous lake surrounded by mountains.  It is a proper little tourist town but still worth a visit.  The houses built into the hillside were pretty awesome.  I took a ride up the funicular and the views from the top were pretty spectacular.

Now it was time to say goodbye to the mountains and make my way to the east end of the country.

So, Amsterdam what a beautiful city! Me and my friends, Cathal and Thomas would be spending a week in this glorious place.  I could not get used to how many bikes there were, it was crazy…actually more bikes than cars and every single railing had a bike attached to it.  I liked it a lot as it’s such a nice way to get around a really flat city.  I must admit though, I was a bit afraid to actually try and cycle here on account of the large number of cyclists and not being particularly confident on the rules.  I mean, I nearly got run over by bikes on more than one occasion just walking around!  The other thing I couldn’t get used to was the number of canals but again I loved it as it gave the city centre such a unique feeling

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There are so many great things to do in Amsterdam.  We all got a 4 day Iamsterdam card for 96 Euros which gave us free travel on buses and trams in the city and free or discounted entry into loads of different attractions so I would highly recommend getting one of these if you visit.  We also got at 24 hour ‘Amsterdam and Region’ ticket which gave us free travel on busses outside of Amsterdam.  To make use of this we visited Bubble Beach which was really nice but pretty busy as it was a roasting hot day.

Bubble Beach

On the way back we visited the very small and cute town of Harlem.

The next day we visited the windmills at Zaandam and it was really interesting to learn about the different industries that they used to serve.

I loved just wandering around Amsterdam as there were so many colourful narrow buildings with their hoisting beams at the top, canals weaving through the city crossed with tiny bridges whose railings had a permanent supply of bikes attached to them.  Walking through the red light district was pretty odd to just see woman in the windows.  The ‘coffee’ shop experience was pretty good.  I never smoke at home but it was really nice to experience such a relaxed culture around it.

Amsterdam City Centre

 

Amsterdam City Centre

Some of my favourite attractions included taking a canal boat cruise as it was nice to see the city from a different perspective.  The Amsterdam Museum was great to learn about the history of the city. Vondel Park was great to visit on a nice sunny day.  It was actually a series of different parks  and it’s great to have such a nice green space in the middle of the city.  The De Oude Kirk was really beautiful but it felt strange to be walking on the graves on the floor.  Last but not least, the Ann Frank House was really worth a visit.  It was obviously really sad but really interesting to learn more about the event that took place in the house and to try and picture what it must have been like.  I ended up buying the book as I was going to have lots of time to read on my inter-rail trip.  On the whole I loved Amsterdam and would quite happily visit again.  I had a really good time with Thomas and Cathal as it was the most time we had spent together since we were flatmates during university 9 years ago! But now it was on-wards, on the train to Berlin!

The De Oude Kirk

The West Highland Way is a popular 96 mile multi-day hike in the west of Scotland stretching from Milngavie to Fort William.  I started the hike with my two friends, Thomas and Stewart and also Thomas’s  Jack Russell – Kyla.  It was also a kind of birthday hike for me and Stewart with Stewart’s birthday being in a few days and mine the following week.  We were also going to camp the whole way, we weren’t going to “cheat” like some people and have our bags transferred from B&B to B&B pfffft 😛

Day 1 – Milngalvie to Balmaha

The first day of hiking and the weather was pretty good for most of it.  It started off a bit wet in Milngavie and was really changeable (typical Scotland) but the second half of the day was glorious.  The hardest part of the day was going up and over conical hill which was tough but the views of Loch Lomond from it were amazing!  Shattered from the climb we had dinner and pints at the Oak Tree Inn.  Afterwards we still had a few miles to walk to the camp site and got there pretty late and setting up a tent in the dark when you are tired is always fun! 😛

Day 2 – Balmaha to Inversnaid

The next morning the weather was amazing and I sat for a while taking in the views of the loch.  Yesterday was a hard hike going over Conical Hill but that was nothing compared to today’s which involved hiking along the banks of Loch Lomond where the paths were very rocky, full of tree roots, up, down and everywhere and when you are carrying large packs this is pretty challenging.  Around about lunch time we did stop at Rowardennan Lodge which was pretty nice.  We ended up stopping for the day a little south of Inversnaid and wild camped just off the path.

Day 3 – Inversnaid to Crianlarich

We started off the day getting some breakfast at the Inversnaid hotel where I had an amazing veggie sausage roll.  The first half of the day was another tough slog along a difficult path of the banks of the loch but again the weather and views were great (sun cream was actually needed!).  The second half of the day was slightly easier as we moved north of the loch.  We stopped for dinner at the Beinn Glas Camp site and stocked up on Compeed!  We also chatted to a couple of friendly Kiwi’s.  For the night we camped in a field with mountain views just south of Crianlarich.

Day 4 – Crianlarich to Bridge of Orchy

So we had reached the half way point of the walk.  At this point though Thomas decided that he needed to take Kyla home as she was developing some sores and he was worried about infection.  So me and Stewart carried on with the walk.  The path for this part of the walk was a lot easier than what we had previously done.  Through the day we got some pretty good mountain views around Crianlarich and then towards Bridge of Orchy.  We stopped at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel for dinner and pints and also decided to camp next to it.  It was a really nice camping spot next to the river and more mountain views were had.  The river was pretty loud but this was not an issue for a tired Andy.  At this point Stewart decided that he wasn’t going to have enough time to complete the walk and get back to Dundee for a wedding on Saturday.  So the next day I planned to set off on my own with the view of completing it in 2 or 3 days.

Day 5 – Bridge of Orchy to Kinlochleven

Another glorious morning J.  I set off early at 7am and the sun rising on the hills was beautiful.  The path was fairly easy going and I got some fantastic views of Munro’s I had previously climbed but from different angles.  I stopped at the Kings House Hotel for some lunch enjoying the weather and surroundings.  The reindeer were even getting fed apples when I was there.  The next part of the hike was a bit tougher.  Going through Glencoe was amazing but the hike up the Devil’s Staircase was pretty taxing.  The views from the top on the other hand, were totally worth it. The hike down to Kinlochleven seemed to take forrrreverrr and was very glad to finally stumble upon the Blackwater Campsite.

Day 6 – Kinlochleven to Fort William

Today was the day (hopefully) where I would finish the West Highland Way.  I couldn’t believe it and was well stoked! The first part of the walk climbed up and out of Kinlochleven where nice views of the Pap of Glencoe were had.  The path then curved around the mountain and got up close and personnel with Ben Nevis.  Now I thought the path yesterday from the Devils Staircase to Kinlochleven took forever but this was nothing compared to the path down through Nevis forest, along Glen Nevis and into Fort William.  But I made it and felt a massive sense of achievement and felt good to say I done this before I was 30. I was however, a little sad that I couldn’t complete it with my friends.  I couldn’t believe that I had 5 and a half days of glorious weather in the west of Scotland, something I have never had before and wouldn’t be surprised if I never get again.  I hung around Fort William for a while waiting for my train home.  Lying around on the grass in the sun with my boots off had never felt so good!

New Zealand and Australia, were two countries I have wanted to visit for a long time and I was about to make it happen.  I flew for two days and arrived in Auckland where I would stay with my cousin Lorna another travelling Grubb:P) for a few days.  She had been travelling in south east Asia, Australia and New Zealand and I hadn’t seen her since before she had left so it was really nice to catch up with her.  In my time there she showed me around Auckland and went to Albert Park, both her and her flatmate Helen’s works for dinner and drinks, “K” Street (hipster part of town) Waheke Island and up the sky tower for cocktails where we got a fantastic view of the city at sunset.

I also hired a car and travelled around both islands for a couple of weeks – which was not nearly enough time.  I travelled down the middle of the north island where I stopped at Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland (an active volcanic area) and was awesome to see crazy coloured bubbling lakes but it did absolutely stink of rotten eggs!

The next day I hiked across the Tongariro crossing (see hiking section for more photos) which was a 19.4km hike up and over ridges in a volcanic area.  The hike was amazing and I got stunning weather and views.  The crazy colour lakes were cool to see here too.

I headed south down towards Wellington enjoying the scenery along the way.  Unfortunately I didn’t get too long here as I was getting a ferry to the south island the next morning.  The views from the ferry across were beautiful and made me think of Vancouver with tree covered hills next to the sea.

I then travelled down the west coast of the island making my way towards Queenstown while stopping and enjoying views along the way at the likes of Nelson Lakes and Franz Josef Glacier.  Unfortunately from about Franz Josef to Wanaka it rained a lot and didn’t get too much in the way of views.  I could barely see the Glacier as it was raining that much but seeing all the waterfalls pouring off the surrounding mountains was pretty spectacular.  Queenstown is beautiful little resort town in a picturesque setting with loads of bars, restaurants and cafes.  It was really nice to chill out here for a couple of days exploring the town and surrounding area.

The next stop was Milford Sound!  Again unfortunately, the weather wasn’t too great so didn’t get as many views as I had hoped en-route but the views I did get were breathtaking!  At Milford Sound the weather did clear up slightly but I will just have to go back in an attempt to experience it in all its glory!  While in Firordland I did a little bit of hiking but would love to come back some day to do some of the long distance multi-day hikes.

The next part of my trip would take me to Mount Cook National Park.  I stayed in the YHI at Aoraki Mount Cook which is in an absolutely stunning setting with amazing mountain views.  From here I did the Mueller Hut hike which was sooo f*cking good!  Mountain, glaciers, glacial lakes, valleys……what more can you ask for? See more photos in the hiking section

Next stop was a short visit to Christchurch.  I enjoyed exploring the town and Hagley Park.  It was pretty crazy to see all of the construction that was still going on after the earthquake and quite sad.  After Christchurch I started making my way up the east coast and then up the middle of the north island towards Auckland again.  On the north Island I stayed over at Waitomo and visited the glow worm caves.   These were really incredible, the roof of the cave looked like a starry night sky.

From Auckland I flew to the next part of my trip…..Melbourne, where I would stay with my friends Ryan and Danielle who also picked me up from the airport.  While here they showed me around their city and visited areas such as St Kilda Beach and Fitzroy (quirky part of town) visited lots of bars including a roof top and also met up with my friend Paul.  Me and Ryan took a trip up the Eureka tower which offered expansive views of Melbourne.  It was pretty unbelievable to see how far Melbourne expanded and reminded me a little of the view of Toronto from the CV tower.  Melbourne was an awesome city and there always seemed to be loads going on.

As well as exploring Melbourne we took a trip along the Great Ocean Road to the 12 Apostles.  The beaches along this road were so beautiful with huge waves that seemed to break for miles.  The Apostles were unlike anything I had ever seen.  We also ended up having a fire and picnic on a secluded beach taking in the ocean and starry skied views!

When you have family in foreign countries (that you want to visit) you need to make the most of it and that’s what I did when I decided to visit my brother and his girlfriend in Norway.  They had been living in Oslo for a little over two years and I had a good time with them showing me around their city.  Places that we visited included Frogner Park which had some pretty crazy statues, the Aker Brigger (Oslo’s waterfront with the fiord) which has some pretty nice restaurants, The Opera House which is a stunning building inside and out and you can walk up and around it getting some nice views and the Fram Museum that had exhibitions about Roland Amundsen (1^st person to reach the South Pole) and Captain Scott.

Other trips we took around Oslo were to some of the islands in Oslo Fiord were some really pretty views were had.  Me and my brother also hiked up Holmenkollen which was nice to get a good view of the city and fiord.  It was also really nice that it was so accessible from the city with just a short train required to get there.  Note, there is a Massive sky jump up there which is worth checking out.

Olso was really pretty and really dam clean but I couldn’t go to Norway and not do any hiking…so I headed west to Stavanger.  I got the train which took 8 hours.  To be honest I wouldn’t do it again as the scenery along this route wasn’t amazing.  From Stanvanger I went on two hikes.  The first was Priekenstolen.  I got their via a ferry and a bus that took you to the trail head.  It was very touristy but the views were worth it and I got really good weather.  Piekenstolen (the pulpit rock) is an amazing cliff face sticking out into Lysebotn.  The next day I hiked to Kjerag and got there this time by hire car.  Again, the views all the way along were magnificent and standing on the Kjerabolten was a pretty awesome experience.

 

 

Stavanger itself was really nice.  There are lots of shops, cafes and restaurant in the centre and old town Stavanger was stunning with its tiny winding streets.

So after living for Vancouver for two years my second year visa was up and I had decided that going back to Scotland was the right thing to do right now.  A work mate suggested that I drive across Canada before I do.  At first I thought he was crazy because I only had a Toyota Yaris and it was winter…in Canada.  But the more I thought about it I realised, when will I have an opportunity to do this again, I do have A car and I’m in a position to make a one way trip….so I did!:-)

So starting in Vancouver, I filled a water bottle with water from the Burrard Inlet (as close to the Pacific Ocean as I was going to get) and the idea was to carry this over to the other side and empty it into the Atlantic just like Thomas Wiby and Jack Haney (except in reverse) on their trip from Halifax to Vancouver in 1912  .

The first part of the trip was magical driving through the BC mountains and the Canadian Rockies in winter.  I felt lucky enough to be in the Rockies during the summer but lucky doesn’t begin to explain how I felt to visit there the following winter as well.  We stayed in Jasper for a night and then driving down to Lake Louise the following day was just fricking incredible.  We then spent a few days in Lake Louise going on a few hikes taking in more staggering views.

Then it was time to say goodbye to the mountains and the first stop was Calgary where we stayed with a friend of mine from work for a night which was really nice to catch up with him.  This was followed by days and days driving through the prairies.  It was such a contrast compared to the epic Rockies but was kind of epic in its own way, I have never been somewhere with so much sky!  This was also the coldest part of the journey with temperatures getting as low as -40 degrees celsius brrrrr! We did pay a visit to the dinosaur museum in Drumheller which was pretty cool and had a massive collection of dinosaur fossils, 70% of which were from Alberta.  In Ontario, Lake Superior was beast in itself and is the largest fresh water lake in the world by surface area.  We spent 8 hours driving along its shore and that is just the Canadian side of it.

 

The last phase of the trip was through the east coast cities.  After days of endless driving though the centre of Canada we spent a few days in Toronto with a friend.  Of course a trip to Niagara happened which was pretty surreal to see in the winter.  Ottawa was a nice little city (surprisingly small for a capital) but skating on the canal was awesome.  Montreal had really nice architecture and no shortage of murals.  There was quite a choice of vegan restaurants to choose from as well.  Quebec City was sooo beautiful and we stayed in the old town which is surrounded by an old city wall and its stone buildings and small narrow streets really did feel like a European city.  We then travelled into New Brunswick which had recently received a lot of snow and was pretty crazy to see banks of snow piled up metres and metres high on the side of the road.  We also spent a couple of nights on Prince Edward Island and got there crossing the Confederation Bridge, the longest bridge in the world over ice covered waters at 8 miles long.

Then finally, we made it to Halifax on the other end of Canada, 3.5 weeks and 9 provinces later and we emptied our bottle (nicknamed Burrard) into the Atlantic at Peggy’s Cove.  Halifax was a nice little city to explore.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to explore it quite as much as we would have hoped as quite a bit of time was spent trying to sell Yaris L but we did manage to make a trip to the Alexander Keith’s Brewery!

It was an absolute epic adventure and we did actually get quite lucky with the weather.  When we were in the prairies the east coast was getting hit with a lot of snow and when we were on the east coast the prairies were getting the snow.  But there were quite a few precautions we took such as buying a good set of winter tyres, carrying lots of food, blankets, warm clothes, snow shovel, flares, first aid etc.  We also checked the forecast every morning and decided how far we were going to travel that day then booked that nights’ accommodation.  The one thing we didn’t do, and would recommend doing if you plan a similar trip, was install a block heater in your car that you can plug in overnight.  There were quite a few mornings where I wasn’t sure if the car would start but thankfully did.