Snowmaking

Christmas In Liverpool

sweeney — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 03:35:00 GMT

Arrived in Manchester airport at 9am although it really felt like 3am, it was nice to be met at the airport by Aunty Christine and Helena plus my two year old cousin Liana. They were all dressed up with a real christmas theme!

Gallery: New York

sweeney — Sat, 9 Dec 2006 04:29:00 GMT

NYC

Gallery: Toronto

sweeney — Sat, 9 Dec 2006 04:25:00 GMT

Toronto, Ontario

Gallery: Niagara Falls

sweeney — Sat, 9 Dec 2006 04:16:00 GMT

Niagara Falls, Ontario

New York

sweeney — Fri, 8 Dec 2006 12:52:00 GMT

I have had a full day in new york now and will stay here until monday, it is a really lively city with so much to do it is hard to make a decision! The people are a bit grumpy, not sure what that is about? Oh and Americans have a really polite way of walking straight into you and sounding genuinely sorry about it!

Got the ferry to the statue of liberty today and went to m&m world, Nintendo world, a massive toys r' us and walt disney world, There is a world store for every brand you can think of! Still need to go to nike world and hot woman world! Will put pictures up when i find somewhere to do it, this computer won't let me, ciao for now.

After a couple of days in New york I really started enjoying the city and it turned out to be the highlight of my trip so far. Mainly spent my days wandering around and getting lost on the subway, but ended up in some good areas such as chinatown, greenwich village, soho and brooklyn. The empire state building viewing platform was awesome and is a must do in new york, it is wise to pick your time to go up because the queues can be massive at times.

Gallery: Ottawa

sweeney — Mon, 4 Dec 2006 09:56:00 GMT

Capital of Canada

Christmas plans

sweeney — Fri, 1 Dec 2006 11:15:00 GMT

Hi everyone!

I got a ticket yesterday from Toronto to Manchester so will be in Liverpool for christmas, for the first time in twelve years! I am looking forward to that on December 16 until then will be staying in Ottawa for a couple of days then going to Toronto, Niagara Falls, New York and maybe Boston.

That's all for now?

Gallery: Montreal

sweeney — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 12:26:00 GMT

Montreal

Gallery: Quebec

sweeney — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 11:30:00 GMT

Quebec City

French in Canada

sweeney — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 02:08:00 GMT

It seems strange to still be in Canada but feel like I am in France! I am now in Quebec city after spending a few days in Montreal, they are both very picturesque cicties but as Noel Gallagher summed the language experience up, so elegantly, in a recent canadian interview, I will leave the rest to him:

Q: What do you think of when you think of Canada?

A: I think of being absolutely freezing fookin' cold. And I also think of this fookin' weird, weird french influence: What's all that about? What business have they got over there? Why French? I was in a dunkin' donuts in Canada and the menu was in french - the whole thing, right. And I asked the woman for a coffee and she only spoke french. Now i've taken a lot of drugs in my time mate, but i've got to say that the single most frightening experience of my life was thinking. "I could have swore I was fookin' in canada when i got off the tour bus. And now i'm in ... am I? No I don't know."

Now I just need to say I do not necesaarily support the comments made by Noel, I just thought he raised some funny points! (sorry to any french readers) We all know that he has a way with words!

Skiing at Whistler

sweeney — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 07:47:00 GMT

Whistler ski resort opened two weeks early due to early season snow falls, so I took the opportunity to ski there, great conditions and massive ski areas and only a small percentage of the total resort was open, so you could spend weeks there when all lifts are running. Leaving whistler today and then flying to montreal and might check out some ski resorts over there!

Gallery: Whistler

sweeney — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 07:37:00 GMT

Skiing

Recovering in Victoria

sweeney — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 06:00:00 GMT

Well, I had my flight to Montreal booked for friday 10 october. But my ear drum wasn't happy with that decision! On wednesday night it ruptured and was really painful so had to go to the hospital $600 (thanks worldnomads for covering that!) they gave me pain killers and antibiotics because it was an ear infection that caused it to rupture. Had to put the flight on hold until the infection clears. After five days of leaking from the ear it stops but still feels like the ear is full of water - but at least the pain is gone, have to see a dotor on wednesday so that they can check if it is healing properly. next stop montreal!

Different stuff in canada

sweeney — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 07:57:00 GMT

A few of the things i have noticed to be a bit different in canada are:

They drive on the wrong side of the road!!!

Egg shells from eggs bought at the supermarket are perfectly white and smooth, they seem artificial, maybe they have superior chickens here?

petrol is known as gas (even though it is a liquid)!! i have had many discussions with my eight year old canadian cousin about this. Thought it is best to try to highlight this inconsistency to up and coming generations.

Some cars dont have orange indicators, the brake light flashes to indicate! Can be a bit of a hazard for the unweary

Cars in the Province of Quebec don't have licence plates on the front of the car.

French is the first language for a lot of canadians on the eastern side of canada.

Maple Syrup, pancakes and Bacon can all be served together! It is surprisingly nice though.

Gallery: Vancouver Island

sweeney — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 09:57:00 GMT

Victoria

Gallery: Banff to Jasper

sweeney — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 06:56:00 GMT

Banff to Jasper

The Leaving of louise

sweeney — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 04:45:00 GMT

Hi everyone,

After a long hard look at myself I decided to leave the snowmaking job at lake louise. One of the main reasons was money, we were expected to buy all sorts of equipment and rent the rest from the resort I would have been paying them to work 12 hour night shifts at $8 per hour at -2 to -40 degree temperatures! I decided that it would be best to look for better work in the towns and ski whenever i wanted to. Another reason was that the town of lake louise was a 24 hour party town and i was tired of that after a few days so anyway the next stage of my adventure begins and I am looking forward to that will be in banff until 19 october then heading up to Jasper and then across to Vancouver island where I will stay with tony and look for work there.

Gallery: Lake Shuswap to Lake Louise

sweeney — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:37:00 GMT

Lake Shuswap to lake louise

Thai experiences

sweeney — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 07:57:00 GMT

Some thai experiences and observations:

Generally asian people aren't very tall - think it's something to do with the heat, they have tiny animals their biggest wild animal is a baby pig whereas cold countries like canada have big animals like polar and grizzly bears.

If you fear you are going to be sick (after eating some food that seemed ok until you saw the kitchen) then you will usually be ok (I think maybe the fear produces chemicals which kill the bacteria).

If you are going to catch the local ferry in bangkok, don't wait for it to stop because it won't! Just jump on

Take your driver's licence whenever you drive - I found out the hard way after getting a $10 fine. Don't worry about change the police have lots of that (credit cards not accepted though!)

Petrol station courtyards can be transformed into romantic outdoor restaurants (bit like drive through dining!)

Peanuts can be deep fried

15 year old girls can be attracted to 60 year old men?

Bangkok is slowly sinking but the people are still happy!

You will be asked if you want to buy a suit or have a massage at least twice a day wherever you are in thailand!

Gallery: Vancouver to lake Shuswap

sweeney — Mon, 9 Oct 2006 00:05:00 GMT

trip to lake shuswap