Day 86 - Its a Beautiful Day

Started off the day with breakfast at Tomas Cook (not the travel company) with Holly and her parents. Saw the menu and thought the pancakes and strawberries would be a tiny little dish for $4.99 - I was a tad little on the wrong side. The strawberries were really fresh and lots of them, and the cream pushed me over the edge.

Today was just great day for photographs and the like. We went for a little bit of a wander around the riverbank. We came across this water fountain for adults, kids and dogs. I thought the part for dogs was a great idea (on the right hand side). Sometimes while walking dogs, they don't like to drink from running water or a persons cupped hand, so this makes perfect sense.



We ended up circling back to the Mendell Art Gallery that we went to yesterday. I went back into the green house type area and started taking some photos. Because it was so humid, my camera lens would fog up pretty quickly. Thus when I took photos, a couple of them turned out like that below - one of those little things that you stumble upon and note down for future reference. It just seems to accentuate the light, kinda like in a soap opera on tv (although, they use to use vaseline to get that hazy effect).



The others felt like doing some shopping while I wanted to take some photographs (I like to line up photos in certain ways so will wander around a bit to get a shot - really boring to anyone else but me). So I wandered around the city for a bit. Love blue sky days so had to go back to this church from yesterday to get a better shot.



I wandered down one side of the river, crossed one of the 7 bridges in Saskatoon, and wandered back up the other side. I came across this Prairie Dog (can't spell) which is kinda like a giant rat that stands up on its hind legs to see around.



One aspect of the buildings along the river front that strike you is the overall colour profile. You see the overall colours and an unusual combination of yellow, earth red, browns, whites and greys. Certainly is unique.



I saw this sign immediately and just thought that only in Canada could you have a sign like this right in the middle of the city. I looked around at the building it was next to and couldn't see any signs of danger ... but what would I know.



Later on I meet up with Holly and went out to the Synchrotron Microscope facility. Hoping that there might have been a little bit of a tour but not to be. Basically this microscope is the size of a building with the main accelerator being 170m in diameter.

In short, get electrons, apply lots of heat to make them go REALLY fast, fire them at whatever you are looking at, and you will be able to see down to a molecular level. Kinda think of it as X-rays for molecules. Afterwards back to the house for diner with everyone.

In the evening, I was vegging out in front of the TV. I don't watch a great deal of TV these days, but man cable/satelite TV here would be so dangerous! As bad as what Australian TV has become with ads and poor news coverage, just means that you switch off and don't watch it - maybe that indirectly is a good thing.

Day 85 - Sleepy Saskatoon

Saskatoon has about 200,000 people and the guide book described it as offering next to nothing for the tourist to see and do. A little bit on the perfect side for me at this stage - a little 'touristed' (is that even a word?) out at the moment - although my host has been a little concerned about me getting bored while here.

So at the moment staying with Holly and her husband. Her parents happened to pop over in the morning, having also come from The Pas, for a bit of a visit ('Spring Break' here at the moment - just love how they have a funky name for the holiday - gives it a little bit more 'umph' to it all or something).

We got out the door and headed into the city for a bit of a look around the city. Architecturally, this place is an extremely interesting hybrid of styles. From my initial impressions, it is like taking European styles and putting a bit of a Canadian 'spin' on it.

First up is this church - St Johns I think. The colour of it is striking to say the least. I'm thinking the floor plan and layout would be a curiousity in itself.



Just a little further down from this was this hotel. For those people out there in blog land paying attention, what does the building remind you of? Have a check back through some of the Prague architecture - similarities. Basically built in the 1930s but was opened 3 years after completion - why? Depression and no money.



A curiousity that I never really considered before, what ended the depression? Great spending on WWII - will have to check out some numbers on this.

We went for a wander along the river and ended up at a small art gallery called the Mendall. It was really interesting to see local interpretations of landscape. A temporary exhibition of landscapes was directly referencing Rembrandt, although it was never spelt out anywhere explicitly.

But it struck me right away with the colour palette being utilised and then I saw the title of the exhibition - "Nightwatch". The exact same title as Rembrandt's famous 1642 painting that I saw in the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam.

This was in the main entrance and is life size. The whole thing is actually made out of barb wire and steel. I thought it was pretty cool and an interesting medium to be using.



This next photo is probably one of the stranger things I've seen. This 'greenhouse' was in a room just off from the art gallery. It was humid, colourful and had lots of tropical plants growing. Then you could look out the window and see the cold snow, dark browns, greys and overcast of the day outside.



Next up we wandered around to a tourist information centre which had an interesting overview of the formation of the city and its development. Afterwards we wandered over to the mall for some lunch before heading out to Holly's work in a microbiology lab.

This was actually quite curious. First up they have a tube system where samples from anywhere in the hospital can be placed and they will find there way via hydraulics to the lab. You know when you see a doctor, they take some samples, send it to a lab and get a whole bunch of results back, well this is one of those labs.

It was great to see to get an understanding of how it works and integrates/fits into the health system, along with having some fantastic explanations of machines and process (I'm always curious about how 'stuff' works). Holly tried to gross me out with some 'samples', didn't quite succeed. The tape worms looked like nasty little critters however.

Afterwards wandered around the university that the lab/hospital is attached to. This was another curious building in a Canadian mixtured flavour of building styles. The entrance looks like an archway to a gothic church, while the roof looks a little bit like a castle or something.



Holly managed to find the Geology building which had this funky permanent exhibition of live animals, various rocks and dinosaur bones. It was just in the entrance to one of the departmental buildings. One of my favorite dinosaur's skeleton of all time was on display here.



How I wished we had these bones on display in Sydney. In the Australian Museum in Sydney you have skeletons from current animals on display which are always interesting to draw (interesting to compare skeletal structures between humans and other creatures - ALOT in common once you know what to look for).

Day 84 - Another One of Those Travelling Days

Around midnight I caught the bus from The Pas down to Winnipeg. Managed to get a bit of broken sleep on the 7 hour trek but felt horrible afterwards. In Winnipeg I managed to catch up with my stepmother and that was pretty interesting.

I got to the airport at Winnipeg to find that the plane was going to be about 3 hours late due to it having a mechanical failure and needing to be replaced ... I'm getting the feeling that planes are starting to pick up where my problems with trains left off. I must admit, I'd rather wait and get a new plane than be in one that decides to have a 'mechanical failure' mid flight.

Eventually got to my next destination and picked up by another old school friend in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (middle of Canada, little to the west). One can never get over that feeling when you see an old friend for the first time in like 14 years. Seems like eons have passed and always wondered what it would be like to see people again.

The Pas Summary

Strange, Bizzare, Friendly, Ironic and Nostalgic. Of all the places I've visited over the last 3 months, this is the only one that I probably didn't really want to leave. To some degree feels like something is left undone, unsaid and not finished. Maybe I'd never be right to leave this place, just too much a part of who I am.

People certainly made this place for me and was such a great time. The place kinda makes sense, something I can understand and feel like 'home'. The people here, first up the Allen's. Long time school friend and parents. I had a blast with these guys and just so appreciative of the time spent with them. My school teacher Vie Profit, ah ... people like this make the world go round.

The place certainly had a nostalgic kick to it, hence colouring my view with a degree of bias. Just something special to be able to go back to a place like this, after wanting to for so many years, and see it a fresh. I'd gotten taller, so the town felt like it got even smaller.

One person I meet up with all these years later made the comment that they always got the impression I'd left before I'd wanted to back in the 90s ... not sure I'd ever be ready to leave, but maybe I should to keep it special ...

Day 83 - Blind Stupid Matt

Here it is, the last day in The Pas. Now people who know me know that I walk around in shorts in T-shirt in the middle of winter in Australia. Well this is a habit that I've continued in Canada (seriously, it isn't that cold). Here is some evidence:



Now some people might think it is a warm day or something. Here is a photo of me with Terry, the guy who took the photo. Notice how rugged up he is. Also note my hair blowing in the wind.



Can you spot the difference in this photo?



Terry on the right, and Terry Jnr on the left. Terry certainly is a character and just messing around here. Maybe a little bit of an in joke but I thought it was kinda funny.

Another day of Ski-dooing and Terry mentioned climbing to the top of the grain silo might be a place to get some good photos. The only part of the sentence that I really heard was 'good photos'. Now I don't handle heights well so I kinda got to the top, realised how high it was and couldn't wait to get down. The wind was blowing and really cold. But a photo as 'proof':



This was also pretty funny.



A cow looking at the window, searching for something... either that or the Canadian version of Mad Cow disease.

Ah what the heck, put in an 'action' shot of Blind Stupid Matt on a Skidoo:

Day 77 - Lost Day III - The Town and Moose Lake

Today caught a ride into town so I could go around and take photos of the place at my leisure. Started off at the College, wandered down south (this area is hardly recognisable) before heading another 3km back into town. Ended up at the newspaper office where my friend works. Quickly did a cartoon of a local current event which everyone thought was humours, but couldn't really run it in the paper (could get sued).

Went with my friend to the next town over where he lives. It is actually called 'Moose Lake' and is an Indian Reserve. The place itself is really something else. The road heading out there is a gravel one that timber trucks use and would be horrible to travel everyday like my friend does.

We just hung out and was pretty cool. My friend has this program on tape called "Science Mystery Threatre 3000" or something like that. It is sooooo my sense of humour and absolutely wonderful. Basically they take a science fiction movie from the 1940s and there are voice overs heckling it for the whole movie - it is absolutely HILIARIOUS, gotta get hold of these when I get back to Australia.

Day 76 - Lost Day II - River, Mill & Lee

A little trouble remembering what I did in the morning - think I was a little late up or something. Anyhow ended back over at Vie's place and her husband, Jim, took me for a drive over town and so forth. This photo is taken from the middle of the main river that runs through the town - The Saskatchewn River.

We have actually driven a truck onto the ice here and it is used as a crossing for a large part of the year, as well as people drilling a hole in the ice to go ice fishing. Don't have to worry about casting a fishing line. Just go to where ever the fish are and drill straight down - usually using some kind of a hand auger.



The Pas exists predominately because of one major industry, the paper mill (now called 'Tolko' and in previous incarnations during my time, also known as 'Manfor' and 'Repap' - which is actually paper spelt backwards). The mill is about 10km out of town and when the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, it smells HORRIBLE.

I'd forgotten about the smell but it all came back to me all of a sudden on one wif. Apparently the bark gets mixed with oil and is burnt - which creates the smell and is what is coming out of the smoke stacks in the photos below.

Locals sometimes call it "the smell of money" as if the mill ever closes down, this town will probably shrink dramatically (happened to another town that I lived in further north called Leaf Rapids - the mine closed down and it is just a ghost town now). Funnily enough, today was the first time I'd ever been out around the mill.



The photo below just shows some of the logs before entering the mill. These are just some of them and there are multiple rows that stretch for a couple of kilometres. Railway tracks in the foreground but logs can also be shipped to the area on trucks - depending upon cost. Canada is a rather large timber country and timber is a classic victim of the USA's hypocritical "free trade" deal - why Australia just signed a Free Trade Deal with America is beyond me.



Here is just another section with the logs piled all the way up.



OK, maybe the nerd factor is entering in but this is the crane that is used to deal with this volume of lumber. Note how the cab is also on hydraulics and is extended to increase visiblity.



Headed back to Vie's for a roast dinner (man I was spoilt). Mrs Lee, my 8th grade English (Language Arts) and Health teacher also came over for dinner and it was interesting to catch up. She hadn't really changed a great deal, hair was a little shorter but still had the same sort of animated mannerisms.

Day 75 - Lost Day I - Vie Profit

Ok, finally getting a few seconds to go back and blog the days that I missed out on. Somehow I haven't done anything majorly mind blowing but in this small little town, had so much to do.

Today I gave Vie a call and I was surprised when she knew, before I said anything, it was me. First time I'd used Canadian phones and the caller ID actually lists the persons name, not just their phone number. Also the first time that I'd spoken with her since probably grade 6 as had been emailing over the years.

So eventually went around to her house and was greeted by a German shepherd. Recognised my 6th grade teacher right away, no one can forget that smile :) Just chatting away for some time before heading over town and driving around, looking at the town.

Being a Saturday, managed to head over to the old Junior High that I spent 2 years at. The place literally hasn't changed, just older and falling apart. The table and chairs would be the exact same ones I sat in all those years ago. I was really disappointed that they'd painted over artworks on the walls that were put in during my time in the school. I was hoping to see them as there was a Batman one that I always found really interesting.

The other thing that really shocked me was a lack of computers. Apparently there is one computer lab but all those computers are 2nd hand from the high school when they get new ones. The real kicker is that there generally isn't internet access. These days, internet access would almost have to be as important as having a library. How can a school of this size not have internet access - just mind blowing!

Afterwards just drove around and were hoping to find a few people but they weren't at home. Just headed back to Vie's for a home cooked meal - how I've missed these. Such a nice change from fast food / things that can be easily cooked (particularly when you have a cook as good as Vie. Had Pickeral and Perogoes - one hadn't had since Canada and I don't ever remember the other one).

More Sunrise and the Beginning of the Snowman

Some more sunrise photos that I didn't get a chance to put up earlier.



This one was interesting of the whole cloud pattern.



In the afternoon, killed and skinned a cow. Was definitely interesting to watch when it happens in the snow. Then went into town for some more town pictures. Came back for another ski-doo ride. It was a warm day, it got up to +3 degrees and the snow was melting somewhat. Thus the handling on the ski-doo was very different from yesterday.

The snow had melted enough and thought I would make a snow man. Unfortunately, the snow generally wasn't wet enough, apart from a small section under the ease near the garage. So I managed to build a snow man. I was stupid enough to have a goal of making it as tall as me. Biggest problem with that is trying to get one snow ball on top of the other. I had several attempts getting one ball on top of the other. Here I am a little tired.



I started to work into the snow man, kinda carving. One thing I loved about sculpture in art school was carving. So I could see myself having a lot of fun snow carving if/when I get to Canada next time. Also reminded me of ice sculpture we did in year 6 and 7, and at a local festival when guys would be carving ice with chain saws - something can't wait to try at some point in the future.

Day 82 - Sunrise

When I first got to The Pas and went for 2 days without sleep (good jetlag), I noticed that the sunrise and early morning light was quite interesting. Stupid me thought 'oh, I'll get photos another day'. The 'problem' with this and being this far north when the days are really long, you have to get up really early in the morning to take photos.

Now those who know me know I'm not a morning person. So getting up this morning at 0600 am seemed like torture when I am voluntarily doing it (if I have to get up to catch a plane, whole different story). The light and the colours this morning was pretty amazing! I was even fortunate enough to have an interesting cloud pattern.



Naturally when I have a fantastic sunrise, in the opposite direction, I have a brilliant moon setting. Thus torn between what photo to take as getting into position was difficult (walking through snow that is above your knees is difficult and hard work).

I've also never been able to take a decent moon shot, even the ones last night were ordinary. But I've persisted and played around with camera settings and think I'm starting to get it sorted out. So here is one of the 1st half decent moon photos I've taken.



Always playing around and this shot turned out interesting - thought I better put one in otherwise people might not believe that I got up that early. Good thing about snow and ice, can be quite useful to make a temporary tripod in the middle of nowhere.

Day 81 - Ski-doo

Today Terry, dude I'm staying with, fired up the ski-doo and let me loose with it :). In all the years that I was in Canada, I never got to drive a ski-doo and it was a hell of a lot of fun!! The photo below shows the ski-doo. You can also see my tracks where I was sinking down into the snow which was up to my knee. Hard to believe a machine that heavy just glides over the top of snow that I sink down into.



Here I am in full ski-doo glory outfit. The photo is screaming out for a caption something along the lines of "Take me to your leader". Generally always used the visor as the wind froze your face as one is motoring along.



The ski-doo handles a bit like a Go-kart on powdery snow here. For those who ever played Mario Kart, handles a little bit like that with fantastic suspension (see photo below for 'power-sliding' on the snow).

One thing about being in Canada and this area (out on a farm), is that the fields are giant, untouched snow areas. None of this compact snow from every man and his dog using it, I'm probably the first person all winter to be in this area.

So the photo below shows a little bit of the expanse of the land. Only problem is watching out for fences. Seeing the snow is about 2-6 foot deep, the ski-doo may actually go over the top of a barb wire fence. If the snow is a little low, might not go over the top of the fence which may make a mess of the machine and yourself.



My attention was drawn to the full moon out and I went to take some pictures (still haven't figured out how to take good moon photos yet). When I turned around and looked the other way, I thought the sunset and the farmhouse was pretty interesting.



Other than that, the other day someone mentioned something about my step brother who I lost contact with about 15 years ago. In a round about way, I managed to track him down and had an interesting chat on the telephone tonight. When you are like 1 of 10 kids, these things seem to happen for some strange reason. Ah ... where does the time go?

Vie Profit and I

At the school I was meeting up with Vie. I saw some of the kids that I gave my art lesson to yesterday and they were still a buzz. A couple showed me other things they'd been working on and one girl was seriously talented. I'd checked out the art section in The Pas library and had one of the best art reference books (I'm surprised at some of the things I've found in the local library) so gave the little girl the reference.

Otherwise just hanging with Vie and she was trying to get me drunk again - persistant 'eh'? Here is the evidence:



Actually it is embellishing the truth a little. She has her own wine making kit so just had to syphon the wine from the 50 litre jug into individual bottles, without disturbing the yeast that had accumulated on the bottom.

Now you had to suck really hard to get it to flow properly. Thus I got a mouthful of wine, as shown in the picture below. Now I've probably got more wine in my mouth now than what I've ever had in my life. On top of this, Vie is asking me questions ... how the heck was I meant to answer?



Anyhow, best put allow people out in The Flip Side to put a face to the name. This is obviously us here:



So Vie is now off on 'Spring Break', away from all the little monsters like me. It was great to catch up with her after so many years and a little surreal just to be hanging out with my 6th grade teacher. Still, had a blast! Hopefully in the not too distant future, she will be down under having a holiday *hint hint*.

Day 80 - Around the World in 80 Days

Well not quite all the way around the world in 80 days but sounded good. Today was pretty much a photo day. It wasn't until a couple of days ago that I realised easter is this weekend - I thought it would have been a little bit later. Ah, as people are saying here, it is 'Spring Break' - yet still has a lot of snow on the ground. Just means not a great deal is open so spend the next couple of days chillin'.

There is just something about this place, whether it is this small country town or Canada in general, people make the place. I can stand 2m back from the curb yet cars will still stop to let you get across the street. When I was out taking photos down a street, cars would stop so as not to get in the way of the photograph (either that or they were stopping to check out some 'shifty' character) much like people would around tourists.

Even when walking around the street with a camera, random strangers would just make jovial comments and it is just awesome. I've now been around the town for a little bit to start to get into a couple of 'gossip' loops and you really get a feel for what is happening around the place. Such a welcoming sort of thing.

I guess when you live in a town/city/whatever, it really is a matter of not being able to see the forest from the trees. I often get the question "Why the hell would you come to The Pas?" What makes a person come to such a place with nothing to do... at least that is the implication that I read into it. Maybe I'm just a simpleton, but I can easily amuse myself and enjoy the general banter of everyday life.

Its funny to wander around the place here as every building in the town centre you can remember something about - what it was, things you did, people you use to know etc.

Anyhow in the afternoon I went back over to the junior high. Just happened to be in the school office (came in yesterday briefly and the person remembered who I was) and they had a photo that a fellow class mate took while I was standing right next to the guy taking the photo. I remember when he developed the photo in the photography class, I was wondering how he managed to get this photo. I was standing right there but didn't see the same thing.

It was a great photo and an image that always remained burned into my head, just had such an imprint. Funny to see it after all these years. It has been hanging there for 15 years and people probably don't think much about it.

Yet when I look at it, just see something so different - even the little story that went along with it. My friend took the photo and I was thinking of taking one of the chairs as well. Boy did this guy ever get upset that I even thought about taking the photo... when he got it developed, I could understand why. Even more curious to look at it now with 'artistic' eyes, as opposed to not knowing a thing way back when.

Day 79 - The Good, The Bad and The something.

Headed into Canadian Human Resources concerning work and all bad news. Means most potential options I may have had in regards to staying in Canada pretty much evaporated. Pretty disappointed and bummed about it but wasn't too long before looking at some longer term options.

After this I headed into Vie's grade 6 class. They loved me from the get go cause they were meant to be having a test but that got post-ponned a little bit. Was kinda funny cause the other day I 'confessed' that I cheated on one of Vie's tests back in the day and she mentioned this to these students. Some were curious as to what subject, while a couple were as sharp as a tac and wanted to know how I managed this?

I did a little talk on travelling and Australia, getting some interesting questions/comments. I think they were more excited when I gave them an art lesson on how to draw a face. They all seemed into it and came up with some pretty cool drawings. A couple of them were naturally talented and amazing to see the diversity of drawings that came out of the exercise.

In the beginning a little worried/intimidated about how the whole exercise would go as I kinda made it up as I went along - trying to be flexible enough to adjust to where everyone was at in terms of ability. With hindsight, a little humourous to be travelling around the world and end up teaching a class back in my old Junior High. Still it was fun, something out of the ordinary and the kids seemed to be really into it.

Went out for lunch afterwards and then caught up with another friend, going out for lunch a 2nd time (although I was full from the first lunch). We just sat there joking around about semi-stupid stuff, much like old times. Now I know where the roots of my sense of humour come from.

Afterwards just headed out for some photos given that half the sky was clear blue. Now I'd been past my old house several times since being here but today was the first time for a decent photo opportunity.

Something about this house that I always liked - maybe it was the location, maybe it was the extremes of seasons. As you can see, it literally has 4 foot of snow infront of it - remember this is now 'spring'. Hasn't really changed in 15 years, new side fence, satelite dish but that is about it (one day might buy the place).



Headed back out to the farm where I am staying at the moment. The sunset today was pretty cool with an interesting cloud pattern (and in the opposite direction was a full moon - or close enough). This photo was taken a little after 7pm, remembering that it is only just come into spring now. In the middle of summer, the sun goes down around 2300pm at night and up pretty early in the morning.



Another photo that I just happened to like on the farm that I am staying at.

Day 78 - Cold Days Return

OK, I missed several days and will hopefully return to the 'lost days' when I have a little more time. The last couple of days that I've been here have been getting to almost zero during the day ... a little on the warm side. Today however, back to -25 and wind with a bit of snow ... welcome back, welcome back.

Basically got into town today around lunch time and went to the library ... spent a little too much time here while a kid. So wandered around the place and was kinda bizzare - same but different. One of the librarians I swear was Kirsty's doppleganger which is infinitly ironic.

I found this way cool wall chart which kinda was a summary of human history over time - just really great to be able to visualise something like this. I can't believe I found it here in The Pas of all places. Yeah it is being nerdy but seriously, I've gone back to the library in my old home town ... what do you expect?

I went a couple of blocks uptown to a restaurant that was across the road from my dad's old workplace - 'Fat Boy Restaurant'. The owner was still the same as 14 years ago but wasn't in. As fortune would have it, while eating a meal, the owner would pop in and had a little chat. At first I didn't recognise the face but after awhile it all came back to me - particularly with the help of mannerisms.

Headed from here over to the old Junior High to meet Vie (6th Grade teacher been hanging out with since getting back into town - always one of my favourites/most memorable and been great to see her again. A little bizzare as just a 'normal' person once that 'my teacher' image is gone ... heck, how often is your 6th grade teacher trying to get you drunk?).

We went across town and managed to catch up with my 8th grade history and math teacher. I'd always learnt a lot from this teacher and respected greatly. Kinda strange/ironic in that the first time I'd come across the 'Renaissance' topic was in this class (also the first time I'd heard about the Rosseta Stone was in grade 8 history). Now having spent the last couple of months in Renaissance headquarters and seeing the Rosetta Stone on the last day in Europe, felt like things coming full circle.

I guess one thing that has become obvious while catching up with a couple of my old teachers is their commitment to teach. Teaching was a profession I ruled out many a year ago, I just can't see how people can do it, yet respect them for doing it. Maybe that is why I had such high regard for these teachers, in a sense of responding to the energy and commitment they put into the job.

I guess you kinda hope to take what you have learnt and do something productive with it. I'm probably not the pin up child for that, heck I don't ever seem to have a clue with what I am doing. Although I must hold some kind of record for going the furtherest distance and coming back.

Afterwards headed out and saw the pharmacist and his wife who use to be next door to my dad's work. It was interesting to see them again as they kinda remembered me, but I didn't really recognise their faces - probably the first time this has happened.

Random Request

Very strange posting and request. If anyone has friends/family/contacts in Vancouver, could you pop me an email?

Otherwise the last several days have been pretty surreal and amazing. Catching up with people who have just been amazing and making me feel really welcome ... feels like a 'home'. Going back to all the old 'stompping grounds' and just physically being in a place, remembering lots of things that I hadn't thought about since they occurred, is pretty bizzare.

Will post more when get some free time.

Day 74 - Same but Different

I got into The Pas at 0500 and hadn't really slept that much in the past 30 hours. I was fortunate enough to have the parents of an old school friend meet me at this crazy hour and went back out to their farm. Really great to see them after all these years and spent quite some time chatting away.

Later on during the day my old friend came down from about 100km away and it was fantastic to catch up. When you haven't seen people in 14 years, you notice how things change and how some things don't.

Went for a bit of a drive around the town and it was pretty trippy. When we were living here, we never had a car so walked and rode our bikes everywhere in the town. When you do this, are only just a teenager, tiny, it is amazing just how everything seems so much bigger than what it really is!

Some places where just like a time capsule - nothing had changed. What I saw today was exactly the same way it was 14 years ago. In the main commerical area of town, pretty much all the buildings where the same, same paint jobs and all, just the business inside the building had changed to something else.

The 'worst' change - a McDonalds being built across the road from where we use to live! Argh!!! Even small towns like this aren't immune from the reach of the golden arches. A couple of other places had new buildings and businesses but pretty much the same look and feel as when I was here all those years ago.

Just more chattin' and hangin' out and just great to be able to do so. By about 20:00 that night, I was beginning to crash - as I hadn't slept in almost 2 days due to travelling, time zones and on a little bit of a high from just being back in a childhood town which has a lot of fond memories.

Canadian Immigration

Now if British Immigration was a nightmare, Canada Immigration might become a fairytale. I walked through and they pulled up my details on the computer. As far as they were concerned, I am still a permanent resident... more on a technicality but still a Canadian resident.

I've always wanted to come back to Canada and just looking at available options given this latest piece of information. Watch this space for more details.

Day 73 - Back to the Land of the Moose

Got up at like 5am, travelled for over an hour to get to London Heathrow airport to make a 9am flight. Now the flight was 8 hours but landed in Toronto Canada just after 11am (8 hour flight, takes only 2 hours... go figure). Right from the moment that I came in contact with the Air Canada flight, ah ... I remembered why I loved Canada so much... the people are just soooooo friendly.

So then another flight from Toronto to Winnipeg after hanging around the terminal for a couple of hours. Once I got to Winnipeg, crossed town to the bus station to get a ticket and then just had another 6 hours to kill before the bus left at 23:00. Caught the bus north for about another 7 hours and ended up at my destination - The Pas. Now if you don't know where this is, put your finger in the middle of a map of Canada and you probably aren't too far from it (only a small town with about 7000 people).

European Summary

Hard to even begin to summarise such a place like this. I certainly was on the go for the most part and certainly felt like I managed to maximise the time and opportunity. Yeah I did the superficial tourist thing for the most part but felt I was exposed to a wide range of situations, cultures, people, environments etc. Felt like some personal challenges along the way and seemed to figure things out.

I think I summaried it up one time before that while they seemed to have a lot of culture, they didn't seem to have a great deal of civilisation. The smoking was pretty unbelievable and did get to you after awhile. You'd be sitting in a park, someone would sit next to you and light up. After awhile, you started to look at where to sit based upon the wind direction ... stupid thing really.

I really enjoyed Berlin but didn't think much of Amsterdam. Otherwise all countries and places had something to offer - to varying degrees. Eastern Europe was a little bit of a surprise packet and if I was heading back to Europe, I'd probably look around these countries some more first.

England Summary

I really enjoyed England once I got over the immigration guy and the whole incident. The one thing that irrated me about continental Europe was the 'its all about me' attitude that people had. Maybe because I could understand the language or something but people in England just seemed really polite... and not the whinging pom stereotype that I've always encountered elsewhere.

I was also very fortunate to be staying with a friend cause the place is just ridicilously expensive accomodation wise (probably double Venice prices), and in other ways (also seemed that while people earned more in London, probably doesn't cover the rent as much as in other cities).

I loved the fact that important museums were free and there were still quite a number that I didn't get around to. It just means that you can spend a couple of hours in each day for a several day - rather than trying to do the whole thing all in one day (when the brain doesn't want to take as much in)

I think that London, Rome and Paris are 3 cities that you need several weeks just to cover superficially. Most of the others seemed you could cover most things in 4-5 days.

Caravaggio - The Final Years

Last stop, an exhibition in the National Gallery of Caravaggio. I'd been tempted not to see this having seen a lot of Caravaggio but was convinced otherwise. Admittedly it had a painting that I really wanted to see that would otherwise be in the normal National Gallery collection.

This was the 'Supper at Emmaus' done in 1601. The good thing about these types of exhibitions is sometimes putting together paintings that otherwise wouldn't be together. So next to the Supper at Emmaus 1601 version by Caravaggio, was Supper at Emmaus 1606 version also by Caravaggio.

Now in 1606, Caravaggio killed a man and had to leave Rome where he was working (Caravaggio was a bit of a wild man, always getting into trouble and drinking too much). Thus the exhibition mainly tracked the last part of his life, from 1606 to 1609 and how he dealt with subject matter after killing someone.

So having the two Supper at Emmaus paintings beside one another was kinda like a before and after shot and there were differences in how the subject matter was handled. There were only 16 paintings in this exhibition, all by Caravaggio but a matter of quality over quantity.

Blind Stupid Luck ... just never ends

Now I've had a lot of this over the last couple of months but today was definately up there. When I was looking at the Rosetta stone, a tour guide from the museum came along and I tagged onto the back of his group as he was really fascinating.

Basically went through the Greek and Roman section, which I avoided yesterday as I had seen a lot of Roman stuff in Italy and wanted something different. If I didn't do this tour, I would not have seen at the sculpture and freizes taken from the Parthenon in Athens (that famous building on the mountain top you always seen). I even knew the stuff was here.

This is the room that has some of the friezes and at the far end you can see some of the sculpture from the triangle/pediment at either end of the building/temple



This is a close up on some of the sculpture at one end.



I mentioned that we got kicked out early yesterday cause the museum was closely for some important Italian VIPs. They were generous to 'lend' this famous bronze statue from Rome for a couple of months (made around 50BC). The marble one is from the British Museum collection (from around 25AD).

Always good to see things like this side by side and it wasn't there the previous day (incidence of blind stupid luck). The statue is quiet famous and there is even a copy in the Botanical Gardens in Sydney. Basically it is a boy pulling a throne out of his foot.

Greatest Human Achievement

Sometimes you just wonder about "Greatest" Something ... whether scientist, discovery, sports person etc. Years ago I wondered about what was the greatest human achievement. Naturally you have the ones like putting a man on the moon, various engineering feats, philosphical aspects of love and so forth.

Then one day it occured to me, it was probably the ability to write and create language ... or more simply, the ability to think 'abstractly'. It is something that we kinda take for granted today, much like the true 'axioms' behind how math fundamently works. It just happens and we don't give it a 2nd thought.

But one day we are running around as monkeys and beyond, and then decide to give a 'representation' to the grunts we'd used to communicate with one another - what a leap forward. If you were asked to define 'love', what would your answer be? Things to describe how it is displayed, a bond between people but fundamentaly it isn't really tangible ... abstract, yet we all know what it is.

Yesterday when the British Museum closed early, I wasn't able to see the Rosetta Stone so decided to head back for this specifically. There are 3 versions of the same story on the stone (basically about how wonderful a particular king had been). The top 2 are ancient egyptain in like an upper case version, then a lower case version. The bottom is Greek.



Up until the 1800s, we hadn't worked out egyptian symbols, thus a lot of there culture remained a mystery. So when this stone was found, we knew Greek and 25 years later, people were able to decipher it. Thus we were able to unlock the structure of it and only became a matter of time before all other egyptain texts could be translated - providing valuable insight and knowledge into the past.

So this block, an example of that step forward in the ability to abstract to represent something, and unlocking thousands of years of knowledge - pretty cool.

Dali Universe

Two artist's whom I didn't see much work on this trip and wanted to were Salvador Dali and John Waterhouse. I saw a Dali museum in London and decided to go and pay for this one hoping to see some paintings. I got in and it was prints and sculptures, with only one painting.

How disappointment! Not only that, some of the sculptures I'd seen in the Sydney show a couple of years ago that was also titled "Dali Universe". Now I'm a little slow but it them occurred to me that the Sydney show was taken from this collection - d'oh.

Admittedly at the end they had a gallery with some Picasso sketches and workings for his Guernica painting that was pretty interesting. Also the posters in the gift shop were probably more interesting than the exhibition ... doesn't say much.

Day 72 - End of the Road

Today starts off as a little bit of a weird day. This is the last day in Europe and somewhat brings the art and culture part of the trip to an end. Last chance to see the grand museums and buildings. Need to go out with a bit of a 'bang' after 10 weeks and too many museums, galleries, sites and buildings to count.

Fortunate enough to have some great weather so decided to head to Buckingham Palace. I always thought that the one changing of the guard I wanted to see, I wouldn't. After stumbling onto the changing of the guard in Monaco, Rome, Vatican etc. the guide book did mention that in winter, the changing of the guard is every other day. Thus it wasn't to be today but tomorrow - bummer.

Anyhow this is a shot of Buckingham Palace and relative to others ones that I've seen, not really all that impressive. It is kinda square and blockish and no real dome or anything to offset vertical and horizontal lines.



The fountain in front of it was interesting however.



While walking around the Palace, saw a couple of different official looking horses and carriages but had no idea of the significance of them

O Canada

just a quick update from heathrow airport (will update yesterday at a later date). Time in Europe is now at an end and had a blast - pretty amazing little trek through the place. Now on to Canada and will be great to catch up with people and somewhat chill!

Watch this space for more details.

Half Way Around the World...

All too often I seem to be somehow saying '...catching up with a friend I haven't seen in x years.' (the record currently stands at 17 years - a friend from primary school). This was one of those and managed to catch up with a high school friend who is now in London. Was great just to hang out, chill and naturally catch up. Time was oh so short and kinda funny to go half way around the world to catch up... Canada should be interesting in that regard :)

National Portrait Gallery

Getting kicked out of the British Museum early meant I had some more 'gallery hours' daylight so headed off to the National Portrait gallery. As I suspected, the 1st half was pretty dry with portraits from 1500 to 1800. After that things started to get a little more interesting, and at least people you might know and understand.

It was informative to see just a whole gallery of portraits in a chronological order and how the genre has developed and grown. Having such a gallery would be such a gold mine for ideas and inspiration in ones own portraits. One day, if I ever get around to it, has given me some ideas for an Archibald Portrait entry ... time will tell.

British Museum

A little saturated with art so decided to head off to the British Museum which is more artifacts and physical objects from various cultures and time periods. It was great but the place is just stupidly massive and just far too much to take in. So got a few reference photos for drawing purposes and other little bits of interest. They were having some Italian VIPs coming along and closing the museum early :(

Day 71 - Tate Britain

The weather was ordinary today so felt like a museum day. First up was the Tate Britain, different from the Tate Modern but originally the same collection. As the name suggests it has a lot of art by British artists. Main highlight was seeing some more Constable and fantastic!

One artist I'm really interested in is a British dude called "Waterhouse". I've only ever seen one of his paintings and that was actually in Sydney's gallery. I never saw any of his work in other galleries around Europe so thought they must all be hiding in the British galleries.

To my surprise, I only managed to find 2 of his works, ordinary ones at that, in the Tate Britain. So quickly checked the internet and most of them seem to be in private collections :(

'Monopoly' Viewing

After the national gallery it was off to have a look at some of the 'Monopoly' streets - kinda strange but interesting. Had a look at Bond, Regent, Oxford streets along with Piccadilly. Basically just up market shopping districts but did have some interesting buildings.

There is also a Hyde Park in London, of which Sydney has one of the same name. So I went for a little bit of a looksy and great to do on a clear afternoon at dusk. The park was stupidly massive with a water body running through it.

I then stumbled upon the Royal Albert Hall which has a strange design... shame I can't put some photos up right at the moment. Afterwards just jumped on some random buses and see where they took me.

National Gallery - Part II

The other day when I went to the national gallery, only managed to see the artworks from 1200 to 1600. So I went back today to look at the works from 1700 to 1900. These were by far the better half, and I kinda suspected that, but wanted to do things in chronological order.

I was able to see several key English artists that I hadn't seen much work of before. The Constable landscapes were fantastic and have a great texture to them. Just trying to think of away to use his style as a departure point with some Australian landscapes as that could be really interesting.

There was pieces by Hogarth, including the satirical 'Marriage a la Mode II' series. They actually had all 6 paintings in the series beside one another and that was cool. Basically it tells a story of the short comings of 'old money' marrying 'new money' purely as a financial transaction, rather than for 'love'.

I also saw some really important Turner works, which was the first time I'd seen his stuff. I must admit, overall Turner's works are better in reproductions. In the flesh, the colours feel faded and don't have the same impact. Admittedly, you can't see all the same details in reproductions that give the works another meaning.

Then walking into the Impressionists area was like colour coming back with reinforcements - great. Saw some Seurate (first time seeing his work as well) works and they are strangely interesting. The colour scheme seems a little detached but strangely inviting.

Day 70 - St Paul's and Tate Modern

Somehow I was wandering around with my clock about 45 minutes slower than what it was. So when I caught the tube (metro) and looked at the time getting out, I thought it was strange the trip took about 70 minutes. Then I realised ... such an idiot.

Anyhow went to St Paul's Cathedral today and another massive church. Must admit it didn't really do that much for me and I thought St Stephen's in Budapest was far more interesting for the same type of style. St Paul's also suffered from what I would call 'wedging'. It is wedge inbetween all sorts of buildings so feels a little crampt with no real square or garden area that it opens up upon.

From here wandered across the millenium bridge to the Tate Modern. This is the new modern art building, as of 2000, which is a converted power station. It was interesting to walk around and have a look at the pieces, some of which I'd studied. Nothing jumped out for attention and indifferent to a lot of the work.

Day 69 - London Tower and Bridge

Really had to get some washing done today and for some reason the washing machine took over 2 hours. I kinda expect stuff like this but on the upside, I'd say my clothers are nice and clean.

When I did make it out the door, it was off to London Tower (a castle) and London Tower Bridge. The day was overcast so the photos came out a little ordinary - my camera was also playing up but I find if I 'bump' it, things get better (not a great solution).

First up is London Tower Bridge built in between 188x - 1896. The main deck still opens but rarely these days as London is really a working port any more. I love the designs on each tower and gradually warming to the blue and white paint scheme. As far as bridge designs go, this is way cool!



The reason it is called the 'Tower Bridge' is because it is beside a castle/fort called the 'tower'. When I think 'tower', I think of something hundreds of meters in the air. However this was originally built around the 11th century and naturally would have been the largest building, hence the tower name. It is the whole building that stretches along the water front, with the main tower part hidden behind the tree. The cucumber looking building thingy in the background is a Swiss building only completed in the last year or so (slightly left of center).



This was another cool building I liked right away and is the City Hall. It was built in 2002 and hence the modern looking nature of it all. In some respects it is a sculpture cause it looks slightly different from all angles and still looks interesting.



This would have to be one of the more bizzare things that I've ever seen. Here is the war ship HMS Belfast (apparently the largest in the British fleet, permenantly moored here and open to the public). I pretty much saw it first from this angle and thought the colour scheme / design was bizzare.



Now I'm guessing, and it is purely that - a guess, it is so that when you come at it from the other side or an angle like this, it blends into the scenery. In case you can't see it, it is on the right hand side of screen (blends in even more with the overcast day).



I stuck around the area to get some night shots. First up is London Bridge itself (I thought this was what the Tower Bridge was actually called so set out today to see London Bridge - good thing they are close to one another). It was lit up in a cool way with the red but this was about the clearest shot I could get of it. London Bridge is where I took the first photo of the war ship above (it is on the left in this photo and interesting lighting arrangement).



This is the tower bridge at dusk from the other side to all the previous photos. It was generally really hard to get good vantage points and clear lines of sights to the buildings and bridges along the foreshore. Interesting the shadows on the side and top of the towers.