Cole and I packed all our things and left his house by midday, we stopped by a few shops so that I could pick up a few things that I needed for planting. I bought myself a new tent for $50, socks and underwear and a new set of headphones – coming into just over $200 – ouch!
It was a 3 and a half hour drive to Williams Lake where it was great catching up with all the planters old and new.
It was freezing out, well, for me anyway because I was just in warmer climate and I didnt dress suitably but we all cuddled around the fire reminiscing about old times and what we were all up to for the past 9 months.
Its and early start tomorrow and another chapter to my so called traveling career and as such I will end this blog as every day is much the same.
Ill recap on the events over the next 3 months in a new blog that im putting together that is much better named than this one.
Jonostravelblog.blogspot.com will be changed to homeless-but-not-hopeless.blogspot.com – credits to Cole for the name.
Looking forward to people reading more of my adventures in the near future and the further future. Thanks
Jono out
Saturday, 7 May 2011
02/05/2011
01/05/2011
Again, another beautiful day in Kelowna. This time I didnt wake up with a hangover. I got in contact with Kristen when she told me she had a ride to Kamloops for me with her ex-boyfriend.
This was great and meant I didnt have to hitchhike any part of the journey to Kamloops to see Cole. I packed all my things and waited for the guy to show up but because Carly was on the phone he couldnt get in contact with me and apparantly after he was shouting on the street he gave up and left. It really sucked but Kristen was headed in somewhat of the right direction towards Kamloops later in the day.
I cooked lunch for Keelan and Carly and helped out around the house doing some renovation and demolition.
At 4 I got picked up and said farewells to Keelan and Carly and headed on our way via a Tim Horton's – Tim Horton's is a franchise chain of...i suppose half starbucks and half fast food restaurant. I havent quite understood why its so popular and why countless people wait in their cars in the drive thru when getting out of their car would not only be faster but also more fuel effiencent.
One other thing is that I ordered an 'Everything Bagel' I thought it would have 'Everything' on it but all it was was a ordinary bagel with some seeds and cream cheese – what a joke!
Kristin and Jill (Kristin's good friend) took me a considerable distance and dropped me off with all my gear (which is quite a lot) at a not so busy junction where I waited about an hour for a ride.
Eventually I got picked up by a Danish woman and her Daughter who were both cool – especially now because they gave me a ride all the way into Kamloops and it was good to relate with the Danish things I know.
I got dropped at a servo where I called Cole and he came to pick me up. We chilled playing pool in the evening and because I was tired from hitching (I dunno why it is so exhausting, but it is) I crashed on his couch.
30/04/2011
It was a beautiful day out in Kelowna and my hangover was killing me... I never make the mistake not to drink water before crashing but this time I messed up.
I lazed around all day until I met with Kristin who I first met in Columbia a few weeks ago. We walked around the lake front where a boat and yacht festival happening and people were showing off how much money they had by the shear extravagance of these almost useless watercraft – I was impressed by the design of some of the boats but they are completely useless.
I was going to go out in the evening to meet with either Kristin or Christina but ended up staying in and watching a film.
29/04/2011
I was kicked out of Dico's place because some girls celebrating a stagette party rented the place for the weekend, I had to find another place to stay so I got in contact with Keelan and Carly and they let me crash at theirs.
I was suppose to meet with Christine in the evening but again it fell through, I will see her tomorrow though so we can catch up after the past few weeks of not seeing her.
I went out with Keelan and Carly for a couple of drinks, first at their place and then at a bar where we had to pay entrance for a band that were playing their last song – waste of money.
I got pretty hammered this evening and one thing that I think I have mentioned before is that you can really tell that there is a massive difference with people you meet whilst travelling and the people here where they dont travel and is always difficult to strike up a conversation.
I had one girl come up to me and say that I had a identity crisis because of the shirt I was wearing, my watch that is fixed with ducktape, the dreadlocks, my accent and the necklace that I found in Vietnam. Kudos to her for spotting everything and to be honest I would have loved to have a moment to chat with her and explain some things but as soon as she had said this she left... it was a bit random and out of the blue and I dont know what was up her ass to just pay out on me like that, but whatever – what a bitch, she can continue living in her little fucked up bubble, not experiencing life in anyway close to how I do it.
Still, it was a good night out with Keelan and Carly and I when we got back we made pizza and watch the beginnings of the movie Hot Fuzz – Great film.
28/04/2011
Little bit of a hangover today, which is somewhat expected after all the beers I drank yesterday. I said laters to the other treeplanter guys and managed to get a ride back to Dicos place with some other Germans I met last night at the hostel.
I met with Deb whom I worked with up at Big White (ski resort) two years ago and I met with her because I left her with my treeplanting gear, we went to a bar and had a few drinks and ran into Kyle who I also worked with up at Big White – its great bumping into so many people I know form over 2 years ago.
It was good to catch up with Deb and she gave me a ride back up the hill.
I cooked up some pasta in the evening and tried to have a relatively early night.
27/04/2011
I spent the day sorting out my computer because of the major fuckup mistake I did back in columbia... I managed to recover all my pics but only half of my music, thankfully the internet here at Dicos place is very fast and I didnt have much issue downloading my missing music. One problem too is that the second hand ipod that I bought in columbia died on me too. Shit! In the evening I went for wing night with Dico and her cousin and ran into Chris and Godfrey where they invited me back to the hostel to drink with 3 German girls I briefly met in Walmart the other day. I learnt some new card tricks from some Swiss German guy and managed to break then repair one of the German girls cameras – smooth :(
Still it was a good night out and where I managed to sleep at the hostel for free...only because the staff didnt know I was staying there.
25/04/2011
Still thinking it is 3 hours ahead of time I woke early and borrowed the spare bike Dico has and cruised down to the hostel meeting with Godfrey and Chris, I hung about for a while and cycled down to the dollar store to see the two women who have always been great to me over the past few years (Jan and …?). I caught up with them for a little while and set off back up the hill to Dico's place and napped for the arvo.
Dico was hosting a bbq at hers where some of her friends came along with her boyfriend. Im going to admit that Dico's boyfriend Chaddy isnt the liveliest of guys but that would have something to do with the weed he smokes – im just thinking out load and I want to say Dico can do much better -'cough' I do like the girl!
Anyway I was chatting to one girl who is only 22 and has two kids, is a single mother and very happy for it, she did admire my chitchat about my travels and in my opinion a very special girl.
The food was great company also, good banter all round and fun too, I love these types of gatherings.
24/04/2011
Happy Easter Everyone! There were about a dozen people in the hostel that I chatted to in the morning about my trip cycling and making my way over to Columbia, these were people on one of those tours that go around canada, much like the Contiki tours around Europe.
I didnt do much for the morning but when the afternoon hit I started drinking with Chris who is also a treeplanter. One noticable change from the beers in Canada compared to the beers in Central and South America is that the beers here are much stronger... all I need is about 4 beers here and Ill have a nice little buzz going – in Latin America it takes almost twice that.
I had a good time in the afternoon hanging about the hostel until I got in contact with Christina who lets me stay at her place everytime im in town. I was invited down the road to go to an Easter dinner where I met with a bunch who ive known for a little while. Included in this group was Phil who I first met about 9 months ago when I woke on his couch with quite the hangover – he had plans to go to central and south america then and when I was in Guatemala I bumped into him randomly.
I met Phils girlfriends mum (Linda) who cooked up the amazing feast and got an invite to go stay with her in Prince George if I have pass through there whilst planting.
It was a good fun party and later we headed back to Dicocco's (Christina) place to drink some more – Dico made some ceasers that were fantastic; these drinks are amazing, its essentially a bloody mary with clamato juice instead of tomato juice. I do have to bring these to Aus if and when I do return.
23/04/2011
Lack of sleep, jet lagged (only slightly) and hungover I got up at a reasonable hour to munch down the included breakfast at the hostel, I took a few more bagels for a snack later in the day and shovelled as much food as I could.
I packed my things and met with Steph who hired a car and took me on my way to Kelowna, I paid for the first fuel up and we went around the city to places where Steph wanted to take photos of some of the sights albeit a bit random of things, it was still good fun.
The things he wanted to take photos of were the 'welcome to Vancouver' sign, East Hastings road where all the bums hung out and we drove around a neighbouring town for quite a while looking for a statue of Terry Fox.
I kept Steph company for most of the journey apart from when I was kipping; Steph was a great guy and we had some good laughs in the car on the way to K town.
We stopped off in Merrit where we refueled and went looking for a library so that I could use skype and call Christina it see if I could stay at hers. Apparantly the Library was closed but an incredibly friendly couple (James and Gloria) invited us to their place and let us use their internet and offered us food and drink. After some good banter with Gloria and a skype call we were on our way. Unfortunately Christina couldn’t host me cause she was headed to a party outside of town, but one night in a hostel was just fine.
Steph asked me to join him to Lake Louise where he was going to go skiing... it sounded like a great idea as I have missed boarding and I made the effort to get in contact with one of my friends in Kelowna to see if I could borrow some boarding gear. It was all going well until he called his mate who he was meeting up with in Vernon and asked whether I could crash at his place and he refused. Now I wouldnt have been an issue with sleeping in my tent in the middle of nowhere and to be picked up in the early morning but because Stephs friend refused without hesitation I considered him to be a bit of a twat and to be honest I would want to spend 10 hours in a car there and back with a person who isnt open for freely meeting others let alone snowboarding with this guy all day. And of course no disrespect to Steph with his choice of friends he is a great guy and I reckon Ill catch catch up with him in Toronto when I pass through there in a couple of months because thats where he is from.
I checked into the Samesun hostel again in Kelowna where they had done some major renovation making it even better than before and the inclusion of a hot tub makes this hostel - in my mind - the best hostel ive ever stayed at.
I met some other tree planters in the hostel (Godfree and Chris) and in the evening went over to Keelans place to had a chat about my cycle trip (Keilan sold me his bike to do my trip from Vancouver to Mexico). It was a chilled night with no alcohol involved and I headed back to the hostel and crashed hard. After travelling for the past 3 or so days I was beyond nackard and was in dire need to sleep.
Bums on East Hastings Road, Vancouver
22/04/2011
I went to use the toilet to take off a load an found myself looking for the bin that you throw the toilet paper in, like I have done for the last several months. It was also an issue to turn on the tap and paper towel dispenser, all using motion detection.
When I checked in I was asked to pay for my luggage, thankfully because I was on another flight before 24 hours the woman wavered the cost.
So here's a top tip, if you falsify an itinerary for a flight before you get yours, your luggage is free - it's worth a try!
Security in America is simply ridiculous!
They checked everything of mine, shoes, laptop battery and even my duct tape watch. I even had the privilege of going through one of those new body scanners.
I was saying before about the physical size of Americans here is something I just witnessed, a guy that was too big for the seatbelt to fit him, he had to ask for an extension for his seatbelt - perhaps this is sign to loose wait but whatever I'm incredibly happy not to be sitting next to him.
21/04/2011
I had a lot on mind last night thinking perhaps I forgot something or needed to do something before getting on my flight. I was up at 7 to munch down breakfast and pack my things tightly in my pack, another issue was perhaps I had some icing sugar left over somewhere in some pocket I had forgotten about that would attract ants or in this circumstance dogs and pigs.
I bought a few packs of cigarettes for friends back in Canada down the street, said goodbye to everyone I could at the hostel and hopped into a taxi towards the airport, it cost me $10 but much faster than taking the bus. The taxi driver was great, although he didn't speak any English I used my broken Spanish and we had a good laugh.
Waiting at check in I met a bunch of people all interested in my travels and I shared stories and one American woman, an amateur photographer wanted a photo of me - I would have thought the scenery and things to see in Columbia would be enough but apparently I was highlight of her trip (not to sound bigheaded)
I tried to use up my left over Colombian pesos at the duty free stores by buying alcohol but still managed to have plenty left over and after walking to and from all the shops I still couldn't find anything worth buying - apart from alcohol and smokes nothing else was cheap.
Arriving at the airport in Florida I had to find a place to kip for an 18 hour layover, I found a corner in the departure lounge next to the security gates where I added pics to Facebook using the free wireless Internet; I lay out my mat, grabbed my blanket and wen to sleep.
I took a quarter of a sleeping pill to get me to sleep because 2 young black couples kept on Making noise and disturbing my sleep.
20/04/2011
Well rested and eager to see a bit of the city before I head back to Canada tomorrow I got up at a reasonable hour.
After a little more food I wondered around the city with Nadia and Cathrin (Austria home of the Kangaroo's) where I got a little shopping done and just pissed farted about the streets with the two girls. As I was writing this blog in the afternoon with Cathrin sitting next to me she read what I was writing and I also made the mistake of writing they were from Germany as apposed to Austria – apparently a BIG mistake – Cathrin wasnt happy, but not only that I got her name wrong too. Oooppss
She helped me out a little and wrote what is below, I have no idea what It means?
Er schreibt sein Tagebuch und gestern waren wir auf der Couch am chillen. Die Maedels aus Oesterreich sind die besten everrrrrrrrrrr.
19/04/2011
21 hours on a freezing cold bus! It sucked but thanks to a sleeping pill I took last night I was knocked out for quite some time. Arriving in Bogota where it was pissing it down I took a taxi to a hostel in la Candloria area, it set me back about $6. I would have got public transport but im getting a little lazy at the end of this trip and the weather certainly swede my choice.
The hostel was small but homely and the first thing I did was (like all the time) meet everyone and join some people for lunch... Sushi wouldnt be my first option with the 3 others I went with but it was kind of stupid that the server wouldnt give us any more wasabi... who knows why?
Anyways after I just chilled at the hostel for the afternoon as it was still raining and cooked dinner for a Irish girl; I would have gone out to some bars with some others but I was knackered from the journey and just chilled with some randoms watching films.
18/04/2011
I had a really great time in Taganga, it was hot and sunny all the time I had made some really good friends but to say goodbye to them all was a little upsetting, I got my last juice from the juice lady and did my usual routine meetin with floor, giving the remainder of my juice to her and chatted for a while. Today was one of tue first days where I would walk down to the beach and wouldnt see or meet anyone I knew, shame really today being my last day after two weeks in Taganga.
Anyways I packed my things, grabbed some takeaway chicken for the road and said my farewells to chicky (the hostels really cool dog) and the woman running the place (who was also cool)
I joined Asaf into Santa Marta where he was going to spend the night and I went to the main bus terminal to catch my bus to bogota. I was told the bus was going to be more expensive this week because of it being Easter weekend, thankfully for me because the bus was moments before departure I was able to get it for the regular price of $45.
Again, like everywhere you travel the bus was absolutely freezing and I had a dribble of cold rain water continuously dribbling on me through the air-conditioning vent like Japanese water torture but there were some spare seats and so I took advantage of them.
04/04/2011 - 17/04/2011
Returning to Taganga, I thought I might stick aroun for a week or so, i had seen all I wanted to in Columbia and to chill here where there is constant sun and a beach nearby the hostel that I stayed at previously before I went to Tayrona, it was also a good option for me because it was cheap and the food was pretty good also was the juices I had every morning for breakfast. I would have spent some time studying more Spanish but the reason why im summarizing the past two weeks is because I managed to fuck up my computer; it was a stupid mistake and it took some cash and a lot of my time to sort it out. As it goes I managed to format my laptops HDD by accident when thinking I was formatting a memory card... I know – what a dick. Anyways I have manged to get most of my most important files back, including my pictures and this diary/blog but im still having to get my photoshop files back. But I should still manage to get it, so after all my time spent to get it back im very grateful I succeeded. When I returned from Tayrona National park I had to study my open water diving course book and do the test... it really was straight forward and in no way was it necessary to read the book thoroughly, the boring videos were adequate to pass. Because I was getting close to finishing my 9 month trip I went all out and got pretty well wasted over the last week or so... it was good times and I made some good friends, also included was a Dutch beauty named Malou, absolutely beautiful this girl was, I had a bit of a thing with her but because time was short I didnt get very far. Holland might be my next trip ;).
Just to name a couple of people for my sake: Anna, Maja, Christin, Marcus, Floor, Sheldon, a bunch of Canadian and English girls.
Taganga all in all good fun!
03/04/2011
I was absolutely ruined today. I was suffering from stomach cramps and that general hangover feel, not to mention a serious case of the shits. I'm not sure what caused it but I'm going to blame the "Columbian desert" i had a bit too much of last night.
I left later in afternoon with Stevie to go back to Taganga with some food and a new tent I bought in the huge supermarket in Santa Marta. My previous tent had lasted me for a good 3 years but it was looking a little haggard with it being repaired several times using ducktape and bamboo, it has seen me through a lot and it was very emotional it throw the thing away.
As I was feelin like crap I slept through the rest of the afternoon and cooked a nice curry dinner for Stevie and myself before heading back to bed.
Oh, Serene and Timmy were back in the hostel so it was great to catch up with them again.
02/04/2011
I left with Claire today from the national park, it took us a good while to actually leave but towards the late afternoon we finally made it out via a relatively easy hike.
We checked into a hostel in Santa Marta and hopped back on the drinking scene in the upstairs bar. I met a bunch of new people and managed to get some 'Columbian dessert' where the night panned out to getting home after a house party and a rock bar at 6 ish.
I met some great people including 3 Brits and an English girl (Stevie) I met before in Nicaragua.
01/04/2011
Apparently last night someone woke up screaming because they had a candle lit in their tent and it set his tent alight almost setting him on fire too. I didn't wake to it because I was sound asleep listening to my metal music.
Anyways I slept well compared to everyone else and woke bright and early to chill with some new randoms and hit up the beach with a group of people. I again randomly bumped into the big Irish group from medallin and also Sophie and KJ from Cartagena.
The scandys and the Singaporeans left and we had an emotional goodbye but maybe I'll be seeing them again back in Taganga?
Malou who I met yesterday from Holland spent time with me and as she is very attractive I asked her out on a date some day in Taganga - we will see how this works out.
31/03/2011
Waking at a reasonable hour some others I met last night invited me to go for a hike to Pueblito, a two hour hike up a mountain to see some not so impressive ruins. It was all in good company so it was still good fun. (Claire, Susana, Dave and ...)
It took us the majority of the day to get up and back and we got to see some cool wildlife. Oh, and again I ran into Natalie and Jessica.
I cooked dinner for the usual crew I came with using a wood stove, sank back a couple of expensive beers and crashed out. 
30/03/2011
Last day of diving today, it was more of a fun dive than practicing safety regulations and we cruised around another coral reef seeing some more cool things like a barracuda and some lionfish.
When completing the last two dives Tim, Marianne and myself headed off to Tayrona national park to catch up with the other girls that left earlier in the day. It was a little bit of a bitch to get there so we took a taxi stopping by a supermarket to get groceries on the way. Transportation and park entry were expensive and because we arrived just 5 minutes after 5 we then had to pay a guide to walk us through to the place where the girls were staying. By the time we arrived it was pitch black, we were all sweaty and in need for a shower but instead of freshening up I got stuck into the 3 liter bottle of rum we brought with us. I had to hike with the bottle of rum cradling it all the way because it fell out of the taxi smashing the lid off.
We sat drinking from the glass shattered rum bottle for the course of the evening meeting others staying at the same place and not leaving my seat for several hours. Later when it was time for bed it was an interesting experience having to pitch my tent in the dark when pretty well smashed.
29/03/2011
Another day of diving, we again had two dives in the morning both with several exercises regarding safety that we had to repeat. I spent the afternoon on the beach with Mya, another Swed who started her diving course today, she is a good laugh and later the group of us got pizza for dinner. Before going to bed I did a little more studying. Not the most exciting of days.
One thing to mention is that diving really takes it out of you, for the last few days I've been so exhausted after the dives.
28/03/2011
My first experience diving… was amazing. Actually I have done it once before in France where I went under a frozen lake but this time I didn’t have a rope tied to me and obviously the water was much warmer.
We had to get up in the early hours of the morning (Tim, Marianne and myself) to meet with our instructor and watch the second (corny and boring as hell) video before we set off into the open water to practice a bunch of things like what to do when you loose the regulator from your mouth, how to get neutral buoyancy, some simple diving sign language and how to clear your mask from water whilst under.
It didn’t take us long to figure these things out and soon after we were swimming out into the current beside a reef where we saw a bunch of aquatic life. It really was incredible and we were under for a good amount of time.
Lunch was included where we ate on the mainland and helped some fishermen pull in over 300 fish in a net on the beach and apparently it was the largest catch in a long time – very impressive to watch, even better to help out like I did.
The second dive for the day was a fun dive and we swam about another reef seeing stingrays and more aquatic life.
I have another 2 days of this then a test before I get my open water license, tomorrow should be another great day.
In the evening after having a nap I headed into Santa Marta to get some money out and get some food from the market for a bit of a cook up in the evening. I wanted to make some sort of curry but I couldn’t find the ingredients so I went with a simple chicken roast… I wasn’t happy with it because the chicken was tough, frozen and old. I promised The singaporeans and the skandys id cook a nice meal but it really wasn’t great… shame really because I was trying to impress linda… ill cook up something a bit nicer next time.
27/03/2011
The group of us went out to La Playa Grande today, only walking distance from town – it wasn’t the nicest beach and like most touristy beaches it had its annoyances with those damn hippies trying to sell their homemade jewelry and crap to all the tourists. At 5 we had organized the scuba dive shop to watch the introductory film to scuba diving – a very boring video where I almost fell asleep but the fun starts tomorrow.
After a quick nap we went to Casa de Filipe – another hostel where a lot of people ive met in Columbia were staying. There was a 4 star Michelin chef working there and the fillet mignon that I ordered was delicious.
Because the dive course starts early tomorrow we headed home at a reasonable hour.
26/03/2011
All together I spent 3 nights in this hostel and this morning I was the first that I was up in time for the free breakfast. I packed my things, tupperwared my leftovers, met with the others and set off at 11 to catch the 5 hour journey to Taganga. I was sitting next to an older American girl for the journey named Gil and it was good banter where we just took the piss out of one another.
Arriving in Taganga all of the popular hostels were booked up so we found another that was cheap and had a very homely feel, ran by a very cool woman who catered to all our needs.
Taganga is one of the cheapest places in the world to get your open water license (scuba diving) so we made inquires about it and grabbed a seafood dinner down at the beach.
The Scandinavian girls and myself headed out to the club later where I bumped into the big group of Irish, Aussies, Brits and Scots I had met previously along with Natalie and Jessica.
It was a fun night out where I finally made it out to the dance floor but this is because I was drunk – the only time you will see me dancing unless of course its heavy metal music and even then even me would say its not even dancing.
25/03/2011
I was very stale towards Natalie today, I know it’s a bit immature but I honestly thought something between us was there… Anyways I chilled on the beach eating food all day and got the return boat to Cartagena with the Americans, Sophie and Arezoo, we checked back into the hostel and I cooked up dinner again for a bunch of us.
Being a Friday a lot of people from the hostel wanted to go out in town, I didn’t much feel like it as I always enjoy chilling in the hostel. Its not often but I met two Singaporeans travelling together (Tim and Serene), its funny that one didn’t say more than one sentence before I could guess that singlish accent. These two were awesome and travelling with two also just as cool and very pretty Scandinavians (Marianne and Linda), they were headed in the same direction as me tomorrow so I managed to get myself invited to tag along with them to Taganga.
24/03/2011
Not much to mention today, just chilled on the beach and only left the beach to go snorkelling with the Americans. The reef was just alright with not much to mention other than some cuttlefish that changed colour and squirted ink when frightening them. I also ran into Natalie and Jessica again and I wasn’t hesitant to tell Natalie I was well into her – thinking I could maybe get involved later in the evening – I was confident about the situation and after a few drinks later in the evening but she ran off with a Swedish guy – after all my ground work! God Damn it!
23/03/2011
I didn't get much sleep last night due to drinking quite a lot but also because i organized to go to la playa blanca at 10 with Sophie and Arezoo. It was quite an expensive journey to the island beach but also quite worth it. Obviously the beach here or anywhere else for that matter doesn't remotely compare to the beautiful islands of San Blas but still the beach here was nice and relaxed. I caught up on the much needed sleep I missed out on during the evening and with the girls got some fried and very tasty fish of the days catch.
Later in the evening We met with some Americans we met in the previous hostel in Cartagena and spent the evening chatting with a bottle of rum. (Molly, Doyle and Rachel)
