Hi Everyone,
I hope your school holidays are going well. My long holiday is slowly coming to an end, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Canada and have made it a personal goal to come back to Canada within the next 3 - 4 years. I haven't finished with Canada yet. I have really loved getting to know my Aunt, Uncle Cousins and have loved catching up with my Mum's best friend that I really want to come back.
Over the last five days I have been staying with my Mum's best friend Barb, her husband Russ and daughter Jennifer. Barb, Russ and Jennifer are like family and in my family we have a close relationship. My Mum went to school with Barb.
On Thursday Barb and Russ took me to Sidney. We did some shopping. Barb loves shopping and I bought souvenir type presents. I also bought a story telling type board with vinyl stickers for the class in which we could use for animation or movie making. Based around the Pirate theme.
On Friday Barb and Russ took me to see more of Chemainus and we visited the Museum and learnt about the origins of the artwork. We also did some shopping. I bought two T.shirts one with a Grizzly Bear on and the other with a Moose. These animals are very authentic to Canada.
After visiting Chemainus we went to Nanaimo, Parksville and then to Qualicum. Qualicum is a beachside town north of Victoria. It is about a three hour drive. We walked along the beach and I took lots of photos. It was a beautiful sea side area and I'm sure my mother would have remembered this beach.
On Saturday Barb took me to the Dutch Bakery and to the Bay Centre Shopping Mall in Downtown Victoria.
The Dutch Bakery was a very significant place to visit as my mother went there as a child and bought these vanilla slices. Barb bought us some vanilla slices and some fancy chocolate treats. Then we went to the Bay City Shopping Mall and I had a big spending spree. I bought a sweatshirt type jacket, a Ralph Lauren shirt, a stretchy type long sleeve top and a pair of black jeans that are for the petite person. The jacket is fleecey and the pockets are neat as it has button holes inside specially designed to hide your iPod head phone cords. The jacket is dark pink and has a black edging.
At the Bay Centre they had Victoria Idol very similar to the American Idol Show. I of course didn't go up to sing and I think I might send a few people running out of the mall.
After our shopping spree we went to a restaurant called the Sticky Wicket. I tried a Bison burger. The bison pattie was very tender and not too fatty. Would love to try Bison again when I'm here next.
After lunch we went to Beacon Hill Park. Beacon Hill Park is a little bit like Cornwall Park / One Tree Hill. I felt I was at home. Beacon Hill Park is a park close to the city and it has flowers and beautiful lake areas. One of the neatest things about Beacon Hill Park was the petting zoo. The petting zoo had baby goats and they were so cute and friendly. There were over twenty baby goats and about eight adult goats. Each goat had a colar round it's neck with a name on it. There names were very human like such as: Eric, Tom, Shelly, Sheila, Mocha.
Tom and Eric came to up to me and stood on my knee, but they were more interested to know what was in my pockets. I took lots of photos and movies of the goats.
Towards the end of the day the goats kept jumping up in the air and kept banging heads with each other. The adult goats started doing this and then the baby goats followed. It was very funny and I kept thinking that it would be painful. I also noticed that the goats' horns were cut off, possibly a safety measure but I'm not sure.
Today (Sunday) I went to Fort Rodd Hill and the Fisgard Lighthouse. It was a historical site opposite the Esquimalt naval base. There were lots of walkways and information rooms where you could listen to voice overs about the area. Fisgard Lighthouse was the first lighthouse built on Canada's west coast.
After this we went back home to prepare for supper (dinner).
Tonight I had a beautifully cooked turkey with all the trimmings and I also got to try for the first time Pumpkin Pie. The pumpkin pie was very different to what I envisaged it to be. I thought it would be bright orange, but it wasn't. It was more a caramel colour, as you add sugar and mixed spice to it. It tasted like gingerbread and the filling was soft and smooth.
Tomorrow at 3:45pm I will be catching a bus from Victoria (Vancouver Isaland), a ferry from Schwatz Bay and then a Bus from Tsawwassen to Downtown Vancouver. I will be getting to Vancouver at around 7pm. I went through the same procedure to get to Victoria, but as long as you can identify your bus driver and your passengers on the bus you're okay. These ferries carry buses and vehicles as well. Pretty sophisticated. I will be sad to be leaving Victoria as it has been a place of discovery and learning about my mother's birth place. It has been a great place to meet the family and to catch up with old family friends whom I haven't since I was a primary aged child.
Well that's all of the news from me at the moment,
Take Care and best wishes,
Love from,
Miss Paton
We are a class of Year 5 and 6 students at Glenbrae School in Auckland New Zealand.
Monday, 29 September 2008
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Did you know facts compilation
Hi Everyone,
Over the last five weeks I have been travelling around taking as much in as possible through interacting with people, visiting places, reading information and talking to family. Here are a list of things I have come across:
When I say "Thank you very much for something" the Americans and Canadians say "You're welcome"
This happens in shops, restaurants, hotels etc
Petrol costs
In Canada petrol costs $1.29 a litre
In the USA petrol costs $3.49 a gallon which is the equivalent to 3 liters
In Canada and the USA the people drive on the left hand side
The steering wheel is on the opposite side / the passenger side in New Zealand
Common grocery items such as eggs, milk and meat etc appear to be cheaper than New Zealand
Fruit and Vegetables are more expensive over here than in New Zealand
In Super markets there are huge areas focusing on ready to eat meals just heat and eat.
Already made hot soup can be taken away in a cup
Convenience food/meals are big over here. You could buy your lunch or dinner heated up from the Supermarket
In Canada and the USA chemists/drug stores sell anything such as labelled perfumes, food items, cosmetics, postcards, stamps, clothing, technologies, etc.
Halloween is big over here
Shops have big window displays that show the colours orange and black with the hollowed pumpkin faces, spiders, withches etc.
You can buy halloween pumpkin toys, clothing, costumes, and every day household items with the halloween theme
Christmas displays are beginning to be set up already in stores
You can buy your own battery powered snowman, santa, reindeer
I've seen nothing like them before so magical and cute
The Christmas tree decorations are cheap and elegant
Lot's of glitter and sparkle
"Oh to experience Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere!"
Labelled clothing very reasonable especially Levi Jeans, Nike brand, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren Clothing
In restaurants and shopping malls the toilets are known as Washrooms / Restrooms
In Canada they have $1.00 and $2.00 coins
They have names for their coins:
A Looney is $1.00
A Tooney is $2.00
In Canada the highest form of road deaths are people driving into deer at night. People are killed instantly through colliding into these animals
It is common in Canada for animals to come out at night and eat your flowers these are deer and racoons
Cats need to be house trained. If they are let outside they could be dinner for the racoons
In San Francisco I noticed dogs wearing these special shoes on their feet
When I spoke to my cousin she said that these shoes protect their feet from the hot pavement and burns on their feet-pretty cool eh!
In Victoria British Columbia, 60% of the people are retired
In British Columbia the retired people are looked after really well, they are given free bank fees to withdrawal, transfer money etc.
On the Ferries they get a discount and on Wednesdays it is free for all retired people
Retired people also get discounts for motor home parking
There seems to be great incentives for those who are retired
There are lots of clubs where retired people go to such as quilting, scrap booking, tramping, walking groups etc
A lot of people retire as early as 60 years old and even younger
Will write more facts soon
Regards,
Miss Paton
Over the last five weeks I have been travelling around taking as much in as possible through interacting with people, visiting places, reading information and talking to family. Here are a list of things I have come across:
When I say "Thank you very much for something" the Americans and Canadians say "You're welcome"
This happens in shops, restaurants, hotels etc
Petrol costs
In Canada petrol costs $1.29 a litre
In the USA petrol costs $3.49 a gallon which is the equivalent to 3 liters
In Canada and the USA the people drive on the left hand side
The steering wheel is on the opposite side / the passenger side in New Zealand
Common grocery items such as eggs, milk and meat etc appear to be cheaper than New Zealand
Fruit and Vegetables are more expensive over here than in New Zealand
In Super markets there are huge areas focusing on ready to eat meals just heat and eat.
Already made hot soup can be taken away in a cup
Convenience food/meals are big over here. You could buy your lunch or dinner heated up from the Supermarket
In Canada and the USA chemists/drug stores sell anything such as labelled perfumes, food items, cosmetics, postcards, stamps, clothing, technologies, etc.
Halloween is big over here
Shops have big window displays that show the colours orange and black with the hollowed pumpkin faces, spiders, withches etc.
You can buy halloween pumpkin toys, clothing, costumes, and every day household items with the halloween theme
Christmas displays are beginning to be set up already in stores
You can buy your own battery powered snowman, santa, reindeer
I've seen nothing like them before so magical and cute
The Christmas tree decorations are cheap and elegant
Lot's of glitter and sparkle
"Oh to experience Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere!"
Labelled clothing very reasonable especially Levi Jeans, Nike brand, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren Clothing
In restaurants and shopping malls the toilets are known as Washrooms / Restrooms
In Canada they have $1.00 and $2.00 coins
They have names for their coins:
A Looney is $1.00
A Tooney is $2.00
In Canada the highest form of road deaths are people driving into deer at night. People are killed instantly through colliding into these animals
It is common in Canada for animals to come out at night and eat your flowers these are deer and racoons
Cats need to be house trained. If they are let outside they could be dinner for the racoons
In San Francisco I noticed dogs wearing these special shoes on their feet
When I spoke to my cousin she said that these shoes protect their feet from the hot pavement and burns on their feet-pretty cool eh!
In Victoria British Columbia, 60% of the people are retired
In British Columbia the retired people are looked after really well, they are given free bank fees to withdrawal, transfer money etc.
On the Ferries they get a discount and on Wednesdays it is free for all retired people
Retired people also get discounts for motor home parking
There seems to be great incentives for those who are retired
There are lots of clubs where retired people go to such as quilting, scrap booking, tramping, walking groups etc
A lot of people retire as early as 60 years old and even younger
Will write more facts soon
Regards,
Miss Paton
Friday, 26 September 2008
Greetings from Victoria Part 3
Hi Everyone,
I'm still in Victoria and I am staying with my Mum's best friend. The plan was to spend five nights with my Aunt and Uncle and another five nights with my best friend. Yesterday I ended my time with Aunt and Uncle. I had a fabulous time and I learnt so much about my family roots on my Mother's side. It was a family roots type of trip. Everyone in the family was fantastic and we were able to make connections. The conversations flowed really well and I was able to share the love of technology instantly with my cousins Ann, Chris and Nadine. On Tuesday I was privilleged to meet my second cousins Penny (Anne Louise) and her brother David in Nanaimo. These cousins came from my Grandmother's side of the family. I was very lucky to meet these people as these are the only cousins I have got left on my Grandmother's side in Canada.
It was a great surprise to the trip as my mother has always written to Penny since being in New Zealand and it was lovely to meet her and her brother for the first time on Tuesday.
Nanaimo was a 2.5 hour drive from my Uncle's house.
Throughout the drive we made a few stops to take photos and we stopped at a place called Chemainus. Chemainus is a really neat place and it is famous for it's murals on walls. These murals depicted historical times in the area such as the the transport(trains), occupations,culture etc.
When we arrived in Nanaimo we went to Penny's house.
I got to meet her Corgie dog called Josie. Josie didn't like her picture taken and hid under the table. I think it was the zoom of the camera that scared her.
During this time, Penny bought out a present for me and it was some beautiful sterling silver earrings with Indian patterns engraved on them. In Canada the indigenous people are North American Indians and the art from these people are amazing. On the earrings there were pictures of whales engraved. She also gave my Uncle a container with these chocolate and custard bars in called Nanaimo Bars.
These bars are famous in Nanaimo and throughout Canada. I was lucky enough to try them for my dessert that night.
After we were shown Penny's place we went to a restaurant in the older area of Nanaimo and had lunch together. The restaurant had a whole lot of 50's & 60's memorabilia hanging all over the place. The restaurant was famous for making these giant hamburgers that used a 1 lb meat pattie and was about $25.00. I was told that if you were able to eat this massive hamburger you would get it for nothing. I decided not to have one as the size put me off and I felt you can only eat so much at the end of the day.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with my second cousins and it was great to talk about my family and what everyone was up to. I also learnt what they did in their spare time and places that they have travelled to, which broadened my horizons.
On the way back my Uncle decided that it would be a great idea to catch a car ferry to take us from one end of the town to the other. We caught the Ferry from Brentwood and it took us to the area where the Butchart Gardens were. This would mean the drive back home would be only 15 minutes.
During that night I found out more about these Nanaimo Bars and learnt about the family connections to the town Nanaimo. My Aunt and Grand mother lived in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Before I ate the bars I took a photograph and I found out that the bar had a chocolate flavoured biscuit base, a custard layer and then a chocolate layer on top. There were three layers in total: chocolate, custard and chocolate. (YUMMY)
It was a memorable day out.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself and loved meeting my second cousins.
Now I have met all my cousins on my Mother's side and it has been a wonderful experience.
Well that's all of the news from me, will write more later tomorrow morning.
Take Care and Best Wishes,
Have an enjoyable and safe holiday. Looking forward to seeing you all in person on Monday October 13th ready to share more of my holiday journey with you.
Love From,
Miss Paton
I'm still in Victoria and I am staying with my Mum's best friend. The plan was to spend five nights with my Aunt and Uncle and another five nights with my best friend. Yesterday I ended my time with Aunt and Uncle. I had a fabulous time and I learnt so much about my family roots on my Mother's side. It was a family roots type of trip. Everyone in the family was fantastic and we were able to make connections. The conversations flowed really well and I was able to share the love of technology instantly with my cousins Ann, Chris and Nadine. On Tuesday I was privilleged to meet my second cousins Penny (Anne Louise) and her brother David in Nanaimo. These cousins came from my Grandmother's side of the family. I was very lucky to meet these people as these are the only cousins I have got left on my Grandmother's side in Canada.
It was a great surprise to the trip as my mother has always written to Penny since being in New Zealand and it was lovely to meet her and her brother for the first time on Tuesday.
Nanaimo was a 2.5 hour drive from my Uncle's house.
Throughout the drive we made a few stops to take photos and we stopped at a place called Chemainus. Chemainus is a really neat place and it is famous for it's murals on walls. These murals depicted historical times in the area such as the the transport(trains), occupations,culture etc.
When we arrived in Nanaimo we went to Penny's house.
I got to meet her Corgie dog called Josie. Josie didn't like her picture taken and hid under the table. I think it was the zoom of the camera that scared her.
During this time, Penny bought out a present for me and it was some beautiful sterling silver earrings with Indian patterns engraved on them. In Canada the indigenous people are North American Indians and the art from these people are amazing. On the earrings there were pictures of whales engraved. She also gave my Uncle a container with these chocolate and custard bars in called Nanaimo Bars.
These bars are famous in Nanaimo and throughout Canada. I was lucky enough to try them for my dessert that night.
After we were shown Penny's place we went to a restaurant in the older area of Nanaimo and had lunch together. The restaurant had a whole lot of 50's & 60's memorabilia hanging all over the place. The restaurant was famous for making these giant hamburgers that used a 1 lb meat pattie and was about $25.00. I was told that if you were able to eat this massive hamburger you would get it for nothing. I decided not to have one as the size put me off and I felt you can only eat so much at the end of the day.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with my second cousins and it was great to talk about my family and what everyone was up to. I also learnt what they did in their spare time and places that they have travelled to, which broadened my horizons.
On the way back my Uncle decided that it would be a great idea to catch a car ferry to take us from one end of the town to the other. We caught the Ferry from Brentwood and it took us to the area where the Butchart Gardens were. This would mean the drive back home would be only 15 minutes.
During that night I found out more about these Nanaimo Bars and learnt about the family connections to the town Nanaimo. My Aunt and Grand mother lived in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Before I ate the bars I took a photograph and I found out that the bar had a chocolate flavoured biscuit base, a custard layer and then a chocolate layer on top. There were three layers in total: chocolate, custard and chocolate. (YUMMY)
It was a memorable day out.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself and loved meeting my second cousins.
Now I have met all my cousins on my Mother's side and it has been a wonderful experience.
Well that's all of the news from me, will write more later tomorrow morning.
Take Care and Best Wishes,
Have an enjoyable and safe holiday. Looking forward to seeing you all in person on Monday October 13th ready to share more of my holiday journey with you.
Love From,
Miss Paton
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Greetings from Victoria Part 2
Hi Everyone
It has been a wonderful experience to meet and stay with my relatives. My trip has been organized so that I can spend a morning or afternoon with my Aunt & Uncle, Cousins Ann, Chris and Nadine.
Yesterday I went with my Uncle to a beautiful sea side area called Sidney. It had a boat marina and a pier that we could walk down. I took lots of photos. In the afternoon I went with my cousin Chris and we went to see this special parade celebrating the province British Columbia. There were these planes called the Snow Birds doing these amazing aerobatic tricks in the sky. The planes were doing loops and cross like patterns in the sky. There were about nine planes taking part.
After this Chris took me to his place of work. Chris works for the Navy and he very kindly organized for me to go in a Navy submarine which was in dock. This was a huge priviledge and honour for me as members of the public are not allowed on the site. I had to show the security my photo ID and then it was fine. I learnt so much about life inside a submarine. It was such a confined space where you had to climb ladders at every level and they were very narrow. The sleeping head quarters were very confined and there was not much room between bunk beds and you would have to be very careful not bang your head when you got out of bed. Also there would't be enough room for tossing or turning in bed. I certainly wouldn't survive. On this submarine it held 46 people. The emergency escape exit was interesting. It was some sort of tank that they fire you out of. I tended to picture a canon ball firing out into the water. There was a very special uniform that the Navy Officers wore to do this which would provide inflattable life jackets and individual life rafts. After this we went to pick up Nadine and we went to this department called Costco which is a larger version of the Warehouse which sold everything such as diamond rings, Calvin Klein jeans and food. I bought another techology toy a 320GB external hard drive for backups on the computer. It is so small that it the size of a wallet. After this we met my cousin Ann at this Italian Pizza and Pasta Restaurant. At the restaurant the staff would sing "Happy Birthday" in opera if it was your birthday. It was quite a novelty. Well that's all of the news from me.
Take care and best wishes,
Love from,
Miss Paton
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Greetings from Victoria British Columbia Canada
Hi Everyone,
I am having a great time in Victoria. I am staying with my Aunt and Uncle's house in Victoria. This is my Mum's brother and sister in law. Yesterday I met my cousins Ann, Chris and Nadine and we all had a big family dinner together and then we had family photos. In the Canadian side of my family the women are short and I don't feel a midget. (Yes short people!!!) It was funny at 12:30pm when I arrived from the bus in Downtown Victoria as my Aunt and Uncle thought I would be taller. To their surprise I seemed to look taller in the photographs than in person (no computer enhancement or photoshop used).
When I met my cousin Ann we seemed to look a like and were almost the same height. We had the same sort of humor and got along famously well.
It was great meeting Chris and Nadine. Chris is the tallest in the family and was 6 ft. When I met Chris' wife Nadine we both laughed at the height issue. The four of us Lois (aunt) Ann, Nadine (cousins) and myself had a group photo to celebrate our height.
It has been wonderful meeting my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins. My Aunt and Uncle are so artistic and clever. My Uncle has an interest in Garden Gage Railway which is creating train sets in the garden and landscaping where the tracks should go. He belongs to two clubs in this field. During yesterday I got to see his train set go in full action.
My Aunt also helps my Uncle with his train projects and also makes some amazing quilts, needle works, cards, recycled paper etc. I think that's where I get my love for art and embroidery from.
Yesterday as soon as I arrived, my Uncle gave me a tour around where my Mother lived and where she would walk her dog Barney. We walked past the family home, the primary school where my Mum was educated, the park, and the neighbours homes that she went to when she was growing up. My mother grew up in a small neighbourhood, where people were friendly and it was a tight knit area.
Today my cousin Ann took me to a computer shop to buy an iPod Touch which is a pocket sized computer note book-very flash. Still learning how to use it. We had lunch together, and then we went to a shop which sold embroidery kits. I bought three Canadian themed Cross Stitch kits.
Later on today, I caught up with another one of my Mother's family friend's (Mrs Dachers) who lives in Victoria. Mrs Dacher's and Grandad came out to New Zealand when I was 8 years old and I got to meet her in person back in 1987. Today I got to meet her again 21 years later.
She of course noticed a change in me.
On Tuesday I will be heading with my relatives to Nanaimo where my Mum's cousin lives and will be meeting her for the first time. Nanaimo is on Vancouver Island north of Victoria. I have to say that I am saving the best till last with this trip. I am throughly enjoying meeting the other half of my family and my Mum's friends. I will be definitely coming back here again. The home cooked meals are wonderful and we have had a lot of laughs together. I can now see where I come from with personality traits and what makes me, "ME".
Saturday, 20 September 2008
Greetings from Vancouver
Hi Everyone,
No my trip isn't coming to an end, but my tour has.
Today I will be meeting my Aunt and Uncle for the first time in Victoria in about another 5.5 hours from now. This day will be a very significant day in Joy Paton History: Friday September 19. It will be a trip of learning about my mother's birth place, where she grew up, where she went to school, her family home etc. I am looking forward to this. I had a two night stop over tour when I was in Victoria and went to the Museum and IMax Theatre. The hotel that I was staying with the tour: The Queen Victoria Hotel and Suites was where my Mum worked as a chamber maid (cleaner) before she came to New Zealand. I made contact with my Mum's best friend on the first night and managed to catch up with her. On my second night I heard from my Uncle (my Mum's Brother). We are very excited about meeting each other and catching up.
The tour was great. I did do the rafting along along the Athabasca River (sorry Dad couldn't resist). It wasn't like the typical White Water Rafting where you wore helmets and go into swirling rapids and you had to paddle. On this rafting trip the guide did the paddling along this calm river and we experienced about five rapids throughtout the one hour trip. I think it got to my side more than the others as we were the wettest. We mainly got wet on the back of our pants. The water was 4 degrees celcius.
I also did canoeing down the Frazer River in the Rockies. The Canoe held ten people and we had a guide. The water was very calm and I throughly enjoyed it. The trip was for an hour. Then we had a feast at the canoe place. I had bison stew. It was set in a log style cabin which fitted everyone.The lighting we had were candles. It was very nice. This was in Sun Peaks which was between Jasper and Victoria.
We were told on the tour of Sun Peaks to not go out on our own as there were bears around the area and it was safer to go out in a group. I didn't go out on my own and just stayed with the group.
Must Leave now,
My time is running out and it is flashing at me.
Take Care and Best Wishes,
Love From,
Miss Paton
Monday, 15 September 2008
Greetings from Jasper
Hi Everyone,
I am in Jasper Canada in the Rocky Mountains.
This is a very short message to say that tonight as I was walking to Dinner I saw a Elk/Deer with big antlers like tree branches cross the road in front of me. The Elk walked into someone's back yard and started eating the grass on their front lawn. We have been told to be careful of the wild animals here in Canada as they can charge at you and injure you badly. How would you like a deer to eat the grass outside your house and hop over the fence?
Thought I would share the moment with you,
Love From,
Miss Paton
I am in Jasper Canada in the Rocky Mountains.
This is a very short message to say that tonight as I was walking to Dinner I saw a Elk/Deer with big antlers like tree branches cross the road in front of me. The Elk walked into someone's back yard and started eating the grass on their front lawn. We have been told to be careful of the wild animals here in Canada as they can charge at you and injure you badly. How would you like a deer to eat the grass outside your house and hop over the fence?
Thought I would share the moment with you,
Love From,
Miss Paton
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Greetings from Banff Canada
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to all those new people who have clicked onto the site, hope you are enjoying the adventure as much as I am experiencing it.
Greetings from Banff Canada. I am on my Rockies tour around Canada. On Wednesday I flew to Calgary, and checked out the city.
On Thursday I went to the Calgary Tower, the tallest tower in Canada higher than the sky tower. In Calgary there is a free train that you can take and it takes you along a straight route through the city. I caught the train to the tower. Then I caught another train and paid $2.50 one way to go to the zoo. I wanted to go to the zoo to see the Canadian animals before my rockies tour started. I saw Elk, deer, moose, grizzly bears and mountain goats at the zoo. The zoo was a little different to the zoo in San Diego.
Yesterday my Rockies tour started and I met up with the tour group. I am sharing a room with a lady from the United Kingdom and her name is Jean. She is lovely. There are also some people from Christchurch on my tour who live not so far from my parents-small world. We travelled from Calgary to Banff. Banff is in the Rockies and it is picture perfect. The mountains are different shades of green and there is some snow on the mountains. It is a beautiful place to visit and I can see why it is a must see place to visit in books.
Today I went on a gondola ride up Sulphur Mountain one of the Rocky Mountains. We went up very high. I held onto my seat for dear life when we were going up and down. We were advised that the altitude was very high and that we needed water on us as we could get dizzy/head achy.
I have also visited the Native American Indian Museum in the town centre and have walked around the National Park Gardens. There are flowers growing this time of year which is autumn
Tomorrow I am going to the Columbia Ice Fields and I am going to take the plunge and go rafting. I have also put my name down to do Canoeing on one of the lakes in the Sun Peaks area and I am going to do a boat cruise along one of the lakes in the Rockies. All very exciting.
Tonight I am going to a Canadian Restaurant which serves bison, so I might try that for the first time.
That's all of the news from me,
Take Care and Best Wishes,
Love Miss Paton
Did you know Facts:
There are only 1 million people in Calgary
It is the fourth largest city in Canada
There is a famous Stampede where people ride buffalo (cattle) in front of large audiences
The average age for people living in Calgary is 35 - 45 years
Alberta gets it's name from Caroline Louise Alberta-Queen Victoria's daughter
Banff gets it's name from Bampshire in the United Kingdom
Banff is a cooler city than the other cities I have visited as it is close to the mountain ranges
The Elk can be vicious animals if you get up close to them
Visitors have to RESPECT the animal life in the Rockies, or else we could lose a limb or break a leg
In Calgary there weren't any street beggars like I saw in San Francisco.
It is classed as one of the safer cities to visit in Canada
The weather in the Rockies can be four seasons in one day-we were advised to wear plenty of layers as it can get very cold or it can be very hot
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Greetings from San Francisco
Greetings Everyone,
I am having a great time in San Francisco. I love the place and I wish I could stay here longer. I still haven't seen everything yet, but theres always a next time.
This time tomorrow I will be heading to a new country, with different currency, different weather and different softer accents. This country is Canada-my Mother's homeland. I will be starting a Rocky Mountains tour-very exciting.
San Francisco has been a wonderful place to visit.
Here are some of the places and things I have done in San Francisco:
City Tour:-took a city tour around the Golden Gate Bridge, Twin Peaks-a viewing area looking over the city and to Golden Gate Park. At Golden Gate Park I visited the Japanese Tea Garden. The Golden Gate Park was a very beautiful park and I could have stayed their longer, but I was on a tight schedule.
Fisherman's Wharf is an amazing place to visit. A little bit like the Viaduct in Auckland, but on a much larger scale. I saw Sea Lions on the Wharf and bought some fruit at the Farmer's Market. I could spend the whole day at Fisherman's Wharf. I even had a little monkey sit on my knee there.
I have also tried out the cable car twice along the street. It is very popular with tourists and people have to stand in it. They even stand outside it holding onto the posts.
Yesterday I did my 2.5 hour bike ride from the bay to Saucelito. I cycled up and down hills. The hardest part was cycling up the hills.
Today I am going to jail-just kidding!!! not that sort of jail.
I am going to a historic jail that is open to the public and it is on an island. It is called Alcatraz and you have to get a boat to it. It is in the middle of the harbour. The gangster Al Capone went there and was behind bars there.
Did you know facts:
The Golden Gate bridge was built in 1937. It is 71 years old
The Golden Gate Bridge is always painted. Painters are employed to paint the bridge. Once they finish painting the bridge. They paint it again and again.
San Francisco has 1 million people living in it.
San Francisco has the highest percentage of homeless people living there. The reason is because the homeless people get paid a $100.00 benefit a week and San Francisco is the only city that does this
The Homeless people consist of people who have mental, drug and alcohol problems.
They have no homes to go to and they sleep under the stars each night.
In San Francisco it is foggy in the mornings and you can't see the bridge. It lifts in the afternoon.
The weather is cooler here than in LA and San Diego
It is 63 degrees Farenheight. Look that up on Google to work out degrees celcius
That's all of the news from me.
Thanks so much for your comments to the blog site. I love reading them. Keep them coming in. Will blog you in a new country next time.
Take Care and Best Wishes,
Love,
Miss Paton
Friday, 5 September 2008
Last Day in San Diego
Greetings from San Diego.
Today I am in downtown San Diego doing a trolley tour and have found an internet cafe that is cheaper than the hotel.
I have had an amazing 7 days in San Diego.
The places I have visted since my last post was The Wild Animal Park and San Diego Zoo. The Wild Animal Park was about 35 miles (1 hour drive) out of San Diego. It was in a rural area, where they have had a lot of Californian Fires. The animals were very exotic and came from Africa and Asia, some of the animals I have never heard of before such as the Okapi, Takins, Yellow backed Dulker, Ground Hornbill, Bontebok, Nyalla and different types of Gazelle and Springboks. I thought of Mr Louw when I went past the Springbok and the other African animals. Have a look under Google to read about some of these interesting animals. There might be something under Wikipaedia.
Yesterday I went to San Diego Zoo. It was an amazing place to visit and I can see why it is written in books as a must see place to visit in the USA. The layout was beautiful. I saw different types of big cats and bears. I saw Polar Bears, Pandas, Grizzly Bears and the Sun Bear. I saw other exotic animals such as Tapirs and Langurs.
Did you know:
San Diego Zoo was founded by Dr Harry Wegeforth in 1936 which makes the zoo 72 years old
In San Diego the nights are very hot. Last night it was 25 degrees celcius.
Theordore Seuss from the Dr Seuss books was born in San Diego.
Chester Santa Le Fei came from San Diego and he was the creator of the Monopoly Game
Chemicals are added in the water in the USA. More so in Los Angeles. Had the side effects
Fruit glorious fruit is at my hotel and is served for breakfast.
Off to San Francisco tomorrow. Meeting my parents over there. Three hour flight
Take Care and Best Wishes,
Love From Miss Paton
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Greetings from San Diego
Hi Everyone,
Greetings from San Diego. I am typeing like crazy as I'm being charged by the minute here. So far I have been on City tour of San Diego and a harbour cruise. San Diego is a smaller city to Los Angeles. It has 3.5 million people and it was once a sandy desert. Very hot. San Diego is a quieter city than LA,and is more laid back. The Hotel I am staying in is a resort and has a big swimming pool and spa pool-very nice plus it has a bar area so I could sit by the pool and sip a lemonade.
The Hotel is near a shopping mall called Fashion Valley. Yesterday I bought two pairs of petite jeans made for the short person YAH!!! Could shop there every day. Macy's is such a great shop.
Today I went to San Diego Sea World. Great place. Got to see: Polar Bears, Walrus' Matinees, Dolphins, Killer Whales, Otters, Toucans and Flamingoes. Fantastic place, excellent shows. They did have Rollercoasters, but I'm a little Rollercoasted out, if you get what I mean.
Off to the Wild Animal Park tomorrow and then I'm off to San Diego Zoo on Wednesday.
That's all from me, right now.
Take Care and Best Wishes,
Miss paton
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