I have been in Vietnam now for 10 days, and this has been long enough for me to gather some of my feelings together about this culture, this country, this world that seems so different from our North American one.
First of all, I try hard not to feel it, but my guilt about my (what I thought was simple and sustainable) lifestyle at home and my reliance on fossil fuels during this leg of my summer experience is strong. The next strongest emotion is hopelessness. It seems, after completeing Otesha, where my world was so very full of hope and positivity for the health of the natural world, that I am now seeing and experiencing a culture that seems to have a lack of knowledge, or maybe just a different socio-economic situation that leads them to pollute, dispose, and destroy the beauty that is our world. There are just so many people here. Too many for our planet to handle. All of the time I was with Otesha, we were trying to openly and positively present choices to people in Canada, and there was always an option for that choice in the locations that we visited. Here on the other side of the world, it seems that even if the people had the choice, they would not be able to take it, because, they can't afford to, because, they may not be versed in the topics. I do feel that the western world has a big impact on the condition of the environment, and we Westerners have ample opportunity to live more simply, it's hard to see such a large portion of the world's population living with no idea of the future, rather they can look just to tomorrow.
But then, I visit and stay in the homes of the Northern Vietnamese H'mong tribe people, where they have farmed their stunningly gorgeous rice terraces for hundreds of years, and I see them working the land with water buffalo, and walking their short legs everywhere, and my hope is renewed. These people still live simply, even though they are eager to see things like electricity come to thier villages. They grow sweet potatoes and corn and squash and beans, for themseleves and for the Sapa market (and may I add sauteed sweet potatoe greens are sooooo delicious). They have beautiful gardens, simple homes, and a great abundance of clean water that is smartly channeled through bamboo eavestroughs and narrow aquaducts, ensuring that every rice terrace is saturated for growth. They even use the power of water to feul their rice mills, and they use hemp to weave material and they grow indigo to dye thier clothes. It is an area of vietnam that specializes in handicrafts, where the local's speak thier language and english, but they have never been taught to read or write, and have never been outside of the nothern mountain area. It's hard to know whether these people are truly happy with their one room homes, their squat toilets, and arranged mariages. From the tour guides that I had three solid days with, I would say they are fiercely proud of thier culture, and are excited to share it with the tourism industry, which fuels thier local economy.
I would say I still have alot to process and think about. After seeing the extraordinarily busy Ho Chi Minh City, visiting a Catholic convent and orphange, seeing the way the peole live in the Mekong River delta; then journeying North, seeing the stunningly beautiful Halong Bay, and noticing it's over exploitation and dirty waters, and visiting and staying the in homes of the H'mong peoples of Northern Vietnam, I have already seen and experienced so much. It has happened so fast, and I still need to think about what I have seen and gather my thoughts to communicate them with you all. I have tried here to do that a little....Tomorrow a new country: Loas! All and all I am so glad I am on this journey in Southeast Asia, and could not appreciate spending it with anyone else except my amazing buddie and sister Krista. I am endlessly glad to be here with her, and I am excited to keep experienceing all these crazy new things, and really learning more and more with her by my side.
Hope all is well wherever you are :)
P.S. This computer will not check my English spelling, so, forgive my errors!! and man, I could write for days about the way senses are in overdrive here in vietnam...the smells, good and horrible, the infinite city noise and the quiet hill tribe villages, the delicious tastes of fresh viet food, but the sights of some scary foods in the market and in street stalls, the feelings of appreciating my safe home space more then ever before...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
British Columbia continues to be Beautiful...
I completed my last bicycle touring day into Whistler the other day. It was an interesting feeling, rising in Squamish after a previously harrowing day of flat tires and construction, to set out with Catherine on our last official touring day! It was a hard one - constant low grade uphill, hot hot hot, and full of Olympic road and infrastructure construction, but it was also an amazing sense of satisfaction.
First lets rewind a bit to the Sunshine Coast. Catherine and I cycled north through Vancouver in the dreary cold rain, and took a ferry across to Gibsons on the sunshine coast, a cute marine town that had character. As we were frigidly trying to make our wet way towards our campground for the night, we bumped into a cyclist who offered up his shack. Desperately wanting somewhere dry that we could warm up, Catherine and I gave this friendly man a chance and checked out his 'hippy haven' shack on the waters of the Strait of Georgia, that you had to descend makeshift steps through an enclosed canopy of greens to arrive at. When we saw the cozy shack, we accepted his wonderful offer, and felt so very lucky to be in the beautiful space that we were! We decided to stay there in that shack two nights, and explored Gibsons and the neighbouring Roberts Creek the next day. I really enjoyed the sunshine coast.
Like all other fabulous places I have visited on my journey thus far, we departed one fabulous spot in search of another one equally as beautiful. We cycled into Squamish, discovered the wildly rampant rock climbing culture there, and met up with Catherine's friend who let us pitch our tent in her backyard, in between the running chickens of course. They took us for a swim at a briskly cold nearby lake, but Catherine and I were all too excited to dive in, and get some of the bike grease off our bodies after changing three flats that day, on the side of the Sea to Sky highway (which I might add, has some stunning scenery, but is all too developed). And then, we cycled the next 55km to Whistler, where I am now. Oh what a place this Whistler is.
I feel like I am in a manicured futuristic world, where all the buildings and landscaping looks the same, and everyone walking around is perfectly groomed and carrying some sort of disposable something. There are beautiful lakes to swim in and awesome cycling trails and uh, lets not forget the mountains in the backdrop, but it just seems like a backwards community, where people love their outdoor sports - skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking - but they don't think twice about their daily actions that might have an impact on their beautiful mountain landscape. It's very interesting to be here, and so far I have had a ton of fun. I know that I have my head on straight when I interact with some of the people here, and it feels great. It is wonderful to be staying in a beautiful cozy little apartment with my good friends, cooking and eating and swimming and catching up with one another. All in all, it is a relaxing end to my journey on the coast. Oh, and Samantha, my roommate from Erb St. who we are staying with, works for a zip lining ecotourism company, and we get a great discount so were going to go zipping tomorrow through the Whistler rain forest. It really will be fun I'm sure.
Well, like I have sought in every other town I have been in during my journey, I am going to the Whistler farmers market, to pick up some veggies for dinner making tonight.
And another thing - you can be sure that at random moments during my days, and weeks, I have thought about you. Mhmm. You.
First lets rewind a bit to the Sunshine Coast. Catherine and I cycled north through Vancouver in the dreary cold rain, and took a ferry across to Gibsons on the sunshine coast, a cute marine town that had character. As we were frigidly trying to make our wet way towards our campground for the night, we bumped into a cyclist who offered up his shack. Desperately wanting somewhere dry that we could warm up, Catherine and I gave this friendly man a chance and checked out his 'hippy haven' shack on the waters of the Strait of Georgia, that you had to descend makeshift steps through an enclosed canopy of greens to arrive at. When we saw the cozy shack, we accepted his wonderful offer, and felt so very lucky to be in the beautiful space that we were! We decided to stay there in that shack two nights, and explored Gibsons and the neighbouring Roberts Creek the next day. I really enjoyed the sunshine coast.
Like all other fabulous places I have visited on my journey thus far, we departed one fabulous spot in search of another one equally as beautiful. We cycled into Squamish, discovered the wildly rampant rock climbing culture there, and met up with Catherine's friend who let us pitch our tent in her backyard, in between the running chickens of course. They took us for a swim at a briskly cold nearby lake, but Catherine and I were all too excited to dive in, and get some of the bike grease off our bodies after changing three flats that day, on the side of the Sea to Sky highway (which I might add, has some stunning scenery, but is all too developed). And then, we cycled the next 55km to Whistler, where I am now. Oh what a place this Whistler is.
I feel like I am in a manicured futuristic world, where all the buildings and landscaping looks the same, and everyone walking around is perfectly groomed and carrying some sort of disposable something. There are beautiful lakes to swim in and awesome cycling trails and uh, lets not forget the mountains in the backdrop, but it just seems like a backwards community, where people love their outdoor sports - skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking - but they don't think twice about their daily actions that might have an impact on their beautiful mountain landscape. It's very interesting to be here, and so far I have had a ton of fun. I know that I have my head on straight when I interact with some of the people here, and it feels great. It is wonderful to be staying in a beautiful cozy little apartment with my good friends, cooking and eating and swimming and catching up with one another. All in all, it is a relaxing end to my journey on the coast. Oh, and Samantha, my roommate from Erb St. who we are staying with, works for a zip lining ecotourism company, and we get a great discount so were going to go zipping tomorrow through the Whistler rain forest. It really will be fun I'm sure.
Well, like I have sought in every other town I have been in during my journey, I am going to the Whistler farmers market, to pick up some veggies for dinner making tonight.
And another thing - you can be sure that at random moments during my days, and weeks, I have thought about you. Mhmm. You.
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Beautiful Islands
I have now journeyed, by borrowed bicycle (affectionately named by my teammate Big Booty, cause she consistently had the largest load on the back of her bike) to Vancouver Island, and to Salt Spring Island. I really enjoyed both of these places. Victoria is much slower (and smaller) then Vancouver, and is absolutely surrounded by some beautiful beaches and waterfront area. The Island has some great bicycle trails on it, and it was fun to camp out in Rozzy's friend's backyard and cook some meals together in his house. I spent Canada day cycling around the Seaside Bike touring route, and cycling up Mount Doug to get a view over the city and across to some of the San Juan Islands and for a clear crisp view of Mount Baker in Washington. It was a beautiful solo day, finished off with a delicious meal with old and new friends at the communal house that my teammate Seth started up; a beautifully individual and artsy house with windows thrown wide open, screen less, with picture perfect views of the ocean from the bathroom and bedroom windows.
Next we cycled and ferried our way to one of the largest Gulf Islands, Salt Spring, one that is famous for it's unique artisans and organic farming. It is a very slow island, everyone seems to be on vacation even if they are not. I appreciated this vibe so much after having been in Vancouver for a long while. We explored the popular (and delicious) Saturday market in the town of Ganges, hung out on the doc of one of the many freshwater lakes on the island and made some eccentric new friends. We cycled our ways around this island, through roads that are ever so steep, and ever so curvy, between kilometers of undeveloped forest, with the odd cleared section for an organic cheese or vegetable farm. It was a fabulous place, I only wish we could have remained longer.
Alas, after an epic journey yesterday from the island, completed at 10:30pm in Van, realizing we were locked out of our friends house, pitching our tents in the cool summer air, hungry and needing a bathroom, there are only three of the original ten teammates who are still traveling together, soon to be two, and I feel funny. I feel somewhat uneasy in this city now, after having my bike stolen, and after experiencing the bliss of the Gulf Islands. I am ready to journey onward. If all goes as planned, after a much needed day of rest today, tomorrow, Catherine and I will embark on yet another mini-bike trip toward the Sunshine Coast, and then continue onward to visit my roommate in Whistler.
The wheels keep on rolling.
Next we cycled and ferried our way to one of the largest Gulf Islands, Salt Spring, one that is famous for it's unique artisans and organic farming. It is a very slow island, everyone seems to be on vacation even if they are not. I appreciated this vibe so much after having been in Vancouver for a long while. We explored the popular (and delicious) Saturday market in the town of Ganges, hung out on the doc of one of the many freshwater lakes on the island and made some eccentric new friends. We cycled our ways around this island, through roads that are ever so steep, and ever so curvy, between kilometers of undeveloped forest, with the odd cleared section for an organic cheese or vegetable farm. It was a fabulous place, I only wish we could have remained longer.
Alas, after an epic journey yesterday from the island, completed at 10:30pm in Van, realizing we were locked out of our friends house, pitching our tents in the cool summer air, hungry and needing a bathroom, there are only three of the original ten teammates who are still traveling together, soon to be two, and I feel funny. I feel somewhat uneasy in this city now, after having my bike stolen, and after experiencing the bliss of the Gulf Islands. I am ready to journey onward. If all goes as planned, after a much needed day of rest today, tomorrow, Catherine and I will embark on yet another mini-bike trip toward the Sunshine Coast, and then continue onward to visit my roommate in Whistler.
The wheels keep on rolling.
Monday, June 29, 2009
RIP Bluey Q
Stolen.
After all the kilometers it took me, meeting wondrous people and have amazing adventures, my partner in crime, fondly known as Bluey Q, is all gone. It makes me really sad, and I fear that negative memories will be what is remembered from this time. Over the past two months, my trust and faith in the kindness of human beings, strangers and friends alike, has grown so much. I feel like in one night my trust came crashing down. But, stronger then before, friends, teammates, and strangers are rallying around me to help me finish my adventures well. I will journey to Victoria tomorrow, then Salt Spring Island, still on bicycle wheels, just on borrowed ones. My mind has to power to think what it desires about my bicycle being stolen, so I will continue to try to reflect on the wonderful times that I have had, and be thankful for all that I have been
Given.
After all the kilometers it took me, meeting wondrous people and have amazing adventures, my partner in crime, fondly known as Bluey Q, is all gone. It makes me really sad, and I fear that negative memories will be what is remembered from this time. Over the past two months, my trust and faith in the kindness of human beings, strangers and friends alike, has grown so much. I feel like in one night my trust came crashing down. But, stronger then before, friends, teammates, and strangers are rallying around me to help me finish my adventures well. I will journey to Victoria tomorrow, then Salt Spring Island, still on bicycle wheels, just on borrowed ones. My mind has to power to think what it desires about my bicycle being stolen, so I will continue to try to reflect on the wonderful times that I have had, and be thankful for all that I have been
Given.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Another chapter completed
I am in Vancouver, only two days away from the conclusion of this 'Otesha' chapter. It was a very interesting feeling, cycling from the agriculturally lush Fraser Valley slowly creeping into the suburban sprawl that is Vancouver. As our group cycled nearer and nearer to the city, I began feeling more and more overwhelmed with the traffic, the people, the big box stores that we have been far removed from for the past two months. It's interesting how a little bit of time away from these things can make you so much more aware of their presence.
We stayed for an evening at the Yarrow Ecovillage as well as a co-housing project called Windsong in Langley, and I really enjoyed learning a great deal about both of these places. We got to see, yet another way that people are living their lives together, and not separately. They share gardens and meals and they peacefully co-exist with one another on very positive grassroots levels. It is a lifestyle that I think is so greatly beneficial to the soul and spirit and development of every person who dwells within these communities.
Enter Vancouver. Still lush. Always with a chance of rain. The city impressed me instantly as we cycled in on designated bicycle routes; roads that essentially prohibit car traffic unless you are a resident (and even then can often only physically access it from one direction). The roads were beautifully covered in old trees that shine in the sun with their lush green chlorophyll-rich leaves. When you approach an intersection, there are conveniently located buttons for cyclists to push to change the light so that they can cross. And then we cycled into the University of British Columbia, where we are staying currently on their farm, which is a beautiful organic farm with a number of different projects ongoing on the site. We were in time for the farm's wonderful weekend market where we bought the fresh ingredients to take along to our potluck party. We celebrated the summer solstice on Saturday night with an Otesha O-lumni at his home in Vancouver (which is yet another eco-conscious communal house). People were amazingly friendly as we used their stove to make a dark greens/tofu stir fry, and sauteed onions and Jerusalem artichokes. We shared in laughter, enjoyed their alternative media zine wall, and even learned how to make tempeh (fermented soybean curd - a delicious less processed version of tofu, that I now know how to make!) It was a wonderful introduction into this subset of the culture in Vancouver, and was refreshing to spend some time with people in our own generation, who are all into the same things as we are.
We finished off our last performance yesterday to a very attentive grade 6 and 7 audience in Richmond after doing three hard performances to difficult and sometimes small audiences at Vancouver's Science World on the weekend. It was a sad, but really cool feeling to preform the play one last time, to do our well practiced, adapted and rehearsed lines with one more burst of energy to maybe inspire just one more person to truly take charge of their lives and treat every 24 hours like another opportunity to foster the world that they all wish to see. I am slowly getting reacquainted with a city; the busy life of some, but recognizing the slow life of others. I am easing my way back into the 'real' world, and although it will be challenging to get used to being without my 9 family members, I am excited to add all that I have learned from these beautiful people, and use the skills in my own lifestyle. Vancouver is a beautiful place to be right now.
Otesha has been a wild journey for me. One where I have learned a lot about myself through interacting with others. One where I have tried every day to be positive about society's situation and realize that we all have choices that we make every day. It has been a journey where I learned to live in an intense group situation, and where I learned about spirituality, new cooking methods, gardening methods, sustainability practices, educational tactics, and Alberta and British Columbia. It has been an adventure, upon the seat of my bicycle, living this wonderful life, playing, and sharing with others. I have planted many seeds across these two provinces, within our audiences, our hosts, the communities, my team mates, myself, and you, my readers. You have the tools to grow into whatever you so chose to; use those tools however you chose to create the beautiful world that you wish to live in.
Hope you enjoyed this Otesha chapter, the next chapter is a coming up right away! (My adventures on the coast, Southeast Asia, and beyond!)
We stayed for an evening at the Yarrow Ecovillage as well as a co-housing project called Windsong in Langley, and I really enjoyed learning a great deal about both of these places. We got to see, yet another way that people are living their lives together, and not separately. They share gardens and meals and they peacefully co-exist with one another on very positive grassroots levels. It is a lifestyle that I think is so greatly beneficial to the soul and spirit and development of every person who dwells within these communities.
Enter Vancouver. Still lush. Always with a chance of rain. The city impressed me instantly as we cycled in on designated bicycle routes; roads that essentially prohibit car traffic unless you are a resident (and even then can often only physically access it from one direction). The roads were beautifully covered in old trees that shine in the sun with their lush green chlorophyll-rich leaves. When you approach an intersection, there are conveniently located buttons for cyclists to push to change the light so that they can cross. And then we cycled into the University of British Columbia, where we are staying currently on their farm, which is a beautiful organic farm with a number of different projects ongoing on the site. We were in time for the farm's wonderful weekend market where we bought the fresh ingredients to take along to our potluck party. We celebrated the summer solstice on Saturday night with an Otesha O-lumni at his home in Vancouver (which is yet another eco-conscious communal house). People were amazingly friendly as we used their stove to make a dark greens/tofu stir fry, and sauteed onions and Jerusalem artichokes. We shared in laughter, enjoyed their alternative media zine wall, and even learned how to make tempeh (fermented soybean curd - a delicious less processed version of tofu, that I now know how to make!) It was a wonderful introduction into this subset of the culture in Vancouver, and was refreshing to spend some time with people in our own generation, who are all into the same things as we are.
We finished off our last performance yesterday to a very attentive grade 6 and 7 audience in Richmond after doing three hard performances to difficult and sometimes small audiences at Vancouver's Science World on the weekend. It was a sad, but really cool feeling to preform the play one last time, to do our well practiced, adapted and rehearsed lines with one more burst of energy to maybe inspire just one more person to truly take charge of their lives and treat every 24 hours like another opportunity to foster the world that they all wish to see. I am slowly getting reacquainted with a city; the busy life of some, but recognizing the slow life of others. I am easing my way back into the 'real' world, and although it will be challenging to get used to being without my 9 family members, I am excited to add all that I have learned from these beautiful people, and use the skills in my own lifestyle. Vancouver is a beautiful place to be right now.
Otesha has been a wild journey for me. One where I have learned a lot about myself through interacting with others. One where I have tried every day to be positive about society's situation and realize that we all have choices that we make every day. It has been a journey where I learned to live in an intense group situation, and where I learned about spirituality, new cooking methods, gardening methods, sustainability practices, educational tactics, and Alberta and British Columbia. It has been an adventure, upon the seat of my bicycle, living this wonderful life, playing, and sharing with others. I have planted many seeds across these two provinces, within our audiences, our hosts, the communities, my team mates, myself, and you, my readers. You have the tools to grow into whatever you so chose to; use those tools however you chose to create the beautiful world that you wish to live in.
Hope you enjoyed this Otesha chapter, the next chapter is a coming up right away! (My adventures on the coast, Southeast Asia, and beyond!)
Monday, June 15, 2009
Excitingly overwhelmed
Again the landscape has changed, and again thoughts of the end of this magical bicycle journey are coming into my mind. We will be arriving in Vancouver in 5 days, and spending our last five days there together as a group preforming in the city and staying at UBC farms.
We have continued to cycle out of the hot Okanagon Valley, and have now ended up in the lush Fraser Valley. On my Convocation day, I cycled 65km from Summerland to Keremeos, and had a hot beautiful ride, thinking all day of my classmates back home, walking accross that stage. I cycled across my own stage as I rode into another hot fruit valley of BC. We did a preformance in Keremeos the next morning, and then it was my turn for a day in the hybrid support vehicle. Catherine and I took our time, got some vegetables donated that were about to be thrown away, and we visited a quirky old mining community called Hedley along our way into Princeton. The next day proved to be a toughy. After preforming in Princeton, we journeyed up and over our last mountain pass of our journey, and down into the moist, lush, beautifully stunning Manning Provincial Park. Here we stayed for two nights and preformed to the camper crowd in between isolated thunder storms - it was funny to have so much rain, as we had not seen any in a looong while! It was also quite great to see mule deer at dusk, and a black bear at the side of the road as we were cycling! It was so close to the side of the road, we were lucky to have been warned by drivers going in the opposite direction of it's presence. After looking on for a few moments, we continued our journey to our present location in Hope, British Columbia. What a name for a town indeed. One of the slogans for Otesha is "Riding on Hope" so it is fun to be in this quaint town for two nights.
And so our group began to speak today about our post - Otesha plans, blues, hopes and fears, and it is strange to think about the conclusion of this journey, but certainly exciting as well, as I plan out my weeks on the coast, and solidify plans for travel with Krista in SE Asia (WOOOT). I am fully enjoying the experience of living sustainably in this wonderful community of people, and I hope to find a similar lifestyle back in Ontario. For now though, it's time to eat some sweet potato fries, and climb to the top of Mount Hope (Can anybody tell me the difference between sweet potatoes and yams? A few of us discuss it alllllll the time in the group, so much so that it spontaneously turned into a full length guitar accompanied song, which I am sure to enlighten you all with my voice some day).
Tomorrow I will keep on ridin' on hope all the way to Yarrow to stay in an Eco-village. Thinking of you all.
We have continued to cycle out of the hot Okanagon Valley, and have now ended up in the lush Fraser Valley. On my Convocation day, I cycled 65km from Summerland to Keremeos, and had a hot beautiful ride, thinking all day of my classmates back home, walking accross that stage. I cycled across my own stage as I rode into another hot fruit valley of BC. We did a preformance in Keremeos the next morning, and then it was my turn for a day in the hybrid support vehicle. Catherine and I took our time, got some vegetables donated that were about to be thrown away, and we visited a quirky old mining community called Hedley along our way into Princeton. The next day proved to be a toughy. After preforming in Princeton, we journeyed up and over our last mountain pass of our journey, and down into the moist, lush, beautifully stunning Manning Provincial Park. Here we stayed for two nights and preformed to the camper crowd in between isolated thunder storms - it was funny to have so much rain, as we had not seen any in a looong while! It was also quite great to see mule deer at dusk, and a black bear at the side of the road as we were cycling! It was so close to the side of the road, we were lucky to have been warned by drivers going in the opposite direction of it's presence. After looking on for a few moments, we continued our journey to our present location in Hope, British Columbia. What a name for a town indeed. One of the slogans for Otesha is "Riding on Hope" so it is fun to be in this quaint town for two nights.
And so our group began to speak today about our post - Otesha plans, blues, hopes and fears, and it is strange to think about the conclusion of this journey, but certainly exciting as well, as I plan out my weeks on the coast, and solidify plans for travel with Krista in SE Asia (WOOOT). I am fully enjoying the experience of living sustainably in this wonderful community of people, and I hope to find a similar lifestyle back in Ontario. For now though, it's time to eat some sweet potato fries, and climb to the top of Mount Hope (Can anybody tell me the difference between sweet potatoes and yams? A few of us discuss it alllllll the time in the group, so much so that it spontaneously turned into a full length guitar accompanied song, which I am sure to enlighten you all with my voice some day).
Tomorrow I will keep on ridin' on hope all the way to Yarrow to stay in an Eco-village. Thinking of you all.
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Okanagon valley
Hello dear readers. I hope you are having a wonderful day. I am. I awoke this morning in a 'low-spray' cherry orchard in Summerland, British Columbia. After enjoying a huge breakfast (oats and stewed rhubarb from our hostesses garden) Seth, Natalie and I went for a hike down into a gorge. From above it looked like the Grand Canyon, surrounded on every side by vineyards and orchards. From below, it was another river that flows into the beautifully large Okanagon lake.
This area of British Columbia is very special. I am in the Canadian desert. As we rode down into Osoyoos down Anarchist's summing (which was so steep and full of intense switchbacks!) I knew I was entering a very different ecotone of our ever diverse country. The raid shadow effect makes this area very arid, lending to the unique flora and fauna which occupy the area. Because it is a dessert with such huge lakes in the middle, orchards and vineyards flourish from intense irrigation. We visited the desert centre on our way out of the very HOT Osoyoos, and saw the preserved desert ecology: the Sage Brush, Prickly pear cactus, Antelope Brush, Yellow bellied racer snakes, and black widow spiders. It was interesting to feel like I was in a different country, but within Canada.
We cycled along the Okanagon lakes up to a provincial park, completing another 97km day, and this one was sure a toughy. We left late, had a huge headwind in our faces, and had to battle it out with a ton of hills. I may have given up had it not been for my teammates. We were so relieved to arrive at the BEAUTIFUL park, with high arid cliffs, and a beautiful body of water. We preformed to the campers at the park the next morning, only to be very inspired by their sincerest support! The audience was fun, and wonderfully responsive to our questions. One couple was so excited to tell us of their endeavours to live responsibly. Their RV was made by a company that uses 100% post consumer products to build the vehicles! It was nice to have some positive reinforcement from adults. Our regular high school venues can often be trying. But not this afternoon's performance.
Coming downhill, my bike buddie and I whizzed back into Penticton for a 2 o'clock performance at the high school. Here our audience really seemed to enjoy our punny jokes and goofy human made toasters, sinks, fans and computers. We got some more of that precious positive feedback from the youth of Canada. It was another successful performance to 300+ grade 9's.
Have I told you of the blissful feeling of riding 100km in a day, into the wind, and uphill? Well, it's phenomenal. What makes it most special though I think, is to cycle down into a beautiful campground, welcomed by hugs from your teammates, and warm beet-veg-quinoa stir fry, made with care; to pitch my beautiful tent, and walk down to the doc, sharing with my friends the joys and emotions of the difficult day in my saddle. It is so blissful to sit on the doc, and sing quiet songs with your friends, watching the moon rise over the mountains, and just consider for a moment, how lucky I am. How my body feels totally spent, but my soul just wants to keep on rising like that moon.
I hope you will rise to your limits too.
This area of British Columbia is very special. I am in the Canadian desert. As we rode down into Osoyoos down Anarchist's summing (which was so steep and full of intense switchbacks!) I knew I was entering a very different ecotone of our ever diverse country. The raid shadow effect makes this area very arid, lending to the unique flora and fauna which occupy the area. Because it is a dessert with such huge lakes in the middle, orchards and vineyards flourish from intense irrigation. We visited the desert centre on our way out of the very HOT Osoyoos, and saw the preserved desert ecology: the Sage Brush, Prickly pear cactus, Antelope Brush, Yellow bellied racer snakes, and black widow spiders. It was interesting to feel like I was in a different country, but within Canada.
We cycled along the Okanagon lakes up to a provincial park, completing another 97km day, and this one was sure a toughy. We left late, had a huge headwind in our faces, and had to battle it out with a ton of hills. I may have given up had it not been for my teammates. We were so relieved to arrive at the BEAUTIFUL park, with high arid cliffs, and a beautiful body of water. We preformed to the campers at the park the next morning, only to be very inspired by their sincerest support! The audience was fun, and wonderfully responsive to our questions. One couple was so excited to tell us of their endeavours to live responsibly. Their RV was made by a company that uses 100% post consumer products to build the vehicles! It was nice to have some positive reinforcement from adults. Our regular high school venues can often be trying. But not this afternoon's performance.
Coming downhill, my bike buddie and I whizzed back into Penticton for a 2 o'clock performance at the high school. Here our audience really seemed to enjoy our punny jokes and goofy human made toasters, sinks, fans and computers. We got some more of that precious positive feedback from the youth of Canada. It was another successful performance to 300+ grade 9's.
Have I told you of the blissful feeling of riding 100km in a day, into the wind, and uphill? Well, it's phenomenal. What makes it most special though I think, is to cycle down into a beautiful campground, welcomed by hugs from your teammates, and warm beet-veg-quinoa stir fry, made with care; to pitch my beautiful tent, and walk down to the doc, sharing with my friends the joys and emotions of the difficult day in my saddle. It is so blissful to sit on the doc, and sing quiet songs with your friends, watching the moon rise over the mountains, and just consider for a moment, how lucky I am. How my body feels totally spent, but my soul just wants to keep on rising like that moon.
I hope you will rise to your limits too.
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