joshua wilsher

Northern Exposure

There are about 25 million Aussies and Kiwis on the globe and I swear a good number of them are in Canada. Mike the German and I drove our rental Chevy through Ohio, Pennsylvannia and New York state, to Ontario where we stayed in the Canadiana Backpackers Inn - voted Best Hostel in North America in 2003 and possibly one of my choicest. The inn attracted a motley crew. Mike and I spent the majority of our time with our roomate Matt, the No. 1 ranked Rock-Paper-Scissors player in New Zealand who was in town for the world championships. What a top bloke!

I met a young Finnish girl who rode her bicycle up from Detroit. On the Wednesday, I said goodbye as she headed off for Argentina.... also on her bike!!! I didn't want to make a big deal of it but did ask of her thoughts regarding her safety while peddling through Columbia. She explained to me that she was sure she was going to die! That's a little bit sad. I know her blog address so I will watch out for her.

We stayed a night with Rick and Nicole Hill who live in the little town of Elora, about an hours drive from Toronto. Rick is quite the expat with Coopers and Barbeque Shapes awaiting our arrival. Yet despite all the Australiana around their newly-owned home, one could say he has immersed himself in Canadian culture with his competing in curling each Friday night!

The weather was beautiful in Toronto, daily averages of about 10 degrees and clear skies. We made good use of the weather by taking a ride to the top of CN Tower - the tallest free standing structure in the world. The pic at the top is of me hanging out the front of the backpackers inn with the tower in the background.

Unfortunately, the photo above is one of few from the trip as I was without my camera due to a mishap at Niagara Falls.

Karaoke is not something I've ever lent my hand too, until now. A few hours at a Tequila Bar saw me belting out a number of tunes. I paired with a Canadian lass, Sarah, to perform Summer Nights. And I can tell you, I was bloody fantastic. However, the same can't be said for all my numbers; Sarah thought that our duet for Summer Nights meant she was free to join me at the mic for all of my performances. She was sadly mistaken when I was forced to ask the DJ to remove her from the stage. Half the patrons in the bar left during my Pearl Jam number, but think I regained some sort of credibility finishing the evening with Easy.

The greatest thing about Canada may be the no smoking law in all public buildings. How much more enjoyable it is to walk out of a bar without smelling like an ash tray. America is not far from adopting these new laws as is Australia. Yeah! (Our Commonwealth friends must also be commended for their recycling. Even street trash is divided).

In less than one month I will be crosiing their border again!

Here's a funny little story about Michael which I videod at our Hotel in Cleveland.

posted by Joshiesmoov @ 12:04 PM