FIRSTLY - THANKS TO KATE AND MARNIE FOR THE PICTURES OF CANADA - I DIDN'T HAVE MY CAMERA THEN, SO USING THEIR PICS UNTIL I CAN SCAN AND UPLOAD MINE... BELOW IS THE EMAIL I SENT RE TIME IN CANADA: hellllllllllllllllllo all long time no speak i know... decided to leave you all alone for a wee while.... have got to try and remember all the AMAZING things i've just done and seen on the west side of beautiful canada... spent a few days in vancouver city, sky rises surrounded by snow topped mountains (just gorgeous), wondered around markets (trendy/arty granville island), ate lots of yumm sushi, looked (but didn't buy) at all the coollllllllllll vintage shops... then went on a 2 day trip to vancouver island, all the central accommodation was booked, so i stayed out of town in a picturesque b&b, with my own double room, and lake views... was in heaven... spent lots of time on my own, and loved it, peace and quite for once... then went back to the mainland and started my moose bus tour (for 10 days). Moose tour was out of this world, i don't even know where to begin... but will try.... arghhh days later, i'm back to writing this email (sorry saved it in drafts and forgot to complete! emmmm moose tour west coast... went glacier hiking, wine tasting, LOTS OF HIKING, saw tons of beautiful waterfalls, wild animals incl. bears, mountain goats, moose, elk etc.. stayed in the most amazing accommodation - lots of huge chalet style houses, which we often had all to our selves with hot tubs and lake/mountain views... went to famous ski town whistler, which i fell in love with, then to other big names such as jasper, lake louise and banff - plus stayed in some wee canadian towns, drank with the locals (some weird,but v.nice). Loved all of the places, banff was AMAZING too, another famous ski town, took a gondola ride up sulphur mountain and had the most amazing views of the canadian rockies - i went up at 7pm on my own and had the whole platform to myself, was just beautiful, i really felt all alone on top of the world - I LOVED IT - the best thing i've done/seen in canada yet! took 2 roles of film and 20mins of video... i know.. a lot... but the light was changing so much it all looked so gorgeous... had yum food, we did lots of group meals (cooking for each other), i met the best people yet.. very sad leaving them, miss them lots...god i can't remember what else i did, but was just amazing, my best 10 days as a whole yet! on the east coast now, again with the moose bus, very different to the west side, no huge mountains everywhere, and lots of big citys, still great though, spent a night on a boat in jail/uni town kingston - got about 4 uni's and about 9 prisons... funny wee town... then had 4 WICKED days in WICKED montreal... which again i just loved.... i think i could live there... french speaking, yum food, soooooooooo many cool bars/clubs, full of young people, spent the days sightseeing, eating, lapping up the sun, listening to cool music pumping from everywhere - VERY COOL CITY... did however manage to get some kind of bug/food poisoning... had a nice meal out, had frogs legs (which really did taste like chicken), scallops, steak, and a huge dessert, then spent the whole of the following day running to and from the bathroom.... i was out with some friends, determined to sightsee, but defo saw more loos than i did of the contemporary art museum, and botanical garden... boo hooo or should i say poo poo!!! but despite that, i really loved montreal - ohhhhhhhhhh and i did a 50k (which is about 35miles) bike ride around the city, was HARD GOING, but great fun, such a european city - everyone on bikes/rollerblades... beats the lazy car driven USA for sure... from montreal moved onto historic quebec city - this was a much prettier city, with history alllllllllllllllllll around, did a city tour, checked out all the main historic sites - learnt a thing or two, then went out for another meal - not been out for dinner in ages, saved my pennys for dinner out in montreal/quebec city where the food is the BOMB! YUMMMMMMMMM didn't get sick here, but again was adventurous in what i ordered, asked for the most traditional french/canadian thing on the menu and got a plate of mixed meat in some kind of stew.... was not my normal kinda feast, but good none the less... from quebec we moved to ontario (capital), was a mini england - again lots of history, saw the changing of the guards, and some other funky parade - reminded me of london for sure... stayed in a old jail there (converted into a hostel), kinda groovy... from there we moved in land - stayed 1 night in Mont trembland (biggest ski slope on the east side), v.pretty, lovely hostel on the lake, canoes for free, great bbq, then moved to fort collange, most of the group went white water rafting, but i didn't - been twice now so gotta save my money for things i've not done... hung out by the lake making plans for the rest of my time in the usa... changed my route sooooooooo much, i change flights daily (almost), can never make up my mind... i get more and more indecisive... ohhhhhhh where has the old control cath gone!!!?? last 2 nights where in madawaska - stayed in a house - now a hostel - just our group, so ran riot... spent the day in Algonquin National park, did 2 hikes and loved every minute of being back outdoors (away from the citys), finally saw our first 'wild' moose with her baby... we all went a lil wild.... we are on the moose bus you see, so to finally see canadas famous moose is a bit of a big deal... just got back in to toronoto - not seen this city yet, going to niagra falls tomorrow, so will do my city tour the day after that... then moving back to the usa - getting an overnight bus to chicago - so got some greyhound nutters coming my way.... then prob on to texas - if i ever make a decision.... might see john crouch, but not sure as can only get there mid wk and he'll be working, so may not go after all.. well i think that is it for now... sorry for long, detailed email - send me ALL your news asap... miss and love you all cathxx