Sunday (6th) was another gloriously sunny day - but warmer than saturday had been! Johan and me had planned to go for and extra long run as it was to be our last!! (well in Tornto at least!). We ran to High park, round the park and back to the hostel - i think we did about 15km altogether and the weather couldnt have been any better - we had a little chillout 10 minutes on the grass in the park - it would have been rude not to!!! The park is beautiful and huits huge too!! I would like to be there in the summer with a picnic and a few games!! There is also an outdoor pool. Most of the parks here in Canada seem tohave at least one outdoor pool!

Kensington market was bustling that afternoon - all the cafes were playing music - people were sitting on the roadside - it was so lovely! In the afternoon Anthony came by the hostel to pick up his truck that he had left from the night before as he had developed a taste for the Martinis at the bbq! He took me down to see the new planet hostel! He gave me a tour round! I feel quite priveleged to have seen it now because it is just a shell and it is an old building so some of the walls are just being rebuilt and restored. Itll be fantastic when it is done. A very different feel to the other hostel though as it will have 100 beds so there will be corridors - it wont have the homely feel of the original planet! We went up on the roof where there is going to be a bar and terrace the view is superb - right across toronto! Oh and guess what - you can see the CN tower!!

Earlier that afternoon Shannon had made me some french toast - her specialtiy! It was lovely - and we enjoyed it sat out in the sunshine! Its the forst time ive really got chance to sit with shannon and chat properly - shes a really lovely cool person! Her and Racel are really good friends form Uni - they both studied Anthropolgy!! That is one of the many things i would like to study!!!

Sunday evening was happy sad!! I had to say a couple of goodbyes - which i hope will oly really be seeya laters!! Shannon and Rachel left first - Rachel said she may come over and see me before i left on monday morning but we had a hug just incase!! Then Deb and Trim left - hopefully i will see tham in New Zealand and Australia though - they both said if possible theyd come and see me in the Auckland half marathon! Then Lorena and Johan left - i said bye to Lorena - shes so lovely - maybe ill go to spain to see her! Johan promised he was coming over monday morning and wanted to save good bye til then!! haha! bless him!

At about 7.15am on Monday (7th) morning Johan arrived - he gave me 2 postcards - 1 with Toronto on the front and he said i had to keep it and remember good times with good people - that i will Johan - dont you worry!! the second has a beautiful photo on it - the mountain reflecting on lake Morraine in the rockies - he said i have to take my parents there when they come over - i am Johan dont you worry!!! Gave him a big hug and 3 kisses (it has to be 3 with johan!!) and he went off to work. A very ghood friend i have nmade there! When he had gone turned over the postcards as i was looking at them and he had written me a message on the back of both! What a dude!!

At about 7.55am i was just getting my bags together and Lady Rachel appeared! She had got up to go to the gym before work. She walked to the bus station with me and carried one of my bags! I will miss her - another good friend as are Deb and Trim! What a fantastic start to my trip Toronto has been!

I had beenin the bus station on Sunday evening to put one of my big bags in an overnight locker so that i only had to carry my packpack and my day pack on Monday morning. When i was waiting for the bus i asked an older couple to watch all my baggage while went to the locker to get my other big bag!!! "don't you worry about a thing!" said the man - he was so cute and his wife was saying "for sure girl" while waving me over to the lockers!! When i got back and got all my baggage together it was pretty much time to board the bus - i wanted to remain standing for as long as possible though as i was going to be sat for 13 hours!!! Anyway when i got on the bus the little old couple that had watched my bags were on too!! They both said they had never seen anyone quite as efficient as me!! hahaha! im not sure how to take that or how they came to that conclusion - its so interesting what other people see when they are watching you!!!!

It was a fairly sunny day with a little cload - probably just right for travelling with! I was excited about how different things were going to become along this journey! On the seat across from me was a guy from Cambridge (UK) i didnt get his name. He was cool though i think he was a bout my age. He was heading 4 hours north to a place called huntsville to do an outdoor first aid course - i bet that course will have been good - he is working on outdoor programmes with school aged children in Canada until Septemberthis year - said it like a dream. Ha has previously taught Duke of Edinburgh in the UK, but just loves working outdoors in Canada! HArdly surprising really - one of the schools wants to sponsor him to saty for 2 more years - i know what i would do if i were him!!Anyway - when he got off in Hunstville - it looked like afairly quiet place - a petrol station (where the bus stopped) a grocery store and a cafe!!! What more does a 'town' need??!!!!

At North Bay (about 5 hours into the journey) i had to change buses. I had a one hour`'lay over'. It wasnice to stand up and move about! From here upwards the journey changed significantly - the highway became a road (1 lane in each direction) and all that was really around was trees and mhills and some snow, somemore trees and hills and some snow - it had a very 'remote' feeling about it - it was literally just nature - it was hard to imagine that enough people had ever been there all at the same time to build a road!!!! I was on the lookout for Moose!! I was told now is a good time of year as they come to the roadside to lick the salt!!! I think i sat and stared out of the window for a good hour and still didnt see one!!!LAter on when i put my head down to read my book a lady infront shouted moose and was ponting out of the window - i looked up but i never saw anything - im not sure there was one!!!!!!

The bus was fairly empty now and there was about 4 guys and a couple sat just infront of me. At the next stop the couple got off. The bus dropped off the highway to stop in every town or township - these places made Haas in New Zealand look big - and thats going some!!! There would be maybe 10-12 houses and a grocery shop. People could get on and off the bus in these places but the bus stopped no matter what because the driver had to drop off abox of fruit and veg in the shop - i realised that as there are 2 buses going each way each day they are the fruit and veg daily delivery into these remote little towns - i think thats a great idea. I think many of the rest of the supplies come FROM Cochrane with the trucks, because i slater learnt that the bus service is mainly used by Truckers - they get the bus from Toronto up to Cochrane to pick up a truck and drive it back down to Toronto. Im not sure what goods they carry though. By about8pm it was getting dark - by 8.30pm ....it was dark!!! There were no street lights and the only other vehicles i saw from now were trucks going in the opposite direction. I was struggling to keep my eyes open so i had a little nap!!! It was 10.15pm when i woke up again, I knew we werent far away and i just wanted my bed now! I asked the bus driver if he knew where thriftlodge motel was as thats is where i was staying and if it was far from the bus station. He told me it was 5 minutes back down the highway from the station. About 5 minutes later - he said we passed thriftlodge on the way into Cochrane 'town' and would it be easier for me if we stopped there first - oh man that would be awsome!!!! So he stopped off at the motel for me first and got my baggage out from underneath. When he looked ay my bags he said "you werent really going to walk down here with all those bags were ya??" "yep!!" Oh - he said - im so glad i stopped for you - i couldnt have let you do that!! hahaha!!!

When i arrived i couldnt get through the office door cos my backpack got in the way - the lady laughed at me!! She said i could pay in the morning and just gave me my key! The room was great - a piece of luxury for a backpacker but there wasnt much choice of places to stay!! I got into bed and slept like a baby!

I felt so excited as i was settling into bed and wondered what the next day was going to bring.....i wished so much that everyone i love was going to be able to share it with me...