"I'm dreaming....

...... of a White New Year's!"

Ok, not quite as the original was intended to sound, but this morning (New Year's Eve) Toronto awoke to a dusting of snow, and tonight, and right around midnight, its predicted that we'll have the start of a nice little snowfall to see the New Year in.

So if that isn't an excuse for a bit of a sing song, then I don't know what is!

Anyway, all this rambling leads me to say I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and may 2008 be happy, healthy and prosperous to you (especially those of you with or expecting new arrivals in the family).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I went to a fight last night.....

..... AND A HOCKEY GAME BROKE OUT!
(or so goes the often quoted line here).

I think it's fair to say that the Marlies game against the Rockford Ice Hogs (daft name I know!) was fractious and physical to start, got rough in the middle, and turned downright violent at the end. The game sheet itself makes scary reading, but also pretty much tells the tale of the game all on its own.

An incredibly picky referee, who seemed to be spotting infractions from nowhere didn't help the situation, and he ended-up calling TWENTY-NINE Penalties! Yes... 29!! Only three of which came in the first period, and meant there were a total of four 5-on-3 situations. So its not surprising there was no real flow to the game, and quite impressive that the teams managed to muster eight goals between them, and ONLY TWO on the powerplay!

There were however, two real highlights of the night. The first one is the aforementioned fights. Yes hockey is a great sport anyway, but sometimes the fighting just adds to the entertainment, and works as a release for the players and a way to "police" the sport themselves. So as the end neared with the result secured, the final two minutes saw three (quite impressive by hockey standards) fights and a misconduct penalty to add to the fun. Toronto's Kris Newberry (my best mate! - see the post from this time last year!) was especially impressive in his "bout" and left the ring... sorry, I mean rink, to a standing ovation.

The really cute part of day though didn't actually involve the players we'd all paid to come and watch. No, that was fulfilled by this:




all together now ....... aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
These kids are all barely old enough to walk, yet they're playing hockey already. Yep, they start them young in Canada!

Happy Hockey Days everyone!

Time flies!

Well its hard to believe in some ways that its been one full year since I left home and ol' Wales. Sometimes it feels just like yesterday that I was heading to the airport for that Zoom Airlines 767. Until recently life has been so busy that it "can't possibly have been a year gone", but then, when I get the chance to sit down and actually think about everything that has happened, it seems like enough to fit into five years!

A couple of weeks in Canada to start, turned into a wonderful white Christmas and a couple of months of Canadian winter! From the frozen winds and blowing snow of Toronto in winter, it was then from one extreme to the other with the heat and altitude of the South American Andes. Three hectic, energetic, exhausting and very very exciting months south of the equator exploring the fascinating and beautiful scenery, history and people of Latin America.

Then just as its getting cold down there, I fly back up to Toronto to be reunited with a wonderful Canadian girl just in time for a wonderful Canadian summer! A summer which included visitors from home, baseball games, visiting family all around Ontario, a spectacular trip out East to Nova Scotia, and actually finally working sometime as well!

So if that's what the previous 365 days held for me, the possibilities for the next 365 days are endless!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Just a quick one to say wish everyone a fun filled Halloween night.
We've even got the CN Tower here in Toronto lit-up like a pumpkin for the night (if you can make out the green light above the orange observation dome).


Spooky EH?!

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

This is cool!

Now if I had the time, money and.... well, time and money I guess... then THIS is what I'd love to do. The guy has a blog HERE too and he's becoming something of a legend in the Hockey world, as his story spreads across North America, and even being mentioned on Bob McCowan's "Prime Time Sports" radio show on the The FAN 590 (an even more legendary event in Canada).

Its kind of like trying to see all 92 football league grounds (something Dale is attempting to do), BUT doing it in one season, non-stop!

Maybe those should be my next travel aims!

Its all gonna go belly-up, down south!

If any more proof were needed that the American economy is about to go very very badly down the pipes, then check out my (currently) beloved Canadian dollar. Now, while the "Loonie" and Canadian economy are much stronger than throughout the last forty years or so, whats happening now is just ridiculous! Thanks to my friends at XE.com One Canadian dollar now gets you 98.65 US cents. In other words, its almost ONE US DOLLAR to the CANADIAN DOLLAR! It was only a few years ago the Americans would scoff at the thought that a Loonie was worth more than HALF a green-back.

And to further prove my point, the wonderful British Pound is now worth OVER TWO US $!!! That means that we British are now TWICE as valuable as one American! (Sorry to any Yank readers)


Apologies for the brief economics lecture, but its quite funny (in one way) to realise that while most of the world understands its all about to get very messy in the US, no-one has actually told the President. Either that or "Mr. President" is having too much fun looking for "currencies of mass destruction."

Back to reality soon I promise!

Happy Birthday Amanda!

Amanda gets the "Montana's Birthday Special"!

Just a quick one this time to wish a very Happy Birthday to a special someone today!
Sadly we're apart this week by the "small matter" of half of Canada, and my empty bank account, but we managed to have a small celebration before today. Hope you're having a great day out there!

Luciano Pavarotti

Its funny where the death of someone famous (actually, anyone, not necessarily famous) can send your mind wandering to. If its someone who has actually done something worthwhile to be given celebrity status, that is, rather than those current vacuous, unnecessary, self-loving, media-obsessed "celebrities" who seem to be famous for just being, well, famous.

Previously forgotten memories come rushing back, and you are carried away into a parallel world, where everything around you seems more electric, more sensitive, brighter, sharper and more intense than it first was. This is kind of where my mind has wondered to today anyway.

I'm not used to giving tributes to celebrities who finally pass away, but sometimes these people do actually influence you more than you realise at the time. Luciano Pavarotti passed away last night in Modeno in Italy, aged 71, due to Pancreatic Cancer. A hugely talented opera singer, with a magical, captivating and engrossing voice, known for being one of the Three Tenors, he will forever be remembered by most people (including me) for his renditions of Nessun Dorma, which became associated with the Italia '90 World Cup. The BBC titles to this event (and the closing ones I remember, but couldn't find anywhere) being true bottled emotion, wrapped up in a sporting event.

This was the first World Cup I remember, and one of my first real footballing memories (sadly, alongside Hillsborough, and more happily the classic FA Cup final where Liverpool beat Everton 3-2 in extra time on a roasting hot May afternoon). I remember being just 9 years-old, and at Cubs on the first Friday evening, hearing that Cameroon had beaten favourites Argentina 1-0 while being down to 10 men. The shock, joy, and amazement that someone under ten cannot understand that the defending champions had LOST to a minnow African nation. I barely knew where Cameroon was back then!

There was Cameroon's iconic Roger Miller and his hip-swaying goal celebration, Toto Schillachi and Roberto Baggio for Italy, the absolutely bizarre hair-do's of Colombia's Rene Higuita and Carlos Valderama, of course Gazza's tears for England, the football genius (if flawed personality) Maradona and Claudio Cannigia from Argentina, Klinsmann and Lothar Matthaus in a really very good Germany team, and so many special goals.

But it wasn't just the football that opened up to me that summer. That was probably my first real exposure to any form of classical music, and I wonder how many others there were in that position. That's not to say it converted me and all I listen to now is something written 400 years ago, but it opened up the mind of a 9-year-old to hear something both new and old at the same time, and that can't be a bad thing at all. So I now count most of my (slightly limited) inspiration for listening to classical music to that date too.

And all these Latin memories, influences and passion then led me to maybe the epitome of Latin, and even footballing passions, all in one second. Has any one image ever captured the vast, unintelligible emotion built up into just a simple game of football, as Marco Tardelli's celebration after scoring for Italy against Germany in the 1982 World Cup Final? A great goal, the greatest celebration of all time, and on those famous BBC titles, all married together perfectly by Luciano Pavarotti.

Causing a Storm Online!

So it's Labour Day weekend, which means a nice long weekend, day off on Monday, and more gorgeous, glorious, clear blue skies and warm sunshine... don't you just hate that!
It also means that I'm trying to get the chance to catch up a bit on this 'ere blog thing. So just how much can I squeeze into post. Well lets see shall we......

Firstly we have more fun on the "Inter-web" for everyone, and proof that I am in fact... FAMOUS! Ok, maybe not "David Beckham famous", but that is surely just a mere formality now that I've become almost a regular on the Guardian website.

This was my first appearance last year.

And now this summer, in the surprisingly rivetting, compulsive and actually very entertaining one-day series between England and India, I've had THIS, and THIS, and infact a bit more to say for myself. Have a look on the OBO website and say hi yourselves.

Yes, my path towards a media empire is starting to take shape now!

Next up we have something of a fascination of mine, but I think seems to interest everybody I mention it to. Its currently hurricane season in the Northern Hemisphere, which is both incredibly fascinating to study and follow the storms as they develop, but also sad and scary to see their outcomes on the often under or ill-prepared populations that they hit.
The agency charged with tracking these monstrous beasts around the shores of the Caribbean and North America is the National Hurricane Centre, and their excellent website. Particularly interesting is the satellite image section, where you can see the latest images, and put together a track over the last few hours. Currently Hurricane Felix is force FIVE and heading straight towards Honduras, while over in the Eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm (a step down from Hurricane) Henriette is getting its act together and heading North towards the Baja of Mexico.

And finally for today, to finish on a happy note, I saw Amanda Martinez perform at one of the open-air concerts in Toronto a couple of weeks ago, and very good she was too! Her Latin sound and musical basis actually made me a bit "homesick" for South America. So go to her site, have a listen to her lovely voice, and I dare you not to buy a CD.

Cheerio everyone!

Fun on the Web!

Just a quickie this as I'm doing it on the sly during lunch in work, but a couple of things I've noticed while browsing the Weird Wonderful Web recently.

What a way to go! You shouldn't laugh.... but you can't help it really.

Firstly, poker will NEVER be a sport (despite half the cable sports channels over here trying to make it such), but secondly, could THIS be the best hand ever dealt?! But who was the clown who shuffled it?!


More later.... have fun folks!

Get Well Soon Ozzy

Poor old Ozzy (Karen and Richard's "baby") hasn't been having the best luck recently, and after a particularly nasty scuffle with a sharp blade of glass, he's now had an operation on his eye, and isn't feeling his normal self.

Cheer-up fella, you'll be back to normal soon.

HOW MUCH!

So this is our brand new (or maybe brand-old) strike force, worth a combined 40 million!
You think someone should mention to Robbie that he's not gonna score many goals with those boots on!

Is that the time?!

Yes, despite the fact its the middle of August, STILL cricket season (and nowhere near the end of baseball season over here), the schools are still on holiday, and the temperatures are kicking around 20c (apparently at last!), its FOOTBALL SEASON!

Yes last week saw the first game of the season for the mighty Bluebirds of Cardiff City. Last season it was all about Michael Chopra "coming over the hill", but with Sunderland stumping up 5 million for the geordie, he's now back in the Premiership where he belongs, and went and scored a last minute winner for them in their first game. Meanwhile, things haven't been too quiet coming in to Ninian with not one but TWO former Premiership (and even England regulars) joining. Firstly winger Trevor Sinclair, and then.... rather excellently.... striker Robbie Fowler.

Although with Fowler being injured, we managed to lose the opening game at home to Stoke, and then squeak through against Brighton in extra-time in the pointless Coca-Cola Cup. So not impressed with this high scoring attack, today we go and sign Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Another ex-Premiership and international striker, who apparently has been transfered for a total of over 28 million!

So our potential starting strike force, is worth about 40 million! Ok, their both in their thirties now, and so getting on a bit, but they can still finish as well as ever, all we need to do is give them the chances!
OH, and finally, someone involved in the club before the most recent takeover has decided that the club owes them 30 million..... NOW! Hang on a sec.... I'll just reach into my back pocket for some loose change that should cover it! The club re-assures us that there is no case to answer, and so all is well (ahem!).

Sounds like the start of another typical, "boring & uneventful" Cardiff City season.
The future's bright, the future's BLUE!

Summer in the City

A Pool with a View: Did I mention the apartment has a pool with a view of the CN Tower?!



Nathan Phillips Square in the middle of yet another festival.



This one's for you Sarah! I promised a horsey pic... and here it is. Best I can do at the moment, but it was the perfect day for a carriage ride at Niagara-on-the-Lake.

A Cheery Happy post!

Well after all the doom and gloom of the BlueJays (although I love them really.... in an alternate reality, I think I'd be dating 2nd baseman Aaron Hill..... there's something for you all to ponder. Haha!) I think its time for me spread some happiness around the world, or at least my world!

Firstly, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Rich & Karen for 27th of July (its their first... awwww how much fun was last summer eh guys?), and then Rhys & Heather for 12th of August (this is their 2nd, and yes I can even remember that very happy day too). Someone needs to get married this year as we've not had a stag-do for 12 months and I'm having withdrawal symptoms, and ANY chance of that 30 QUID please Peter!!! (its worth about 50 now with interest!)

Secondly, someone on this side of the Atlantic has been silly enough to employ me, so with all being well, I'll be re-entering employment and reality in a couple of days time. Woohoo! Its even so close I can walk there and back in ten minutes! What this also means, is that I'll now have money (No, Canadian money is NOT Monopoly money... infact its almost the same exchange rate as the US dollar... and doesn't go around beating up other money because its got lots of oil in it!) to spend on even more baseball (and hockey in winter) games, and other really cool summer stuff here.

And thats another great thing about Toronto in summer. There is something FREE to do everynight right on your doorstep in this great city. Weekend festivals, cultural and musical performances down at the Harbourfront on the shore of Lake Ontario, parks to relax and throw a ball around in, Younge & Dundas Square right in the centre of the city, that hosts comedy, music and even plays films at night on big screens, and then Nathan Phillips Square infront of City Hall, that hosts even more festivals and events.

Those are just the big ones..... most neighbourhoods around the city have their own celebrations too. There's a "Taste of Little Italy... YUM!", the Distillery District Blues festival, Beaches Jazz Festival, and so much more. I've even had the chance to practice some of my very dodgy Spanish that I learnt in South America when going to a couple of these festivals, and great fun it was too.

The reason all this stuff can happen, is that the weather is quite simply gorgeous, and everyone knows it will be. Sorry to rub this in as I know its been just a little bit damp back home this "summer". Since I got back at the start of June, I can't remember a day getting colder than 20c, and only about 4 days of rain, so everyone makes the most of it, as by November when its -10c and theres about 3 inches of snow on the ground, people aren't so interested in going out and celebrating much!

So everything here is all "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!", and even Izzy has been out enjoying the sun too.

The Empire Strikes Back! - Grrrrrrr!

Well its baseball season over here, and for your local friendly neighbourhood sports-nut-fan (that's me by the way!) it means a Blue Jays game almost every-other day to go and watch down at SkyDome (sorry but I refuse to bow to the corporate world and call it Rogers Centre!).

-Speaking of which.... (little aside here).... whatever the NEW (yes after all the many years of financial, council and other messing around its finally being built) Cardiff City stadium is called, and its bound to be sponsored and hence named something stupid like the "Tesco Bowl", to me it will always be Ninian Park (or maybe the New Ninian Park!). So call me behind the times and not accepting of the world we live in today, but there are some things I'm very sentimental about, and not selling out to the corporate world is one of them. -

Anyway...... there was a whole point to this post.... and I think I'll get there sometime soon. Today down at SkyDome (it was the first stadium built in the world with a retractable roof... and pretty funky it is too), the New York Yankees were in town. Otherwise known as the "Evil Empire" you either Love or Hate the Yankees, and I'm certainly a member of the latter. And even Darth Vader showed up at the game..... yes David Beckham was there after NOT playing for the LA Galaxy last night against Toronto FC!

The most frustrating thing about the game though, was despite the absolutely horrendous, inconsistent and annoying umpire-ing, was that inspite of that, we still should have won the game, but managed to throw it away somehow. Yes, snatching a one-run defeat from the jaws of a two-run lead, and hitting the only home-run of the game. How do I manage to leave Cardiff 3000 miles away, yet bring the spirit of City with me eh?!

Back in Toronto!

Well, its only been about two months since my last update and arriving back in sunny Canada, so thats pretty good going for me I reckon! And after a week of settling back in and spending lots of time with Amanda, look who found her way across the Atlantic! Welcome to Toronto Mum!

This was from the Blue Jays baseball game we took in one Sunday afternoon at Sky Dome (now rather sadly called the Rogers Centre), and a rather good game it was too! But more on that at another time. And also coming up.... when I get the time... the rest of my adventures in South America!

Adios America del Sur!

So as I wait here in Buenos Aires Ezezia airport for the flight to Toronto and back into the Northern hemisphere, I´m leaving with a huge smile on my face. Thinking of all the fantastic times, and anticipating getting back to Canada and some very special people there too.

This is my final post from South America, and quite a time I´ve had down here!
The sights, sounds and adventures have been almost non-stop, and I´m leaving with many many memories and new friends, and new ideas and wishes for places to visit and explore. So who knows, maybe (hopefully!) I´ll be back again someday. And for anyone who hasn´t visited this amazing continent yet...... get your flights booked now!

I´ll update the photos and everything else from anything I´ve missed out during the last few whirlwind weeks, in the next week or so. Take care everyone and speak to you or even see you soon!

Machu Picchu photos

Well after a very hectic couple of weeks crossing several borders, I'm now down in Argentina, and have got a few spare minutes to sort out some photos.

So here are the ones from Machu Picchu. There's lots of them, but I think most are pretty interesting, but none do any kind of justice to the beauty and stature of the place.

Here.

Izzy´s goodbye to Peru.

Having spent almost a month in Peru, Izzy has become rather addicted to the national drink.... "Inca Cola." It tastes kind of like a cross between cream soda and Irn-Bru, only the wild orange colour has been replaced with a vivid green... full of lots of vitmains and minerals too!

Cañon del Colca

The condors of Cañon del Colca (in southern Peru) are famous for their graceful flights as they catch the rising thermals and just cruise the skies in the world´s deepest canyon. (They´ve just re-measured it, and apparently its over 4000m deep at its deepest point!) Here its a mere 3300m deep. None of the photos I took manage to catch the moment well enough, but having these huge birds (the second largest flying birds in the world) just pass a couple of meters overhead or beside you is really unforgettable.

Another friend for Izzy

Dave hung out with us for a few days in Cusco, including the trip to Machu Picchu.

More Machu Picchu

Izzy and I take in Machu Picchu in its full glory. Its easy to see why the Inca´s chose this Sacred Valley.... or maybe "it chose them?" Either way, its a very beautiful location, and gave the perfect place to hide a city away, where the invading Spanish were never able to find it.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu, the "Lost Inca City" slowly reveals itself from the early morning cloud forest mist. The mist and cloud gave it a very special and mystic feel for the first few hours of the morning until the warm, bright sun broke through.

Izzy meets Elvis!

Ok, so its not THAT Elvis.... but still! Elvis (our guide) had a bit of an obsession for very dodgy Peruvian Ragatong music, and here Izzy is getting a serious introduction.... poor thing!

The trials of the Cordilliera Blanca

In the first photo, Izzy and I recover and celebrate reaching the top of Union Point (the highest point of our trek) after a four hour climb that felt more like four days to me... but I made it somehow! Below, on the third day it rained all morning and we managed to take a bit of a detour on some marshland thanks to our guide, but in the afternoon the sun came out and the scenery left us with smiles on our faces.

Cordilliera Blanca

Some of the stunning views we had during our four day trek through the Corilliera Blanca. Tom´s catching his breath here, whislt some lakes were so clear and still the mountains reflect perfectly in them.

Huaca de la Luna

The Huacas del Sol y de la Luna (Temples of the Sun and Moon) were built by pre-Inca people near the current town of Trujillio in northern Peru. The Moon temple is the only one that has been investigated so far, and the art-work that has been uncovered is very impressive and incredibly well preserved.

Vilcabamba.... a hidden paradise

This was the view I woke to one morning from my bed in Vilcabamba. The place we stayed here was hidden up the valley of the Rio Yamalla, and was a great place to hike for a couple of days.

Tom´s Birthday

Caroline, Tom and I celebrate Tom´s birthday in Cuenca with a great meal and five bottles of Tom´s favourite Argentinian and Chilean wine! A very good evening altogether!

Nariz del Diablo

The beautiful, and slightly scary views, from the top of the "Nariz del Diablo" train ride in central Ecuador. Its not everyday of the week you get to sit ontop of the train your riding!

Time to catch-up!

I think its been over a month since my last proper post, and a few weeks since I managed to put the photos on, so a decent update is well ovedue!

Since the last real post from Baños, I´ve ridden on top of the Nariz del Diablo train, stayed in the beautiful village of Vilcabamba (Ecuador), visited the very interesting Sun and Moon Temples in Trujillio, trekked in the stunning Cordilliera Blanca, checked out the fascinating Inca ruins of the Sacred Valley around Cusco, and been to Cañon del Colca to check out the cruising Condors (Peru). And along the way I´ve met some great friends too, who´ve added even more fun to the adventures.

I´ll sort out the Machu Picchu photos when I get a chance, but here are the best of the rest for the moment.

Photos so far

Right, there's lots of them, and I must warn you that not all of them are that interesting or make sense.... AND I haven't put titles on them.... but here are links to the albums of all my photos on the trip so far.

Hope you enjoy them all, and don't say I didn't warn you about how many there are!

Ecuador 1: Quito, Mitad del Mundo, and more Quito.

Ecuador 2: Otavalo, Cotopaxi, Quilotoa and Baños

Ecuador 3: more Baños, Nariz del Diablo train, Cuenca and Vilcabamba

Peru 1: The Andean road into Peru, Temples of the Sun and the Moon, Huaraz and the Cordilliera Blanca.

The next few weeks will revolve around Cusco, the Inca Trail, and then Arequipa I think. So hope you like these photos as there's lots more mountains to come!

And so to Peru

Well, its three weeks into the South America leg of this trip, and I've now made it to Peru. And it was quite an effort to get here too! Left Loja in southern Ecuador at 7am, and arrived here in Piura, northern Peru, at about 5pm. Yes TEN hours, and we (Tom from the USA, who I'm travelling with for a bit) are due to spend another six hours to head south to Trujillo tonight, and then... hopefully.... we'll have another eight hours tomorrow morning to Huaraz.

That trip should be worth the time though as Huaraz and the Cordilleria Blanca part of the Andes are supposed to contain some of the most beautiful and breath-taking scenery, hiking and trekking on the whole continent.

So, with three hours before our bus leaves, what do you do on a Friday night in an incredibly hectic and hot city such as Piura (which I hope to leave still having all my valuables and other bits attached to me). Head for the Internet of course!!! If anyone has any other bright ideas then please let me on a postcard to the usual address! Haha!

A volcano in action

This is the sight that welcomes you to Baños. The local volcano shooting a column of ash and dust high into the air, just as it has done for the last 6 years or so since it became active again. It took two years to be down-graded to amber than yellow alert, and for life to return as to locals reclaimed their city. (click the photo for a bigger version.. I hope.)

So now to Baños!

The scenery in the Andes is quite literally breath-taking (especially when trying to climb it!). The roads winding away from Latacunga to Quilotoa, and here arond the town of Baños provide beautiful look-out spots from which to take it all in. On our hike up the hill, we met a very friendly local, Carlos, who works for the civil defence force in monitoring the very much active volcano that currently overlooks the city. Officially no-one should be in this city, but its been on yellow alert for about 4 years now and no-one seems particularly concerned as daily life continues fairly normally.

Not again!!

Laslo and I consider the enjoyment of a hike at 4000m for the second time in two days, and also the possibilitiy of an eruption, and how much fun that could be!!

Laguna Quilotoa

Izzy considers going for a swim in the lake that's formed inside the crater of Quilotoa. Another active but largely dormant volcano in central Ecuador. At 4000m high at the tip of the rim, its another breathless hike down into, and back up the crater.

Real celebrations!

Laslo and I decided to celebrate in a slightly different way! Someone in the climbers refuge decided it would be a great idea to sell beer there... so what else could we do?! "Possibly the highest beer in the World?!" Haha!

Reward!

Here Laslo and Kate (on exchange from Germany and Belgium) relax with Izzy at reaching the refuge. Kate had brought some of her birthday cake from last week to celebrate with (which Izzy really enjoyed!)

Volcan Cotopaxi

This is from the climb up the currently dormant Volcano Cotopaxi, in central Ecuador. From the car park at 4500m to the climbers refuge at 4800m may not seem a great distance, but the altitude and soft volcanic sands make it very slow and hard going.

Mmmmmm!

Apart from steaks, South America isn't really known for its food. Well, in the market town of Otavalo, there are fantastic bakeries that happen to sell delicious slices of cakes for just 50c... perfect as dessertfor hungry "gringos" and polarbears alike. You have no idea of the will-power it took to not eat this straight away. There's only a few people who I know that make better cakes... but I won't embarrass them on here as I'm sure they already know.

...OR is THIS the Mitad del Mundo?!

Actually they all are, but strictly speaking the first one is 270m out. Yes, that's the monument that has been placed where the French explorers calculated the equator to be about 300 years ago. However, the ancient pre-Inca tribes had plotted it ontop of the hill (hopefully you can see a small mound where a semi-circle and tree mark the spot), and this line goes exactly through the equator, which has its own unofficial museum next to the "official" one.

The unofficial one that actually goes overthe equator is best, as here you get to try balancing an egg on the head of a nail (which I managed to do and got a certificate for - yeay me!!!), something which is virtually impossible off the equator apparently, watch the water go down plug-holes different ways, and loads of other cool stuff.

... Or is THIS the Mitad del Mundo?.....

(See that little mound on the top of the hill?... thats the important bit!)

Is this the Mitad del Mundo (middle of the World)?...

Izzy's making friends

Time for a decent update I hope! In Quito, Izzy made friends with Dan (from Bournemouth). Here they are checking out the UNESCO World Heritage site Old Town, which is overlooked by the "Virgen de la Quito".

"Goodbye" to the North!

Just a quick entry for this occasion. I´m leaving Otavalo today (which is just North of Quito, and the equator) and heading South. So this means, that unless something really unexpected happens, I´ll be in the Southern hemisphere for the next two months until flying back to Canada.
Now this may not seem that important in real terms, but, when most of your life you get used to the rest of the world mostly being south of you, it kind of messes with your mind to have that totally reversed. (Kind of like someone saying Cardiff City are a really good football team!!!)

So on that happy note I shall wish you all a Happy Easter, and see you on the flip-side (of the Globe)!

More Niagara Falls

As Izzy was going, Amanda & I decided to go along as well.... just to keep her company of course! So here we are infront of the Canadian "horseshoe" Falls. How Izzy got her paws on the camera I don´t know!

Izzy visits the Falls!

Before leaving Canada for South America, Izzy took a day trip to Niagara Falls, and very impressed she was too. I´m hoping she didn´t have any ideas about jumping in for some fish!!

Izzy was loving the look of all that ice from the American Falls.

One BIG Trophy!

I don't think there is a bigger trophy in the sporting world (although the European Cup comes pretty close I think). Anyway, if you make it to Toronto and have any interest in ice hockey then a trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame is unmissable.
And the highlight is getting your photo taken with the Stanley Cup! It was actually formed in Britain and then brought over to North America. So thats quite a nice bit of British involvement in hockey history.

More snow!

Looks even more impressive when you see a whole street covered.

One last bit of news on this update. Congratulations to the Cardiff Devils ice Hockey team (yes I've been managing to follow from this side of the Atlantic) for winning the British Knockout Cup 3-0 in Coventry against the Blaze last week.
A great result and fantastic reward to the whole team and supporters after what's been a pretty messy and very hard-working season. Well done everyone and roll-on the play-offs!

Proper winter!

For those of us from the UK, even the threat of a few cm of snow is often enough to bring the country to a grinding holt! So how does the rest of the world cope when there's a little more of the white stuff flying around. Well check out these pics from Orillia after a "real winter snow storm"!

All this fell in about one 4-day snowfall.

Photos from St David's Night

So we did manage to make it out for a mini-celebration on St David's day, and while no-one else in the bar had a clue what we were doing, it was nice to at least have a little bit of fun with the flag!

Amanda looks pretty comfortable wrapped-up in a nice Welsh Dragon!

And here we see Izzy trying to steal my pint as I get into the celebrating mood! (Cheeky polar-bear!)

Happy St. David's Day

Bore da!
Just a quick message to say Happy St. David's Day to everyone back home in Wales, and infact everyone around the world. Hope you have a very good day and enjoy celebrating your "Welsh-ness." I find a few pints of Brains usually helps with that!
Hwyl!

Winter in Toronto

Well the snow finally came, and this is how the city looks covered in a blanket of white.

Izzy discovers Marshmallow Fluff.

Imagine the sweet creamy centre of a marshmallow. Now imagine that being put into jars and sold en masse for people to eat without the pain of all that chewing! Now imagine putting that infront of Izzy!!! It didn't last long I can assure you!!

Is that the time?!

I really did have good intentions of updating this far more often, but the last couple of weeks have been rather hectic to say the least. So finally, Happy New Year to everyone (make that Chinese New Year as it was yesterday, and doesnt seem anywhere near as out of date then) and to make up for it all I'm going to put up a bonus set of updates and photos today. Yippee!

After a very warm and mild start to winter here in Toronto, Mother Nature finally bit back in January. It -15c (wind chill of about -30c) three weeks here, which means it feels totally tropical to be a balmy +2c outside today!!!!