14/10/2011 – 18/10/2011 Quebec City

Im writing this entry up 3 weeks after I was here so it is summarized to the main points.
I caught up with a bunch of people in Quebec city and got a chance to again check out Old Town of the oldest city city in North America along with some other sights around the city but certainly a highlight for my time here was the time spent with Sandra, I was on the way out the door of Alex's place to cycle back to Montreal and I got a message from Sandra asking why I was leaving without seeing her (thanks facebook), I honestly forgot about her and as she only lived no more than 300 meters down the road I thought id drop by for a quick hello but when I saw her it was evident I was going to stick around with her for at least a night – I ended up spending four nights.
Now these details im not going into... but I think you get the picture with what we got up to.
I first met Sandra in Thailand at Ton Sai beach, we did nothing more than chill on the beach and have a few drinks together but during my stay with her at her place things were a little different, we cooked up amazing food ate fantastic cheeses and chowed down on Foie Gras, it was delightful... we only really left her place to buy groceries and wine and on one occasion went to see some more sights around old town even sneaking into old castle turned hotel through an unlocked doorway and being invited into a room with an elderly couple from the States where we had a bit of chit chat and used their hotel window to take pictures of the surrounding views.
I had an amazing time with Sandra but I needed to get back to Montreal to organize a few things, so I left hoping to see her again in the coming weeks before I leave Montreal towards South America.

I was going to sort out these pics but you can just sift through them yourself, just some pics i took around the city, time spent with Sandra and at the top the random American couple who invited us into their hotel room

This is something im playing around with atm, I use an egg timer modified with a camera mount to slowly pan the time lapse as it is taken, i had this idea when cycling across the country... it works but as you can see at the end of the video the camera falls off the tripod... i need to make a tripod mount for it now.

Enjoy

13/10/2011 Day 50 Cycling Across Canada

Distance Traveled: Almost Quebec City N 46 40.619 W071 41.919 to Quebec City 46.7km
Money Spent: N/A
Time cycling: 2 hours 44 minutes
Moving Average: 17 km/h
Total Distance Traveled: 3206 km

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14 hours of sleep – that’s how much I needed it.
Camping where I did on the side of the road was great, undisturbed other than the squawking crows and farming trucks going by but having my headphones and music to dampen out these noises I was all good.
I had less than 50km to cycle into Quebec City where I was meeting Alex, a friend I met in Panama, she invited me to come visit her despite the fact she had a whole lot of studying to do for 3 exams she had next week.
When I reached Quebec we caught up on old times and reminisced over lunch that I quickly knocked up.
Her and her boyfriend (interestingly named Alex too) lived with 3 others and a young cat that ruined the living room carpet in a place very close to old town.
I'm planning to spend a few days here to catch up with some old friends – using Alex's place as a base – I don't want to keep her from her studies.
This is it, the farthest East of Canada that I will be cycling, 50 days of travel across the country! I still have to cycle back to Montreal where ill be hoping the weather is on my side... we will see.
Ill be continuing to do this blog during my stay in Quebec city, the cycle back to Montreal and my time there too but I'm going to be lazy about it and summarize my experiences.
Laters folks.

Halloween is on the way

Made it to Quebec City

Ariane’s Little Kitty

12/10/2011 Day 49 Cycling Across Canada

Distance Traveled: Trois Riviers to almost Quebec City N 46 40.619 W071 41.919 90km
Money Spent: $2 for hot chocolate, $1 for 3 apples
Time cycling: 4 hours 44 minutes
Moving Average: 18.9 km/h
Total Distance Traveled: 3159 km

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Absolutely exhausted from one crazy awesome night I made my way toward Quebec city hopefully making it there for the evening, I picked up a little friend to take with me on this trip – a puppet Kangaroo named boing boing – Claudine gave it to me as a gift, now I have a new mascot to take with me on my cycle trips around the world.
It was difficult to keep a steady pace today not only because I was having difficult keeping my eyes open but also the wind was blowing me around.
It was obvious by midday I wasnt going to make it to Quebec City where I had a friend who I met in Panama waiting for me. Because I couldnt find any place that had wifi to contact this friend I used my iPhone to search for unsecured available networks in residential areas... it didnt take me long to find one where I sat on the curb in front of a house to send a message where unsurpisingly people passing by gave me strange looks.
All day I listened to one of my favourite bands new album I downloaded yesterday, the album was leaked to the internet 2 days before it was suppose to be release to world – great album and if your into death metal (melodic) I highly recommend it, the name of the band is Insomnium.
For dinner I went into a chinese restaurant and offered them $5 for anything they could put on a plate, this is something you should never do in china because you always end up with something very questionable on a plate in front of you. Here, it is fine to do this and I got a very tasty meal for a cheap price, the cook was going to give it to me for free but I insisted to pay– god damn it, im not a charity case! :P
I found a nice place to camp on the side of the road 30km from Quebec city where even though it was only 6pm I crashed out hard – I really in was indire need of sleep.

My new Mascot – boing boing, OK Pneus – pronounce that in English??? Shots along the way and the crazy colours of the Fall.

11/10/2011 Day 48 Cycling Across Canada

Money Spent: $30 for groceries

As it was such a nice day today I stuck around Trois Rivieres with Claudine. I was going to continue to Quebec City but Claudine made it difficult for me to make a decision to leave, instead I stuck around, took some photos around town and cooked her and I a fantastic dinner with Salmon, potato gratin, a homegrown salad (that she had growing in a garden down the street), cheese, bread and a onion Jam I made using maple syrup with a bottle or two of red wine – all was delicious.
It was a fun filled evening... and morning too.

     

Delicious Food, around town and macro shots (using my lens in reverse to get close ups)