Heading from Vancouver to Banff

After my days in Vancouver I took the Greyhound Bus to Banff.

The ride took 13 1/2 hrs. I started at 6:30 a.m. and arrived at 9:30 p.m.

Oh wait, this are 14 1/2 hrs? No cause Vancouver is in Britisch Columbia and Banff in Alberta.

Both provinces have different time zones. That's why ;)

Cause I had nothing to do I created a little video. Enjoy.

EXPLORING VANCOUVER DOWNTOWN

Hey there!

 My adventure finally started some days ago. After I arrived at the airport in Vancouver it took me one more hour till I was able to leave for the hostel. First I had  to pass the passport check, after that I had to find my luggage (they separated my ski bag as extra special and didn't tell me so that I searched over 20 minutes for it till I found it on the other side of the hall). After I got all my stuff together I headed to the immigration office to activate my working holiday visa. After that I only had to get through the toll (thanks nobody were interested in me). So finally I've got a taxi to the hostel. After check in I went straight to bed and slept till the next morning.

Day1
So this has been actually my first real day in Vancouver. After breakfast I organized and informed myself. The hostel is located in Vancouver Downtown. I decided to walk along Granville St till Canada place next to the Pier of Vancouver. Perfect view. Spontaneously I decided to take a Free Shuttle to Capilano Bridge. The entry is a little bit expensive and there are a lot of tourists, but I liked the view and how they created the park. After I headed back to Vancouver there were enough time to take a walk through Gastown, a very old and traditional part of Van. I visited the Steamclock and the Gassy Jack Statue. Both looks pretty awesome. I also wanted to go to China town, but I missed it and ended up in East Hastings. There were so many used and fucked up people that I felt very uncomfortable and tried to escape fast. Somebody told me later that East Hastings and even Chinatown is the most dangerous quarter in Vancouver! So never end up there!!


Day 2
On the next day I met up with Nadine. We connected each other over a Facebook group for Work and Traveller. She just arrived one week ago and will stay in Vancouver as an Au Pair. The day was very warm and sunny so we decided to visit the Stanley Park. We rent some bikes (pink cruiser bikes, haha) and cycled along the 'seawall'. It was a little bit difficult at the beginning because of a big marathon. But we managed it and, wow, Vancity has so many different faces. That's amazing. You have mountains, the ocean, a skyline full of huge buildings, village like parts, beach, harbour, ...
If you go to Vancouver, you have to visit Stanley Park. But be careful, the seawall is one way for bikes, blades, skates!! ;)







Day 3
First Information day at the Work 'n Holiday office. I met Josephine. A nice girl from Sweden. Because it was just the two of us we did everything together. It was time to get a bank account, a Canadian phone number and, most important, a social insurance number/SIN. This number allows us to work finally complete legal. After we finished everything we grabbed some food and chilled at a small park near the hostel. Vancouver is full of places where you can sit down and relax. In the evening Josephine introduced me to her roommate Inken. She is also german and stayed in Canada since three months as a tourist. Those were her last days in Canada. We went for dinner together.

Day 4
Josephine an I had our second info day at the agency. It was about how to get work, what is importend and how does application works. We also wrote our resumes. They're completely different compared to german ones. Josephine headed back to the hostel and Inken and I went to Granville Island. We wanted to do the brewery tour but it was to late. So we just looked around the Granville Island Market. Lots of art stuff and a huge and amazing food court. Back at the hostel I booked my Ticket for the Greyhound Bus. Then we got ready and went to 'The Cambie Bar'. Inken met a lot of friends over there and we needed social life. It was a great evening filled with good and funny talks.

Day 5

My last day in Van. Also for Inken. So today we did the brewery tour with tasting. It was a very interesting tour. The leader did a good job and we were just a group of four. So everything was fine. The tasting was a lot of fun. I don't know if my german taste will ever get along with raspberry beer. Haha. When we went back we looked up at a Thrift shop. It is kind of second hand shop. Back in the hostel I started to wash and pack up my stuff. I would've to leave very very early in the morning and I didn't want to disturb anybody. After everyone and everything were ready we went out for our last dinner together at our favourite place. After that it was time to say goodbye.
I wish you all the best!!

Now is Day 6 and I am sitting in the Bus to Banff. Since 6:30 a.m. It's a ride for over 13 hrs. Guess I will enjoy the landscape of the Rocky Mountains again. Stay tuned!

Cheers

The Beginning

Seems 2016 will be my year cause a dream comes true. After many years of thinking I gathered all my courage and finally decided to do a work and travel year. And the chosen country is - Canada!

Let's make plans

Going to Canada for a W&T is not that easy. At first I needed a Visa. In New Zealand or Australia it is quiet easy to get one. In Canada you have to go through a long application process plus they changed the whole system compared to the last years. It isn't anymore 'First come, first serve', no, now it is lottery! And there is a Visa-Limit. Great. So I had no chance to plan anything, except of creating a Plan B. I had a time limit, that was my problem.
Anyway I tried. And after a long process I've been one of the first lucky persons who got a W&T Visa for 2016/17. Yayy!!
Now time has passed and so I had only two and a half months for planing everything.

What to do before leaving?

Agency or not?

• I decided to go with one, cause I am alone and for me it is a better feeling to have somebody for the worst case.

Getting a flight.

• Booking a flight in the Off-Season is way cheaper. Plus for me. Acctually it tooks me two days to find a more or less cheap flight with a good airline.

Backpack or suitcase?

• Backpack! Forever Backpack. You have less space, but that's okay.

Appartment.

• I'm living alone in an appartment for over six years now. I don't want to move out nor I have the time, so I decided to sublet it. 

Papers.

• I took a lot of time to cancel contracts, make new ones, getting official documents, international driver license, insurance...

Hostel.

• For the beginning I booked some nights in a Hostel in Vancouver.

And so on, and so on... The to do list had been endless, but I was able to finish it (thank you mommy!). It was a race till the last minute ^^"

Completely stressed out and more than tired the day of leving had come. My family brought me to the airport. Saying goodbye is not so easy. I leave erverything behind me and try to survive one year on the other side of the world. But I hope it will be the best experience in my life. So after a long flight I finally arrived in Vancouver. To be honest I haven't seen a lot yet, coz when I checked in at the Hostel, it went straight to bed and slept fo over 10 hours.

So today is my first really day in Canda and I'll gonna explore Vancouver. 

Granville Street in Van

Cheers :)

From Dublin to Balcoo/Holywell

Dia dhuit!!

This means 'Hello' in Irish Gaelic :)
Today I'll try to write a long(er) entry.
Well, let's start after we left the ferry.

This was my first time while driving on the left side. I was really afraid and drove carefully as hell. But after an hour I start to get used to it. If u concentrate a little bit it's simple. And in Ireland u have a low speed limit on the streets. I think that's good (for persons like me). Haha.
Our first stop was Rush. A small village few kilometers behind Dublin. Irland don't have that much campsites. This sucks a little bit, cause we have to drive long distances to find one . There are just two around Dublin. So we choosed the one in Rush next to the sea. I liked it, cause the air was so fresh!!
On the next day we went to Dublin. I like this town. It's like day and night. Some new things and modern stuff, but it doesn't matter where you look, you allways find old stuff. At first we visited the Kilmainham Goal. We had a tour around the prison. It was so interessting. But it's to much to tell the whole story so just have a look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilmainham_Gaol
After that we wanted to visit the Guines Brewery but the entry was so expensive that we decided not to go. So we splited up and walked around at the famous Temple Bar quater. And of course we had a drink at the Temple Bar itself. I love Irish Pubs cause the people are always nice and you have good music all the time.
I bought some shirts and music and a book with strumming patterns for traditional irish songs on guitar. I'll try it when I'm back home :)
We spend a second night at the campsite and got up early in the morning. We decided to drive to the campsite in Belcoo/Holywell in Northern Ireland. On the way we visited Melifont Abbey. Or rather just the ruins of the abbey. But if you have a little bit of phantasy the ruins can be a whole building again ;)
Our next stop was Kells. We needed gas and on the way we visited an old cementry and a chapel. The special thing about the chapel is that it owns the only copy of 'The Book of Kells'. The original is in a university in Dublin. After a snack we decided to drive to the campsite in Northern Ireland and 'chill' the rest of the day. In Northern Ireland you have to pay with pounds and in my opinion it doesn't look that irish anymore. Way to british. But the campsite is okay. It's next to a lake in the middle of a beautiful landscape. Well that's it for now. Here are a few pics for you.

Have a very nice day & Cheers :)

Ferry to Ireland

Hello Everyone :)

At the moment I'm on the Ferry to Ireland. They have free Wi-Fi so I'm able to write a short blog entry.

I'm sorry for not writing that much, because nothing special happens till now.
France is far behind us. And we are in the middle of the sea. It's a little scary beeing on a big ship  in the middle of nowehre. But it's the first time for me not beeing seasick!! I am really happy cause I am able to go to the upper deck and watch the horizont.
The sea is so wide and the air so salty :)

Well, I'm going to eat something now. Here are some picks from our way to the ferry and the ferry itself.

Enjoy your day :D

anywhere in france ^^"

he wants to travel with us

on the ship

On the ship 2

On the way to the coast & Paris

Hello my dear readers :)

Today is my second day on the way to the coast of France where we'll take our ferry. We started yesterday (saturday) early in the morning. There is nothing special to tell, cause we drove the whole day and slept at a gas station.

Today we arrived at Paris. We watched Notre Dame, the Black Tower and the Eifel Tower. We didn't have had that much time but it was okay.
BUT I NEVER EVER WILL GO TO PARIS BY CAR!! THE TRAFFIC IS H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E!!!gas

Now I am at a gas station again and I have free Internet. I will update later coz now I have to go back to my car. On my way to the coast.

Stay tuned & Cheers :)

P.S. I'll upload pics later ^-^

Getting ready for Ireland

Hello everyone!!

One year passed since my trip to Japan. Still wonderful memorys. But this summer I'll travel to one of my favourite countrys too. Yep, as the title says, its Ireland.

It's my second time there but I am really excited. My first trip there was five or six years ago. My family and some others and me traveld around southern Ireland for like six weeks by car. Now we do the same again but just my family, me and a real good friend of mine. And we'll travel around the northern part of Ireland.
I am really scared by driving a car over there, coz they drive on the left side of the street. In Germany you drive on the right. I hope not beeing so confused.

At the moment I pack my stuff and getting ready for a long road trip tomorrow.
I am not sure if I am able to contiune my blog coz we are allways on the road. But if I am able I will write something.

So now let's go back to work.
Maybe 'see you' on my next entry.
Till then, CHEERS :)

Last change

We changed to our last town Osaka. Nothing special to say. The main train staion is huge o_o
Got a bad sunburn. And I am really tired. Mata ne ~

[ah and we cancelled Koya-san. We are really sad about that but it doesn't work T^T]

Nara [奈良] and a mistake

After we visited the 'torii' in Kyoto we took our lugage back and left Kyoto to Nara. As we sat in the train we wanted to look about our hotels name on the booking sheet. And we recognized a bad mistake. We booked the hotel on the wrong date (one day to early). So we didn't have a hotel !!! A short panic atack later we arrived at Nara sation and walked straight to the tourist information. And there we booked a new hotel. We were very relieved !!
And the new hotel was awesome!!!!! We've got a wonderfull japanese style room (ryokan). And the man and his wife were so nice. Thank you a lot for this wonderful (short) time.
Nara is famous for his deers. So we went to watch them. They were so cute..and they are everywhere..totally free !! :) We also watched some beautiful temples. This architecture !!
On this two days there was a dancing festival. We missed it at the first night but we saw a little bit about it on next days afternoon. It was so hot but they danced amazing. I really liked it.
Nara is a beautifull town full of peace I think...and deers xD
Visit if you can :)

Dancers

Our wonderfull room

A free deer ^^

A temple builidng

Dancers again

Beautiful Kyōto [京都]

Well...Kyoto is so beautiful !! Really.
We tried to make a plan where to go..but that didn't work because there are more than 1200 temples and shrines. So we decided to visit the famous bamboo garden, the Gion and the 'torii'. And some temples wich are on our way ^^
Because we just had one day we had to hurry up. So after breakfast we searched for the bus to the bamboo garden. After we arrived at the quater we recognized that the area was really big and full of temples and old gardens and houses. So we searched for half an hour but finally we found it. And it was soooooo awesome. Really. We planed to stay there just for max. two hours..after four hours we went back and decided to went to the 'torii'. But then it started to rain. Really heavy. And it didn't stop!! So we had to cancel our plans.
The next day was check out day. But the hotel allowed us to store our lugage for some hours at the hotel.  So we hurried up and went to visit the Gion area. It isn't so great in the morning but the architecture ist great!! But we didn't see a Geisha or a Maiko :(
After that we finally visited the 'torii' it was so awesome. Because after we arrived it stopped raining and the sun came out. Do you know the 'torii'? I think so!
Ah and we bought something special for low price.
Look at my pictures ;D

Our special bought  - Which is mine? :)

A little part of a beautifull japanese temple garden

Part of the Bamboo Garden

A modern thing - the Kyoto Tower

a little bit Gion

Famous 'torii' - There are so many gates that all together would give a way of 4 km