Whilst I didn't keep an online journal (that's the last time I travel without a laptop) I did keep a record of what we did each day. Here's that record:

Dec 17 - We left from Perth Airport. My folks and Maggie's mum came to see us off which was nice. The flight was a killer - first into Singapore, then into Hong Kong, then into San Francisco. We caught the train from the San Fran airport (BART, very handy) and dragged our suitcases through the rain to our hotel. I got some pizza for us while Maggie had a shower and settled in. The news was filled with fear, and we began to understand American's immediately.

Dec 18 - We caught the hotel's shuttle into Union Square and did some shopping. We had lunch at an Irish-baseball themed restaurant, which was different but enjoyable. We went back to the hotel and packed our bags, ready to catch the train to Vancouver.

The train started at Emeryville, which is across the Bay, so a short bus ride was needed first. The train to Seattle (which was where the train stopped, and we needed a bus to Vancouver) was late, and we didn't board until around midnight. I raided the Borders bookshop and claimed some delights. I was especially happy that they failed to scan two books worth US$80!

Dec 19 - Today was spent on the train; the whole damn day. The countryside was quite pretty, and we saw the snow falling on the landscape for the first time.

It was a long ride (over 30 hours from start to finish) but I'm glad we did it. It's not something I'll do again in a hurry, but the memories are nice.

Dec 20 - After checking into our hotel in Vancouver we got some well needed rest. The day was spent shopping, but we went out at night. At dinner we heard some cool tunes that the waitress said were being spun by a local guy - Nicky Delgado. We filed that info away for later use.

It was a Tuesday night and surprisingly busy out. First club we tried was closed, second one was packed with all the people from the first one, third one was a winner. They were playing R&B and Hip Hop, which isn't our thing, but we had a good time. $5.00 double-shot drinks got us drunk quickly, and we left at 2:00AM.

Dec 21 - I got up early (damn jet lag/train sleep) and posted my books back to Australia. I also got a ticket to the hockey game that night - the Vancouver Canucks vs. the Edmonton Oilers. I went with two guys I'd met the night before - Shane and Brian. We lost, but the game was close. I met another guy who works for a snowboarding label, and was going to track down a Gnu t-shirt for me. The people in Canada were really friendly.

After the game Mags, myself, Shane and Brian went to Tribeca, a club/restaurant about 50m from our hotel, and saw... Nicky Delgado. Mad that he was playing on our doorstep the night after we found out about him. The four of us chatted, and Nicky gave us some VIP tickets to his next gig (whch we missed because we slept through it).

Dec 22 - On Shane's advice, we visited Travel Cuts and arranged our airline ticket from Vancouver to LA. We'd left it late so the prices were not fantastic, but there's no avoiding it.

We hit Stanley park and went to the Aquarium. The otters were cool (they always are) and whales are interesting.

At 4:30PM it was dark, so we walked back into the city, stopping at some snow boarding places on the way. Mags got some hot snow bunny pants.

Dec 23 - We got on a bus at 6:00AM and began the trek to Banff. After 13 hours we saw Duncan and Gemma and settled in to our new lodgings. We all chatted for a while and everyone was excited to see each other.