I realise i have been a little remiss lately. I haven't blogged for a while but that's because I've been busy trying out every all-American activity I can. On wednesday I was taken out for curry, american style. It was pretty nice but I'm afraid that nothing beats the butter chicken (sauce) from home. Then I had my first afternoon in front of the television for a whole week and a half! Yay! But then the really interesting stuff happened. On thursday Katie and I shopped for our impending two night camping trip. The purchases were unfortunately largely influenced by me, as I got very excited whenever I saw anything that I'd read about in Babysitter's Club books (Ho Ho's! Mounds Bars! Frito's!). As a result Katie and I are now in the early stages of scurvy. Camping was interesting (ish). We walked, swam in the lake and went to a giant toboggan slide thingy, where I went in the experienced lane and spent the whole time being chased by a 7 year old who kept gaining on me. I don't know how he did it I outweighed him by at least 30 kilos. Katie and I spent the 2 nights in the back of her ute (pick-up) chaperoned by her barking, growling, twitching pitbull Brunhilda. We didn't sleep much but I did eat a s'more so that was nice. My camping adventure over, last night I did the most American things ever. We went to the Jefferson County Fair, bought a lamb at an auction, went to a rodeo and finally, after two beers on an empty stomach, I rode a mechanical bull. Luckily, how bad I was at that was overshadowed by my inability to get onto the bull in the first place. And you're up to date with my not so wild north-western adventures.

Woo hoo, Liz finally made some friends. Sort of. On my last night in Seattle I went to Seattle theatre sports with a Dane, an Israeli and a fellow Aussie. The theatre was behind a gum wall. Very hard to explain and if i had a digital camera this is where I'd post pictures, but i don't. Someone must have stuck gum on the wall and started a craze. It's covered in it, people spell there name's with and draw pictures with it. It's really cool in a really gross way. Then we went for dinner on the pier which was awesome and once again I was confounded by massive american portion sizes. They are determined to bloat me but I will not cave. And I finally have a photograph with people in it, yay! The next day Katie (the american sister we never had that lived with us for a year)drove from North Plains to pick me up. Today we drove down to the coast, hung out with the Richards grandparents and their very strange dog. Imagine a fox crossed with an ewok and you might get the idea. Then we visited a massive cheese factory which was very awesome to a girl obsessed with cheese (which I am) and had ice-cream. I am very much enjoying not having to make small talk about the fact that I'm australian and/or having my roommates practice their english on me. Woo for a single bed in my own room and americans who drive!

Why? I warn you, it's going to be corny. Because it is hot. VERY hot. And this hostel does not have air conditioners. I think it's kind of like Perth in the winter. No-one expects it to get cold because, well Perth supposedly doesn't get cold, therefore no artificial heating/cooling should be needed. But anyone who's sat on our couch in winter watching tv wearing a doona understands that this is WRONG. So as a result I saw another movie because I was totally getting burnt. But anyway.
I really like Seattle. Much more than I liked Vancouver. There's less homeless people, there are whole strips of cafes and bars and although it's hot, my hostel is really close to the water. When I arrived yesterday I walked along a main drag of Mariners (the baseball team here)bars and went to one of the piers where I got a brownie surprise. The surprise being that even though I had asked for it with no fudge sauce (I don't like it and was hoping to diminish the fat content) it was giant. I had totally forgotten about the serving sizes in the states. I could barely carry the thing let alone it. But what I did eat was delicious.

Today I walked in and along the Pike Markets, saw the original Starbucks, ate a really good vanilla slice, went to the Space Needle but not up it as the crowd curled around the corner for about an hour with no shade available. Watched a film, got chatted up by three black guys (not simultaneously) and later I'm watching some theatre sports. Awesome.

I deleted this post because I was insane with heat and a little drunk on beer and quietly lethal cocktails when I wrote it. Believe me it contained nothing interesting.

Right. So I left off with the exciting baseball news. I went back to the hostel that night, got to bed at a decent hour and then it hit me...the jetlag that had curiously been missing since I arrived. So to sum up yesterday I slept off and on until 1.30pm. Went to Granville Island and bought a kilo of cherries, ate them all yesterday evening (and this morning) bought a mobile (damn you Telstra, damn you) and watched some Canadian theatre sports. The Big Hoo Ha is funnier.

But today was much better. I'd decided to take a trip to Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island. No-one had warned me of the 7 hour round trip needed to get there and back but it had been recommended and I had a mission. Steve Nash (NBA's MVP for this season and a Phoenix Suns player for those who care) was returning home to Victoria to attend the opening of the upgraded park he used to play in as a kid. I wanted pictures for James and with any luck I succeeded. However there is a great possibility that the pictures will be Steve's body with a Liz's thumb for a head. But the trip was a success, I loved Vancouver island. It was pretty and clean with some amazing building and as long as you avoided the 50 million Candian tourist shops you were fine. A question to all who have been to Canada before me. What does "Canada eh!" mean? I am most curious and couldn't bring myself to ask in the shops in case it required a hearty demonstration. Long post! Sorry. 2 nights left before I descend upon the US. Let's hope I can get that bloody phone working.

Taking a leaf out of James' book I will try and dot point the last few days before my internet time runs out.

Day/Night 1
Got in at 7.00pm-ish. Totally and utterly confused particularly as it stayed bright as day for the next three hours.

Day 2
Walked down Robson St to look at clothes I couldn't afford and then decided I was to stuffed to walk around, I jumped the sky train for my own tour of Vancouver for a couple of hours.
Went to bed. The jet lag hit around 3.00pm.

Day 3
Gastown, Skid Row (between Gastown and Chinatown) Chinatown,guy smoking joint in broad daylight,Stanley Park, baseball game.
The baseball game was awesome. It was the AAA minor league Vancouver team, imaginatively named the Vancouver Canadians. They ended up coming back from 7-1 down to win 10-7
So a good day three was had by all, particularly the Canadians.

I'm sure everone is dying for a fascinating update on my Vancouver adventures.
Well I'm sorry but there needs to be just one more Telstra rant.
It turns out that my phone is too old and crap to work in Canada and the States.
None of the three Telstra employees I spoke to (one of which actually saw the phone) said a damn thing. If anyone feels like changing phone companies they may join me on my return.
Vancouver is very nice.

Well. Did that take a ridiculously long time or what? I went
Perth-Melbourne.
Melbourne-5 hours transit in which the lovely Ms Lashmar and the charming Mr Morgan came to the airport and kept me company.
Melbourne-Auckland
Auckland-Plane was delayed, transit for a couple of hours
Auckland-LA
LA-transit for another 6 hours. But I did see Stifler from American Pie which was exciting for a nano-second.
LA-Vancouver-I sat next to Rachel McAdams'(Ally from the Notebook) sister Kayleen on this plane. I just double checked on imbd and it was totally her. Awesome. She was really nice.
All in all I think I was travelling for roughly 36 hours but the wings of the planes I was on managed to stay firmly attached so overall I'm happy. Now I'm at my hostel which seems ok but on the 2 minute walk here a guy offered me "killer weed" and I passed a 25 cent peep show and wondered if the girls got the whole quarter or whether the owners of the establishment got a cut.
Oh, and my international roaming isn't working. I shall call telstra now and scream and scream. Woop Canadia.

Ready? Ok.

I have only one more day to go and I am doing my best to sleep deprive myself so I can fall unconscious onto the plane and not spend the flight worrying about the wings falling off.
Not the best lead up to the big day. Why I hear (well, James our sole reader) asking?
1) Was given a fail mark for a unit for not attending when actually, I didn't miss a lesson and got a disctinction.
2) I had to hang around STA today waiting for my passport to arrive. Yes, today. Yes, I leave tomorrow (it got here though).
3)Telstra. I hate them. My "free" international roaming cost $300. And they had me on hold forever and they confused me. Hate. Them.
4)Seeing said sole reader off at the airport.

But other than that I am good to go.

Hello all,

I would like to start by thanking James, without whom this luddite would never have blogged.
It is T-3 sleeps until I (eldest Day sister) leave and T-4 until Suz (middle Day sister) takes on Indonesia. We will try to be witty and we will try not to bore you with weather details. Wish us luck!