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​"There is free small coffee at McDonald's this week."
Nov 15


​

We began writing regular updates once we reached the West Coast, beginning on October 7, 2016.

VAN BREAKS DOWN
DEC 18
We made it across the country without any major issues with the van, and on our final drive from Nova Scotia back to Ontario, the speedometer went out of control and we were stranded for a day longer than expect. Ultimately, after a lucky discovery of a kind mechanic who had the required used parts, we made it home!

R AND J RESTAURANT
DEC 10

We had breakfast at R and J restaurant in Twillingate. The view was nice, and also included some dredging machinery.

BOUGHT A BOOK
DEC 10

We bought John Gillett's book Leaving for the Seal Hunt: The Life of a Swiler. We are both extremely excited to read it. 

GREAT PEOPLE
DEC 8

We stopped in at the workshop of a local archaeologist, Robert, and spent some time with him and his father Jim. This father and son duo impressed us very much. They not only let us stay at Jim's little cabin on the sea for a night, they told us some of their amazing stories which to say the least, "threw us out of our seats". Robert's workshop was taken down from a location where it was expected to be demolished, completely by the hands of just Robert and Jim, and it was reassembled on their land, completely by the hands of just Robert and Jim. WOW!

TWILLINGATE
DEC 7

We headed to the central east coast of Newfoundland and found ourselves bumming around the beautiful small town of Twillingate. 

WENT TO VIEUX FORT, QUEBEC
DEC 6

We drove in Quebec, right through the border where it meets Labrador, and drove to the end of the highway there, which was in Vieux Fort.  It was damn right beautiful there!

DROVE IN SCARY/SNOWY/DARK CONDITIONS
DEC 6

On our way back south in Newfoundland after we got back from Labrador, we got caught in darkness (4 pm, classic move, December...). Then it started to snow. But we soon found refuge in Deer Lake and everything was great!

DOT'S
DEC 5

We came across an amazing cafe/bakery in L'anse au Loup, Labrador. I think this cafe and the cafe we frequented in Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, tie for first for the best cafes that we have been to during this trip. Exciting stuff.

WENT FOR A WINTER WALK
DEC 4

By about 6 pm, it was fully dark out, and we were in Mary's Harbour, and of course, knew no one. The only thing to do was to go to sleep... So before crawling into bed and reading a book, we went for a nice little walk down the streets of Mary's Harbour until our legs were numb and smiling hurt our cheeks. 

GOT TO LABRADOR
DEC 4

We caught a short ferry from the north tip of Newfoundland to a small town in Quebec called Blanc Sablon. From there, we drove about 2.5 hours into Labrador, to a town on St. Mary's River called Mary's Harbour.

TOOK A FERRY
DEC 3

We took an overnight ferry from Cape Breton to Newfoundland on the night of December 2. Sleeping was quite hard as everyone kept getting woken up if they fell asleep on the floor instead of a chair!

INSIGHT FROM SPYRO TRIFOS
DEC 2

We met with Sydney architect Spyro Trifos in his office at Trifos Design Consultants. He talked with us about the future of Canada, and the struggle to find Canadian identity within architecture. Derk and I sat there trying to soak up everything that he said, because it was all so great.

PUPPIES AND KITTENS
DEC 2

Derk and I visited a young couple in Cape Breton off the Cabot Trail and got a quick tour of their COMPLETELY AMAZING home. They sure had their hands full, and that includes a litter of pups and kittens (plus many more animals)! Very cute. 

MET OTIS AND DEANIE
DEC 1

We were lucky enough to visit two amazing Cape Bretoners, Otis and Deanie. They have an amazing house that they built over the past many years. Otis is a instrument maker, individually crafting violins, fiddles and guitars. His website can be found here.

DROVE THE CABOT TRAIL
NOV 30

We spent a few days in Cape Breton, frequenting the Tim Hortons in the main city of Syndey and the small town of Baddeck, but we also did a fair bit of driving. We drove the entirety of the Cabot Trail, which was amazing, and unexpectedly mountainous.

WATCHED A BASKETBALL GAME
NOV 27

I watched the first half of an amateur basketball game. My foreman from my previous summer job was coaching. That was exciting.

WENT BOWLING
NOV 26

Went bowling in Halifax with some friends who live there. 

HUNG OUT AT THE HALIFAX CENTRAL LIBRARY
NOV 25

We spent a good amount of time chilling in the Halifax library. It may be the best library in the world.

OBSERVED BEAUTIFUL HALIFAX
NOV 22

We walked around the downtown core of the city of Halifax, taking in the beautiful architecture, and even catching the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony!

MET SOME GREAT ARCHITECTS IN CHARLOTTETOWN
NOV 20

Derk and I met with two wonderful architects at BGHJ Architects. Silva Stojak and Shallyn Murray spoke with us about their work in PEI and both had really great things to say about it. Their Urban Beehive Project has been the recent talk of the town in the last year or so.

WALKED AROUND CHARLOTTETOWN
NOV 18

We spent the morning walking around the downtown area of Charlottetown. It is beautiful and quite hip and filled with book stores that make me want to read for the rest of my life (non-stop)

MET A POTTER
NOV 17
We met Michael Stanley, who recently moved to Victoria by the sea (small village in PEI). His house (which is also his workshop and gallery) was beautiful and old, and his pottery was AMAZING! Check it out here!

PICKED APPLES
NOV 16
We stayed the night with two amazing PEIers, Tony and Marion, and played Pictionary, sang some songs, and picked a thousand apples from the overloaded apple trees in the yard! What a time to be alive!

DISCOVERED VICTORIA
NOV 16
We discovered the quaint little village of Victoria by the sea in PEI. Although majorly closed for the season, we were able to meet many of the WONDERFUL year round residents. Read about Victoria by the sea here!

SAT AT UPEI DOING THINGS
NOV 15
​From our recent experience (positive) of hanging out at UNB in Fredericton for a few hours doing work in the web, we decided to do the same in PEI at UPEI in Charlottetown. 

FOUND OUT ABOUT FREE COFFEE AT MCDONALD'S
NOV 15
There is a free small coffee at McDonald's for the next week.

ATE SOME COOKIES
NOV 14
As mentioned below, we slept at Walmart, but also for a second time! The second time we splurged and ate some cookies in the van.

SPENT A WEEK IN SOUTH KNOWLESVILLE
NOV 13
We spent a weekend with an amazing community of people in the rural town of South Knowlesville, New Brunswick. We were invited to stay in a house built out of straw bales, that used to be the home of Tegan and Leland (the people who invited us to stay the weekend), and now seconds as a guest house/preschool. We had an amazing time here and can't rave enough!

CHECKED OUT UNB
NOV 12
​After Saint John, we made a pit stop in Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick, to check out the city. We walked around the downtown core and the University of New Brunswick campus, which is large and confusing and quite nice. 

SLEPT AT WALMART
NOV 11
We decided to be true folks 'on the road', and stay in a Walmart parking lot for the night in the van. 

WENT TO REMEMBRANCE DAY CEREMONY IN ST JOHN
NOV 11
In the Maritimes, cities basically shut down for Remembrance Day. We attended a ceremony which was held at Harbour Station, a stadium in St John that sits 6000 people.... and the place was overfilled!

MET A SUPER COOL PAINTER AND EX-BEST-JAVELIN-THROW-ATHLETE-IN-CANADA
NOV 8
​We spoke with Sarah Jones (artist behind Jones Gallery) and her brother Caleb Jones (who is a very amazing retired athlete)  who runs the Jones gallery in St John. They told us about life in St John and life as an artist and life in general, it was great!

SAW THE 'HOLLYWOOD' SAINT JOHN SIGN
NOV 7
There is a Hollywood-style sign on a hill in Saint John. It reads "Saint John", as one would expect. It is bright and beautiful. 

DECIDED TO GO TO SAINT JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK
NOV 5
We really didn't know where to go when we got here, but we finally decided we would spend the week in St John, New Brunswick. When we arrived we bought some books at a used book store, and went to the library (which has unlimited free wifi, SCORE!)

SPENT ONE HOUR IN QUEBEC CITY
NOV 4
We stopped in Quebec City for one hour and walked around. We ordered two croissants (JK!). We just ate some crackers instead. 

WATCHED A WEIRD MOVIE
NOV 4
​We decided to have a van-movie-night, so we watched Swiss Army Man while enjoying some plain, but salty noodles. Great film. Totally recommend it. Harry Potter killed it!

DROVE TO BROCKVILLE/OTTAWA
NOV 2
We left Niagara/Toronto and headed to Brockville/Ottawa for the night. We checked out Carlton University, in Ottawa (where Derk went to architecture school).

MADE SOME VAN CHANGES
NOV 1

Derk made some van changes:
-switched the direction of the door of the fridge so we can now access it easy from inside of the van (instead of going around to the back)
-put up some more blankets around our bunks so now we truly live in a blanket fort

SPENT A WEEK IN ONTARIO 
End of OCT

​We spent a week in Ontario with family and friends! It was real nice.

DROVE FROM VICTORIA TO HAMILTON IN 49 HOURS
OCT 23
We left our friends place in Victoria at 8 am on Sunday, and were at McMaster University, in Hamilton Ontario, by Tuesday at noon. Good old six hour driving shifts and some coffee, and we were home!

WENT FOR A HIKE
OCT 21

On our way back to Victoria from Port Hardy, we stopped along the way for a short, yet very difficult, hike to Woss Lookout.  

LOTS OF FISH
OCT 20

We were given an amazing variety (and quantity) of fish during our time in Port Hardy. This included halibut, salmon, and two dungeness crab. 

DRANK A FANCY DRINK WITH TWO SUPER COOL WOMEN
OCT 19

​We met Rose and her mother Patricia in Port Hardy, and shared a couple fancy drinks, as well as an amazing dinner and breakfast they made for us. What hospitality! Patricia also showed us some of her amazing artwork, found here.

COFFEE #2
OCT 19

We went to a cafe in Port Hardy that had bottomless coffee and homemade bread and strawberry rhubarb jam. 

LISTENED TO A STORY ABOUT WHALE WATCHING
OCT 19

We knocked on the door of a gallery (also a bed and breakfast), and spoke with the owner, Ann, about all sorts of things. She told us an amazing story of whale watching with her family on a somewhat drizzly day (though it turned out amazing).  "Have you ever looked into an eye of a humpback whale?"

DROVE DOWN A LOGGING ROAD
OCT 18

Derk and I, at the advice of our good friend Hannah, planned to head to Bamfield on Vancouver Island.  We spent about 5189 hours driving 25 km down a logging road (lots of holes), then turned around and drove to Port Hardy instead because the road conditions were just not good enough for the old VanDerk. 

BOUGHT A HAT
OCT 16

I (Korry) met with a good friend, Liana, while in Victoria. We went into a hat store and bought some super cool hats, then took a pickle boat to Fisherman's Wharf.

SPENT A WEEKEND ON A LIVING ROOM FLOOR
OCT 15

We arrived in Victoria BC and took the weekend off of this project (so no emails sent, no interviews conducted, no buildings looked at). We spent it on the living room floor of a friend who lives in Victoria with a living room.

WIND
OCT 14

​There were massive storm warnings for Vancouver Island on the 14th and 15th, and we caught a ferry right on time to catch some sweet wind action!

VANCOUVER THE CITY
OCT 13

Today we reentered urban society after spending almost two months in smaller cities and towns in Haida Gwaii and the Territories. We ate burritos and spent 20 hours trying to find parking on the busy streets of Vancouver. We also went down to one sweater instead of five, because the weather is so wonderful and mild!

COFFEE
OCT 13

We began the trip with the idea that we would stop drinking coffee, and only drink tea that we boiled on our propane stove. That failed on day two, so coffee has become an important part of life. 

TOOTHPASTE
OCT 12

We had developed a strategy of keeping our teeth clean without wasting any time on the highway, stopping to brush and spit out the toothpaste. Now that we have left the North and headed to the South of BC, we can't stick our faces out of the window of our van, speeding down the highway, to brush and spit out our toothpaste, as we had become accustomed to, and learned to love. A sad realization. 

FIGURING OUT HOW TO KEEP THINGS WARM
OCT 10

​The nights are beginning to get cold, like really cold, so we are trying to figure out how to keep all of our equipment from freezing each night (since that is very bad for cameras, phones, computers, etc.). We decided to unplug the fridge and use it as an insulated area for our technology. We tried using a hot pack (didn't work) and a hot rock from a fire (didn't work either, but it did burn a whole in some canvas we had wrapped around it), so we're still being innovative and trying new things out!

GIVEN FISH ON THE ROAD
OCT 7

​In Haida Gwaii, we were walking down a road in Port Clements, and a resident, from his front porch, yelled to us, "Hey, you want some fish!?" And so we became friends and subsequently ate some fish. 
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