There’s not much point to this post other than to show off our mountains. They are becoming increasingly snow-covered. Come November I’ll probably be moving to the dark side of the valley (up underneath thum thare snowy mountains), so you’ll get to see more of the other mountains – won’t that be exciting?
I should be asleep – can this possibly still be jet-lag or has it crossed the boundary into random insomnia?
When we first bought our Jeep, we knew that it required a little wiggling to get it into 4WD, and that the electric seats weren’t currently working (although the seller swore they were working just last week). And that you couldn’t put the driver’s side window down too far or it would get stuck in the door. And that none of the interior lights were working. And that there was no jack or nut wrench, the rear brakes would need to be replaced soon, one of the brake lights was missing a globe, the spare tyre was flat and one of the other tyres had a slow leak.
After we bought it we found out that the passenger seatbelt didn’t work. And that it was currently sopping wet underneath the carpet. And the reason the electric seats weren’t working was that the copper terminals under the seats had turned to green dust (possibly thanks to the water). So we ripped out the seats and dried everything, fixed the corroded wires, bought new light bulbs, got the tyres fixed, got a new seatbelt at the wreckers, bought a jack and a nut wrench, and threw a bit of wood in the door so the window couldn’t go down far enough to get stuck.
Not long after that we had to get a new rear brake drum and cylinder. Then the window started playing up and getting stuck even when it wasn’t all the way down. And now there seems to be a wire loose (or an electrical problem?) so sometimes the windscreen wipers and indicators don’t work. Oh, and it’s taken to stalling at low revs. But it still always goes when I turn it on, so really, what do I have to complain about? Besides, it’s just more encouragement to cycle places instead.
“I’VE HAD IT WITH YOUR ATTEMPTS TO GET THESE MOTHER F**KING BIKES ON THIS MOTHER F**CKING PLANE (without paying the relevant fees which we are levying even though you thought that because you’d bought your tickets from Air New Zealand you would only have to follow their baggage rules)” the Calgary Air Canada employee yelled at us, hurling a stapler at Alex’s head.
He went on to threaten us with overweight fees of $100 per bag for our two bags which were underweight by 500grams, and overweight by 800grams respectively. This was right after we’d killed his puppy, and stolen his favourite lampshade.
Thankfully we managed to make it into the departure lounge section of the airport, after running a gauntlet past other Air Canada employees, who all hurled either abuse, excrement, or particularly vicious glares of disdain at us.
It was almost enough to make us wish we’d gone to Vancouver with Greyhound – even with the evident risks of beheading and spontaneous bus combustion.
As if I haven’t done enough gadding about already this year, I have decided to travel across the Pacific Ocean and go to Australia. And then come back again 3 weeks later. Although I’m tempted by Anonymous Lefty’s noble and environmentally conscious scheme of going by ship, I shall probably just stick with an aeroplane. This is the route I shall direct the pilot to take:
So in two days time I’ll probably be hanging out at an airfield of some sort, trying to hitch a ride on a plane. Or a zeppelin.
A visual diary of my afternoon/evening:
In between, I look around at the mountains and the yellow aspen, and listen to the wind blowing through the trees, and I climb and do not fall despite the strange slanting of the rock which gives the disconcerting sensation that the mountain is casually shrugging you off.