After St. Pierre we went to Bay Roberts to visit one of my best friends from Fort McMurray. Her name is Kerri and we have been friends since kindergarten.

We had a really good time there. First we went to her parents house where we spent the night. It is a nice place like most people homes in NFLD. Kerri took us on a little tour of the area and of course it is a nice place. After we went for dinner and then to a bar to get a little drunk. We met a few of her friends and they are all cool and fun. We want to go back and have another night with them but we have to much to do before we leave the island.

The next day we went for a drive up to Victoria to see Tara's Nan and Pops grave. It took sometime to find the right grave site and then when we found it, Tara noticed that of all the grave sites her Nan and Pops were one of a small few that didn't have flowers. So then we had to go on a search for flowers, and that took us about 1 hour. To get to Victoria we drove down a beautiful rode right along the water. We passed through a few towns, they were Harbour Grace, Spaniards Bay, and Carbonear.

Once we were done with the grave site we went to St. John's.

I just wanted to add, that when I started this blog I was in Pompton Lakes New Jersey. I can't remember if I mentioned this before. I was there for a week of training. I was training with Damian Ross my Sensei at his Dojo. It was really a great time. What he does there is the Self Defense stuff that I teach, since I learned it from him, Tekken Ryu Jujutsu which I have my green belt in and would love to get my black, if it is ever possible for me to get it. Also they practise Judo there which I also have my green belt in and would like my black some day. While I was there I told my Sensei about the travels we were about to embark on. So in hearing this he figured it would be a great idea for me to write a blog. He also figured that when we finish these two years of travel and training that it would be a good idea to turn this stuff into a book. That would be pretty cool I guess. Money coming in from sales would be nice for sure. Anyways just wanted to mention the training that I was doing there and that it was my Sensei's idea for me to write this blog.

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We were just at a small town called Baie Verte. It is on the northern part of Newfoundland, not the northern peninsula part though. Baie Verte is where Tara was born, so I finally got to see where my girl was born. We had a really great time there.

The first night we were there we stayed at friends of here parents. We partied till about 3am. It was my first NFLD kitchen party and it was good. There was only 6 of us but we drank and danced and laughed our asses off. At about midnight me and Tara went for a bike ride around the neighbourhood and we saw 2 people picking up the smallest frogs up off the road. So in NFLD I have now seen the both the biggest and the smallest frogs I have ever seen. The next day we were done drinking, it was like our 6th day in a row being drunk, plus the fact that we took the ferry over at 1am and slept sitting up. It was getting to be to much. Anyways we went exploring the town on our bikes and I got to see Tara's old house and all the places that brought back childhood memories. It is a lovely little town and of course everyone is super friendly. In NFLD both the land and the people are wonderful. We camped out at the campground called Flat water pond. We got a site that was right in the bush without any cut out. The next morning we went down to the boat launch and went for a canoe ride. We paddled out fine but when we turned to go back we discovered how frigging windy it was. We could barely keep the boat straight and we were even catching air. We made it back alright though. Then we went to the beach and there was no one there so we got to do some training. Training the sand is so much harder. It feels like everything you are doing is wrong and off balance. Once we were done that we went for a swim and then headed back into town.

After more exploring we went to Tara's long time friends house. When got there we discovered she had gone to play softball, so we went down and got to play as well. After the game Tara's friend Amanda took us on another tour of town. Since she still lives there we got to see parts that Tara didn't know were there. We hung out the rest of the night by the fire. I really enjoyed these people, they feel like they are my friends already. A really cool thing that I discovered is that Amanda has been reading our blog since close to the start. I don't know how far she read but it was so nice to know that someone is actually reading this and enjoying it. It sure made my day.

The next day we drove for about 7 or 8 hours to get to Fortune. It is a small town where you can take a ferry over to St. Pierre. Before I get into St. Pierre I have to mention a bit of the trip there. Of course everything that we see is beautiful on the island but I was amazed by one part on the Heritage highway. It might be just me but I thought it was spectacular. The best way I can describe it is it was rolling hills that could have been mountains, the hill were very rocky but it was covered in grass. There wasn't a lot of trees but just enough to decorated the hills. There were also lots of large ponds and small lakes scattered all over. To me it was amazing. I tried taking some pictures but the camera just doesn't do it justice.

When we got to Fortune we stayed in a B&B that was really nice. It was a 2 bedroom apartment that had everything. The bed so comfortable. I give so much description to this place because of how tired we are. I just wanted to stay there for a few days and chill. I actually almost told Tara and her parents to go to St. Pierre with out me. I didn't though. So went crossed over on the ferry. St. Pierre if you don't already know is small island that is actually owned by France. So the whole place is full a french speaking people, and the culture there is completely like that in France. There are only about 7 thousand people living there and it has been a part of France for well over 100 years. The place was pretty cool and now I can say I've been to France, but it has nothing on NFLD. If I went there straight from the main land then I probably would have appreciated it more. Plus I can't speak French even though I would like to be able to.

The trip is still going great, but I sure could use a couple days off.

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After we got the canoe on the Jeep we started out towards The Hummber Valley. So far this would be where I would like to live. It is just past Corner Brook and there is a few small communities with great views all around. There are mountains, rivers and lakes. There is even a ski hill called Marble mountain. As far as I can tell there isn't anyone teaching Self Defence like I teach and there also isn't anyone teaching Wing Chun.

While we were there we stayed with Tara's Auntie, Uncle and Cousin. They are all great and a lot of fun. We stayed with them for 2 nights. The first night we drank and hung out. At around 12am I went out side searching for frogs. I found at least 50 of them and they were all about 3 to 4 inches long. So there were a couple that were the biggest I have ever seen. The next day Tara's Uncle took us out on his boat into the Bay of Islands. The river that is in front of their house goes right into it and this Bay goes right into the ocean. The boat was docked at Corner Brook and what an awesome boat it is. It is a Boston Whaler and it was originally a Coast Guard boat, so it was even stronger then a normal one. We were told that it can be full of water and it would still take another 2500 pounds to sink it. When were out there we jumped in the ocean. It was so nice and the water was around 650 feet deep. We ended up going out about 50km. We saw so much beautiful scenery, just spectacular as Tara's Uncle always says. We even saw whales jumping out of the water. We were on our way into a small cove when we hit a rock with one of the motors. It didn't seem like much until we tried starting it up again and only one would start. The fact that we were 50km out and running low on gas wasn't a good thing. We road until we got to calm waters and then Tara's uncle and dad started it by bypassing the starter using the cilenoid or something like that. While we were stopped though we were right by a rock face that had little water falls running down it. Since I know jack about mechanics I just looked at the scenery. We did ended up making it back ok and the gas gage was on empty. It made it a little more exciting. After that we went into town and Steve Tara's uncle showed us another spot with an amazing view, he is quite the tour guide. He even took us to a restaurant with a nice view. It's all about the views in that area, so beautiful.

Almost forgot to mention that the first night we were there Tara's uncle took us on a bit of a tour a bit north of his place. He took us to a golf course with an amazing view of the valley. It was really spectacular. When we were there we even saw a black fox, which none of us had ever seen before. The last night we were there we had a bbq and had a grand old time. Tara's cousin is 8 and she wanted to play a prank on me, so they set up a situation where I ended up getting my nails painted. What can I say they over powered me. Her cousin said it was the best day ever, so it was worth letting it happen. The last day we went back into Corner Brook to have lunch with Tara's auntie and little cousin, and also to check out an old train called the Newfie Bullet. On the way out there is a natural spring where we filled up our water bottles.

It was a great visit there, everything about that area makes me want to go back. All the people that we are meeting are just as great as the scenery. Newfoundland is a hidden treasure that can't be appreciated without seeing for yourself.

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After leaving Halifax we headed up highway 107 then 7 along the south coast of Nova Scotia. It is so beautiful. Driving along roads like this are actually quite dangerous because you aren't spending too much time paying attention to the road. The road eventually headed north to Antigonish then east towards Cape Breton Island. We ended up staying at a hotel that was over priced because we got in so late. The hotel was over priced but we got a King sized bed that was really comfortable, which was needed. Sleeping has been hard because of all the different beds we have been sleeping in. Also our camping mattresses have small holes in them, so we have to blow them up at least twice a night. Another thing that prevents me from sleeping is that I can't seem to get cool enough to use the blankets which helps me sleep.

The next day we started our drive to Sydney but along the way we went through a few towns of course but stopped in one that was very pretty and smelled very nice called St. Peter's. We pulled into the campgrounds to go for a little bike ride. It was a shorter ride then expected but it was very nice. We were right by a small river that flows into the ocean, and we were looking out over a cliff. We also took some time to practice our Wing Chun. I practice everyday but it is nice when Tara joins in with me. We got into Sydney at around 2:00pm, so we went exploring. While exploring we discovered that there was a Bike festival and street performers down on the boardwalk. We didn't get to the bike show but we did see the street performers which was pretty good. Some better then others of course. The one that I didn't like was a guy that did an escape act. I didn't like it because he spent the whole time get people excited and cheering. He was doing this to get more people to come down and he was doing it to our energy. He kept saying give me your energy. Now this might sound normal but it is actually not a very nice thing to do. What this does is transfer our energy to him. Kind of like a vampire sucking out your energy. I noticed the effects with Tara. During the show she was happy and flowing with energy, which was an expression of her releasing her energy. After the show she was sad and unable to get excited about anything. She eventually got over it when she recharged her energy. I mention this so you can be careful when giving your energy away without knowing what you are doing.

That night we stayed at a campground in Big Bras d'Or. We asked for a water front campsite but instead we got to sleep in a boat that was tied to the dock. It was really cool. I have never slept in a boat before so it was a nice experience. We sat on the back dock watching jelly fish swim by, we read our books and then looked at the stars. Also just down the shore people set off some fireworks. It was actually quite impressive, they went on for well over 5 minutes. I never saw such a good firework show from normal people on the beach.

The next day we were going to get on the Ferry to head to Newfoundland at around 5pm. We then got a call telling us that the Ferry was delayed until 1am. So we had to sleep in recliners all night. This wasn't very comfortable but when we woke up it was early in the morning and it made the arrival into Port aux Basques that much nicer.

So we are now in Newfoundland and it is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. We have only seen a small section of it so far and we will be staying here for 2 weeks so we will see a lot more. So far we stayed at friends of Tara's family. They live on George's lake in a nice house, we stayed there for 2 nights and got to go on a boat ride. Before we left they offered us their canoe, of course we took it so we can go canoeing when ever we feel like. There is more for me to share but I will wait until later to share. The next part is awesome because we are seeing a lot and it is just so friggin beautiful. I want to live here.


This is a little off topic but I wanted to let you know that my Sifu has completed training videos for Level 1 of Wing Chun. People teach Wing Chun differently so you will be getting it the way we learn. Our Sifu is an amazing teacher so if you want to learn Wing Chun the right way get these videos. It is the Hong Kong version from the Yip Man, Moy Yat, Nelson Chan lineage. My Sifu is Chuck O'Neill.

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I just wanted to mention that everywhere that we have been is so beautiful. Some are just beautiful some are breath taking. From the talked about spots to the not so talk about spots. There is just so much beautiful land scape to experience.

I will say, as of where we are now Nova Scotia is my favorite spot for beauty of the landscape. It's so green and lush with rolling hills where you can see forever and of course the shore and bays, which just adds to it all in an extreme way. There is just something about being near water.

In the days that have past we have been to a number of places. We are not in NFLD yet like we had planned, because of the Ferry being booked till this week. It gave us a chance to visit friends in Nova Scotia and hang out in New Brunswick.

In New Brunswick we stopped into Edmunston for the first night. This is where we started staying in Hotels for a few nights. It was raining for about 4 days straight. Next we drove past Fredericton to get to Moncton, where we stayed for 3 nights. We took a little trip down to Alma which is a little town on the Bay of Fundy. On the way we drove down a very nice road that goes along the water front. The cool thing about the water along this area is that it's tide rises and lowers by about 16 feet every 6 hours, which is the most anywhere in the world. When we were in Moncton we spent the night in a nice hotel then a normal one. Spent some time downtown where there was a festival going on. We got to visit some of Tara's family that live there. The other thing we got to do was train with a Ninjitsu group. It was alot of fun and the guys were really great. We were outside rolling around in the wet grass. It is quite a bit different from the Wing Chun in alot of ways but I can see the functionality in what Lee the teacher was teaching. If your in Moncton just check the yellow pages for them under Ninjitsu in the martial arts section.

We were on our way to Pasboro to visit Tara's cousin and new girlfriend when we stopped into Amherst. It is a pretty town. I stopped in to talk with the Karate instructor, he was working on fixing up the new location he purchased. I have been trying to visit as many martial arts schools as I can along the way so I can learn about what others are doing. Both in style and in business, it is a good way to learn about what works and what doesn't when running a martial arts business. While we were there we stopped into a restaurant pub called Duncan's Pub. It was really nice, the chairs were so comfortable, music nice and just a good atmosphere.

When we got to Pasboro Tara's cousin brought us down to the water front where the tide moves in and out every 6 hours like the other place. He showed us a fish net called a Weir. A weir is a three storey high net held up with posts, it traps the fish when the tide goes out. After that we went to his place, went for a walk and just hung out. The next day we headed to Halifax.

Now Halifax is a cool cool place, such a fun place. We were visiting Tara's friend and my friend but more Tara's. We went out everynight, even the first day we got there. We drove straight downtown to have a beer and something to eat, then it turned into park Jeep in parkade and get drunk for rest of night. We love pubs and there are a lot of really nice ones. The few that I really liked were Foggy Goggle, Dirty Nelley's and Maxwell's Plum. If you like to party this is the place to go. We even went to Alexander Keith's Brewery for a tour. I didn't find it till the last night we were there but just down the street from our friends place is a dojo called Bushido-Kai that teachs JKD and all its levels like our Sifu teaches. We are planning on coming through here again to visit another of Tara's friends so I'm going to try and make sure we get in to train with them.

The trip is still going great and we have a lot of exciting things to do that are coming up. Enjoy your day.

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We have now been back on our trip from 1 week now, so I will give you a quick overview of what we have been up to. We started our trip by going to Niagra Falls. The falls are quite amazing really, they almost look like they are falling in slow motion. I find standing by such things a little bit scary because I feel like I could just jump in to go for a ride. Which would obviously be the end of my life, so then I decide not to. It would be fun while it lasted though. While we were there we stayed at a campground about 10km outside of town, so we did alot of biking back and forth. When you are in downtown Niagra it feels like a mini Vegas which is pretty cool. I finally got to do that indoor skydiving thing where there is a huge fan that pushes you up while you try to balance on the wind, it was very cool but I needed a spotter so I couldn't go very high. I must say though that I will not be wanting to go back to Niagra unless its with friends just for a night of partying. It's mainly because of our dining experiences, imagine going to a normal resaurant add $5 to everything, then make it taste worse and if you have a problem with any of it suck it up cause you still have to pay for it. Cool place though.

Then we started on our way to Algonquin Provincial Park. We stopped at a campground just past Simcoe Lake called 4 Seasons Tent and Trailer. It was really nice, lots of trees and quite. I say lots of trees because some campgrounds are just a field with trees planted here and there so there is no privacy.

The next day we made it to Algonquin, we drove through about 5 different campgrounds just to figure out that the first one we looked at was the one we wanted. Funny how that happens alot. The campground we stayed at was Canisbay Lake, it was very nice and quiet. The lake was very peaceful and warm, it almost felt like bath water. While we were setting up camp the first night we saw a bear cub run through the trees right in front of us, the mother didn't follow which was kind of a good thing. We were told that 2 full size bears had been trapped in that past week which means that the cubs mother might have been one of them, sad but possible. The first night we stayed there it rained for about six hours through the night and it rained quite hard, to the point where we discovered we were in a small hole. So we ended up completely soaked and had to spend the rest of the night sleeping in the Jeep. Thanks goodness for the Jeep. The next day was hot so our stuff dried pretty fast.

The next place we drove to was Voyager Provincial Park which is just at the edge of Ontario. That is a huge campground, and like most campgrounds in Ontario you have alot of choices on how you want to camp. You usually get the option of Family camping, Electric or none and no radio playing for the quiet campers like us. So far I liked this campsite we stayed at the best. It had alot of privacy so we got to do some more serious training. I just don't feel comfortable when people can see me training, not sure why but I just don't, unless it's in class of course.

The next day we drove through Quebec. The hardest part was finding our way through Montreal, which we did without any back tracking, it was quite impressive considering the map we have didn't give us much help. When we got to Quebec City we made a few wrong turns but we ended up under some pretty nice bridges so we got to take some nice pictures. Now were in New Brunswick where we will be for a few days.

It is nice having the Jeep with us for this part of the trip. The biking portion of the trip was amazing and I wouldn't have done it any other way but it feels like we a traveling in luxury now. Alot less stressful and we have alot more energy to do stuff at the end of the day. The main draw back is when you see something beautiful you are past it so quickly. Once we get to NFLD we will be taking things a bit slower and checking more things out. We are meeting Tara's parents there so we need to get there quickly. I will let you know more in about a week.

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