Olympic mascots weren’t always this bad though. From the first official mascot in 1972 Munich, there had been a pretty good string of good mascots until 1992 Albertville.

Waldi (1972 Munich) - The humble beginning of olympic mascots

Misha (1980 Moscow) - The cuddly Russian teddybear

Vucko (1984 Sarajevo) - less cuddly but still cool

Sam (1984 Los Angeles) - overly patriotic but still cute

Hodori (1988 Seoul) - super cute though the female one was left out

Cobi (1992 Barcelona) - simple but effective Catalan Sheepdog

I mean there were still some bad ones back then, Canada probably had the worse ones…

Amik (1976 Montreal) - this beaver looks like a fat turd, honestly I could design a better beaver than that

Hindy and Howdy (1988 Calgary) - umm polar bears don't have brown snouts

But the majority of the mascots were simple and cute cartoon animals, and then came Magique the man-star/snow imp thing in 1992. And soon after we have these “creative” creations which are just creepy and weird.

Magique (1992 Albertville) - ew

Izzy (1996 Atlanta) - Originally named Whatizit, then nicknamed "The Sperm in Sneakers"

Neve and gitz (2006 Turin) - ice cube heads?

The Fuwa (2008 Beijing)

And now we have Wenlock and Mandeville. Just as poorly designed as the the 2012 logo. Who knows though, maybe these blobs will grow on me, the Vancouver mascots certainly did.

Rathtrevor

Being public, Rathtrevor was the cheapest of all 3 campgrounds. Tenting at the non-reserveable walk-in sites was only $16 a night, and showers were free. All the walk-in sites were basically in a large picnic field, only seconds away from the beach but shielded from the wind by large trees. I suspect the lack of privacy and number of fire pits may be a problem during busier times.

Little Qualicum Falls

In the Parksville area we explored nearby Cathedral Grove, Little Qualicum Falls, and Coombs. Cathedral Grove is in MacMillan Provincial Park and is right on Highway 4. Because of its accessibility and easy trails, it is immensely popular with tourists. Be prepared to share the trails with families and Starbucks sippers. Still, it is well worth half an hour of your time to see the 400 year old trees, with the largest and oldest tree being 800 years old! Little Qualicum Falls is also worth your visit, being only a few minutes away from Cathedral Grove. In under an hour, you will be able to enjoy both the upper and lower falls. Coombs is a busy little town famous for its Goats on a Roof market. Sadly we didn’t see any goats. We also ended up playing mini-golf in Parksville and watched a movie in a Starbucks (because there isn’t a movie theatre).

Our last stop was to explore the West Coast. The twisty Highway 4 goes from Port Alberni to Tofino and takes about 2.5 hours depending on traffic. The drive is probably the most exciting and scenic road on the entire island. We stopped at Ucluelet for lunch, and also hiked some of the Wild Pacific Trail. We did half the Lighthouse loop (we were in a bit of a rush), but it was spectacular. Just a few minutes of walking gave us amazing views of Barkley Sound and the lighthouse.

Wild Pacific Trail Lighthosue

In Tofino we did a whale watching tour with Jamie’s. It seemed to be one of the better whaling companies (though I don’t think others will differ very much). With student rates and a special anniversary discount, it was only $63/person to get on a zodiac. Our guide was great and knowledgeable, and with 4 others we spent an amazing 2.5 hours watching not only resident gray whales, but seals, and sea lions as well. One of the whales came within a couple metres, and dived right under us! Such an amazing experience!

Whale!

Lazy sea lions

Our view at Bella Pacifica

Our campground at Bella Pacifica was probably my least favourite of the 3. It was the most expensive, $25 a night with $1 for a 2 minute shower. The sites were not grassy, but rocky and muddy. I was nicely enclosed with trees and quite private, and had a great view to the picture perfect beach. I guess such high prices should be expected in a touristy place like Tofino.

We spent our rest of our time lazing around Pacific Rim National Park, checking out Radar Hill and the famous Long Beach. It costs $7.80 for 24 hours for access to the park. We also checked out the surfing town of Tofino, having a fancy breakfast at The Schooner, and buying live locally caught crab and fish at Trilogy.

I spent around $500 this trip, which was much more expensive than I thought it would be. For a 9 day/7 night trip, I spent on average $71.45/night. The transportation costs did not cover the costs of bringing a car over to the Island, which will cost you about a good $115 round trip. Around 50% of the money was spent on food and drink, even with us usually cooking 2 of the 3 meals per day. We did have groceries left over and suffered some losses from crows, but I think the lesson to be learned is that booze is expensive.

Cluxewe

Sunset at the ocean side at Cluxewe.

The drive North took us about 6.5 hours with a stop in Courtney for lunch. I recommend taking highway 19A from Parksville to Campbell River for some great coastal views, though it will take you longer than sticking to the inland highway. The longest stretch is from Campbell River to Port Mcneill, which is about 200km with no stops in-between. This stretch is also the most scenic, rivaling the Trans-Canada through the Rockies. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to see some wildlife, we saw a bear on the way there, and an elk on the way back.

Sunset at Cluxewe on estuary side

We were based in Cluxewe (10 minutes pass Port McNeill) for 3 nights. This private campground was probably my favourite of all 3 campgrounds we stayed in. With it being the off-season, it seemed like we had the whole place to ourselves. We tented on a sunny grassy site (which apparently is a rarity these days), with an estuary with herons, swans and eagles on one side, and the ocean on the other. We also got to witness hummingbirds doing their courtship dives right in our site. It was $19 per night for an unpowered site, $1 for 6minutes of hot shower, and $5 for 15 pieces of firewood.

The next two days we checked out Port Hardy, the biggest town in the region. We did two short walks, one to the Quatse salmon hatchery which, except for some pools of salmon fry, wasn’t very interesting. The other was towards an estuary which may be worth it if you bring binoculars, as we could hear some sea lions but couldn’t make them out very well

Panoramic view of Coal Harbour.

We also went to nearby Coal Harbour and Fort Rupert. We heard there were resident sea otters in coal harbour, but we couldn’t find any. It is still worth going as there are some huge sunflower stars and feeding bald eagles, not to mention a great view. In Fort Rupert, we went to the large beach and came across 3 bald eagles (2 juveniles and 1 adult) just chilling on the beach. One of the juveniles let us get within a dozen yards, which was pretty exciting.

Juvenile bald eagle let us get real close at Fort Rupert Beach.

Huge sunflower star at Coal Harbour

Pultenay Point Lighthouse

View from Bere Point hike

On the second day we took a 20 minute ferry from Port McNeill to Sointula, a former Finnish Utopian community. We checked out Pultenay Point Lighthouse which looked back at Cluxewe, and did a great hike from Bere Point. The hike is 5km long one way (though we only did 3km of it), and is famous for its orca rubbing beach. Unsurprisingly we didn’t see any orcas but the views and the trail was still great.

All in all, Northern Vancouver Island is a great place to get away from it all. It has great wildlife, natural scenery, and not too many tourists. We were very lucky with the weather though. I look forward to going back to check out places we missed like Alert Bay, Cape Scott Provincial Park, and grizzly bear and whale watching tours out of Telegraph Cove.

Ferry ride to Sointula

Episode List:

1. Morocco/Spain
2. Libya: The Lone Land
3. Brazil: Piranha Soup.
4. Brazil: Treading Water.
5. Cuba
6. Mongolia: Tribes and Tribulations.
7. Mongolia: Meals and Wheels.
8. Iceland
9. Zambia
10. Madagascar
11. Chile: Ups and Downs.
12. Chile: Ends of the Earth.
13. Antarctica

Cuba

Andre Dupuis, Scott Wilson, and Justin Lukach are back and this season they travel to some of the most exotic, untouched, and beautiful locations this planet has to offer. I thought the locations were even better than in the first season, and by the time the season ends in Antarctica, you’re left wondering how on Earth they could possibly top it for Season 3 (I’ve been watching Season 3 and boy it only gets better).   Andre’s shooting, combined with the video and music editing is just as amazing as before. The music is mainly ambient electronic (think Boards of Canada) combined with the occasional indie tune. They give exposure to great Canadian local artists like Sunriser who are largely unknown.

Some highlights include playing hide-and-go-seek in the abandoned city of Ghadames in Libya, fishing piranha in the Pantanal and swimming with pink river dolphins in the Amazon in Brazil, riding reindeer in Mongolia, sleeping in a tree-house above lions in the Safari in Zambia, flipping a coin to go to Easter Island, and of course visiting some of the residents of Antarctica.  They showcased some great wildlife this season, and that’s sure to please the animal lovers. It was also good to see them meet up with some of the friends they met last season. It shows that the connections they make are real and not just superficial. Making connections on the road is an important part of travelling, and will often benefit you in surprising ways.

Easter Island

Perhaps the most inspiring part of the season came on the island of Chiloe. The guys wanted to learn more about the lore and mythology surrounding the island, and this man takes them through this garden full of odd but kid friendly models consisting of everything from ladybugs to the devil to UFOs. He talks completely in Spanish and you begin to think he’s a bit nuts. But it all makes sense as they’re about to leave. He sums up perfectly, not just what the show is all about, but ultimately what life should be about as well.

“Live life to the fullest! It’s the best way. Live every moment intensely. Because life is too short, and the moment comes when we’re going to die and we’d have wished to do so many things we didn’t. That’s why we have to enjoy every moment. One must enjoy life. Try not to acquire so many things but instead have experiences. Accomplish everything you want to do, no matter the effort that it deserves. Life is too short and one must relish it.”

Filiberto Labarca

Season 3 of Departures airs on OLN at Sunday nights at 10:00, or you can check out OLN.ca for most of the episodes that have already aired this season.

Unfortunately, exams have kept me from posting as much as I would like, but I hope that will change once April ends.

Crab Pot

We wanted some fresh Seattle seafood on Sunday night and there was a whole bunch to choose from in the waterfront area. We chose the Crab pot at Miner’s Landing, apparently home of the original “seafeast” . We knew it would be good when we got there, the wait was over 90 minutes. For $25/person we got the cheapest seafeast with crab. They basically give you a bowl of clams, mussels, shrimp, snow crab, Dungeness crab, corn, sausage, potato and a wooden hammer and they let you go at it. Everything was delicious but the shrimp was slightly overcooked. If you’re willing to shell out around 30 bucks for dinner, and don’t mind the wait, you will be rewarded with great food and more importantly, a great experience.

Pike Place Market

I already covered the market in my previous post, but there are so many little restaurants around here that serve delicious fresh food. If you aren’t full from the free samples everywhere be sure to check out the “world’s best” mac & cheese at Beecher’s Handmade Cheese and authentic Russian piroshkies and the Piroshky, Piroshky.

The Green Tortoise

Switching from food to accommodation now, we stayed at the Green Tortoise hostel. This was my first hostelling experience so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. We stayed in a queen sized bed for about $55 a night, and if you want a single bed it’s around $30 a night. This price is a steal considering the location, right across the street from Pike’s Place Market. However, if you’re driving, it’s worth noting that parking will cost you another $16/night at West Edge Parking. It is also worth nothing that this parkade closes early on Sunday (expect to pay double the price for less than half the time at other parkades). I was a bit surprised at how crammed the rooms were. There were 2 queen sized bunks and a normal sized bunk for a max of 10 people in our room which was a little larger than most dorm rooms.  Fortunately, there were never more than 5 or 6 other people rooming with us. It also seemed like most people only stayed a night. Everything else was great though. The bathrooms and showers were clean and private, free breakfast with the option to make your own eggs and pancakes, free dinners 3 times a week, and best of all – free Wi-Fi. The people were also generally friendly, and I’m sure you could meet a lot of different people if you wanted to. Overall, I was very impressed and happy with my first hostelling experience and would highly recommend the Green Turtle.

Budget

So I tried to keep track of my expenditures as best as I could. For a 4day/3night trip I spent around $318, averaging $80 a day. Obviously, the States isn’t the cheapest place to travel. If I didn’t buy those pair of shoes or any souviners I could have cut almost a fifth of my costs, or used some of that money for better food. Forgetting about the early closing time at West Edge Parking also cost us. We did take advantage of 2 free breakfasts and 1 free dinner though. And you definitely couldn’t complain about the price of gas.

Seattle Premium Outlets

After a brutal 4 hour wait, the outlets was our first “attraction” we went to coming into Seattle. While there are plenty of savings to be found, most stores are pretty high-end so if you’re on a tight budget you are unlikely to find the Outlets of any interest. I did buy a new pair of kicks at Puma though. Personally I think that brand-name shoes are pretty cheap here.

Woodland Park Zoo

With both of us being pretty big fans of animals, the award winning Woodland Park Zoo had been on the top of our list of things to do so we headed straight to the zoo early the next day. And this place did not disappoint; it was awesome. Tickets were $11, but with a coupon found on their website, it was only $9. The price does get more expensive during the summer though. While it was quite cold and windy, we were pretty lucky that it didn’t rain.

We also lucked out on it being Easter, as they had special feedings for some of the animals which would normally be resting or hard to find. Seeing snow leopards play with piñatas was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. Some other highlights include: the sloth bear feeding, feeding parrots, the red panda, the elephants, the enormous grizzly bears, the hippos, the gorillas, and the orangutans.  Some disappointments were not being able to find the ocelots or the lemurs, and the giraffes which were not in their normal safari exhibit but instead were caged in their shelters because of the weather.

The Zoo closed at 4 but we could have easily spent another day there as there was just so much to see. Definitely the best zoo I’ve been to, and the best attraction we went to on the entire trip. I highly recommend going if you’re in the Seattle area.

Pike Place Market

This is another must see attraction in Seattle. This public market has it all, fishmongers, fresh produce, florists, craftsmen, restaurants, delis, everything. All your senses will be in overdrive here. The colours of the produce and flowers, the sounds of the amazing buskers, the smells from all the restaurants, and the taste of some very unique free samples, from chocolate pasta to spicy jams. It is an incredible experience. Also be sure to check out the “flying fish” and the first Starbucks.

Pacific Science Center

We headed to Seattle Center on Sunday, with the Pacific Science Center as the first stop. I didn’t find that there were very big differences between this and the other science centers I’ve been to in Vancouver and Edmonton. The featured exhibit was on Mars, and personally I thought it was mediocre. The dinosaur and Lucy exhibits were pretty bad. I did enjoy the butterfly house though, where you could see exotic butterflies up close, and sometimes they even land on you.  Tickets were $14.

Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum

Skipping the Space Needle (it was $17) we headed for the interesting (and dare I say good) looking EMP/SFM building. This is the place that adults go to while their kids go to the Science Center. Student ticket prices were $12 and you get access to both the EMP and the SFM. Walking into the building, you will be mesmerized by the immense area dubbed the “sky church”. You could easily spend a whole day in the EMP alone. We only had a couple hours and had to skip some of the exhibits. We checked out a Jimi Hendrix exhibit, a Northwest Passage hallway dedicated to the history of local music, a guitar gallery displaying the history of the guitar, and a sound lab where one can learn how to play instruments and includes numerous rooms to jam and try instruments in. I’m not very musically inclined and I still found everything extremely interesting. For those who really love and appreciate the history of music, this is the place to go.

The SFM is much smaller compared to the EMP, but you could still spend an hour or two in here. You will learn about everything sci-fi, and there are some incredible displays. For example, you will find the teddy from A.I., the death star from Star Wars, and one of the Terminators used in the movies. For $12, the EMP/SFM is well worth it.

Bruce Lee’s Grave Site

Bruce and Brendan Lee’s grave is located in Lakeview Cemetery. Nothing much to say here, check it out and pay your respects to two great men.

Future of Flight & Boeing Tour

After reading mixed reviews, we were originally going to skip this. But about 15 minutes before passing it on our way home, I decided I would regret it if I didn’t go. This attraction is actually in Everett which is about 40min North of Seattle. The price was $15.50 for admission to the Future of Flight and the 60 minute factory tour. It is slightly cheaper without the tour but there is no point in going if you’re not going for the tour since the Future of Flight exhibit isn’t very good. The tour begins with an extremely cheesy movie, Lindsay couldn’t stop laughing. The tour guide was also very cheesy, and we weren’t allowed any cameras, electronics or bags on the tour. We also happened to go right when there was a shift change, so there weren’t very many people working (avoid the 2:00pm tour if you can). However, it was still impressive to see how such extremely complex machines are made. I also did find it pretty informative. For example, I had no idea they put fuel in the wings. It was also cool just being in the largest building by volume in the world. To conclude, it was not as good as it could have been, but it also could have been a lot worse than it was. I would recommend going only if you have interests in airplanes.

Youtube -  launched its text-only TEXTp format which apparently saves them $1/sec in bandwidth costs.

Starbucks – announced 2 new sizes, Micra and Plenta.

Google – changes its name to Topeka.

Gmail – the Gmail homepage suffered a vowel outage.

Google Books – now in 3D.

Google Maps – street view is also now in 3D. Click on the Pegman on the top left of the street view screen to check it out.

Google Docs – now you can store anything for 10 cents/kg.

Expedia – introduces Virtual Vacations. You can virtually tour Mt. Kilimanjaro for 19.99/hr, or even become a Virtual Vacation Buddy.

Wikipedia – check out the main page. Here are some of my favourites:

• Wife-swapping is the featured article.
• In the news: “If you are reading this, the latest record-breaking experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider have not yet caused the end of the world as we know it.”
• Did you know: “that Elvis is still alive and teaching soccer at Neil McNeil Catholic Secondary School?”
• On this day: “1996 – The government of Nova Scotia ordered the people of the City of Halifax to mate with over 200 multiple partners around the area.”

Here is a pretty good list on Tech Crunch on what other jokes are going around the web.

After extensive recent debate, discussion and thought…here is the party of 6 pokemon I would carry around Kanto:

1. Dragnonite – How can anyone not like Dragonite? Proves that you can kick ass without looking like or being an asshole. Plus, it can fly around the world in 16 hours…think of how much money and time you would save on airfare.
2. Marowak – The evolved version of Cubone, while not as cute, it doesn’t sit around crying all day. Marowak is basically a dinosaur which clubs things with a bone, how cool is that? And it has a clever name too.
3. Snorlax – Probably one of the most popular pokemon, Snorlax has it all figured out. Enjoying life by doing nothing except sleeping and eating. It’s also one of the most powerful non-legendary pokemon.
4. Arcanine – Just an awesome looking creature, looks like some sort of insane fire-breathing super speedy tiger-dog. This would definitely be my fire pokemon of choice. It also has the unique attack extremespeed. They needed to make the name of the move one word instead of two just to show how fast it is.
5. Aerodactyl –An intimidating looking pterosaur, Aerodactyl can only be resurrected from Old Amber which is pretty cool if you’re a Jurassic Park fan. It is also the only pokemon with a rock/flying type.
6. Pikachu – This may seem like a bit of a cop-out, but honestly, who doesn’t want a Pikachu? I need an electric pokemon in my party anyways, and if for nothing else, it would be the best pet to have.

Honourable mentions: Haunter, Charmander, Squirtle, Pidgeot, Zapdos

I’m hoping to get some other people’s lists on here as well, so stay tuned for more pokemon madness.