January, 12^th 2001

Early in the morning - around 7am - I get up. Outside everything is still deeply covered with snow, but this day starts off cloudy. After a short breakfast I grab my backpack that I already packed the evening before and head for King Street on foot in order to hitchhike to Sudbury.

Unfortunately Sabine isn't able to come along this weekend. She was pretty sick the last days and although she feels much better now (I take her snowshoes along, you never know what crazy ideas she might get ;-)), standing in the cold might not be the best for her health. (So, now you got a comment ;-))

Within city limits it's quite difficult to get a lift and so it takes me an hour to get to the northbound ramp on highway 86 which is supposed to lead me out of Waterloo. One hour I vainly try to get a lift into the direction of Elmira, Alma and Arthur. Finally I decide to try my luck on highway 401 and to accept to make the detour via Toronto.

No 10 minutes later a station wagon stops. A framer (somebody who is building frames for houses) and his tool box. The man is about 50 years old and he tells me that we came from Spain 30 years ago. Even today it's obvious, his accent hasn't diminished over the years. He is taking me along for a couple of kilometers on the 86 and then drops me off directly on a ramp to highway 401.

After another 10 minutes a SUV comes to a halt with screeching tires. I stuff my backpack into the trunk and take a seat. The driver is about 30 years old, unshaved, very friendly and his name is John Trotta. He tells me that he is the owner of the stag shops around Kitchener/Waterloo. His wife is from Stuttgart, Germany, and no 2 month ago he has been visiting some friend in Germany. We talk a bit about the differences between Canada and Germany and it turns out that he is a fan of camping. He never realized his dream of travelling through Canada but now with wife and children it's actually even worse to get some time off. But his business is running very well, sex sells! As I tell him about my adventures in Canada so far he is somehow enthusiastic and admits that he should take 3 or 4 month off and take his family along on a trip through the whole country. He has to take the 427 northbound, but then he drive a bit of a detour just to drop me off on the highway 400, an enormous help for me. Normally one would only be able to catch a lift on a ramp onto a highway. He drops me off where he actually has to exit the highway. I have walk for about 100m on the highway until I reach the next ramp.

Shortly before I get there my next lift comes from behind. A police officer asks me friendly what I do on the highway and after I explained to him that I was just being dropped off and that I only head for the next exit he invites me for a ride and brings me to the best spot for my further trip. His brother is studying in Waterloo, too, he mentions and so we chat about studying in Germany and Canada. Only now he asks me for an ID, a routine check, but however I shouldn't get caught on a highway today anymore or I might get a fine about $110. He wishes me luck for my further tour and sets off.

I just get to unwrap some of my buns I took along as the next car stops already. A student of the University of York, Toronto, who is on his way home to his parents in Newmarket. He mentions that he is going to go to law school and therefore has to study for four years - whatever he likes to. The same actually applies for people planning on going to med school. After only few kilometers he drops me off at the exit to Newmarket, a very good spot for hitchhiking. meanwhile the clouds disappeared and the sun started to shine.

After I finished one of my buns while watching the surrounding landscape which is dominated by frost-covered trees a Japanese sports car stops. The driver - with super cool sunglasses - is on his way to the Blue Mountain Ski Resort which is located only about 40 km north from where he picks me up. So in Barrie my lift ends again already. Here I use my sign saying "Sudbury" for the first time. It's a critical point because only few kilometers ahead the highway splits up and I don't want to get onto highway 11 to North Bay but stay on the 400.

Here I get picked up by a man in his ancient pickup truck, he's a retired teacher as he explains to me. It's true that Canadians talk a lot about the weather (probably as much as the Germans do ;-)). But he tells me about a interesting thing. Directly behind the hill north of Barrie one has to pass a region begins which is known for its rough weather. In winter one can get up to Barrie in bright sunshine but then get into a f... snowstorm exactly the way it happened to Sabine and me when we drove up to Lake Superior end of November. As we get to chat about school and his profession he talks with glowing eyes but admits that he was lucky. Since he retired the kids would become more and more rebellious and he wouldn't enjoy his work anymore nowadays. He promises me to drop me off at a good spot, an exit where many people get onto the highway that head for Sudbury. However, I am glad I already made the branch-off of highway 11.

Unfortunately this place turns out to be everything else but busy, after twenty minutes the first car approaches that in fact gets onto the highway which driver ignores me. And unfortunately the situation doesn't change during the following hour. At one point in time I tell myself to wait for another three cars before I try my luck directly on the highway. As after another hour two cars have passed though I am about to realize my plan. But then it comes to me that nobody would ever stop if the car isn't going slow anyway as for example on a ramp. After two hours an off-road Suzuki stops beside me. The driver, she has seen my snowshoes that are mounted to my backpack and decided to take me along. She herself is on her way to a half pipe snowboard contest and that although she broke her nose only couple of days ago. This lift ends exactly 3 exits later, closed to the Mount St. Louis Ski Resort. Another deserted exit.

I have to wait for hour until a car pulls by. My yellow jacket convinced to stop. He is a passionate skier and so we come to a talk. He loves Rothenburg ob der Tauber (a small town in Germany, many very old houses, an ancient town wall, and so on) where he always stays with friends. He also has a only short run on the 400, just about 15 km then he leaves the highway for Midland.

From here I get a lift about 30 minutes later. A retired conductor who has worked for TCR, the Trans Canadian Railways Company for over thirty years. In this time went on trains running east-west around Waterloo and Toronto. Today he is only commuting between his apartment in Toronto and his cottage near Humphrey. His voice is accompanied by a portion of sadness, he seems to miss his work and not to find a compensation. Shovelling snow in front of his apartment and shovelling snow in front of his cottage is the only work he's got left. He is very interested in the German study system, asks for my career goals and my probable starting salary. It's one of the best talk I have today. He takes me along for about 90 clicks then he has to turn onto the 141 to Muskoka.

Meanwhile night started falling, what worries me a bit. It's hard enough to convince people that one is a friendly guy, in darkness chances are correspondingly bad. However, I am still 184 km away from Sudbury and it's 3:40pm already. Furthermore I forgot my sign in the trunk, a real howler. Even though I am now on highway 69 which has only two lanes in total at this spot I don't have any chance to stop a car. In the very few cars coming from the 141 mostly elderly couples are starring at rather than offering me a lift.

Finally a guy pulls by, maybe in beginning of his twenties. A factory worker, not pretty much talkative, but therefore on a hitchhiking tour himself. He drops me off in Parry Sound, a ride for bout 15 clicks. Its pitch dark by now, I do only have a chance to get a lift when I stay close to the illuminated intersection. First I try my luck at a spot where the through traffic and the left turning lane merge. This way I catch all the passing cars, but through traffic is too fast anyway and the left turning cars have to get in lane (not that there were too many cars to get in lane with ;-)) Finally I concentrate on the cars that come out of Parry Sound and therefore get closer to the lights.

And really, after half an hour - it's not only dark but pretty cold and windy - a guy stops who somehow must have escaped the 70s. A real rocker type, something between muscular and fat, long matted hair but driving a brand new pick-up truck. He turns out to be the most freaky guy out of my hitchhikes today, but he for sure is very easy-going and friendly. He tells me he is on his way to go ice-fishing on a lake where he is supposed to meet friends who he didn't see for a long time. Among those there is that one guy who just recovered from a brain tumour surgery. He remarks that it doesn't actually matters if he will catch a fish or not as long as he can chat with his buddies and have some cooled beers. By the way - between him and me there is a huge cooling box from where he grabs two beers. And so we say cheers and get buzzed, he is just turning out to be a good guy. Unfortunately he realizes that he has to take the next exit, just about 5 km away from Parry Sound. He apologizes for dropping me off at such a deserted, dark spot, but at least I got something cold to drink ;-))

At the exit there is exactly one street light, but as before I don't have a slightest chance of stopping a car. So I walk down the ramp where I have to wait for another 30 minutes before a Wrangler Jeep pulls by. Inside there is a guy who would match much better driving a Mercedes. He offers to take me along to the next service station only a few kilometers further on. It's not the distance but the much better chance of getting a good lift at a gas station that makes me happy. As I grab my backpack from the Jeep's trunk a wine bottle falls out of the car and shatters on the road. But he refuses to take any money, as long as the beer isn't concerned there is nothing to worry about, he tells me, grinning at me.

At the gas station I get into a phone box, Vroni and Rob are already waiting for and I at least want to tell them where I am and that I am still alive. I only get the answering machine and so I am just about to leave a message saying that I won't make it to Sudbury this night when a voice from behind asks me if I would need a lift and where I am heading for. For Sudbury I say and have to grin. The guy, his name is Scott, says that that's going to be no problem cause that exactly his destination, too. I takes me two seconds to tell the answering machine that I am indeed on my way and then I hang up.

Scot is 31 and the next 160 km we talk about everything under the sun. He has just been to Amsterdam and the following summer we wants to go to Germany. In Sudbury he doesn't know his way around at all he says, he' visiting a friend that is living on Paris Street, wherever that is supposed to be. Hey, I say, don't worry, because Robs apartment is located on the very same street. So I get dropped of at Robs apartment at 8pm, after 12 hours and 13 lifts. The best is - Scott is living in London, Ontario where he has to be back on Monday. What a coincidence and so we agree to drive back together.

Even if I lost my faith in getting to Sudbury once or twice today, afterwards I can only admit that I would go for a hitchhike again. The people I met today not only have been very friendly and helpful but represented a cross-section of the Canadian society. Whoever wants to get to know more about this country should consider to travel by hitchhike once in a while......

However, Rob, Vroni and I go for some food, chicken wings and beer. The evening turns out to be really relaxed as the rest of the weekend, too. We chat the whole time, have to tell a lot of stories from the winter break.

January, 13^th 2001

Next morning we have a comfy breakfast, nobody's in a hurry, nobody wants to rush, just unwinding.

Some time around noon we walk to campus where we rent some xc skis and go on a loop trail. The track is set very nice but the skis are prepared with the wrong wax. But even changing the wax doesn't really improve out performance and additionally Rob takes a break cause he doesn't want to stress his knee too much. Vroni and I do another loop but give up afterwards as well. We pick up Rob in the library and take the groceries bus to the supermarket where we get everything to cook a delicious chili for dinner. Jerry - a friend of Rob - shows up a we have a great evening talking and watching a video.

January, 14^th 2001

Today we get up quite early around 9am but we have a breakfast feast and so we get started at about 1pm. We walk down Paris street until we reach Ramsey Lake.

Here we put on our snowshoes and head eastward across the lake. Our destination is a movies theatre in a far corner of Sudbury. At some point we head again for the shore, cross a street and already get to the next lake. Sudbury is spread over a beautiful landscape out of lakes and huge rocks. After we passed this lake, too, we are heading for the movies theatre on a straight route.

We climb some rocks and feel like being somewhere in the middle of nowhere just to get to a huge ultra modern movie theatre just behind the next rock.

We are for sure the only ones who ever came here with snowshoes, a real good felling.....

After the movie we decadently take a cab back to robs apartment where we much the rest of the chili. This evening shapes as the others before, good talks, some beers and a lot of fun!

January, 15^th 2001

At about 7:45am I get picked up by Scott in front of the house. On our way back we chat about this and that, finally he tells about this famous strip bar close to Toronto ;-))

He drops me off at an exit to highway 8, about 20 km away from Waterloo. From here a guy gives me a lift who just moved from B.C. to Ontario. On the backseat there are two Alaskan dogs which have to make room for my backpack. I get dropped of on Ottawa street from where I take to bus to university. The last part I walk back to the CLTs, this time it only took me 6 hours for the same route, much better...

The following weekends are booked already and I do have a whole bunch of new ideas. For sure I will try to catch a ride on a freight train, an idea the retired conductor was telling me about. Adventures are all around us, we just have to live them.....