Hello everyone!

I rushed across the vast plains of the Canadian prairies, aided by the monotonous, deliberate passage of the Greyhound bus. The journey from Winnipeg to Sault-St.-Marie is the longest single leg of my Canadian adventure to date, reminiscent of those gargantuan expeditions undertaken in Argentina, when I would cover distances comparable to travelling between London and Casablanca in a single sitting. Ah, those were the days.

The reasoning behind such a hare-brained scheme I have already touched upon previously. There was to be a huge gathering of distant relatives in Sault-St.-Marie and I was set upon attending the action, after being invited by Jacki whilst visiting her out west in Nanaimo. Benefits would include copious amounts of eating and drinking in the company of friendly, interesting and interested Canadians, offering me a wonderful glimpse into a moving picture of one extended family's life in this beautiful country. Oh, and I would also have chance to rendezvous with uncle Steve, aunty Sue and my amazing cousins, Jo and Ali, not to mention Jo's awesome boyfriend Ryan and Sue's fantastic dad Smudge. These advantages far outshone the sacrifices entailed by working to a tight timeframe; namely, spending a mere two days in Winnipeg and then cutting a great swathe through eastern Manitoba and western Ontario - including th…

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