Backpacker Buzz

During the Olympics I was expecting the HI Vancouver Central to be busy and was intrigued to find out who would be around – my first breakfast was a delight!

There ain’t no telling you might meet…. Maybe a movie star or even an Indian Chief… no hang on that’s wrong isn’t it…. Oh well….

So, with the hustle and bustle of the free breakfast being snapped up by the many people staying at the hostel, I too grabbed myself some cereal, toast, cake, coffee and juice and sat back to watch the happy throng…

It didn’t take long for two happy hostel-goers to join me for breakfast – perfect for a warm welcome to Vancouver… you can never tell who your fellow diners might be, but I was about to be impressed by both!

On the left of the picture is Lindsay Michael…. I could tell from the bright jacket that she is involved in the Olympics in some way… It turns out she has been helping to co-ordinate affairs with the incredible journey of the Olympic Torch! This has been no ordinary run around either – the torch has traveled over 45,000km, been help by 12,000 bearers, passed through around 1,000 communities and stopped off for 189 celebrations. It’s for this last part that Lindsay helped – at each of the 189 ‘pit-stops’ she helped organize choir performances involving the local people. As some places were big and others very small this meant everything from full community choirs down to barber-shop quartets!! What an awesome thing to be involved with!

On the right of the picture is Natalie Sorensen. Only in town for a few days she is here to support some old friends from the USA who are taking part in the womens mogul competition! Yes, that dangerous looking bump and jump run for which you seemingly need legs like shock absorbers! But, much respect must go out as it turns out that Natalie used to compete too and made it into several races on the world cup tour. One of her competition destinations was Breckenridge Colorado where I have just been for 3 weeks, leading people on the mountains for the Ski Club of Great Britain – freaky coincidence! I’ve seen people on the mogul run there and quite frankly ‘it looks mental’!! Her preferred place however was hitting the bumps of Banff – where as part of the Hostelling International prize I will head to in a few weeks! Unfortunately, after 4 knee surgeries Natalie had to call it quits. Here’s wishing all those bump specialists the best of luck and injury free runs!

I can’t wait to see who else is staying here at the hostel – it’s certainly busy!!

HB