mentor trip

setting of to Manteca Calafornia at 3pm today with another driver. the bloke at H&R that does the orientation is of for a week when we're due to go in the classroom, so i think i'll be doing 2 trips to ca then the rockies before we can do orientation. today Barbara is moving in with the wife of the driver i'm going away with so that'l save on the hotel bill and give her some company. there may not be many post's over the next 2 week's as i'm not sure wether i'm going to take the laptop, but i am taking the camera and should have tons of photo's when i get back. normal service will resume soon

Testing times

Yay i passed my test. I got really nervous just before it started, then i made a right cock up of my pre trip, then started grinding gears for the first time in a week. But at the end i got a pass and i'm once again a class 1 driver. Here's a picture of the truck, it's a 1994 Kenworth and was first owned by H&R so it probably has about 2 million kms on it's back, and believe me it feels like it. When you brake hard it pulls violently to the left! you can turn the steering wheel half a turn each direction changing direction! The gear stick just flops about where ever it wants. And the clutch is so heavy i was limping for 3 days. So now i've got my ticket i can go on my mentor trip to california, can't wait.

The next big day

Well it's finally arrived, i've got my driving test wednesday morning at 9 am, so i'm feeling a little nervy. My instructor rekons i won't have any problems cos the road test is only 30 mins long! You have to show him a pre trip inspection first, which also takes about 30 mins, and the reverse is a joke, you have to reverse in a straight line into a coned bay. Then a 135 deg reverse into a bay on your good side and the unit and trailer doesn't need to be straight when youv'e finished! I'll let you know tommorow how i do.

Waterton National Park

still plenty of snow
The Prince of Wales hotel

Built in 1927

Bear country! This warning is on every picnic table

The town of Waterton

Took a trip today to Waterton NP in the rockies, and it was cold and snowy. In summer you can take a boat trip down the lake and into the US. The border cuts right through the lake. Today most of the lake was frozen. If we get a chance to go in summer we will definately visit again.

sparwood bc

This is the worlds biggest truck. You can walk round it and under it! The Titan was transported from a mine in Calafornia on 6 railway trucks to work in the bc mines. It now sits at the side of the road in Sparwood bc.

crowsnest pass

These pictures are of the Frank slide which is on the crowsnest pass. At 4:10 in the morning on April 29 1903, 82 million tons of rock thundered from Turtle Mountain and buried part of the mining town of Frank. In less than 100 seconds, the slide covered 3 square kilometers of the Crowsnest valley under a layer of rock 30 meters deep. It is estimated that more than 90 people died. When you stand at the view point looking over the valley, it feels very eerie yet peaceful, and it's hard to imaging what the noise must have been like.

henderson lake

This is Henderson Lake, it's about a 5 min walk from the sandman, it also has a japanese garden which looks good, but it's only open in summer, so if we get time, we'll go back to see it.

driver training

well i've just got back to the hotel after my second day on the road and i'm really tired. yesterday we were in a classroom doin the pdic course then two of us went out and did an hour each in an old kenworth. today we did a couple of hours each, learned how to couple a trailer and did a pre trip inspection, a good day overall. i can have a lie in tommorow cos we dont start until 12.30. going to go for tea soon so ta tah.

sunny lethbridge

this place is a restaurant

busy junction

downtown lethbridge







you can just see the rockies on the horizon

hi all been a steady day so far. we got talking to some other drivers last night and didn't get to bed while late. had a wonder over to the laundrette and got some washing done. then i decided to have a mess about with the camera and take some shots out of our room window to see if i can get them on here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN

just want to say happy birthday kevin.sorry we're not there but we are thinking of you, after all if it wasn't for you i might of had a proper job{only joking},thanks dad,happy birthday see you soon.

just got back from the airbrake course,which i passed. i think that was the easy bit, monday will be the start of the hard work so we'll see what happens.anyway we've got the weekend of now so we'll go spend some money and maybe have a walk round henderson lake.one thing about lethbridge thats getting on my nerves a bit is static. apparantley some people are more prone to it than others and i'm an unlucky one. everything i touch thats earthed i get a bolt through my finger.now i'm getting fed up of it so i pull my sleve down to open doors etc, then it builds up and i forget so i get a huge shock.

well were here.everything was covered in snow when we arrived,then it disappeared and got warm,now its snowing again.work starts tommorow.we've got our license's to swap and sign up for medicare,then i'll have to start reading up for the airbrake course on saturday.