When they charge you more than 30 dollars per night for a lousy dorm room in a crappy hostel, low-budget backpackers like yours truly don't stick around for too long. No worries though, it's all about knowing people who won't mind having a mattress in their living room. It's actually the secret to how I can afford to travel Canada for a month...

This was also how I sorted out my accommodation in Calgary, where I stayed with Devan in his house. The night I got there, we took the bus to the local bar after getting money off the bank, buying stamps at the post office, and stopping by his friend's house.

In Calgary (the real Calgary, not Calgary Heritage Park :)), I had the convenience of borrowing Devans mountain bike which I took for a couple of rides through downtown and a couple of parks. Great to be able to rip around on a mountain bike again, my screwed-up knee didn't even annoy me that much. I wouldn't say that Calgary is unique in anyway, although you might have a hard time finding a city with more construction - everything is being demolished and rebuilt due to the oil wealth. For example the condo Devan has bought, which is no more than a hole in the ground at the moment. It does, however, have an amazing skate park and a couple of nice little parks full of Canada Geese and people ready Harry Potter ;-)

Devan and his occupation fits right into Calgary, as he works for his dad driving heavy equipment at construction sites. On friday I got up reeeeeeealy early in the morning and joined him as a co-pilot in an 18-speed water truck. I had a go driving the truck for like 20 minutes, which taught me that shifting 18-speed gearboxes require a bit of practise :)

Devan recommended a bike ride on Nose Hill in Calgary, a pretty big nature reserve, with lots of hills, drops and bums. Really good fun! Not as steep as our mountain bike trail at home, but it was decent, and the good thing about Nose Hill is that there's not that many trees to crash into :-D

More to come...