Swift Current, Saskatchewan

The world is divided into two parts: the sky and the land. The sky is above and the land is below. The sky touches the land everywhere. The land touches the sky everywhere. The sky is the same size as the land. People live in between sky and land. What happens in the sky determines what happens to the people and to the land. Sun, rain, wind. But the people can control the sky by dancing the right sort of dance and chanting the right sort of chant.

Chaplin, Saskatchewan

I had to get up and go over to the bushes by the tent about seven times last night - once for every cup of coffee - so I didn't get a lot of sleep and got a late start, but the going was good today. Hardly any wind, except for a couple of hours when it got up a bit, and warm and sunny - wearing shorts and t-shirt for the first time in a while. Did 90km - could have done a bit more but after Chaplin there isn't a lot, whereas here there's a truck stop with a restaurant with wireless internet plus a free campground - free because it looks like it's shut down. No showers, no electricity, no water, no other campers. The gas station here is closed as well, but the restuarant is open and I've just had an excellent soup followed by a Zesty Meatloaf with a baked potato and vegetables, dessert to come - all for $8.95 (less than £5). That's another good thing about Canada - you can eat out really cheaply. More cheaply than buying food in a supermarket - I spent $25 this morning on supplies - granola bars, bread, cream cheese, tomatoes, chocolate brownies, peanuts, nutella and bananas. I invented a very good sandwich yesterday - nutella (a chocolate hazelnut spread) and bananas: great for breakfast, lunch or dinner, as a main course or dessert. I seem to have developed a sweet tooth since I've been here. Don't know if it's the cycling that makes me need more sugar or whether it's this country. They seem to be into sweet things here. Coffee and doughnuts shops all over the place, plus ice cream shops, and many people seem to spend the evenings a places like that rather than in bars. In quite a few towns I've been through the coffee and doughnut place or the ice cream shop have been the only place open.

I climbed the first proper hill I've climbed in about three weeks today. The landscape is changing. It's been almost totally flat ever since Kenora, Ontario, and wall to wall fields. I've seen a lot of combine harvesters, harvesting their combines, but now the landscape is more wild. Rather than crops there are now cows in fields which don't appear to have edges. The cows all stare at me as I go by. Some of them are bulls and they give me really hard stares. When the cows are sitting down they often stand as I pass, out of respect I guess.

It's another 89km to Swift Current, which looks like a reasonable sized town. That's where I'll aim to get to tomorrow, then it looks a bit barren until I get into Alberta, which'll probably be the day after the day after tomorrow. It's supposed to get flat again in Alberta before the foothills of the Rockies start.

I'd better pace myself on the coffee tonight. Two cups so far.

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

I don't know why they call this place Moose Jaw but they do. I haven't asked though. Maybe I should ask the waitress the next time she comes to refill my coffee - I'm on the third cup now.

Today I cycled from Regina, only 72km away but it was tough going due to a strong South-Westerly wind. Even though for the past few weeks, ever since Kenora, Ontario, it has been almost totally flat, the wind has been a problem. As someone said to me today, that's what we have here, wind and sky. There is certainly a lot of sky but that doesn't bother me. The wind does. I've had one day in the past week when the wind was behind me, and it made a big difference.

I can't remember if I've said all this before or not. It feels like I have.

The waitress says that it's called Moose Jaw because the river that runs through the town is in the shape of a moose's jaw.

Fourth cup.

One of the good things about Canada is the bottomless cups of coffee. It's very weak coffee though.

What other good things are there about Canada? The people. Very friendly, very chatty and very laid back - I've hardly ever seen a Canadian angry. Maybe I should try provoking them a bit. A barman in Montreal got a bit angry with me for not tipping him when he poured me a beer - which is one of the bad things about Canada. If they ask for $5 for a beer but really they want you to pay $5.50 or $6 why don't they just put the price up and charge what they want to be paid? I never know when to tip and when not to and it makes me feel when people are being nice are they just doing it in the hope of getting a good tip?

I think mostly they are being nice because that's the way they are and I'm probably being too cynical, but I don't like tipping when people are just doing their job. If they want more money they should go on strike.

Another bad thing is the cars, and pickup trucks, and trucks. Too many of them. And the assumtion that everyone drives. Distances measured not in miles or kilometers but in how many hours it takes to drive there, though I've gotten used to that, so now when they say it's about an hour's drive I know that means a day on the bike.

And when I check into campsites the forms always ask for my licence plate number, even when I'm wearing cycling shorts.

It's easier to be critical than to say good things. The main good thing has to be the people though, and that outweighs all of the bad things.

Regina, Saskatchewan

I've spent today in Regina editing video, now that I've got the laptop back - thanks to MacHelper of Winnipeg. The hard drive was OK so I've been going through the video I had on there a month ago, which was of leaving Maine and arriving in Quebec. For some images see my video stills site.

When I get the chance I'll go through the rest of the video, grabbing stills and uploading short excerpts, but I've now shot 33 tapes, each tape an hour long, so that's going to take a while, and if I spend too much time doing that I won't have time for cycling. And since I'm living in a tent most of the time it's a bit awkward.

The days are getting shorter now. Fall and autumn have both definitely arrived. The leaves on the trees are turning yellow. I didn't think there would be trees on the praries but there are. And they are not totally flat. I've been going steradily uphill since Winnipeg, and Calgary, about 8 days away now, is at an altitude of I'm not sure what, but higher than here.

I've been told there's already snow in the Rockies, though at this time of year if you wait a day or so the snow will be gone. I guess when I get to Calgary I'll have a better idea of what I'm in for. The Rockies will certainly be cold, but I know there are a number of hostels I can stay in there, and there will be motels, so I should be able to avoid camping out at high altitudes, though I now have a new sleeping bag, rated down to minus eighteen degrees, so if I have to I should be warm enough. The problem I've found recently (always in fact) has been getting up in the mornings. More so now than before because the mornings are really cold and my sleeping bag is really warm.