MY HOBBIES

I have many hobbies but not enough time for all of them. Here are some of them.

AUTOGRAPHS-I have lots of autographs, mostly from Montreal Canadiens players. One of my favourites is a signed photo of Jean Beliveau pouring champagne into the Stanley Cup. I got most of my autographs by mailing a card or photo to the player. I have others including Red Green's signature on a beer bottle. Recently I had Don Cherry and Ron McLean sign my Montreal Forum seat

BEER MAKING-Enough said. See my BEER PAGE

DIVING-I took my Open Water course in 1999 and have accumulated a total of 21 dives (12 of those on the Open Water course). I've done a river dive in New Brunswick, a dive in the Atlantic in Nova Scotia and all the rest around Victoria, BC. I just completed my Advanced course. One of the dives was on HMCS Mackenzie, a decommissioned warship purposely sunk off Victoria to create an artificial reef. I've seen all kinds of starfish, sponges, fish and other sea life. My deepest dive is 130 feet.

GENEALOGY-When I lived in St Thomas and I had a lot of free time (due to unemployment) I researched my family tree. I found about 1500 relatives but only about 20 of them are alive. I haven't found anyone famous on my side yet. Some people think I have the worst handwriting but now I can provide proof that one of my ancestors from 200 years ago had worse writing than me. Recently I've been researching Sonia's family tree. When Olivia is older I'll be able to tell her that her great (times 13) grandfather was the first person to make beer in Canada. Sonia has a few other interesting relatives, some sailed to Canada with the first explorers, some founded towns in Acadia (present day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) and a couple were captured and brutally murdered by Iroquois Indians. I've discovered the phrase "It's a small world" is true. A researcher who was helping me in St Thomas turned out to be a distant cousin. He had information on my family going back to 1325 in Holland. I also found a cousin of my mom, through the internet, and was able to visit her when I stopped in Sydney, Australia.

Sonia with Olivia and her mom. The field behind them is where Sonia's great (times 10) grandfather, Jacques Bourgeois, built one of the first farms in Canada about 350 years ago. Near Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.

GUNS-I have a fondness for fine firearms and would like to own lots of them someday.

This is one of my favourites, my Lee Enfield Number 5 Jungle Carbine with bayonet.

TRAVEL-I enjoy travelling around and seeing different cultures. I make it a point to try the local food and beer wherever I go. During my recent trip to the Persian Gulf I did some sight-seeing along the way. I drove around Oahu Island in Hawaii with some of the guys from the ship. In Fiji I discovered that the nice parts of the country must be at the resorts because they sure weren't in Suva, the capital city. Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is probably the most modern Arab city. Everyone speaks English and religion is not as strict as in the other Arab countries. Even if you hate shopping you could spend a fortune there. Many things are a lot cheaper to begin with and there are no taxes. A watch I bought there for about $120 Canadian dollars was $295 before taxes at a Peoples Jewellers in London, Ontario. On a day-trip into the desert I rode a camel and had an Arabian meal. I made 4 stops in Australia. There I saw a crocodile farm, kangaroos standing beside the road (they are easy to hit with the car, like deer in Canada) and the Sydney Opera House.

Out in the desert of the United Arab Emirates. September 2003

Updated: 01Oct04