beach and kayak

beach and kayak
Originally uploaded by Keith Hartley

So what exactly am I doing in Tobermory Kayaking on a Saturday? And why have I not disappeared?

Well this post should be the first of many, specially cause I figured out how to link my photosite with my blog.
Anyho why I'm here:
I landed myself probably one of the sweetest jobs ever; working for a company that makes digital maps (www.TeleAtlas.com) they do mainly road information sourcing for company's like tomtom gps, and google maps.

One of the methods they use to source this information is by actually checking information from the ground with a mobile mapping van (MMV for short). This van has cameras, GPS and lasers in order to measure road attributes like how fast one can go, where you can turn, or whither or not there is even a road there at all.

Because of the vast territory to cover (all major roads in Canada) there's alot of travel involved. Hence one of the main reasons I wanted to work for them.

I flew to Toronto for initial training for a week, then they sent me on my way. I was assigned central Ontario along bruce and grey counties.

This is a beautiful area Because of the escarpment, and other erosional features. Interestingly enough many of the small towns around here are growing rather than shrinking due in turn to the large population that hates the city.

I almost finished this area, and was going to move to western ont, but unfortunately some of my equipment has failed and i'm waiting for new parts. I'm essentially stranded in tobermory for the time being, which isn't that bad of a place to be stranded. Two nataional parks, warm people, nice shops, Tobermory is one of the warmest towns that I've encountered so far. For example yesterday, I rented a kayak (seen in photo) then went to some islands in the area, ate whitefish and was invited to the legion for sing karaoke.


Over the last week, I've hung out in caves, swam hiked, overlooked things, and went flying for a bit. (some of which is in my flickr page. www.flickr.com/photos/keithh) As well as met many interesting people.

Unfortunately my batteries running out on my laptop and I should get moving. More updates to come!