Blogging Across Canada (sort of) Part 6

As I said earlier, I'd been to BC once before in 1986. As I was 7, I didn't remember much about what I'd seen.

We drove the back, northern route, to BC, from Banff. First we headed to Squamish to visit family. We drove along the Fraser River, in a very dry part of the province. It's a huge river.

We also stopped in Whistler to see what they'd prepared for the Olympics.

From there, we went to Vancouver and then to Vancouver Island. When we camped in Vancouver, we stayed at a private campground that was in the city, near Stanley Park, hence, the barbed wire fence :)

In 2009, my mom and I went to Nanaimo, and then Victoria where we went whale watching. It was high on my list of things to do as I've always loved whales. Here's a pic I took on our cruise.

Mom and I stayed on the Island for a few days and toured around. We went to Cathedral Grove to see the huge trees. We went to Tofino, on the west coast of the island to see the surfers. We also went to see the "Goats on the Roof". This is a complex of stores, and the main store has goats living on the roof. It's planted with grass, they drink from the eaves troughs and they sleep in little huts all on the roof. It was pretty cool.



When I went back in 2010, I decided to go up to the tip of the island since I'd been to the bottom already. I camped my way up and finally made it to Port Hardy, the last town on the island. It is a very beautiful island. I stayed at Telegraph Cove for a few days, in the heart of the rain forest. I went on another whale cruise there and saw humpback whales. I also saw lots of puffins and seals. On my way back to Vancouver I took the ferry a lot, seeing many of the coastal communities in the area.

On the way home both times, I went the lower, more southern route. This brought me through the Okanogan area where there are tons of vineyards and orchards. It's very hot and dry in this area. The highlight for me was picking peaches right off the tree and then eating them. Delicious :)

In 2010, I drove past a forest fire being fought. I parked right beside a small river and watched as a helicopter scooped up water to help battle the blaze.

Would I drive out west again? Yes...but I think I'll wait for a little while, and try to fit in some of the northern territories.

 

 

 

These totem poles are in Stanley Park, in Vancouver. My dad's cousin, who works for the city, is responsible for keeping the totem poles painted and looking good. He is often phographed by tourists while painting, because they think he is Aboriginal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Blogging Across Canada (sort of) part 5

Alberta is a cool province. It's got prairies, mountains and everything in between.

Dinosaur Provincial Park is a very cool place. Loads of fossils have been found there and there are many cool land features. I spent the day there hiking ad seeing everything I could.

Hoo doos in Dinosaur Provincial Park
 

I spent some time in Calgary, where I stayed with family. I went to a concert at the Olympic site, went to the stampede and Heritage Park Historical Village. Then I headed north with my mom to Edmonton. We went to the West Edmonton Mall because I wanted to be able to say I'd been to the biggest mall in the world. It took us four hours to walk through it and that didn't include any shopping. It has an NHL sized rink, two hotels, an amusement park, a water park and a number of food courts. It's a pretty cool mall.

From Edmonton we headed to Jasper National Park and Banff National Park along the Columbia Icefield Parkway. One thing I really wanted to do was go to the Columbia Icefield before it melts. It was so exciting to see a real glacier. The temperature difference between the parking lot and near the icefield was nuts. Here's a picture of people walking on the glacier.

One thing I really wanted to see on this trip was a grizzly bear. My uncle didn't think it was going to happen, but as we were driving on the highway between Jasper and Banff one ran across the highway. It made my day!!

In Banff, my mom and I took the gondola to the top of the mountain. It was worth it for the view.

When I went back in 2010 I actually stayed in Banff NP. There was a huge lineup to get in and when we finally got to the desk to register they told us that a bear had been spotted in the campground the night before. I was really excited :)


Lake Louise

 On the way home, I went to Franktown. When I was in high school my geography teacher told us about the Franktown slide, and I wanted to see what he had been talking about. It was in the early 1900s, when, in the middle of the night, the side of Turtle mountain gave out and slid into the town. Luckily the slide did not completely cover the town, and only a few people died. There is no longer a town there, but there is a visitor centre and the slide debris has been left in place. It was only cleared where the highway goes through.

I would highly recommend touring Alberta. It's got a lot to offer!

Blogging Across Canada (sort of) part 4

In 2009 I decided that I would drive out west. I'd been to BC when I was 7, but that was it. So, I took a month and drove to Vancouver Island and back. It was approx. 13000kms round trip, but totally worth it. This post is going to focus on the Prairies.

I'd been to Winnipeg when I was younger, but didn't remember it so this was all new to me. I camped in Spruce Woods Provincial Park which was really cool because it has a desert. On Canada Day I spent time hiking in this Canadian desert.

I then headed to Winnipeg and went to the Forks where the Assiniboine River and Red River meet. Of course it was flooded ;) I also drove around until I found Valour Road (from the Canadian Heritage Minutes). When I went again in 2010, I ate perogies in John Candy's favourite restaurant. Delicious.
You always hear about how flat the prairies are, and Manitoba lives up to that reputation. You could see for miles in the distance.

Next, I headed to Saskatchewan. It was not so flat and this was really surprising to me. (I guess I fail as a geography teacher :( )

I've heard people say that the prairies are boring, but I loved Sask. (Hard to spell, easy to draw!) There was so much to see.

Did you know that cacti grow naturally in Canada? Did you know that we have rattle snakes in Canada? Did you know that we have black widow spiders in Canada? These are three things I learned while on this trip.

While in Sask. I was going to stay in Grasslands National Park on the border with the US. I was going to stay there until the park warden told me that if it started to rain I needed to leave right away or I might not get out. That settled it for me...I decided to find somewhere else to stay! There were a few minutes after leaving that I regretted this decision, as my gas was getting low and stations were few and far between. Make sure you're all gassed up before driving the backroads in Sask.

One final stop that I had to make was Roleau, Sask. I love the show "Corner Gas" so of course I had to go to the town where it was filmed. I visited just after they stopped filming the show, but this part of the set is still up, and they are keeping "Dog River" on the grain elevator.

If you ever get the chance to drive across the Canadian Praries you should do it!

Blogging Across Canada (sort of) Part 3

I was born in northern Ontario and spent the first ten years of my life up there. Since going to university in northern Ontario, I still return every year. Every summer since 2002 I've driven the 19 hours to Thunder Bay, along the north shore of Lake Superior. This drive along the north shore is my favourite. It is beautiful. The rolling hills, the violent (sometimes) lake, the wildlife...I love it all. The best is when there is a good storm.

When I was younger my family and I camped a lot at Pukaskwa NP and Neys PP. Neys PP is really cool because it was a POW camp during the second world war. Pukaskwa is cool because it has beaches covered in driftwood and sometimes has huge waves. If you ever get the chance to go to either I highly recommend it.

Pukaskwa

Neys

When I head up north I always make a few mandatory stops - the giant goose in Wawa and Winnie the Pooh in White River.

A few times I've driven past Thunder Bay to Madsen. It's an extra 7 hours, but worth it to visit with a good friend and her family. There's nothing like getting to the end of the highway and having to turn left or right. That's when you know you're north. I took this picture a few years ago on the highway to her place.



Stormy Lake Superior



This picture sums up Northern Ontario perfectly ;)

The one part of Ontario that I have yet to explore is South Western Ontario. I've been a few places like Niagaga Falls, Toronto and Hamilton but not many others. One place high on my list is Point Pelee National Park. I'll get there sometime soon.

Blogging Across Canada (sort of) Part 2

When I went out East I drove through Quebec and didn't stop because I don't speak French. Then, in 2009, my mom and I went to Quebec City for Thanksgiving weekend and I fell in love. It is my favourite city in Canada. When I first set foot in old Quebec I felt like I was in Paris again. Fantastic. I love that it's the oldest city in this country. So cool. If you haven't been you should go. I couldn't believe that I had lived 6 hours from this city for most of my life and I'd never been.

After that trip, I felt like I could handle another trip to La Belle Province. In the summer of 2010 I decided to head to the Gaspe Penninsula. I took a train from Ottawa. (It was 19 hours sitting beside a stranger...not recommended!) I rented a car and headed to Forillion National Park. It is a beautiful part of this country. I saw the Perce Rock, went on a whale watching cruise on the Atlantic ocean, and saw a gannet colony.
This colony of gannets is one of the largest in the world. They flock to this area to breed and people can get right up close to them (it's pretty stinky and noisy, but very cool to watch them).

Check our the colony on Bonaventure Island. A little less foggy than when I was there.
Gannet Colony

Blogging Across Canada (sort of) Part 1

My favourite thing is travel. I have a desire to see as much of the world as I can. I know it's going to take a long time, but I plan on seeing all of the places on my list.

As a proud Canadian and geographer, one of my main goals is to travel to every Canadian province and territory and see as much of Canada as I can. I started this journey in 2005 when I decided to go out east. I travelled to all 4 maritime provinces in eleven days.

As I'd been to PEI before, I spent very little time there this trip. I saw many of the highlights on main land (Bay of Fundy, Hartford Bridge, and Flower Pots) before I headed to Newfoundland and Labrador on the ferry. The ferry blew my mind. I'd been on ferries before, but never one this big. It had a full cafeteria, arcade, bar, movie theatre, and many other ways to keep yourself entertained for the 6 hour trip.

Panorama for Newfoundland Ferry

Newfoundland and Labrador is my favourite province. I like it so much that I considered moving there. Maybe one day.

You may have heard that it's a foggy place, and I can tell you it is. My first night there, after setting up my campsite, I headed to the nearest town to check it out. I was pretty disappointed, as it was so foggy I didn''t see anything (literally). The pictures below show the before and after shots of my campground.

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but even though I have a degree in geography, I didn't know that Newfoundland had mountains. Now that I know, I can make sure all of my students know.

Newfoundland is a much bigger province than I thought, so I didn't get a chance to see very much of it. I guess I'll just have to go back again :)

Welcome

Welcome to the Eng 4C dual credit blog.

Once you have your blogs set up, you will link them to this page so everyone in the class can access them.

The most important thing to remember for this assignment is to choose to blog about something you are interested in.
For example, I love to travel, so if I was actually creating a blog for myself, I would do it on that topic.