Tres Chic

Imagine you are in the 7th arrondissement. You could, easily, but that might offend both the French...and the Quebecois! In Montreal there are beautiful parks (merci Le Notre), low-rise apartments in the Parisienne style, boulangeries, and cafes with tables and chairs in the sun - even when it's 9pm.

Late evening sun and a restaurant

Our apartment, in one of the iconic buildings (yes, you can find them on postcards), was in Rue Laval, handy to parks, restaurants and the metro.

We took advantage of this and zoomed around with our metro pass to the historic downtown area. We checked out the majestic town hall, Notre Dame Cathedral (why not?), various walking streets and the spot where the French apparently first established Montreal.

But don't presume Montreal is all retro faux-Parisienne chic. It does modern well too. The locals are proud of two major international events.

1) The 1976 Olympic Games (think Nadia Comaneci)

2) The 1967 World Expo.

We know they are proud of the first because you can visit the Olympic site and take a ride up to the top of the stadium on a funicular. The rest of the precinct is now museums and a cinema complex.







The 1967 World Expo has worked its way into the city's psyche. The island used for the Expo was created over several years with a truck of soil being deposited every minute for 2.5 years (that's not a typo...every minute for 2.5 years). Maybe you're getting the drift about the underlying tenacity exhibited by Canadians in general.

Rue Sherbrooke

So, they build an island. Then they recruit young women to represent each country at the Expo. Some of the country pavilions are still there (we checked them out from a boat cruise on the river).

Many of the young women recruited for the Expo are immortalised on film and through their costumes which are currently on display at McCord Museum in the Mode Expo 1967.

Almost the Champs-Elysées

Expo fun fact: when the Australians saw the British outfits (which had mini skirts) the Aussies had their's adjusted so they were shorter. It also appears they ditched the gloves and hats.


Armed with this insight into Aussies abroad, we ventured into Rue Sherbrooke with its galleries, upmarket hotels, street art, high-end fashions and Champs-Elysées air, looking for a photo opportunity.

Found a couple!

Not So Incy Wincy

Arachnophobes should look away now, because this spider is anything but incy wincy. Dwarfed by this sculpture outside the art gallery in Ottawa, we speculated about the rain needed to wash this beauty out of its water spout and onto the forecourt.

On show when we visited was art stretching from moccasins and walrus teeth carvings, to striking pieces like this one painted by what we presume to be a Canadian St Kilda supporter. We especially appreciated the despair and disbelief in the faces of the crowd.

The three game losing streak, represented by the central panel, adds depth to the anguish.

Lumberjack alert

In happier news, we were delighted to identify the recurring trope of early musicianship, the lumberjack, shown here in the pre-flannel stage of development.

Paying attention

As incy wincy foreshadowed, the artwork has started a long term strategy to escape the gallery and make a bid for power throughout the city.

We were only able to identify a few of the photo opportunities in the time available. 

Picto-what?

Indigenous art at Yankee Hat

It's a long way from Yankee Hat in Namadgi National Park near Canberra to the Shores of Gi chi Gamiing (Great Lake) in Ontario, but they share a common feature. Both have fabulous Indigenous art.

Yankee Hat is a great day walk to a rock shelter and overhang. At Agawa Rock, Gi chi Gamiing, there is also a rock shelter, but rather than being in a grassland setting, this is perched on the edge of the lake. The waves lap the ledge.

Canoe and Serpents at Gi chi Gamiing

On the Shores of Lake Superior

The Ojibwe art, described as pictograms, can be reached via a walk through a gorge filled with ferns and lichen. According to the information at the site, the Ojibwa people had been in the region for almost 9,000 years.

David near Agawa Rock

Near Agawa Rock

Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs

Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs, those 1970s gastronomic delights, have nothing on the food fads we've uncovered in Canada.

Even the Scots, whose kilts are a-quiver at the thought of deep fried mars bars, will have to do better if they want to restore their reputations for artery-hardening, sugar-induced psychosis.

Don't worry if chicken and gravy is not your thing...this is only the warm up! Knock it back with some fries (like cowboy boots, they go with almost everything).

You can have a sweet treat to 'round out' your meal. This is where the choices really 'expand'.

Here's how it works. Think of something sweet. Any thing at all. Deep fry it. Roll it in sugar. Or add chocolate. Chocolate is bound to be good.

Surely this is enough to excite those who could gobble a whole pack of the Bliss Bombs in a single sitting.





You can try the deep fried cheesecake, or for the young at heart, the deep fried oreos. What's not to like about a deep-fried chocolate biscuit?


I'm all for innovation, so here's a recipe suggestion that was not on the menu.

Don't just deep fry the cookie. Wrap the oreo in ice-cream, deep freeze it and then deep fry the whole thing. Just like deep fried ice cream, only better.

The best part is that you can add topping, marshmallows, sprinkles, whipped cream and nuts.

That would be something to get your teeth into!

Cowabunga!

Thunder Bay lives up to expectations because:

* it is the martial arts capital of Canada (we read the sign so it must be true)

Excitement in the 9th

* the Thunder Bay Border Cats thumped their cross-border baseball rivals the Mankato Moon Dogs 8-7 on Thursday night

* you can be hit in the head in any disc golf zone (hey - we've only heard of it recently too...go look it up!)

Don't forget to duck

* you can shoot the rapids in Boulevard Park (and if you are a salmon, you can navigate the thoughtful fish ladder back up river to spawn)

Rapids downtown

Walking around Lake Boulevard

Lake Boulevard one side of the weir...the other is Lake Superior

* the fireworks at Fort William Historical Park lit up the night with the biggest display outside the capital (Ottawa for those who are asking).

We enjoyed this pragmatic and industrious town. Next time you here, also check out the Lake Superior marshlands (home to flowers, birds and deer), the Museum full of local social history (including the shipbuilding, docks, commercial and mining sectors), and chat with the friendly locals at the Blue Door Bistro (been to Australia in the past) and at the Bight (now chock full of information about how to have a good time in Melbourne). 

Zombie Moose

'The best way of being kind to bears is not to be very close to them.' I considered this sage advice from Margaret Atwood as we left the prairie and Winnipeg behind and arrived in Kenora, situated on the Lake of the Woods. Of course, we all know about bears and woods, right? Even so, we encountered a sign that put this part of the world into perspective and made me wish I'd opted for the bear spray.

Not your average bear

Wildlife appears to be on most people's minds in this neck of the woods. We know this because:

* We drove past a deer casually eating the grass in front of a home on 2nd Avenue

* All the children's pyjamas in the shops were covered in fish, moose or bears

* You could buy a hunting license on the way into town

* Canada geese and their goslings were swimming on the lake

*Signs on the highway indicated zombie moose waiting to eat your car at night.

Nightmare on Elk Street?

Thinking about all the good times at the Boathouse in Canberra

The area around Kenora filled us with delight, not least because we were able to settle in at the Boathouse and enjoy the lake as the sun went down. We chatted with our 'hostess with the mostest', Alice, who was once on the Canadian swim team, whose father worked maintaining the TransCanada Pipeline, and who one day hopes to study medicine.  

Meanwhile she's dishing up food with the small talk, letting us know that not only does it snow in Kenora, but in winter the lake freezes over. Apparently people drive across to a nearby island. Hope they pack their anti-freeze and their insurance.


We decided to keep driving before any hint of winter appeared and lost count of the lakes and rivers we passed on the way to Thunder Bay. We're hoping it doesn't live up to its name because we're off to the ballgame tonight.

We'll let you know how the hotdogs and beer work out in the ninth!

Near Kenora

Gordon Lake? George Lake? Little Joe Lake?

Maple Street?

Who knew that Maple Creek was just waiting to be discovered by the intrepid Maple Dixie? Surely the highlight was the fabulous cutouts on the signs throughout this town a few kilometres off the TransCanadian Highway.

Maple Street in (where else?) Maple Creek

Maple Creek is one of the many rural communities dotted across the Canadian prairie between Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw. We visited quite a few of these communities that are surrounded by wheat, corn and canola. The huge fields have no fences and no trees - it's a green Nullarbor!

All that grain has to go somewhere

Even out here, the smoke from BC continued to make an impression with a hazy sky. Luckily we found a few places to stop, enjoy a change of scene, and even enjoy a few respectable coffees.

David in Maple Creek

Trainspotters will be excited to know that there are any number of long, looooong, trains carting produce across the country.

Trainspotter alert!

We also enjoyed some Canadian hospitality at a B&B in the oldest house in Moose Jaw and read up on the history of the area and tested out the pancakes and maple syrup.

Breakfast reading

After all this sitting and eating, Maple is off to do a little walking and contemplate a new exercise regime!

Badlands

Although I hid behind my hands for parts of Jurassic Park, I've been fascinated with the treasures to be found in what is often called 'the badlands'. 

At Drumheller, the Royal Tyrrell Museum has stories about how workers in a range of industries - construction, mining, roadbuilding - have found amazing fossils while digging around Alberta. The  museum runs a research program that helped identify Albertosaurus (think T Rex on steroids) or Edmontonia, an armoured plated herbivore.

In Australia you can visit Winton and check out Australovenator wintonensis, or Diamantinasaurus matildae. You can even help dig them up. In Alberta, although it seems almost anyone can find a new species of dinosaur fossil, you need to be a researcher with a license to remove dinosaur bones from the ground. 

Looking at the dinosaur tracks, you can imagine the ghost of these creatures chasing each other through the muddy riverbed.

Here at Drumheller in the Canadian Badlands, you can also take a walk back in time, exploring the fossil record and thinking about how fast you would have to be to outrun a dinosaur.

It seems that's about 40km/hour (or around 25miles/hour).

Which is just a fraction more than my best time sporting flip-flops in the mud.

Rangeland Rumpus

As you saddle up next o the likes of Qwint Stroh (novice roc rider from North Dakota), Timber Moore (tie down roper from Texas) or Cody Coverchuck  (bull rider from Saskatchewan) here are some tips for making the most of the Calgary Stampede.

Hold onto your hat! You'll need it if the 70,000+ attending yesterday come out again to enjoy the sunshine today

Blend in and get with the program

Be up front like Tiany Schuster - 16.99 seconds, flying start, left hand turn Stampede record and Barrel Racing Champion seen here doing her victory lap

Be bold as brass like the official Stampede Band

Enjoy the Rangeland Rumpus

Fred-heads

It all began on a freezing day in Canberra when Fred Eaglesmith, who had been keeping us company on road trips for years, 'popped in' to say hello.

On this occasion he wasn't singing about big trains, big cars, big hair or other big catastrophes. He was selling tickets for his show at King Eddy's in Calgary and we decided to skip the long distance conversation for a chance to hear him in person.

In Calgary they only let you into the venues if you're wearing a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and a western shirt, or are accompanied by a responsible adult.

Under adult supervision at King Eddy's

Luckily for us, fellow 'Fred-head,' Jackie and her friends were happy to escort us to a front row seat and provide the adult guidance necessary for this type of show.

Those familiar with Fred will appreciate his straight-talking as well as his music. Those with man-buns probably won't. Fred was unable to identify any of these trouble makers in the crowd, so the night progressed as expected.

We kicked back with a few locals, a few laughs, a few tips from Jackie and her like-minded friends, and a few local beverages.


In keeping with his rock star status, Fred was happy to pose for autographs and photos. We were lucky to get away with a T-shirt.

Rock star and groupie

If you've never heard the word 'Fred-head' before you'll be pleased to know we are waking up with one this morning!

Rock Stars

If you've ever dreamt of being a rock star, then you'll know it involves not only an excited crowd, but a great show and heaps of travel. Today was one of those days.

Setting out from the 'big smoke' of Kelowna, we travelled along the Okanagan Valley towards Lake Louise and Banff. Although the wildfires (bushfires) around BC were still burning up the pine forests, the morning radio happily announced that the air quality index was 11 (down from 36) on a scale normally in the range of 1-10. We took that as a positive sign and beetled up the road past red barns and an Angus cattle farm to spot this gem at Grindrod:

Gordon's New and Used (the Angus farm should have been a give away)

Perhaps the desire to recycle goes with the name!

Further up the road we drove through Sicamous, self proclaimed  house boat capital of Canada. We have no reason to doubt this since there were at least 500 house boats on the lake there.

You'll be overjoyed to learn that Revelstoke, the home of one of Canada's newest and happiest grandmas, a neat pink and white Studebaker and any number of cafes nestled under the Big Hill, has also been hit by the Fidget spinner craze. We gave the Fidget spinners a miss at $8 and invested in a great sandwich for the same price at the Modern Bakeshop and Cafe where they also serve great coffee.

David soaking up some of the mountain atmosphere with the Revelstoke bears

The mountains came into focus a short while later as we ventured through the Glacier Mountain National Park. We spared a thought for the many railway workers who lost their lives trying to build the Trans Canadian Railway through Roger's Pass (thanks Science Centre Vancouver for the background scoop on this). We hope those taking the Rocky Mountaineer appreciate it too.

Every direction had breathtaking views, including at Lake Louise and Banff. It was around this time that the rock star scenario kicked in until it became apparent the crowds were here for the scenery, not for us and we realised we were part of the groupies and not in the band (sigh).

Chris at Lake Louise

Banff - even here it was hazy from the fires

Our favourite signs for the day were:

Beware of the (insert animal here) moose/mountain goat/big horn sheep/elk.

We finally made it to Alberta 'wild rose country' and would like to give a special commendation to the Road Maintenance and Construction Department teams across British Columbia whose work at various points on culverts, tunnels, avalanche protection, potholes, bridges, road widening, traffic light installation as well as verge management and mowing enabled us to enjoy the scenic splendour of the Canadian Rockies at the ideal viewing speed of 0-50km/hour!

BC's secret tourist support service slowing traffic to enjoy the view

Hope and Dreams

The Maple Mobile is on the road! We were dreaming of a VW Combie but settled for a RAV4 that will take us across the continent over the next few weeks on our quest for maples and a drinkable coffee.

In our dreams

Windscreen full of Hope

While we already had the dream sorted, we knew we were heading in the right direction when we saw this hopeful sign. The auguries amongst you will be as happy as we were!

British Columbia is in a heatwave that had us enjoying the cooler mountain drive from Vancouver to Kelowna through spectacular scenery with 'Beware of Avalanche' signs. Why Kelowna? Not only is it one of Canada's premier wine districts, it is also home to our friends Rick, Flo and Alana who have generously agreed to host us for a couple of nights.

David explains to Rick how the Maple Mobile made it this far

Naturally, Maple has some tips about staying cool (and being cool) on road trips.

Tip 1: Head for the cool places such as Coquihalla Summit 1244m and a refreshing 18C with splendid views.
Tip 2: Drink plenty of cool liquids like those on offer at the Mission Hill Winery tasting session. It was air-conditioned - the room, not the wine.
Tip 3: Hang out with cool people (see Tip 2).

Our favourite sign for the day was to the 'Bridal Veil Falls Tourist Attraction' - we bet it is!

And just to 'round out' this post, we'd like to make a special mention of:

• The homemade (vegan) vegetable samosas at the Merritt Visitors Centre Snack Shack
• Flo's Asian Buffet that continued the home cooked theme
• Flo's authentic Canadian Pancake and Maple syrup - just the one but it could easily feed a family of six for a fortnight.

Time for a short hibernation until dinner....