Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Love this skiing!
Loved Mt. St Louis/Bluestone ski resort so much that we had a return visit on a perfectly beautiful sunny day, no wind, about -5 and little traffic or lift waiting. We are all getting into skiing/snowboarding in a big way and can't wait till our next trip which is Talisman on Tuesday. Have also planned atrip to Mont-Tremblant in Quebec which is very big and has a distinct European flavour about it. Too excited to take the camera onto the slopes at this stage but I will get some action shots soon.
Wanakita
Camp Wanakita is a fantastic escape from the daily grind located in the Georgian Bay about 4 hours from home. We headed out for this adventure on Friday hoping to arrive before dark as there was concern about finding our way. Getting detailed maps had been part of the task. What had been fascinating w
as discovering that there are not just 10 or 20 lakes in this area as is depicted on the larger maps but a gazillion little lakes all over the place. The area is a big attraction for Canadians who use it for weekend escapes. They say it is a picture in summer and fall also.
We entered the region after some good falls of snow and found everything completely covered in the white stuff (roads too unfortunately). It was magic.
On arrival we were allo
cated to our cabins holding up to 16 guests with a shower & toilet. Pretty basic but more than sufficient for our needs. The weekend was organised by the CLEE group (Canadian Exchange League) and we met teachers and families arriving all night at the main building which was where we ate all of our meals and did most of our socialising.
It was a cold weekend but warm and toasty inside so everyone spent many minutes dressing and undressing to go in or outside, including trading outside footwear for dry inside shoes or slippers. This is a typical past-time for Canadians in winter. At home in Waterloo we can usually avoid this routine as one moves from o
ne warm house to a warm shop or warm building of some discription (such as Tim Hortons) and requires a short 10 second dash in the cold. At Wanakita this is not possible as most activities are outside and we dressed for it. The walk to the main building is also a 10 minute brisk walk.
At breakfast on Saturday morning we were given 'the drum' on the way things worked at Wanakita including how meals were organised. Lists of activities were posted and we had t
o add our names to the events we wanted to participate in. Events included cross-country skiing, snow shoe walking, indoor games, broom ball, toboganing, climbing challenges and dog sledding to name a few. Jenny, Alex and I chose x-country skiing as our first activity and headed of all rugged up in the snow (it snowed for most of Saturday) to be taught how to x-country ski. Alex wasn't impressed with this activity so did not come back for the trek in the second time slot so headed off to one of the climbing challenges. Jenny and I headed out with about 30 others for a trek through the woods following one of the trails which extend for many kilometers. The trails are groomed daily to allow for skiers to get around although on this day you could not glide easily because the trails were covered with fresh sn
ow. About a kilometer along the track we were given the option to break from the main group provided we felt confident to do so. The tracks are well marked with a map at each trail intersection and the large group had a variety of ski abilities so 5 gung-ho x-country enthusiasts which including Jenny & myself, David & Jessica and Steve headed to places unknown in the wilderness.
This proved to be one of the highlights of the weekend as we forged our way through fresh powder snow trails, up and down hills, with the down creating some interesting stacks. With downhill skis you feel like you're 0n very long tooth picks
which have no edge so cutting into the snow to stop or turn is very tricky. About 5kms on, and after lots of hollering and yipeeing, especially from our fearless leader David, we came across the track groomer who was a big bloke in orange outdoor overalls that looked a bit like an oversized Jabawoki. And he had run his state of the art snow mobile off the edge of a bridge into a creek and was very stuck! So we spent about an hour helping him dislodge the machine using jacks and chains and winches. Jenny and Jessica of cause did all the supervising, and did a splenid job of it as we succeeded in removed the snowmobile from its trap much to the delight of Jabawoki who was going to go all the way to Australia to buy us a carton of our favourite beer.
The dogsledding on Sunday also proved a big hit with all and sundry. I was fascinated w
ith the whole event. A small truck arrived with sleds and dogs (in little pens) and began setting up by unloading the sleds first, attaching a tow rope then bringing out the dogs one at a time. As each dog was clpped to the tow rope an assistant (one of the onlookers) held the lead dog and the barking and excitment began. The dogs quite obviously new what was about to happen and were very keen to get going. So, by the time the 20th dog came out of the pens there was pandamonium. Dogs were barking, jumping up and down, pulling furi
ously at the tow rope (a bit like when Fred Flintstone takes off in his car) , clawing at the ground, eating snow, biting the tow rope, biting themselves, biting other dogs close by, fighting and growling at other dogs and generally going absolutely berserk! Finally, after some driving instructions, they were off. The first run was done at record pace with a couple of sleds tipping over at tricky places on the track but as the day wore on and each group had their turn things started to settle and the dogs got into a routine. Needless to say by the time we had our turn the dogs were completely stuffed and barely got into a trot. So it was very safe to say the least but all in all a very enjoyable experience.
as discovering that there are not just 10 or 20 lakes in this area as is depicted on the larger maps but a gazillion little lakes all over the place. The area is a big attraction for Canadians who use it for weekend escapes. They say it is a picture in summer and fall also. We entered the region after some good falls of snow and found everything completely covered in the white stuff (roads too unfortunately). It was magic.
On arrival we were allo
cated to our cabins holding up to 16 guests with a shower & toilet. Pretty basic but more than sufficient for our needs. The weekend was organised by the CLEE group (Canadian Exchange League) and we met teachers and families arriving all night at the main building which was where we ate all of our meals and did most of our socialising. It was a cold weekend but warm and toasty inside so everyone spent many minutes dressing and undressing to go in or outside, including trading outside footwear for dry inside shoes or slippers. This is a typical past-time for Canadians in winter. At home in Waterloo we can usually avoid this routine as one moves from o
ne warm house to a warm shop or warm building of some discription (such as Tim Hortons) and requires a short 10 second dash in the cold. At Wanakita this is not possible as most activities are outside and we dressed for it. The walk to the main building is also a 10 minute brisk walk.At breakfast on Saturday morning we were given 'the drum' on the way things worked at Wanakita including how meals were organised. Lists of activities were posted and we had t
o add our names to the events we wanted to participate in. Events included cross-country skiing, snow shoe walking, indoor games, broom ball, toboganing, climbing challenges and dog sledding to name a few. Jenny, Alex and I chose x-country skiing as our first activity and headed of all rugged up in the snow (it snowed for most of Saturday) to be taught how to x-country ski. Alex wasn't impressed with this activity so did not come back for the trek in the second time slot so headed off to one of the climbing challenges. Jenny and I headed out with about 30 others for a trek through the woods following one of the trails which extend for many kilometers. The trails are groomed daily to allow for skiers to get around although on this day you could not glide easily because the trails were covered with fresh sn
ow. About a kilometer along the track we were given the option to break from the main group provided we felt confident to do so. The tracks are well marked with a map at each trail intersection and the large group had a variety of ski abilities so 5 gung-ho x-country enthusiasts which including Jenny & myself, David & Jessica and Steve headed to places unknown in the wilderness.This proved to be one of the highlights of the weekend as we forged our way through fresh powder snow trails, up and down hills, with the down creating some interesting stacks. With downhill skis you feel like you're 0n very long tooth picks
which have no edge so cutting into the snow to stop or turn is very tricky. About 5kms on, and after lots of hollering and yipeeing, especially from our fearless leader David, we came across the track groomer who was a big bloke in orange outdoor overalls that looked a bit like an oversized Jabawoki. And he had run his state of the art snow mobile off the edge of a bridge into a creek and was very stuck! So we spent about an hour helping him dislodge the machine using jacks and chains and winches. Jenny and Jessica of cause did all the supervising, and did a splenid job of it as we succeeded in removed the snowmobile from its trap much to the delight of Jabawoki who was going to go all the way to Australia to buy us a carton of our favourite beer.The dogsledding on Sunday also proved a big hit with all and sundry. I was fascinated w
ith the whole event. A small truck arrived with sleds and dogs (in little pens) and began setting up by unloading the sleds first, attaching a tow rope then bringing out the dogs one at a time. As each dog was clpped to the tow rope an assistant (one of the onlookers) held the lead dog and the barking and excitment began. The dogs quite obviously new what was about to happen and were very keen to get going. So, by the time the 20th dog came out of the pens there was pandamonium. Dogs were barking, jumping up and down, pulling furi
ously at the tow rope (a bit like when Fred Flintstone takes off in his car) , clawing at the ground, eating snow, biting the tow rope, biting themselves, biting other dogs close by, fighting and growling at other dogs and generally going absolutely berserk! Finally, after some driving instructions, they were off. The first run was done at record pace with a couple of sleds tipping over at tricky places on the track but as the day wore on and each group had their turn things started to settle and the dogs got into a routine. Needless to say by the time we had our turn the dogs were completely stuffed and barely got into a trot. So it was very safe to say the least but all in all a very enjoyable experience. Thursday, February 23, 2006
Mt St Louis/Bluestone
Very excited to test out our newly purchased equipment this weekend so we packed up the car and headed north, half an hour past Barrie to a ski resort with a good reputation called Mt St Louis/Bluestone. We were concerned that the day would be blizzardous as all weather reports indica
ted bad weather, dangerous roads, snow squalls etc. So off we went with some concern on Sunday morning, picking up another exchange teacher, Bola from Manchester, England, who is teaching in Orangeville, a small town NW of Kitchener/Waterloo and lives in an even smaller town called Fergus. On arrival at the ski fields the weather was sunny with a light breeze. We were all very excited and off we went onto the slopes. Alex took another board lesson and picked up a few more skills and is looking really confident. Jenny is understanding more and more how balance and weight shift over the skis help with her control. We came in to the cafeteria area, for a lunch break, which had an upstairs section for people buying food and a downstairs for the bring your owners. We got the picnic basket out of the car and within seconds, with the aid of a thermos of hot water, had hot noodles accompanied by vegemite & cheese crackers. Yum!
Back to the slopes to discover more runs and get some good skiing in on machine groomed powder. Pulled the pin at 3.30 after a fantastic day. We all talked about the next ski trip which is at Talisman with the Margaret Avenue school students and then maybe Quebec (Mont Tremblant sounds nice) as we drove to Barrie to drop in on another exchange family from Australia who we met on our Quebec City trip. They will be returning to Australia in June.
Cannot believe the traffic on the 400 going both directions on a Sunday evening. The 400 is a 4 to 6 lane duel carriageway heading north from Toronto through Barrie and bey
ond carrying ski traffic and cabin traffic (lots of holiday cabins scattered all over the lakes area around Georgian Bay are owned by Toronto people who use them as weekend getaways). These guys don't muck around getting to their destinations either. They were all doing over 120k/hr in a 100k zone, including trucks and buses. No fun in that so we got off the 400 as quickly as we could only to find the road from Orangeville to Fergus. This road at night is extremely treacherous, especially with the wind blowing. The road was covered in a fine mist of moving snow that swirled around or built up into piles on some corners where the wind was not blowing as hard. Needless to say we crawled along this road. The next day we heard in the news that 2 accidents, one fatal, had occurred on the roads in this area. All in all an excellent day, some great skiing, interesting experiences and a catch up with newly acquainted friends.
ted bad weather, dangerous roads, snow squalls etc. So off we went with some concern on Sunday morning, picking up another exchange teacher, Bola from Manchester, England, who is teaching in Orangeville, a small town NW of Kitchener/Waterloo and lives in an even smaller town called Fergus. On arrival at the ski fields the weather was sunny with a light breeze. We were all very excited and off we went onto the slopes. Alex took another board lesson and picked up a few more skills and is looking really confident. Jenny is understanding more and more how balance and weight shift over the skis help with her control. We came in to the cafeteria area, for a lunch break, which had an upstairs section for people buying food and a downstairs for the bring your owners. We got the picnic basket out of the car and within seconds, with the aid of a thermos of hot water, had hot noodles accompanied by vegemite & cheese crackers. Yum!Back to the slopes to discover more runs and get some good skiing in on machine groomed powder. Pulled the pin at 3.30 after a fantastic day. We all talked about the next ski trip which is at Talisman with the Margaret Avenue school students and then maybe Quebec (Mont Tremblant sounds nice) as we drove to Barrie to drop in on another exchange family from Australia who we met on our Quebec City trip. They will be returning to Australia in June.
Cannot believe the traffic on the 400 going both directions on a Sunday evening. The 400 is a 4 to 6 lane duel carriageway heading north from Toronto through Barrie and bey
ond carrying ski traffic and cabin traffic (lots of holiday cabins scattered all over the lakes area around Georgian Bay are owned by Toronto people who use them as weekend getaways). These guys don't muck around getting to their destinations either. They were all doing over 120k/hr in a 100k zone, including trucks and buses. No fun in that so we got off the 400 as quickly as we could only to find the road from Orangeville to Fergus. This road at night is extremely treacherous, especially with the wind blowing. The road was covered in a fine mist of moving snow that swirled around or built up into piles on some corners where the wind was not blowing as hard. Needless to say we crawled along this road. The next day we heard in the news that 2 accidents, one fatal, had occurred on the roads in this area. All in all an excellent day, some great skiing, interesting experiences and a catch up with newly acquainted friends.Friday, February 17, 2006
Snow Day
Well this is something different. Today all schools in the Waterloo district have been closed because of an imminent storm which threatens to bring freezing rain, winds and snow. Freezing rain has occured here before but not to the extent this storm promises. For all you geographers out there (this means you Paul) freezing rain occurs when the precipitation temperature is above zero and the air and ground temperatures are below zero. The rain lands on objects such as cars, roads etc and freezes thus causing extremely dangerous driving conditions. We have witnessed cars on the road sliding backwards downhill after stopping on iced sections! Black ice is another problem. This is where the ground might appear dry or even wet with r
ain but darker sections are actually ice and one must be careful of these sections on roads and footpaths. So we await todays weather deteriorating into a nasty storm but it is 12.30 pm and no sign of it yet.We have been skiing twice a week now since we got here at the local ski hill, Chicopee. It is a 15 minute drive from home and was actually built on top of the old garbage tip site. Canadians are very resourceful when it comes to making good use of land, especially around this region as it is very densely populated. Chicopee has all day lift tickets for $30 but Jenny, Alex and I have been going after school with the school ski club and have managed to get hire, lessons and lift tickets for free. Alex has converted to snowboarding and has just purchased a board, boots etc. She has got a real bargain as all the sales are on now. Jenny is very excited because she can finally ski with confidence and is really enjoying the slopes. She has progressed to blue intermediate runs and when she went back to the green beginner slope she was surprised at how flat it now appears. We hope to go out and purchase some skis & boots
today (weather permitting) so that we can use them here and also bring back to Australia. We are also looking forward to travelling to Collingwood, a large ski area with a number of ski resorts. I am especcially looking forward to this as Chicopee has very short runs.We also discovered a park in the middle of town which is obviously very popular in summer but not so when we walked through. Even though it was a sunny day with clear blue skys the temp was still -5 so kept the locals inside. We enjoyed the walking paths and crunching through the snow which felt like you were walking on corn flour. Alex wanted to walk on the iced lake as she saw signs of others who had tried it but we convinced her that it was not such a good idea since the lake would have very variable ice thickness and we were not going in to rescue her.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Quebec City
Travelled to Quebe
c City for the opening of the winter carnival, an annual event in Quebec. We had to get to Toronto and catch a bus at 10.30pm Thursday night. This bus travelled the 10 hours or so to get us to Quebec for breakfast at 7am. We toured through the old road to Quebec coming up the St Lawrence River, then onto the St Anne de Beaupre Basclica in which Jenny was dumbstruck by its size and majesty. A tour then of the old Quebec City which has very narrow streets and old buildings surrounded by a high stone wall to protect the
city from invasion, built during the British/French conflicts. We then attempted to check in to our hotel. The Hilton is right smack damn bang in the middle of all the sights (and sites) we wanted to see but took us some time to get in. Once in, the views from our room and on the observation floor were spectacular. We also planned to take advantage of the heated pool. A walk around the old city also include a tobbogan ride (very scary as the toboggan lifted out of the track a num
ber of times threatening to capsize and went particularly fast considering it had all three of us on board) and a lift back up the hill on the fanicular railway (a bit like the railway at the 3 sisters in Katoomba).
Because of our thrillingly comfortable bus trip up we were completely worn out by 5pm but revived ourselves to meet Bonholme, the festival patron and fireworks at 7pm. So we rugged up (it was very cold) and trudged to the festival sta
ge and jumped up and down to the music to keep warm whilst waiting for 'the man in white' to show. It was really a great experience even though we didn't understand a word (Quebec is a french province remember) of the introductions, the music and the celebrations were a blast even though the fireworks did not eventuate. I forgot to mention, we were told that all of the activities are outside at the festival and it gets very cold in Quebec City so make sure you wear plenty of clothing. They were not wrong, it was bitterly cold, even though Quebec and Canada have been going through a warm spring spell of weather, we Aussies, fresh from warm balmy 30 deg days, absolutely froze. Until we discovered Caribou, the local drop, and the fact that it is served heated!
Saturday was spent exploring again and included a trip to the falls and a visit to the Ice Hotel. The ice hotel is a hotel made from ice. It opens in the depths of winter for a few months and you can stay in it for about $300 a night. Guests are kept warm on skin underlays and
warm thermal blankets. Everything else is kept below freezing. The bar was an interesting highlight. We of course had to taste a local brew made from maple syrup (tasted a bit like Baileys) served in an ice glass.
Back in Quebec
City we arrived in time to see the end of the dog sled races which ran through the middle of town. Overnight, workers laid snow on the streets so the race could go through town. We were able to see the end of this event which had huge crowds creating a fantastic atmosphere rivalling any cricket match.
The rest of the day was spent looking at ice sculptures, riding tyre tubes down snow
covered slopes or rafting down the slopes or watching other events and activities. We came back out at night and while Alex and another daughter of an exchange teacher went tubing we hit the ice bar and tasted the hot Caribou. By the time we got around to having a swim in the heated pool it was closed. Previously people were jumping out of the pool and rolling in the snow before getting back in.
All in all it was a wonderful weekend and we meet some terrific people from all over the place coming from England, Scotland, South Australia and even Queensland (yes they have terrific people their too). We found out that some of these folk live right in Kitchener/Waterloo so we will be meeting up soon I hope.
c City for the opening of the winter carnival, an annual event in Quebec. We had to get to Toronto and catch a bus at 10.30pm Thursday night. This bus travelled the 10 hours or so to get us to Quebec for breakfast at 7am. We toured through the old road to Quebec coming up the St Lawrence River, then onto the St Anne de Beaupre Basclica in which Jenny was dumbstruck by its size and majesty. A tour then of the old Quebec City which has very narrow streets and old buildings surrounded by a high stone wall to protect the
city from invasion, built during the British/French conflicts. We then attempted to check in to our hotel. The Hilton is right smack damn bang in the middle of all the sights (and sites) we wanted to see but took us some time to get in. Once in, the views from our room and on the observation floor were spectacular. We also planned to take advantage of the heated pool. A walk around the old city also include a tobbogan ride (very scary as the toboggan lifted out of the track a num
ber of times threatening to capsize and went particularly fast considering it had all three of us on board) and a lift back up the hill on the fanicular railway (a bit like the railway at the 3 sisters in Katoomba).Because of our thrillingly comfortable bus trip up we were completely worn out by 5pm but revived ourselves to meet Bonholme, the festival patron and fireworks at 7pm. So we rugged up (it was very cold) and trudged to the festival sta
ge and jumped up and down to the music to keep warm whilst waiting for 'the man in white' to show. It was really a great experience even though we didn't understand a word (Quebec is a french province remember) of the introductions, the music and the celebrations were a blast even though the fireworks did not eventuate. I forgot to mention, we were told that all of the activities are outside at the festival and it gets very cold in Quebec City so make sure you wear plenty of clothing. They were not wrong, it was bitterly cold, even though Quebec and Canada have been going through a warm spring spell of weather, we Aussies, fresh from warm balmy 30 deg days, absolutely froze. Until we discovered Caribou, the local drop, and the fact that it is served heated!Saturday was spent exploring again and included a trip to the falls and a visit to the Ice Hotel. The ice hotel is a hotel made from ice. It opens in the depths of winter for a few months and you can stay in it for about $300 a night. Guests are kept warm on skin underlays and
warm thermal blankets. Everything else is kept below freezing. The bar was an interesting highlight. We of course had to taste a local brew made from maple syrup (tasted a bit like Baileys) served in an ice glass.Back in Quebec
City we arrived in time to see the end of the dog sled races which ran through the middle of town. Overnight, workers laid snow on the streets so the race could go through town. We were able to see the end of this event which had huge crowds creating a fantastic atmosphere rivalling any cricket match.The rest of the day was spent looking at ice sculptures, riding tyre tubes down snow
covered slopes or rafting down the slopes or watching other events and activities. We came back out at night and while Alex and another daughter of an exchange teacher went tubing we hit the ice bar and tasted the hot Caribou. By the time we got around to having a swim in the heated pool it was closed. Previously people were jumping out of the pool and rolling in the snow before getting back in.All in all it was a wonderful weekend and we meet some terrific people from all over the place coming from England, Scotland, South Australia and even Queensland (yes they have terrific people their too). We found out that some of these folk live right in Kitchener/Waterloo so we will be meeting up soon I hope.
My first blog in Canada
I thought that since I am in Canada exploring a completely new country on the absolute other side of the world I should create some kind of record of the events that come our way. A diary is too boring and I haven't got the patience for it, and you have to fiddle with images etc so I thought maybe a blog with pics of the trips we do would be neat. So here we go.Australia is on the other side of the world to Canada. It took us 30 hours to get here, it is 40degrees C different in temp (30 in Aus, -10 in Canada) and in another hemisphere, it is winter not summer, AND the toilets flush in different directions.
Alex, Jenny and I exited Australia on the 5th January 2005 at 7.30 am arriving in Toronto 30 hours later on 5th January 2005 at 6.30pm. We have been in Kitchener/Waterloo for 4 weeks now and have settled into a reasonably normal lifestyle. Many introductions have ensued, we have remembered about 20% of these people, we have traveled and explored and experimented at every step including shopping for winter coats, checking the prices at the supermarket, learning to drive on the right side of the road, traveling to Quebec City (this was a real experience) checking out the local area including Mennonites, covered bridges and experiencing life in the snow and cold!
