Day 22 - Fredericton NB to Dartmouth NS

Finally, the last day.
We just have 4 hours left to drive from Fredericton to Moncton to Dartmouth.

Drive is pretty straightforward and quite pleasant but not worth pulling over for a photograph.

One thing we found as we drove across Canada is the lack of rest areas and pull outs where you could switch drivers or stretch the legs (we even brought a frisbee and the baseball gloves but never got a chance to use them)

We told our friends we'd be arriving at about 1400 and we walked up the driveway at exactly 1400 (I'm such a nerd).

Anyway we are here now and this blog is coming to an end.
Thanks to all those that followed our trip, it was interesting and a great experience.

Now the house viewing/buying process starts tomorrow (viewing many but buying only 1).

I'll finish this blog off by including a link to a Nova Scotian comedian who tries to explain the local accent and use of words. Enjoy!!

Peter Anthony - The Nova Scotia Conversation - CBC's Halifax Comedy Festival

Day 21 - Quebec City QC to Fredericton NB

Long day driving today so no sightseeing just a utility day.

Very pleasant dive as we skirted the border between New Brunswick and Maine in the USA.

The drive made easier by listening to audiobooks in the car, today it was Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams (the 3rd book in the 5 book Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy series).

Fredericton looks nice but unfortunately we do not have a lot of time to explore. As our hotel is on the outskirts we will take a drive downtown along the river as we head out for our final drive into Nova Scotia

Weather pretty good, mostly sun with a few clouds and a temperature about 30.

New Brunswick is our 7 province (BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, QC).

As luck would have it we have a craft brewery as a neighbour. Unfortunately they don't sell food so we went went out to a Thai restaurant for a curry and pad Thai. However we went to the brewery for desert and had a couple of porters.

Now during this blog we've talked a lot about drinking and I just wanted to clarify that we don't drink a lot of beer but do enjoy craft beers. Quality versus quantity.

Spoke to my real estate agent tonight and we have quite a lot of houses to view on Monday and Tuesday. Hopefully we can find something we like.

Just a couple of filler picture tonight (taken on cell phone), nothing that's going to earn me a Pulitzer Prize for photography 😄

Day 20 - Quebec City QC

A no driving day today as we headed back into Quebec City.
It's another hot day although not quite as hot as yesterday.
Temperatures today were about 30 with a humidex of about 35 so it's still hot and sticky.

We took the bus back into the old Quebec area and then took the stairs up to chateau Frontenac.
Chateau Frontenac is a grand hotel built in 1893 and has become synonymous with Quebac city.
It sits high on a bluff overlooking the old town.
It can be accessed by a funicular railway or by stairs....Julie forced me to take the stairs.

The chateau also offer great views of the St Lawrence seaway.

We then took the Goveners steps (quite a lot of them actually) up to the citadel.
The citaldel is still an active military installation and also the residence of the Governor General.
The citadel sits aside a large park called the Plains of Abraham which we also walked around.
This walking around the sights took all morning and we worked up quite a thirst so we headed back to the bar we'd seen yesterday, the one where people could paddle their feet while drinking.
It was very refreshing and the sun was lovely while we bathed our feet sitting on seats in the middle of the 'paddling pool'.

Julie had wanted to take the short ferry over to Levis just so we could get a view the sights from a different angle. However the sky got very black as we left the bar and it started raining, heavily.
Luckily we had coats but our sneakers and shorts got drenched. So we decided to eat lunch finding a restaurant that had room inside.

After lunch the rain had died down to only an occasional shower so we rode the ferry although the resulting photographs aren't that exciting due to the poor weather.

Below are a bunch of shots I took showing the sights including the quaint streets, Chateau Frontenac, the citadel ramparts and bridges etc.

Day 19 - Montreal QC to Quebec City QC

After a great visit we headed off to Quebec City, the Capitol city of Quebec.

Thankfully QC is a lot smaller than Montreal so the driving was a little better except for the weather.
The radio said temperatures would be about 36 (confirmed by my car temperature gauge) but with the humidity would feel like 45!!!

So we checked into our hotel and sat in our air conditioned room while deciding whether to venture out. Finally we struck up the courage to leave the safety of our AC and took the bus into town where we walked along the old town watching the yachts navigate the locks as then entered and exited the St Lawrence seaway.
We walked around an area called Petit Champlain and found a nice bar with outside seating where we  could enjoy a snack (ham and cheese sandwich = Croque Monsieur) and a beer while watching the myriad of tourists humming around the shops and lanes.

This was only supposed to be a recce trip so we'll be going back tomorrow and visiting more of the town.
I've included some photos below from today but it was hazy so the sky looks grey and uninspiring still you get the idea.

We were pretty interested in visiting the bar that allows you to place your chair in the fountain/pool as a way of cooling off 👍

35 degrees....perfect walking weather!

Civilized!

Day18 - Montreal QC

Today was shaping up to be quite a busy day so we started early while it was cooler.

Julie wanted to hike up Mont Royal.
Mont Royal is a volcanic based hill that sits over Montreal (and gave it its name).
It's 233 meters high and so deserves to be climbed.
After some heavy planning we set off for the metro to the closest station, except the closest station is on a steep hill, so we were worn out and out of breath even before we started the gruelling climb up the steps.

In actual fact it wasn't too bad and the views were nice as well as being significantly cooler with a nice breeze. We sat down at the 'chalet', basked in the sun and watched people come and go. They have a piano up there on the terrace that anybody can just go up and play. I must admit there are some very talented people who can tickle the ivories. I chose not to embarrass myself.
There were some great views of the city although a little hazy including the Olympic stadium in the distance (my zoom makes it look much closer).

We also walked around to the lake and generally checked the place out. Finally we took a different route back down to a different metro station which took us back to the old town.
Lunch was next so we had a Montreal smoked meat sandwich and some more poutine.

My friend Benoit had invited us for dinner. Ben is a colleague from Kronos where I used to work up until about 8 weeks ago. He lives with his wife Marie-Chantal in a log cabin. Ok, so perhaps not a cabin, more like a mansion but it is made of logs.
He bought 50 acres of land some years ago and has always had this dream of building a cool house.
Last year his dreams can to life when his house was ready for them to move into.
Ben and M-C were great hosts and it was great to see him again.
I've included a picture of his log cabin as well as his tractor (who doesn't have a tractor to play with on their 50 acres?)

Day 17 - Ottawa ON to Montreal QC

Luckily check out time is 1200 noon which afforded us plenty of time to go and watch the changing of the guard out on Parliment Hill. This event began as a morning routine back in 1959 and is based on the same routine performed at Buckingham Palace.

It was a glorious morning with temperatures in the high twenties. It was impressive to see the soldiers in their serge uniforms and bear skin hats. It reminded me when I was on military parade at the dockyard in Bermuda. I was part of the colour guard and had been standing out in the blazing Bermudan sun for too long. A couple of us had already passed out (fainted), a tricky situation when you have bayonets attached. I felt myself loosing control, my vision turned yellow so I came to attention, did a turn and marched off and got the approval of the gunnery Sargent.

I've included some photos of the guards as well as the band. I was also interested to see the guard commander inspecting each rifle barrel during the inspection. Don't know if I'd feel comfortable sticking a rifle in my face even though I know it's not loaded.

After the changing of the guard we packed up and left. Our hotel was just by the Ottawa River and within moments we were across the bridge in Gatineau Quebec where all of a sudden all of the road signs were in French only. Most we could figure out, some other warning type messages were a bit more challenging so we drove on, ignoring them hoping we wouldn't disappear into a big hole or something

Getting into Montreal was a real challenge as there were considerable road works all around the hotel and Detour signs everywhere. We joked that Detour was going to be the new name of Montreal as it was on more signs. Finally managed to checked in and decided to go explore.
The sun was hot and temperatures were now around 30 degrees.
We walked down to the Old Port and Old Montreal before finding a restaurant on place Jaques Cartier where we needed a pitcher of beer to quench our thirst. We also tried poutine for the first time. I know it's served all over Canada but I wanted my poutine to come from Quebec. Have to say it was delicious but what's not to like? Fries and gravy and the cheese curds were icing on the cake.

A final fun picture is the I took while walking past a bar. Here they have Budweiser dispensers with a spigot. A bit better than a plain ordinary pitcher don't you think.

Day 16 - Toronto ON to Ottawa ON

After a couple of nights in Toronto it's back on the road as we head east to Ottawa.
We skirt Lake Ontario our 3rd and final of the Great Lakes (Michigan and Erie will have to wait for another trip).

Most of the drive is along the 401 but thankfully it gets a little better once we get out of Hogtown.
In the north east corner of Lake Ontario is the start of the St Lawrence river that ultimately leads to the open ocean.
Where the river joins the lake is called Thousand islands. In actual fact there are 1800 little islands.
This region also gave us the Thousand island dressing that was first created by a local wife for her fisherman husband which then spread to other wives and then a restaurant menu and, well I think you know the rest.

We stopped off at the Thousand island national park but the weather was wet and cloudy so I will include some photos but it wasn't the best time for taking pictures. We also spotted a birds nest in the eaves of a small shelter which contained a bunch of baby Barn Swallows.

We then headed north and then entered Ottawa. We stopped by the Rideau river where (if we had the time) we could of rented some kayaks.

We finally got to the hotel and after a short break went to investigate. Thankfully the weather started improving so after walking along the locks at the start of the Rideau canal we went to a pub in Byward market where we dined alfresco.
By the way (pun intended), Ottawa was originally called Bytown after lieutenant colonel John By, an English army officer back in 1826.

I got a little snap happy as we walked around Ottawa en-route to parliament hill so have included a number of photos below. The final picture is tip of the hat to our old neighbours when we lived on Mill Street, it looks like they missed a golden opportunity 😄