Quebec In Words...

I am not sure what happened to all my Quebec photos but I can't seem to find many of them at all, (UPDATED PHOTOS FOUND AND PLACED AT THE END!) though I didn't take many I took more than I now have in my iphoto library. It's very suspicious.....  If I find them I will post them, but in the meantime I want to get my blog and you folks updated.

After Ottawa I went to Montreal and got to stay with my friends Emily and her brother Alex. It was wonderful to stay with them a couple nights and have a home base for a while. I got to explore the town more thoroughly that way. Montreal the town itself was beautiful. It felt almost as if I was in Europe with the duplexes that were made of brick with small patios out front and colourful or artistic walls.

My favourite part was the plateau area where it is easy to walk around to all the different shops and parks. This is were I found the famous French food I had heard about and the trendy shops full of great clothes and arts. Alex and I walked down to La Fontaine Park where there were many picnickers and live shows for kids and live music. This whole area was my favourite part of Quebec. It felt relaxed, fun and full of life. This unfortunately is a contradiction of how I felt during the rest of Quebec. I was nervous just from the start because I don't speak french and can read it only so-so. I also felt nervous because I have heard stories of how awful it can be in Quebec for English people because of the stories about how anti-english they can be. I apologized for my lacking skills at every turn to people I met. They all seemed very kind for the most part, but I did get the taste of those stories on my first night in Quebec when a very angry man followed my friend and I as we walked to a local restaurant. He yelled at us to leave Quebec since we didn't speak French (which she did but we were speaking English at the time). Unfortunately I let me own fear hinder my enjoyment of Quebec and I was always on guard and felt very insecure about exploring incase I ran into another person like that and got myself into trouble. He wasn't the only one who treated me differently in an unkind way but there were just as any people who were nice to me too. It's funny how we remember the bad more than the good. I also explored the down town area by the water where the streets were for pedestrians only and the boats came and went. I ate down here but it was terrible tourist food that was mostly just burgers and fries (I ordered crepes but they were worse than my own!). The down town area was definitely over rated and over touristy. I also hiked up Mount Royal and tried the local bagels all of which was fun and delicious in that order!! I enjoyed Montreal quite a bit and visited a few other friends for Collage and High School. I got to eat a yummy breakfast with a theatre friend Sabrina and her two girls then had coffee later that day with my High School friend Sophia. It seems that Montreal, if not all of Quebec, is very good food oriented. I loved every moment of it!

The one thing that was really stressful was the driving, the laws are different here (no turning right on a red) and the lights are in different places than I am used to, but most of all the drivers are crazy aggressive. It took time to acclimatize to the ways of the road, but I did eventually figure it out and relax at the wheel.

Unfortunately it rained both times that I passed through Quebec City. And I don't mean a victoria sprinkle, I mean thunderstorms, wind and torrential rain so I didn't really get to explore it much except for a drive through which only made me want to come back one day to enjoy the Lower Town, despite my anxiety over my inability to speak French.

Once I passed through Quebec I was in New Brunswick which surprised me. I spent more time then I thought I would there, but that is for another post.....

Down near the Old Port

Super Touristy spot where food is terrible

So the sign on the second floor says a louer but it looks like it says a lover so I always did a double take every time I saw the sign :)

Notre Dame

The park I was talking about earlier 

Quebec City, though you can't tell that I was actually in the middle of a wind and rain storm at the time. 

Quebec City

This is in the upper area of Quebec city where the old Fort was. 

Blue lake, clear lake, big lake small lake baby lake mama lake joe lake lake lake lake lake......

 Here is my Ontario route. The trek took me five nights to travel through Ontario but I stayed in Toronto for three nights. After travelling for so long and camping for most of it I began to get tired and ready for some company with friends. So I stayed with Jeff, Mia and family and got to explore the city for a day. You must be patient though, I will give details later....

 So I really camped throughout Northern Ontario. I am getting pretty good at it. I am able to set up within ten to fifteen minutes max (including fire and dinner started).
Not to brag, but I feel pretty good about it. The great thing about Ontario is that they have trees, a big difference from the prairies, so I could put up a tarp without too much trouble. The interesting thing was the wood changed as I went across the country and within the provinces. Some burned better some burned much slower. So depending on the wood the fire could be a little tricky.

You have no idea how tricky it was to get this photo (self portrait)

 The first campsite I went to spoiled me. It was absolutely beautiful, with sandy beaches, great sites, the place had canoes and playgrounds for entertainment, the lake was warm, but above all of that the showers were gorgeous, clean, and hot!!!!

I was very much in love with this site so I have included many pictures of the place below. Including sunsets that I could see from my campsite. It seemed that almost all campsites I visited along the way had lakes where the sun set upon them. It was pretty heavenly.

Beach 25 feet from my campsite.

My dinner by the fire!! 

Sunset at my camp, book by the fire, it was too good a night.

Sunset by the beach at Blue Lake 

How beautiful is that?

 So here's the big thing all people should know when travelling alone: more than anything else there are few pictures of oneself. Even if I had had the opportunity to ask someone, when out in the wilderness there aren't many to ask. Get a tripod is what I have learned.  So I have thrown in this picture only because it is one of few during my Northern Ontario tour.

But wait I got one more at Kakabeka Falls! It is just before Thunder Bay coming from the West. This is yet another example of how we have just as many super amazing waterfalls (take notice Hawaii). These falls were stupid expensive to park at, it was 5 dollars for two hours and then it went up from there. I took tops 15 minutes to look at it so I passed my ticket on to someone else but I think that it seemed a bit ridiculous... not that I am encouraging anything illegal but....

 This was the gist of it. ---->

Plus it was loud.


After I saw the falls I went through Thunder Bay but it turned out to have not much interesting things for me to see and the roads were particularly terrible. So I kept driving, stopping in at the historical monument dedicated to Terry Fox a man who is an inspiration to all Canadians.

 He runs facing West towards his home and his final destination. The Monument is only a few kilometers west of where he had to stop running. That place is marked by a small sign that you won't see until you come upon it.

 After leaving Thunder Bay I headed for Sleeping Giant Provincial park. Which was great but windy that day. Lots of hiking spots around this area and I did walk to check one out with this lovely couple that was there. I also met Ranger Rick. He was super friendly and fun to chat with.

So let's chat about the title. LAKES ARE EVERYWHERE!!! Here are some examples....

Seriously tried to flip it but as soon as I uploaded it...this....

Surprise yet another lake!!

But in all seriousness I did really enjoy having lakes all around. I almost felt at home here.

Whhhhhhat another sweet waterfall?

Ater a very long drive (about 6-7 hours) I arrived in Lake superior. This place was the buggiest I had encountered yet. I sprayed down (and reapplied) as well as using my trust aromatic bug repellents but still got a couple bites. The campsite wasn't my most favourite but it was nice, sunset on the lake again and fairly enclosed campsites. There were tons of hikes and lakes to explore within the park as well. I recommend this place only if you love itching yourself or if you have plenty of bug spray and patience.

Here is yet another fantastic meal I made. I have realized how much I love cooking on this journey and I have met people on the road who have also enjoyed my meals too. I have become one of those really erritating people who post their food on facebook all the time. I think being back home will stop me from doing that (since it's less impressive when you cook it with a full kitchen).










I didn't spend much time in Lake Superior Park since I was tired and wanted to rest for a while. Below is a picture of the beach where I was camped. It was not very warm so I only waded in. I headed for Bruce Peninsula National park by taking the ferry that runs between Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. It was much like a B.C. ferry,  land was far off and it felt as though I was on the ocean.

I feel as though I have at least gotten to know my country better geographically if nothing else. I The Bruce Peninsula National Park was amazing! I highly recommend it. It was beautiful to hike and it was a pretty nice campground, the only problem (and maybe I was a little blind) was that I didn't see any showers.
Additionally be prepared for raccoons. I saw this guy checking out my tent. I shooed him away and went to grab my camera (literally 3 second job) and he had circled back to my dinner and grabbed the crackers I had been eating and ran up a tree. I  couldn't believe it, I had been tricked by him! He used my tent as a diversion for my meal which was his ultimate goal.

His smug face taunted me.....

Though he got my crackers he didn't get my dinner.

Mom this is for you. It just like yours a sawdust composting toilet! I thought it was pretty cool that they had it in the national park.

Now here was the best park of the park for me. It was the Grotto where the water was clear as the tropics and as icy as the Atlantic Ocean. It was absolutely gorgeous and my pictures can't do it justice but here they are anyway....

These falls are called Inglis Falls where a family once used them to generate power but now it is mostly just a tourist point. I went down some trails and ended up down near the base of it. I may have trespassed but it was worthwhile. Below you can see my sneaky path to the base of the falls.

This was the last stop on my way to Toronto. I spent three nights in Toronto since I had a place to stay and I was getting pretty tired. Turns out travelling for a month takes it's toll. I hadn't been stopping for very long in each place. This is something I highly recommend for other travellers.

Though I stopped moving in Toronto I didn't stop exploring. Jeff and I went to central station where I promptly got lost...not surprised? Neither am I. Hahaha
It was pretty cool though because it felt like I could picture what it would have been like 50 years ago or more without much imagination.

From the station we walked down to the water where there were many tall ships were docked. I have a hard time being away from the ocean since I grew up on it. But here by the water it's almost believable that I am near the water. You can't see the other side and ships litter the skyline.

So it was a classic day in Toronto where I got to do the GO train to central station walk the waterline where the ships dock then where else would I go but....... The JAYS game!!!!! It was a really good game right up to the last inning. This game was made even better by a local giving Jeff and I seats that were eight rows behind first base. It was pretty great!!!! One ball did come my way but my glove is in storage and in reality it wasn't that close. That said I was right there for a bunch of action shots and butt shots.

The sidewalk in toronto is lined with stars from famous canadians like Jim Carey and Nelly Furtado.

I added this photo only because of the guy who is to my right (your left). He looks so unimpressed with me or with tourists in general wither way it made me laugh.

Can you find me....?

And where do you think I am standing outside of????


Drum rollllllll.......


That's right the hockey hall of fame!!!!!!!!!! Booya!

A giant apple... That is all.

After a glorious rest in Toronto I headed to the capital! Ottawa was a mix of weather. It was disgustingly hot but storms hit a couple times while I was there. This seemed to be the case throughout the prairies and Ontario. This is the church of Notre Dame, there seemed to be something special happening inside, it wasn't a weekend so I wasn't sure what it could be.

Some pretty old buildings that kinda look like castles. This one is the national headquarters dun dun dun.... Below is the Parliament building. I arrived a week before Canada day so the celebration was in preparation. They had a line up ready to go that seemed pretty cool. I also have a friend who works for one of the MPs so i got a personal tour of the Parliament Building which was amazing because she knew all about the history of the sculptures, paintings and rooms. Below are some pictures for your pleasure.

The front of the central building where the celebration is being set up.

Francais!!

In front of the building there is a fountain with a fire at the centre, each of the provinces crest is part of the fountain.

The House of Commons. It is lined with green carpet and is only for the MPs and commoners, the Queen is not allowed in here. 

This is the Senate. Where everyone including the Queen is allowed.  

View from The Peace Tower

Quebec is across the bridge!!!

Outside the building is the sculptures of the women who helped bring us the vote, thank you ladies!!!

OK I saw the changing of the guard and got a picture with a couple of the fellows but I had no idea until I saw the picture that I had accidentally grabbed one of their guns!! Ahhhh I feel so bad and also am smirking with mirth.....

So I headed to the Governor General's house and learned a little about the house it self and a little about the history of Governor Generals (emphasis on a little), but it was a free so I was pretty happy about that. Also one thing I learned that was cool I learned where the stanley cup came from. it was a guy named Lord Stanley who created it for his sons who loved to play sports. This is what it originally was like.

Changing of the guard at the Governor Generals house. So many men in uniform, but so many serious face.

So Ottawa was great. I actually stayed at the jail hostel which was pretty clean, fun and very friendly!! I highly recommend it as a place to stay. After I went there I headed to Quebec and Montreal where I got to meet up with many old friends. I will leave that for another post. I am catching up on my posts now and in the next two weeks there should be a few new ones. Thanks for reading my slightly boring, but hugely long post on Ontario. I will promise to condense the next one.... I hope.....