Elora in Fall

The nights are cooling. The leaves are falling. The mitts are on for Tennis....

The Rockies

Before the total cold sets in, we wanted to fit in at least one more adventure and decided to combine Pete's visit to the Alberta Children's Hospital (Calgary) with a week touring in The Rockies. Our trip included a day in the Alberta 'badlands' -visiting the world's largest finds of complete dinosaur skeletons and a fantastic dinosaur museum and amazing landscapes a la Jurrasic Park.

We then spent two nights at the Columbia Icefields (Athabasca Glacier) travelling through amazing scenery up to Jasper and a great trip on to the Glacier itself -the pictures don't quite do justice to the intense icy wind and sleet - it was COLD! We finally had two nights in Banff - a trip down memory lane for me and a wonderful base for the Gondola ride and some walks in the Rockies. We all made it to the top of The Lake Agnes Trail -it was a 3.4km uphill hike with great views over Lake Louise. The kids were amazing -even when we got to the top and discovered that the Teahouse and all its promised and imagined goodies was closed and finished for the season!!

Oh! And we did see some wildlife as well!

Montreal - the final, final summer fling!

Montreal was the last stop of the Summer break. We visited the Olympic stadium, had lunch in the Old City, watched a great busker swallow 14 razor blades, and possibly the highlight -we went ice skating to get in some early practice for the months ahead! The kids in our street all play ice hockey and have skated since they could walk, so we've got some serious catching up to do! This was a real Griswald's moment - note the walking frame type equipment (designed for small children) -Pete and I had to pretend we were helping the children!! Lots of fun!

Quebec - the final summer fling!

Our last trip for the Summer was spent in Quebec -visiting both Quebec City and Montreal. This time we travelled by train from Toronto. Once actually on the train without losing anyone or anything, we found the train travel fantastic - relaxing, efficient, and economical. Each time we arrived feeling a lot less frazzled than we would have after a similar length of time (ie 5 hours) in the car.

Quebec City was our absolute favourite. We stayed just outside the old walls and spent a day wandering along the wall edge and through the old town, stopping for a Cafe au Lait. (The first truly good coffee we have had in many months). As a bonus, Cirque de Soleil were doing their final free performance of the summer - an hour long show they put on for the people of Quebec as a thankyou. (Quebec city being their original home). So, we lined up on a balmy summer night for the most fabulous show set under a freeway overpass in the heart of Quebec City - spectacularly beautiful and enjoyed by us all. The next day we visited the Plains of Abraham and learnt some of the French v British history presented in the most amusing way on a small bus tour led by Abraham himself! Kids are still asking questions about soldiers and wars!

A weekend at McDonalds

Our next door neighbours, Laura and Jay and their two kids, Jack aged 8 and Annie aged 6 invited us to spend the weekend at their gorgeous cottage on Grass Lake (near Huntsville /Burk's Falls). It was again hot, sunny and Laura had brought fantastic activities to do in between Boat rides and swims. The girls made cookies in the "Easy Bake", everyone made a tie dye pillowcase, and to finish off Laura made her Mum's favourite Canadian campfire recipe - a Dump Cake. (Dump in -Tin of berries, Pack of Cake mix, can of coke and place in the fire with hot rocks on top). Delicious!

Parry Sound

As a belated birthday treat for Elsie and Gemma, we went on a Boat trip around the lakes and islands of Parry Sound - an area of Georgian Bay. The 90 minute trip took us past a magnificent array of holiday homes ("cottages") to the allegedly famous Henry's Fish Restaurant on Frying Pan Island. The weather was kind and the girls were delighted to be able to wear their dresses for the special occasion. A highlight was the impressive rotating bridge.

Science North and the Big Nickel

Okay, every country has it's town that needs something a little extra to get people there. In Canada, Sudbury is one of those towns and they really have managed to produce something out of not much at all with their two attractions -Science North (which rivals and possibly out does Scienceworks in Melbourne) and The Big Nickel - home of Canada's original Nickel mine used to produce Nickels (5 cents in Canada). We had a great three days there exploring and learning and finally meeting some wildlife up close - beavers, flying squirrels, porcupines and skunks. We also found out about float planes, setting substances on fire, energy, how much miner's earnt 100 years ago and what it was like setting dynamite down in the mines.