DontPanic

I have one full day in Toronto, so I book myself on a tour to Niagara Falls. This turns out to be massively touristy - as you would expect - but the falls are indeed very impressive. The town surrounding the falls is not so impressive, resembling a small version of a tacky Vegas strip. Somebody later told me it reminded them of Blackpool. We had an hour or two to waste here, so I went into Frankenstein's House of Horror for a laugh. What I got was a sort of stumbling walk in absolute pitch blackness, punctuated by motion sensor-activated displays of corpses, werewolves, monsters etc. And a guy in a costume rattling cages and snarling at me, and then turning on his flashlight for me because it was so dark I couldn't find where ... read more

In Which I Leave My Mark on Prince Edward Island I am volunteering on a farm that makes soap from goats milk, which sounded interesting. The family I am staying with are ... somewhat different to my previous experiences. The mother - Em - runs the soap making business, the father is a freelance homeworker, and the two children are homeschooled, and so are like precocious little adults with limited social skills. Or perhaps they're just being normal teenagers, I am ill-equipped to judge. There is also a foreign exchange student from Hong Kong living here, and two very loud chinese toddlers the family have recently adopted, that are allowed to run riot. I sense some 'modern parenting' at work here. At meal times, they do not say grace - they sing it, while everybody holds ... read more

Going into Quebec I had to remind myself that I wasn't entering a different country. I needn't have bothered, since it was exactly like being in a different country. Montreal Montreal was nice - an older city, with some interesting architecture and lots of night life. I couchsurfed with a native - Nathalie - who took me on a quick guided tour of the city when I arrived, which included a trip to her favourite place to sample the local delicacy, Poutine. This is a weird dish consisting of chips, covered in cheese curds and a generous helping of gravy. Tasted better than it sounds. People here seemed to be fairly bilingual, and I was greeted in shops and cafes with a cheery "Bonjour Hi!". There is a large hill in the middle of the city, ... read more

Having contacted loads of outfitters and tour operators about a canoe trip in the Algonquin Provincial Park, and being told that the season was over, I found a wilderness outfitter who was prepared to set me up with a voyage along the Mattawa River, following the route used by the French Voyageurs, and the native Indians before them. Two nights and three days on my own, paddling my way down the river, and camping on the way. I spent the preceding (rainy) night in a town called North Bay, in the Voyager Inn, which I thought appropriate. It was also cheap, but I noticed it had a conference on, so I figured it couldn't be that bad. Turned out it was that bad, it was an Alcoholics Anonymous conference, and the room next to me was ... read more

The trip from Lake Louise up to Jasper was supposed to be one of the best drives in Canada in terms of mountain scenery, and did not disappoint. It was made even better by Trent and Stacey, the couple on their way home to Hinton (northeast of Jasper) who not only stopped and gave me a lift all the way, but went above and beyond the call of duty. They bought me lunch, and stopped at the points of interest on the way, such as Bow Lake and the Athabasca Falls (which, had I gone by bus, I would have missed). Having dropped me off at the hostel, they then gave me ride into town to get some groceries, and even a lift back again! Canada could not ask for better ambassadors. Jasper is another tourist ... read more