Have you visited Canada?

Warrigal said:
I have. Hubby and I took 6 months off work in 1985 and using an around the world plane ticket we visited Hawaii and the western states of US, then north to Canada for 6 weeks.

We flew from LA to Calgary and drove ourselves around the Rockies for a week. We felt much less like aliens as soon as we began to drive. There was something about being in a Commonwealth country that was reassuring to us. Even the way people drove on the roads seemed more like Australia somehow, notwithstanding that Canadians, like Americans, drive on the other side of the road. The scenery was totally different though.

From Calgary we flew to Vancouver BC and spent a few days there, also taking a ferry across to Victoria. I was beginning to miss Australia by then and found myself in the Vancouver zoo talking to the kangaroos like a crazy person.

Then on to Winnipeg to stay with relatives of a Canadian friend back in Sydney. We stayed there for two weeks in their basement. It was late Summer (August) and from the tales I was told I wouldn't like to be there in Winter. They took us around and showed us things we would not have seen without them.

Next stop was London, Ontario, another basement*, this time belonging to a cousin of our Canadian friend. He took us to an Amish market and to Niagara falls. We also toured Ottowa to see Parliament House where I even got to shake the hand of Brian Mulroney, the then PM. It was election time and he was keen to shake everyone's hand.

From Ontario we visited Quebec City and loved it. I was a bit afraid that English speakers might have a bad time there but no, everyone was most gracious. We stayed in a small hotel and the manageress helped Hubby to write a postcard in French to send to the French teacher at the school where he was employed.

From Quebec it was down to Montreal. Montreal is about the same vintage as Sydney and the resemblance was striking. We have our harbour; they have the big lake. The buildings, especially the houses, looked very much like some Sydney suburbs. All up I think we spent 6 weeks in Canada.

By now homesickness has completely gone and we boarded a plane headed for the UK.
But that is a whole other story.

* We don't have basements in OZ.
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Wow! That's quite the Canadian adventure! So glad to know you had a wonderful tour. Thanks for sharing!
 

Several times. I live in Western New York State, so Canada is a day trip...through Niagara Falls. Also, when I was young we owned a place in upstate NY and went every summer. The border was actually walking distance from where we were..Thousand Islands om the St Lawrence Seaway , Hope to go up again soon. I got the Enhanced NY State drivers license, which serves as a passport to go over border
 

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JaniceM said:
Quebec- twice.
The first time I went to Quebec City, with brief stop in Montreal, and second time was Montreal only.

As I visited in late spring and early summer, the only question I'd have is how bad are the winters? but I guess it'd depend on which part of the country you're in.
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It does depend entirely on which part of the country you're in. Generally, the west coast around Vancouver is mild and rainy in the winter. Not a lot of snow. The rest of the country will receive snowfalls ranging from a few inches to OMG!

At the moment, where I am in southern Ontario, there is no snow at all on the ground, which is very unusual for mid-January. Heavy snowfalls are sporadic. Some winters we get more. Some less. Generally, Ontarians start seeing snow in November and it lasts until March, but sometimes there are snowfalls as early as October and as late as April or even May.

In terms of winter temperatures, my area averages highs of 32 degrees Fahrenheit and can drop as low as -13 degrees, sometimes more. In the far north, it's obviously much, much colder and winter lasts much longer.

Fun fact #1: The Buffalo, NY area often gets way more snow than we do due to lake effect...like several feet at a time!
Fun fact #2: The tip of southern Ontario is on the same latitude of northern California.

This concludes our lesson on Canada today. :)
 
Marie5656 said:
Several times. I live in Western New York State, so Canada is a day trip...through Niagara Falls. Also, when I was young we owned a place in upstate NY and went every summer. The border was actually walking distance from where we were..Thousamd Islands om the St Lawrence Seaway , Hope to go up again soon. I got the Enhanced NY State drivers license, which serves as a passport to go over border
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I have visited Niagara Falls so many times in my life that I can't even count them. I've never tired experiencing of this spectacular wonder of nature. Takes my breath away each and every time!
 
Catballou said:
I have visited Niagara Falls so many times in my life that I can't even count them. I've never tired experiencing of this spectacular wonder of nature. Takes my breath away each and every time!
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Me to., My best visit, though, was bringing my new sister in law, and her mom...both from New Jersey there for their first visit. Her mom was so in awe of everything. Thing of her Jersey accent exclaiming "My, this is so beauty-ful!!!
 
Marie5656 said:
Me to., My best visit, though, was bringing my new sister in law, and her mom...both from New Jersey there for their first visit. Her mom was so in awe of everything. Thing of her Jersey accent exclaiming "My, this is so beauty-ful!!!
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Gotta love that Jersey accent! :)
squatting dog said:
Years back, we would snowmobile from Vermont to Montreal. Plenty of apricot brandy for the sub zero trip. :)
Only other times were taking my racecar to Rebel Speedway, (5/8 mile dirt track) in Granby. (y)
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Montreal can get pretty darn frosty, that's for sure. Good move to bring lots of apricot brandy. :)
 
More years ago than I would care to admit I visited western Canada, and aside from a couple of girls and your great mountains and glaciers I was most impressed by the polite behavior of Canadian drivers. It has had a real impact on my driving.
 
ElCastor said:
More years ago than I would care to admit I visited western Canada, and aside from a couple of girls and your great mountains and glaciers I was most impressed by the polite behavior of Canadian drivers. It has had a real impact on my driving.
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Oh dear. I have to tell you that the "politeness" you experienced on the roads has gone out the window...at least in our cities. LOL
 
Catballou said:
It probably exists in some locales outside of the city, but I've seen plenty of maniacs on country roads, too. :-(
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Yes, I was going to live with my sister in a smallish Canadian city. She lives on the outskirts, so I thought I could avoid the maniacs by taking country roads. Nope.

So I moved to a small town instead. The drivers are aggressive, but there aren't so many of them.
 
still wear the touque i found in the arctic circle... victoria & vancouver islands, bc, alberta, toronto, montreal, windsor, newfoundland & labrador. been going there every occasion i could all my life and for the most part have enjoyed the experience. have also been adopted by a clan not of my people and experienced a bit of their struggle.

memories of paddling from our land up by international falls, mn across the little fork river to canada to trap and fish as a kid comes to mind. good times.
 
Been there a couple of times. My Mother’s family was French Canadian. The last time I visited was for an award presented to her family.

Award.JPG

Beside a few memento’s from the farm, I also got a letter from the rental car agency showing a picture of me speeding & my CC will be charged accordingly.
 
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I have been to Canada and traveled through it with a tour group, which was my wife’s idea, but didn’t really enjoy it. I like warm climate places like California, Hawaii and Florida. At one time, she wanted to move to Costa Rica. I have been there too. It’s a good vacation spot, but I wouldn’t care to live there.
 
We took a wonderful tour of Western Canada. We were in Vancouver, Victoria for High Tea and Buschart Gardens, We then visited Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff.
 

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This may surprise our American friends...About 900,000 American citizens live and work in Canada as permanent residents. That figure comes from the US State Department, based on the number of "overseas ballots cast " in the last US election. There are both Democrat and Republican party clubs in most Canadian cities. At one time in the recent past , 3 US State Governors were born in Canada, moved to the US, became US citizens, and were elected as Governors. JimB.
 
Have only been to the border along Ontario .. Sault Ste. Marie and that area.
And we were on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls years ago.
 

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