This year Canada is celebrating its 150th year of Confederation. We are lucky enough to have seen the country from coast to coast. We have been to all ten provinces and even touched the tidal waters of Nunavut from Churchill, Manitoba. The territories are on our travel wish list. Below is a list of just one of our favourite things from each province.
1 )British Columbia
BC has the animals, the Pacific Ocean and so much more. One of our favourite things was tea at The Empress Hotel in Victoria. Read More
2 )Alberta
Alberta shares the Rocky Mountains with BC, but Alberta has Jasper, Banff and Lake Louise. We fell in love with the snow capped mountains. Read More.
3 )Saskatchewan
Yes it is flat, but the fields with rolls of hay and the blue skies have a feel all their own. It also seemed to have a never ending sunset as we drove westward. Read More
4 )Manitoba
This is the furthest north we have ever been in Canada. Our favourite thing in Manitoba is the polar bears of Churchill. Read More.
5 )Ontario
We spend most of our time in the province of Ontario. Algonquin Park is our favourite place to really get away from it all. Read More.
6 )Quebec
Hotel de Glace is built each winter just outside of Quebec City. We spent a night inside this palace of ice. Read More.
7 )New Brunswick
The Hopewell Rocks are formed by the high tidal fluctuations that occur in the area. You can walk down beneath the unusual rocks and 6 hours later the water has returned and filled everything back in. Read More.
8 )Prince Edward Island
Our brief two day visit to PEI was 48 hours of rain. We did enjoy getting to and from the island. First we drove across the marvel that is Confederation Bridge and then we saw the red soil when we left on a ferry. We will return. Read More.
9 )Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia has Peggy's Cove and Cape Breton Island. One of our best days in the province was spent at the Halifax Public Gardens. Read More.
10 )Newfoundland
Iceberg Alley passes right around the top of Newfoundland. We were lucky to see these gigantic 10,000 year old pieces of glacial ice as they floated in the Atlantic Ocean. Read More.
This Easter weekend we thought it would be a good time to take a look at our top 10 bunny encounters. Here they are in no particular order.
1 )Lop-Eared Rabbit
A friend of ours used to care for a very cute lop-eared bunny. A lop-eared bunny is a bunny whose long ears hang (we guess you could say lop) down. You will notice all of the other bunnies in this blog post have ears that stand straight up or sit back on top of their heads.
2) Bugs Bunny
One of the all-time favourite bunnies is Bugs Bunny from the Looney Tunes cartoons. He is among a short list of animated characters to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The outline drawing of Bugs Bunny (above) was in the Warner Brothers Studio's Museum.
3) Flemish Giant Rabbit
From Bugs Bunny we go to Big Bunny. A Flemish giant rabbit can weigh up to 10 kg and grow to about 30 inches long. It is one of the largest domesticated rabbits. The bunny above was at the Toronto Zoo for a short time and shared an enclosure with the wombats and wallabies. Perhaps it had outgrown its previous living space.
4) Arctic Hare
While we were in Churchill, Manitoba we spotted this hare just across the road from our lodge. While it may not be the smartest thing to do in polar bear territory at night, we headed outside to try and get a closer look. Luckily, he stood still long enough for us to get the picture above. It took us some time to determine if this was an arctic hare or a snowshoe hare as both inhabit Churchill. We read about one having bigger feet or ears than the other. Some reports said that one has bigger eyes or fluffier fur. We made our determination by the black on the ears. As far as we can tell arctic hares (like this one) have black just on the top tip of their ears while snowshoe hares have a black edge that may cover the tip, but runs further along the ear as well.
5) Lionhead Rabbit
A lionhead rabbit is bred to have a mane around its face like a lion. They end up looking like little balls of fur with ears. We wondered how they can even see where they are hopping. When taking pictures, the bunny below did flash us a look from beneath all that fur just to let us know he was in there. The lionhead above is from Prickly Ball Farm and the lionhead below is from Far Enough Farm.
6) Rabbit Balloon
Artist Jeff Koons had a piece of his art appear in Toronto's Nuit Blanche 2009. It was simply named Rabbit Balloon. It featured a giant shiny silver bunny that was floating inside the Eaton Centre. This bunny also once floated in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2007.
7) Tortoise & Hare
In Boston's Copley Square is a sculpture of a tortoise and a hare. It was installed as a tribute to runner's of the famous Boston Marathon. It is based on the popular fable of The Tortoise & the Hare. The fable tells the story of a rabbit who was so confident in his ability to outrun the tortoise that during a race he ran ahead and took a nap. While he napped the tortoise passed by heading for the finish line. The hare finally awoke and tried to catch up, but it was too late.
8) Cute Bunnies
We think that all rabbits are cute. There is something special about a tiny bunny that you can pick up and hold in your hands while it sits quietly twitching its little nose. These cuties are from the Toronto Zoo kid's section and from Jungle Cat World.
9) Chocolate Bunnies
Chocolate shaped like eggs is good. Chocolate shaped like bunnies is good. This bunny above is a box from Teuscher Chocolates and hides a chocolate truffle in its belly. We like chocolate.
10) Eastern Cottontail
The one rabbit that we have encountered the most is the eastern cottontail. Actually we have eaten more chocolate bunnies and watched more Bugs Bunny cartoons than we have had encounters with eastern cottontails. Let's try that again. The eastern cottontail is the wild rabbit that we have encountered the most. Sometimes when you least expect it you look out into the yard and there is one munching away on something. Here comes Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail!
Location: Churchill, Manitoba, Canada Address: Churchill Wildlife Management Area Date: Oct 2014 Website: www.everythingchurchill.com
Most people come to Churchill, Manitoba to see the bears. There are also lots of interesting birds out there on the tundra. Two that we encountered were the willow ptarmigan and the snow bunting. We would have loved to see a snowy owl, but there is always next time. We suspect that the owls saw us even if we didn't see them.
Willow ptarmigans can usually be found walking along the ground out on the tundra. They build their nests on the ground as well. We spotted groups of them as we surveyed the terrain looking for polar bears. The birds had already changed into their winter plumage which made them easier to spot against the brown, rocky tundra. Normally the birds are also brown which helps camouflage them throughout the summer months. Soon enough the snow will come and the birds will blend back into their surroundings once more. Willow ptarmigans are members of the grouse family and we would put their size at somewhere between an overgrown pigeon and a small turkey.
Another bird we spotted out on the tundra is the snow bunting. Buntings are a small songbird and love the northern climate. They can be found anywhere up in the arctic. We spotted a bunting on the rocks (below) sitting not far from where a polar bear was digging through seaweed. This was the only one that sat still for any length of time.
The photograph of the bunting on the train tracks was a lucky shot as the bird only remained still for a second. It was taken behind the Churchill train station where there were a few snow buntings flying from rail to rail. They all had their brownish winter plumage which both sexes have this time of year. During mating season the males will turn all white with only some black remaining on their wings.
We enjoyed the ptarmigans from the safety of our Tundra Buggy and the snow buntings from the relative safety of the train station platform. As always while in Churchill you have to be on the lookout for bears. We recommend that you bird watch with a buddy. You never know who might be watching you.
A Canada lynx is a medium sized cat which closely resembles a bobcat. The easiest way to tell a lynx and a bobcat apart is that lynx have longer legs and their back legs are actually longer than their front ones. They appear to be on a bit of a slant when running or walking. Like most large cats they are beautiful to look at, but scary to come across in the wild.
We have only ever encountered lynx at the zoo as it is very rare to see one in the wild. The Canada lynx above was at the Toronto Zoo and may be one of the parents of the two babies that were born in 2016.
Canada lynx can be found throughout Canada as well as in the northern United States. The lynx above was from the Assiniboine Zoo in Winnipeg and was already wearing his winter coat which made him look twice as large.
In 2016, the Toronto Zoo was lucky enough to have two lynx kittens born at the zoo. The Canada Lynx can be found in the zoo's Canadian Domain on a very steep hill that goes down into the valley. The lynx are one of the first animals on the way down the hill for those that fear they may never make it back up if they venture down to the bottom.
When we visited, the babies were already about 3 months old. They were still as cute as ever. A Canada Lynx's favourite meal is snowshoe hare. As you can see from the picture above, this baby lynx has already developed a taste.
The video above shows the babies walking around and giving wide eyed looks.
We visited again when the lynx kittens were about 7 months old. The two kittens loved to play fight and chase each other around the enclosure.
The Canada Lynx usually prefers a quiet, solitary life and likes to stay hidden. While these two juveniles are in the exhibit it is a great time to see these animals in action.
Location: Hamiota, Manitoba, Canada Address: 25 Maple Ave E. Date: Oct 2014 Website:www.hamiota.com
Hamiota, Manitoba is a small town of about 850 people. It just so happened that one day we found ourselves doing business with someone from the town. The town is of special interest to us as it rhymes with one of our names. When we were driving across the prairies from Winnipeg to Regina we made a special detour just to pay the town a visit.
Hamiota used to be called Hamilton, but this caused confusion with the Hamilton in Ontario. The name was changed to combine Hamilton with the word "iota". Iota means plenty so the town's name means plenty of Hamilton.
We visited any buildings we could find with Hamiota in their name such as the Hamiota School and Hamiota United Church. Our stomachs also requested that we pay a visit to the local bakery.
We purchased some strudel from the Country Crocus Bakeshop to be consumed on the road and also enjoyed at our hotel later that evening. If you visit Hamiota we highly recommend it. We visited in October and they were busy baking rows and rows of pumpkin pies.
We left Hamiota and headed back onto the highway. There was one more small town that we planned on visiting. We drove past the fields that touched the blue sky. We drove past rolled hay and silos. We drove past cows grazing on the dry grass.
The next town we visited was Miniota. It's name means plenty of water. We had noticed a Star Wars connection when we spotted the town on a map. As a result we took along a small travel companion. It was a mini Yoda action figure. Now you may not be in the habit of carrying action figures in your purse so be sure to plan ahead. If you find yourself driving through the prairies we suggest that you try to visit both Miniota and Hamiota. Do or do not, there is no try.
Banff Gondola , Saskatchewan , Hopewell Rocks Park , Halifax Public Gardens , Witless Bay
Empress Hotel , Hotel De Glace , Confederation Bridge
Tundra Buggy Tour , Algonquin Park (Lake Opeongo)
