139 Canadian places to see before you die
Kathryn Young, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Sunday, July 09, 2006
Canada’s birthday (139th) may be over, but we like to think that the celebration of our country continues year round.Here’s a lifetime checklist of the best 139 of things to do and places to see across our country. The story is broken into six chucks. Here is the first one. No passport required.
Part 1 – B.C. and Alberta
Part 2 – Saskatchewan & Manitoba
Part 3 – Ontario
Part 4 – Quebec
Part 5 – Atlantic Canada
Part 6 – The North
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Part 1 – B.C. and Alberta
(Pamper your senses at a B.C. resort, with gourmet meals, massages, beachcombing, kayaking, and superb views. Killer whale watching is a must. Among the best is the Clayoquot Wilderness Resorts & Spa, where you can choose a floating lodge or eco-safari-style luxury canvas tents. Clayoquot Wilderness Resort )
(Storm watching is a favourite activity on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Calgary Herald Photo)
BRITISH COLUMBIA
1 Choose the adventurous way into B.C.’s mountains: go heli-skiing or heli-boarding on virgin powder snow or heli-hiking in the Bugaboos. Special family and culinary trips are available too. www.cmhski.com
2 Pamper your senses at a B.C. resort, with gourmet meals, massages, beachcombing, kayaking, and superb views. Killer whale watching is a must. Among the best are the remote Nimmo Bay Resort with chalets on stilts over the water (www.nimmobay.com), Hastings House, a member of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux hotel group (www.hastingshouse.com) and the Clayoquot Wilderness Resorts & Spa, where you can choose a floating lodge or eco-safari-style luxury canvas tents (www.wildretreat.com).
3 Retreat from the city to experience harmony and tranquillity in the Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, on the edge of Vancouver’s Chinatown. www.vancouverchinesegarden.com
4 Bike along Vancouver’s 10-kilometre sea wall through Stanley Park , one of North America’s largest urban parks. Rent bikes or rollerblades from a slew of rental shops at Denman and Georgia streets.
5 Take the helijet from downtown Vancouver to Victoria, a ride that business commuters take for granted but will leave visitors speechless. www.helijet.com
6 Sip tea and nibble scones with clotted cream at a formal afternoon tea party in Victoria’s Fairmont Empress Hotel — a tradition since 1908. www.fairmont.com/empress
7 Wander through 22 hectares of gorgeous flowers at Butchart Gardens , in Victoria. www.butchartgardens.com
8 Storm watching on Vancouver Island has become something of a spectator sport, with the Tofino area providing some of the best front-row seats for the crashing waves and howling winds of nature’s fury. The Wickaninnish Inn offers floor-to-ceiling windows beside hot tubs so you can stormwatch in comfort. www.wickinn.com.
9 Test your endurance by hiking the 75-kilometre West Coast Trail along cliffs, across beaches and through the old-growth-forest eco-tourist heaven of Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island. www.pc.gc.ca
10 Roam through the Queen Charlotte Islands by ferry, cruise ship or kayak, stopping to see the haunting remains of Haida villages, memorial and mortuary poles, and two-metre-thick shell heaps. The UNESCO site of Sgaang Gwaii (Anthony Island) shows how the Haida lived for thousands of years. The proposed UNESCO site of Gwaii Haanas would enlarge Sgaang Gwaii to include the surrounding old-growth temperate rainforest, seabird colonies, sea lion rookeries and more.
11 Indulge your learned taste buds in a tour through several dozen wineries in the Okanagan Valley. The Wine Museum in Kelowna can help with recommendations. www.kelownamuseum.ca
12 Mountain bike in the Kootenays, with snowcapped mountains, hot springs, clear lakes and wildlife as your backdrop. Rossland hosts the annual Rubberhead Mountain Bike Festival every summer, with nearby trails to suit all levels. www.bcadventure.com or call the Rossland Chamber of Commerce at 1-250-362-5666.
13 Hikers and mountain climbers can indulge themselves all over B.C. but in a province of stupendous scenery, Yoho National Park stands out. Lake O’Hara is one of many beautiful areas. Watch out for grizzlies. www.pc.gc.ca
14 Take a dip in a hot spring when there’s snow all around. www.bchotsprings.com
15 Try your luck at salmon fishing off a tugboat. www.britishcolumbia.com
16 Climb a mountain with no experience. On the summit of Whistler mountain, take the Via Ferrata (Italian for Iron Way) — a climbing route with permanently fixed cables for protection and metal ladder rungs to make it easier. www.whistlerguides.com
(Wander through the Hoodoos to see petroglyphs and pictograph rock art in sacred sites at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. Travel Alberta)
(Take the train through the Rocky Mountains — an absolute must for spectacular views of snow-capped peaks and granite ridges. Rocky Mountaineer)
ALBERTA
17 Take the train through the Rocky Mountains — an absolute must for spectacular views of snow-capped peaks and granite ridges. Go east, west or both directions with Via Rail’s Art Deco style cars (www.viarail.ca), the privately-owned Rocky Mountaineer (www.rockymountaineer.com) or the luxurious Royal Canadian Pacific (www.railsnw.com).
18 Banff, Jasper and Yoho national parks combine with four smaller provincial parks on both sides of the Alberta-B.C. border to form the Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. It’s chockablock full of wildlife-spotting and extreme sport opportunities, not to mention the beauty of mountains, alpine meadows, turquoise lakes, glaciers, the Columbia Icefield and hot springs. www.pc.gc.ca
19 Jump or ski over a nine-metre pool of slush at Banff’s annual Slush Cup, held in May to celebrate the ski season’s end. www.skibanff.com
20 Revel in dinosaurs in southern Alberta, which used to be a subtropical coastal plain.
Dinosaur Provincial Park has yielded 300 dino skeletons since the 1880s and many are displayed in the Royal Tyrrell Museum. www.cd.gov.ab.ca or www.tyrrellmuseum.com
21 Ride a luge down the Olympic run at Calgary’s Olympic Park — then see if you can spot Canada’s champion bobsled, luge or skeleton athletes in training. www.canadaolympicpark.ca
22 See the skeletons, butchering camps, meat caches and cooking pits at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. Not just a cool name, but also the site where aboriginals herded bison over cliffs to provide life’s requirements of meat, hides, sinew, bone and horn. www.head-smashed-in.com
23 Get lost in the West Edmonton Mall’s water parks, playgrounds, skating rink and, oh yes, stores. www.westedmall.com
24 Tour the oil sands near Fort McMurray and see why Alberta is the land of plenty. www.fortmcmurraytourism.com
25 Party at the Calgary Stampede, July 7 to 16, which began in 1886 as an agricultural fair and has blossomed to include rodeos, chuckwagon races and more. www.calgarystampede.com
26 Wander through the hoodoos to see petroglyphs and pictograph rock art in sacred sites at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. www.cd.gov.ab.ca
27 Eat perogies and halopchies in Vegreville. www.vegreville.com
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Part 2 – Saskatchewan & Manitoba
(Enjoy chuckwagon races in Saskatchewan. Tourism Saskatchewan)
(Visit a wheat farm. Maple Grove Farm, established in 1898 by Seager Wheeler and now a historic site, showcases farming techniques developed by Wheeler who influenced agriculture in the west. Tourism Saskatchewan)
SASKATCHEWAN
28 Drive across the prairies to see the rippling wheat fields, wide horizons and old-style wooden grain elevators before they disappear. Rouleau is the famous Dog River of the TV show Corner Gas. www.cornergas.com
29 See the remote lakeside cabin of Grey Owl, the famed conservationist and author, in Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan. www.pc.gc.ca
30 Decide for yourself — was Louis Riel a hero or traitor? No matter which, he was pivotal to Canadian history, as a visit to Batoche National Historic Site will show. Here, Riel and his Metis supporters surrendered in 1885 after the last battle on Canadian soil since Confederation. www.pc.gc.ca
31 Listen to colourful western folklore about hideouts for horse thieves and stagecoach robbers. The Big Muddy Badlands boast spectacular terrain. Tours leave from the town of Coronach.
32 Fly in by floatplane to marvel at one of the most northerly sand dunes in the world at Athabasca Sand Dunes. Some are 30 metres high and 1,500 metres long. www.se.gov.sk.ca
33 Join a day- or week-long archeological dig for dinosaur bones at the T.rex Discovery Centre near Eastend. www.dinocountry.com
34 Savour Saskatoon (berry) pie. If you can’t wangle a homemade slice, try The Berry Barn, www.theberrybarn.com
35 Visit a wheat farm . Maple Grove Farm, established in 1898 by Seager Wheeler and now a historic site, showcases farming techniques developed by Wheeler who influenced agriculture in the west. Motherwell Homestead, the former farm of Canada’s first Agriculture Minister, also illustrates the development of wheat for the prairie climate. www.seagerwheelerfarm.org or www.pc.gc.ca
36 Tour the RCMP Museum, watch new recruits learn how to march and enjoy the Tuesday night sunset ceremonies. www.rcmpmuseum.com
37 Discover the Doukhobour way of life when they settled in the west more than 100 years ago, at the Doukhobour Heritage Village near Veregin.
(Explore Churchill, Manitoba for more than just its polar bears — it’s also a prime viewing spot for beluga whales, birding, northern lights and the Prince of Wales Fort. Manitoba Tourism )
MANITOBA
38 Explore Churchill for more than just its polar bears — it’s also a prime viewing spot for beluga whales, birding, northern lights and the Prince of Wales Fort. www.travelmanitoba.com
39 Delight in one of Canada’s cultural treasures: the Royal Winnipeg Ballet presents Ballet in the Park, July 26 to 28 for free. www.rwb.org
40 See where our loonies and toonies are made, plus coins from many foreign nations. Tour the Royal Canadian Mint. Sorry — no freebies. www.mint.ca
41 Bump along on a covered wagon tour of the rolling dunes and cacti at Spirit Sands Desert in Spruce Woods Provincial Park. www.glenboromb.ca
42 Howl for wolves or bugle for elk at Riding Mountain National Park — also one of the best places to see moose, bison and black bear. www.pc.gc.ca
43 Learn about native cultures at Circle of Life Thunderbird House — designed in the round by aboriginal architect Douglas Cardinal. Tour a sweat lodge, eat bannock, sleep in a teepee, go on a medicine walk. www.thunderbirdhouse.com
44 Honour the memory of Margaret Laurence, famous author of The Stone Angel and other Canadian classics, at her former home in Neepawa.
45 The Forks is a green oasis in Winnipeg — a traditional meeting place for 6,000 years where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet. Today you can stroll the prairie perennial gardens, examine sculptures, take river cruises, visit interpretive exhibits, shop, eat and send the kids to play in the heritage adventure playground. www.pc.gc.ca
46 Winnie the Pooh was named after a pet bear, named for the city of Winnipeg, who ended up in the London Zoo and inspired A.A. Milne. See a bronze statue of Winnipeg the Bear in Assiniboine Park where there’s a zoo, sculpture garden and walking trails. www.winnipeg.ca/assiniboinepark
47 Prepare to party at the Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin with swirling dance troupes, thundering hooves, fresh baking and lots of music. www.cnuf.ca
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Part 3 – Ontario
(Rafting on the Ottawa River between Renfrew and Pembroke with OWL Rafting. OWL Rafting)
ONTARIO
48 Crash through the “bus eater” or other walls of white water — it’s whitewater rafting on the mighty Ottawa River, prized amongst aficionados for its large volumes of warm water and thrilling runs. If you like stomach-churning excitement, this sport is for you. Or maybe you’d prefer to whitewater kayak or body surf through the rapids using a riverboard? Try Esprit Rafting (www.espritrafting.com) on the Quebec side, or several companies on the Ontario side: www.owlrafting.com, www.riverrunners.com or www.wildernesstours.com. Family-style float trips, available from several of the companies, are also fun for the less daredevilish.
49 Lace up your skates for the longest skating rink in the world: the Rideau Canal has been nominated to be named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Completed in 1832, the 202-kilometre canal was a technical wonder of its day when it was built to help defend us against a possible American invasion. But it’s only ever been used for fun and recreation — boating in summer and skating in winter. Continue the fun, and don’t forget to enjoy a BeaverTail in winter.
50 Make a circuit of some of Ottawa’s most outstanding government buildings and museums, starting with Parliament Hill (be sure to have your picture taken with a scarlet-clad Mountie), the Supreme Court and National Library. Cross the bridge to Quebec for the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Have a picnic on the lawn and gaze across the Ottawa River at the capital’s prettiest view: the newly restored Library of Parliament, the final set of Rideau Canal locks, the Chateau Laurier and National Gallery.
51 Go four storeys underground at the Diefenbunker, built in the 1950s to house the Canadian government in case of nuclear war. www.diefenbunker.ca
52 Step back in time by visiting a castle — they tend to be scarce in North America, but Toronto’s Casa Loma offers secret passages, a tunnel and towers. Or take a Thousand-Islands boat cruise out of Gananoque and stop at Boldt Castle on Heart Island. www.casaloma.org or www.boldtcastle.com
53 Show off your fitness level by climbing the stairs at the 553.33-metre-high CN Tower, which celebrates its 30th birthday this year. OK, there’s an elevator too. www.cntower.ca
54 Hear the crack when ball meets bat at Rogers Centre where the Toronto Blue Jays take on major-league baseball competitors. www.toronto.bluejays.mlb.com
55 Enjoy 100-per-cent Canadian art at the McMichael gallery , featuring Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, plus native and Inuit artists. www.McMichael.com
56 Hang with the monkeys at the Metro Toronto Zoo, where thousands of animals can be seen in tropical pavilions and outdoors in large natural settings. www.torontozoo.com
57 Mingle with the stars at the Toronto International Film Festival, the world’s largest film festival, to be held Sept. 7 to 16 this year. www.e.bell.ca/filmfest
58 ooh and ahh over mummies and dinos at the still-being-renovated Royal Ontario Museum, featuring restorative work and new architecture by Daniel Libeskind. Ten new galleries have opened, with more to come next year. www.rom.on.ca
59 Forget Broadway — see spectacular musicals and live theatre like Lord of the Rings (until Sept. 3) and Spamalot (until Sept. 10) in Toronto. www.tdbab.com/theatre.htm
60 Feel the wind in your hair on the ferry to Toronto’s Centre Island , where you can scream on the midway’s log ride, stroll on the beaches, have a picnic and wonder at the immensity of the Great Lakes.
61Cheer your favourite hockey team in any city or town across Canada, but why not in Brantford — the hometown of Wayne Gretzky?
62 Don raincoats and hats for the touristy but not-to-be-missed Maid of the Mist boat tour for a close-up view of Niagara Falls . www.maidofthemist.com
63 Get cultured in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where you can peruse local artists’ fare in village shops, attend theatre at the Shaw Festival, or tour local wineries. www.winecountrytours.ca or www.niagaraworldwinetours.com
64 Brush up on your Shakespeare at the Stratford Festival, where you can also enjoy lighter fare such as Oliver! or South Pacific. www.stratford-festival.on.ca
65 Camp in a tent, canoe across still lakes, and toast marshmallows over a campfire in Algonquin Park. On the east side, you can visit Tom Thomson’s cabin and search out the gnarled old jack pines he painted near the Achray campground. www.algonquinpark.on.ca
66 Follow the ancient Niagara Escarpment through old-growth forests by hiking the Bruce Trail, Canada’s oldest and longest footpath. www.brucetrail.org
67 Scuba dive or snorkel in super-clear water around the shipwrecks at Tobermory.
68 Feel the drumbeats at a native powwow on Manitoulin Island, Aug. 5 to 7 this summer. www.wikwemikongheritage.org
69 Get your camera ready for the startlingly gorgeous vistas on a fall train ride through the Agawa Canyon. www.agawacanyontourtrain.com
70 Ride the Polar Bear Express train from Cochrane to Moosonee and Moose Factory on James Bay. www.polarbearexpress.ca
71 Dig for amethysts, find the sleeping giant and watch freighters on rugged Lake Superior near Thunder Bay.
72 Focus your binoculars for bird watching and monarch butterfly spotting at Point Pelee National Park, the southernmost point in Canada and a haven of winged wildlife. www.pc.gc.ca
73 Recall with pride how Canadians helped American slaves flee to safety on the Underground Railroad. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is the restored home of Josiah Henson, a slave who escaped to Upper Canada and helped others follow. www.uncletomscabin.org
74 Marvel at the highest hydraulic lift lock in the world on the Trent Canal in Peterborough — it actually lifts boats and water from one level to the next.
75 Roll out the barrel and warm up your polka shoes for Oktoberfest in Waterloo, Oct. 6 to 14 this year. www.oktoberfest.ca
76 Designate a driver for your tour of Ontario’s microbreweries, especially if you plan to sample all 26. Start with Heritage Brewing in Carleton Place, Church-Key Brewing in Campbellford or Glenora Springs Brewery in Picton. www.ontariocraftbrewers.ca
77 Eat cotton candy, ride the Ferris wheel, examine weird-shaped vegetables and watch thundering workhorses pull wagons at the Carp Fair, or any other small-town fair across Canada.
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Part 4 – Quebec
QUEBEC
78 Montreal is the city of festivals: for comedy (today until July 31), fireworks, and film. www.tourism-montreal.org. But the biggie is the Montreal International Jazz Festival that started yesterday and runs to July 9, featuring 2,500 artists from 20 countries. www.montrealjazzfest.com
79 Vieux Montreal , with buildings from the 17th to mid-19th centuries, features cafes, nightlife, street performers, horse-drawn caleches, warehouses converted to stores and hotels, and picture-worthy public squares. The Sulpician Seminary is Montreal’s oldest building; don’t miss Notre-Dame Basilica’s stunning grandeur. www.basiliquenddm.org
80 Hike up Mont Royal, a 233-metre-high hill crowned with a lighted cross. Have a picnic and watch the buskers in summer or toboggan, skate, cross-country ski or snowshoe in winter. Great views and many hidden paths. Check out the famous in the cemeteries to the west (hockey legend Maurice “Rocket” Richard is buried in the Notre Dame des Neiges part). www.lemontroyal.qc.ca, www.mountroyalcem.com or www.cimetierenddn.org
81 Montreal’s Cirque du Soleil is world famous but you can often see their show launches in the spring. Or catch them in Vancouver until July 23. www.cirquedusoleil.com
82 Eat poutine from any chip truck. But for haute poutine, try one of the 22 varieties at La Banquise, 994 Rue Rachel in Montreal. Pizza poutine, anyone?
83 Chew on hot bagels and Montreal smoked meat at Schwartz’s, 3895 Boul. St-Laurent.
84 Explore Montreal’s natural world at the Botanical Garden, Insectarium, Planetarium and Biodome that presents plants and animals from five biospheres — tropical forest, Antarctic, Arctic, St. Lawrence marine and Laurentian forest. www.biodome.qc.ca
85 Lick maple taffy made on fresh snow or pour the golden syrup over a stack of pancakes when you visit a working maple bush. www.cabaneasucre.org
86 Tour the only walled city in North America — Quebec City’s old stone buildings and cobblestone streets are on the UNESCO heritage list for good reason. Walk from the Plains of Abraham, where the continent’s fate was decided in 1759, to the Citadel (fort), and along the Dufferin Terrace to the turreted Chateau Frontenac, and then take the funicular or steps to Lowertown’s quaint shops. www.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca. Visit in February for the 17-day Carnaval. www.carnaval.qc.ca
87 Sleep in the Ice Hotel (January to April), where the architecture changes every year. www.ice-hotel-canada.com
88 Watch for whales where the Saguenay River meets the St. Lawrence. Although whales can be seen in many places in Canada, this is where you can observe the greatest variety — belugas, humpbacks, blue, minke and more.
89 Enter the annual sandcastle contest on the Iles de la Madeleine or learn techniques during sandcastle workshops. www.tourismeilesdelamadeleine.com
90 See where many of our ancestors were quarantined at Grosse Ile. Many Irish immigrants perished in the typhoid epidemic of 1847. www.pc.gc.ca
91 Acquaint yourself with a certain fish fossil, whose limb-like fins and breathing apparatus gives credence to evolutionary theories, plus dozens of other Devonian fossils that excite scientists at Miguasha Park, a UNESCO heritage site. www.pc.gc.ca
92 Visit charming villages, fish for salmon, come face to face with a moose, tour a wind generator plant and see the famous Perce Rock at the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula. www.infogaspesie.com
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Part 5 – Atlantic Canada
(Celebrate Acadian culture as you travel through New Brunswick. Tourism New Brunswick)
NEW BRUNSWICK
93 Wonder at the weird shapes the highest tides in the world (up to 15 metres) can carve out of stone. At the Bay of Fundy’s Hopewell Rocks, the “flowerpots” are islands at high tide and piles of rocks with trees atop at low tide, when you can walk on the sea floor all around them. Fundy National Park provides more opportunities to marvel at the caves carved and fossils uncovered by the tides. www.thehopewellrocks.ca or www.pc.gc.ca
94 Close your eyes (unless you’re the driver), cross your fingers, hold your breath and make a wish while going through the world’s longest covered bridge, at Hartland, and it’ll come true. www.town.hartland.nb.ca
95 Explore salt marshes, tidal rivers, bogs, shifting sand dunes and sheltered lagoons at Kouchibouguac National Park where bird watching includes terns and piping plovers. www.pc.g.ca
96 Learn about lobster aboard a Shediac Bay cruise where you help haul in the traps, cook the lobster, crack it properly and then feast on it (www.lobstertales.ca) You can also compete in a lobster-eating contest during the July 5 to 9 lobster festival in Shediac — the self-declared lobster capital of the world. www.lobsterfestival.nb.ca
97 Savour a Salvador Dali plus extensive collections of British and Canadian paintings, including Cornelius Krieghoffs and Emily Carrs, at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton. www.beaverbrookartgallery.org
98 Mingle with the mollusks at the Shippagan Marine Centre, where touch tanks let you pet sea cucumbers and starfish as well. See harbour seals at feeding time and 31 tanks filled with sea creatures. www.gnb.caY You can also visit the Acadian Village and if you are there in the summer there is the Tintamarre Acadian Parade
(You can’t go to P.E.I. without going to see Anne of Green Gables, the long-running musical. Tourism Prince Edward Island)
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
99 Drive across the 13-kilometre-long Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick to P.E.I. (about 12 minutes) but take the ferry back for old times’ sake. www.confederationbridge.com or www.nfl-bay.com
100 IT’s unthinkable to visit P.E.I. and not give a nod to “Anne.” See the long-running musical Anne of Green Gables in Charlottetown (www.confederationcentre.com) or the continuing story of Anne and Gilbert, new on stage this summer, July 12 through September, in Summerside (www.jubileetheatre.com). True Anne enthusiasts will visit Green Gables at Cavendish and the many surrounding villages that inspired L.M. Montgomery’s series about the red-haired orphan.
101 Sleep in a lighthouse. The West Point Lighthouse is a combo working lighthouse, museum, restaurant and inn with nine cosy rooms furnished in the era of light-keepers. www.westpointlighthouse.com
102 Discover Province House, where Canada was born. In 1864, representatives from P.E.I., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec — the Fathers of Confederation — met in Charlottetown to discuss a union of British colonies. Details were hammered out later and the Dominion of Canada was declared on July 1, 1867.
103 Fish for the big ones — tuna or shark — or go for quantity with a pile of silvery mackerel during a day of deep-sea fishing. www.gov.pe.ca/visitorsguide
104 Walk the long golden beaches and sand dunes at Prince Edward Island National Park, where you’ll also see red sandstone cliffs, wetlands and forests and, if you’re lucky, the endangered piping plover. www.pc.gc.ca
(The quaint village of Peggy’s Cove, with its rocks and fishing boats is a great stop for photographers. Pat McGrath/Ottawa Citizen)
NOVA SCOTIA
105 Tour the decks or go for a cruise on the Bluenose II , the ship made famous on our dime. www.bluenose2.ns.ca
106 Measure the precise angles of the streets in Old Town Lunenburg — the best surviving example of the British government imposing a grid pattern of streets from afar in 1753 despite the local hilly topography. Lots of colourful wooden buildings.
107 Make sure your camera batteries are charged for quaint Peggy’s Cove — one of the most photographed fishing villages with its pristine lighthouse and weathered granite rocks. www.peggyscove.com
108 Follow the steps of fictional Evangeline, created in poetry by Longfellow to tell her sad story of separation. But visit Grand-Pre for the facts about the Acadian Expulsion, the forced removal of Acadian people in 1755. See the archeological sites at Grand-Pre that are nominated for UNESCO status.
109 Take in the awesome beauty of old mountains, pretty fishing villages, hiking trails, soaring gulls and the Cabot Trail hugging the steep seaside cliffs of Cape Breton Island. www.cbisland.com
110 Imagine lining up a cannon, on the Fortress of Louisbourg’s ramparts, to fire on British invaders. Built by the French and restored to its 1745 grandeur, right before the first siege, the fortress played a key role in the French-British power struggle. www.pc.gc.ca
111 Pay tribute to the man who invented the telephone — Alexander Graham Bell’s vacation home in Baddeck honours his life’s work and experiments. www.pc.gc.ca
112 See the fossil forests of Joggins — a potential UNESCO site — plus invertebrates, fish, amphibians, early reptiles and fossilized tree trunks up to six metres high. The Bay of Fundy tides continually erode new fossil beds. www.pc.gc.ca
113 Join a retired miner underground in a coal mine in Glace Bay and experience complete darkness when they turn out the lights for a few seconds. www.minersmuseum.com
114 Debate whether the Highlands Links in Cape Breton Highlands National Park is truly one of Canada’s best golf courses. You’ll have to try it to make an informed decision. www.highlandslinksgolf.com
(Visit Cape Spear in Newfoundland, the easternmost point of North America. Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism)
(Go hiking in Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Cornerbrook, N.L. Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism)
NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR
115 Get “screeched in” by kissing a cod and throwing back a shot of screech rum in a St. John’s pub-crawl to become an honorary Newfoundlander.
116 Hold onto your hat when you climb windy Signal Hill and the Cabot Tower where the first transatlantic wireless signal was received in 1901. www.pc.gc.ca
117 Pack a breakfast picnic and watch the sun rise at Cape Spear, the easternmost point of North America and site of Newfoundland’s oldest lighthouse.
118 Tour fiords carved by glaciers and hike breathtaking mountains in Gros Morne National Park, where trails and tours vary from 30 minutes to several days. www.grosmorne.com
119 Dodge towering icebergs on a boat tour of northern Newfoundland’s famous Iceberg Alley. Many tours also combine whale watching and puffin spotting. www.icebergfinder.com
120 Duck your head stepping inside the recreated timber-and-sod longhouses at the ancient l’Anse aux Meadows Viking settlement. The remains of eight buildings and hundreds of Viking artifacts of iron, stone, bronze and bone have been found. www.pc.gc.ca
121 Explore the 16th-century Basque whaling station at Red Bay, Labrador, including whaling ships, homes, wharves, burial sites, lookouts, cooperages and workshops. www.redbayheritage.ca
122 Tour the massive underground hydroelectric power station, the second-largest in the world, at Churchill Falls. www.ourlabrador.ca
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Part 6 – The North
(See a real Inukshuk, the stone towers that are on the newest territory’s flag, on Mallik Island near Cape Dorset. Don Butler, The Ottawa Citizen)
NUNAVUT
123 See a real inukshuk, the stone towers that are on the newest territory’s flag, on Mallik Island near Cape Dorset.
124 Tour the Inuit workshops and perhaps meet a print artist or sculptor at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. www.capedorset.ca Or meet tapestry makers at the Uqqurmiut Centre of Weaving and Printmaking in Pangnirtung.
125 Take a wildlife tour by boat, snowmobile or dogteam, from Iqaluit or anywhere in Nunavut, to see caribou, muskox, walrus, seals, narwhal, bowhead whales, polar bears. www.arctictourinfo.com
126 Follow in the wake of explorers like Franklin, Amundsen, Larsen and others as you travel the Northwest Passage, either by ship, icebreaker or charter flight. Explore the Northwest Passage Territorial Historic Park’s self-guided walking trail that describes the explorers’ quests and visit Beechey Island’s gravesites, the last known place that the doomed Franklin Expedition visited. www.nunavutparks.com or www.explorenorth.com
127 Sleep in the northernmost lodge in the world — Arctic Watch Lodge — where you can go on artic safaris to see belugas and bears, go birding, see prehistoric Inuit sites, go sea kayaking and sample muskox and arctic char. www.canadianarcticholidays.ca
128 Greet the summer solstice in Arctic Bay, the northernmost point of Baffin Island. www.baffinisland.ca
(Crane your neck to take in all the natural wonders as you canoe down the South Nahanni River, through four canyons. See Virginia Falls, which, is nearly twice the height of Niagra Falls. Ed Struzik/Edmonton Journal)
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
129 Crane your neck to take in all the natural wonders as you canoe down the South Nahanni River, through four canyons. The visitor centre in Fort Simpson explains this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
130 Keep your eyes peeled for elusive bison, part of the largest wild bison herd in the world at Wood Buffalo National Park. www.pc.gc.ca
131 Learn to drive a dog team on a dogsledding adventure or pick up tips from the experts at a community dogsled race. www.explorenwt.com
132 Stun your eyes with the Aurora Borealis (southerners call them northern lights). The aurora has a five- to-six-year cycle and the next peak is in 2007. www.arcticodysseys.com
133 Sing and dance with northern artists at the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik. www.gnaf.ca
134 Experience the Dene culture during an educational tour that teaches folklore, traditional arts and crafts, what to do in a sweatlodge, living from the land and visits with guest elders. Or travel with an aboriginal family on the trapline and sample northern foods at traditional feasts. www.explorenwt.com
YUKON
135 Pan for gold and strike it rich. Then see how the big mining companies did it — view the enormous Dredge No. 4 — eight storeys high and two-thirds the size of a football field. www.pc.gc.ca or www.eurekagoldpanning.com
136 Relive the gold rush by hiking the Chilkoot Trail that brought tens of thousands of prospectors to the Klondike. Try out Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall, then explore Dawson City, the town that inspired authors Jack London and Pierre Berton and poet Robert Service. www.dawsoncity.ca
137 Drive the Dempster Highway, a 750-kilometre gravel road through mountains, sub-artic tundra and across the Arctic Circle, from Dawson City to Inuvik. Great trip for adventure-seeking drivers and those who crave stunning scenery. Porsche and BMW use the highway as an extreme winter test site and a European extreme racing event is held on it each February.
138 Spot the famous Porcupine caribou herd — one of the largest ungulate herds in the world — plus Dall sheep and thousands of breeding and migratory waterfowl at the proposed UNESCO site of Ivvavik/Vuntut/Herschel Island park. www.pc.gc.ca
139 Climb Mount Logan — Canada’s highest peak at 5,959 metres, located in Kluane (pronounced Kloo-wah-nee) National Park. By no means a stroll in the park — this is serious mountaineering in a land of precipitous peaks and immense icefields and glaciers. Flightseeing is the less adventurous alternative: www.yukon-wings.com
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