Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Real Man Travels



Sitting around a campfire telling stories is where the first notions of broadcasting our manly stories on the interwebs first occurred. My cheeks hurt as I laughed at another story, I blurted out "We should write a book! Or something like that". I tried to sell the guys on the idea. I knew that we each had our own unique way of telling a story and I knew that people would connect with all of us. The idea was heard but no motion was passed and the night carried on, but the idea never left my head.

In September of 2012 I decided to get the idea out of my head and turn it into something I could build on. I dreamt  up the name Real Man Travels, and from there I decided to write and share stories about my past travels and life experiences.

In June 2013, after a few months of proving the idea of a blog not to be a crazy one, I caught a bit of success and it snowballed into Scott, Ed and Sam deciding to join in on the adventure. After we joined forces we became unstoppable and today on September 12, 2017 we will celebrate our 5 year Manniversary.

I'm not sure what's in our future but I am sure that it will be fun.  Cheers to the next 5 years.

Thanks to everyone for following along with our 150 of our favourite Canadian things.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Sunday, 27 August 2017

Maple Taffy and Cheese

Maple taffy on snow instantly reminds me of school trips to the sugar bush, sweet sticky maple goodness wrapped on a stick was our reward for braving the cold days learning about maple syrup production. 

photo credit 
Since my childhood I had always thought that it could not get any better than maple taffy by itself. Those thoughts changed one night at a party in Toronto, it was there that I was offered Canadian cheese wrapped in maple taffy. The sound of it intrigued my curiosity and the salty sweet taste life changing and it left me wanting more. 

Use the recipe below to make your own maple taffy and pick your favourite cheese and serve it up to yourself or at a party. You will not regret it.



photo from foodnetwork.ca


What is 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Saturday, 26 August 2017

Beattie's Vodka



The Beattie Family runs their vodka distillery on the same land they have been farming for over 100 years in Alliston, Ontario. Known as Ontario's first farm crafted potato vodka, Beattie's Vodka is unlike any other vodka that I have ever tried, it is silky on the tongue, finishes smoothly and tastes absolutely amazing by itself or with a little splash of cranberry juice.

Why potatoes? The potatoes offer a traditional source of starch which helps to start crafting a classic vodka. Used for centuries in the production of spirits throughout Europe, potatoes produce a most excellent vodka yet requires unique attention to the crafting process. Unlike grain based starch sources, the potato does not release its starches and sugars easily. The results speak for themselves, Beattie's vodka crafting techniques produce one of the most unique vodkas you will ever have tasted.

Fun Fact: For every bottle of Beattie's Vodka sold a portion of sales goes back in to the Beattie's hometown community of Alliston. They have handpicked a few of their favourite local charities and have no plans to ever stop giving back. 

150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Friday, 25 August 2017

Canadian Money



100 Dollar BillThe 100-dollar note was put into circulation through major banks in November 2011, made of a durable polymer instead of the traditional paper notes. The notes are dominantly brown in colour; the front design on the note features former prime minister Sir Robert Borden and the design on the back depicts the discovery of insulin.

50 Dollar Bill  - The 50-dollar note is predominantly red in colour and is printed on polymer. The front features a portrait of former Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and the back depicts a research icebreaker from the Canadian Coast Guard,  Amundsen.

20 Dollar Bill The 20-dollar bank is predominantly green in colour and is prrinted on polymer. The front features Queen Elizabeth II and the Vimy Ridge memorial is displayed on the back. 

10 Dollar Bill -The current 2017 ten-dollar note is to commemorate 150 years of our confederacy dominantly purple in colour. The Front of the note features Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir George-Étienne Cartier, Agnes Macphail and James Gladstone –  four parliamentarians that played significant roles in Canada’s history. The back of the note tells the story of Canada’s landscapes with images from coast to coast.

5 Dollar Bill - The five-Canadian dollar note, is predominantly blue.The bill features a portrait of Canada's seventh prime minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier on the front; the back features an astronaut working with Dextre attached to the Canadarm2.


photo from vancitybuzz.com
ToonieThe Canadian two-dollar coin, commonly called the toonie, is the most valuable of the Canadian coins. The toonie is a bimetallic coin which on the reverse side bears an image of a polar bear. The flip side, like all other current Canadian circulation coins, has a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

Loonie - The Canadian one dollar coin, commonly called the loonie, is a gold-coloured one-dollar coin introduced in 1987. It bears images of a common loon, a bird which is common and well known in Canada

Quarter - Short for quarter dollar this coin usually features a Caribou on it's face.

Dime - In Canada, a dime is a coin worth ten cents. The front displays a representation of the Bluenose, a famous Canadian schooner

NickelThe Canadian five-cent coin, commonly called a nickelhad been introduced in 1858 as a small, thin sterling silver coin, that was colloquially known as a "fish scale," not a nickel. Since 1937 the nickel has proudly showcased a beaver sitting on a rock.


photo from mtlblog.com
Fun Fact: To Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada, The 2017 Toonie's design is titled 'Dance of the Spirits', and shows a pair of paddlers dwarfed by a night sky alive with the ever-shifting movement of the Aurora Borealis. Thanks to the addition of luminescent material in the ink covering the Aurora, the coin glows in the dark.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Thursday, 24 August 2017

Canadian Fishing TV Shows


I cannot recall anything more relaxing than waking up at a respectable time on Saturday morning grabbing a coffee and sitting down to watch a couple hours of fishing shows in the television. I mean if you can't get out on the water you might as well watch someone else enjoying it

Canadian Sportfishing - Airing for over 3 decades with Fishing Technician host Italo Labignan, Canadian Sportfishing continues to set the standard with our unique show format that educates and entertains viewers both young and old alike.

Bob Izumi's Real Fishing show -  Having your father initiate the first ever Canadian bass tournament is a good way to get introduced into fishing at a young age. That's what happened to Bob Izumi and  in 1983 at a family picnic, a family member brought up the possibility of him starting a fishing television show. The thought of a television show intrigued him. He filmed a pilot episode, and the rest is history

Fish'n Canada - Angelo Viola and Pete Bowman host one of Canada's longest-running fishing shows, Fish'n Canada travels from coast to coast in search of trophy fishing opportunities.

Going Fishing - The reason for the success of Darryl Chororonzey's popular Going Fishing Television Series? The topics he covered each week on Going Fishing - where to go, what to catch, how to catch them - are the topics that interest our viewers. We even instruct our viewers on how to cook a few.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Grundy Lake Provincial Park




Grundy Lake Provincial Park was established in 1959 to provide some of the best outdoor recreation activities in the popular Georgian Bay tourist area. The park designation has protected the natural values of glacial terrain, dotted with innumerable lakes, a wicked jumping rock, ponds and bogs while retaining its tranquility and solitude. In the early days motorboats were allowed along the waterways, but park visitors now enjoy the quiet natural beauty of the seven lakes within the park boundaries which are off-limits to motorboats.

Grundy Lake is also the birthplace of our our annual "Man of the Year" competition, 5 years of backcountry camping at the park 5 totally different experiences making for some amazing stories. 




What is 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Tuesday, 22 August 2017

Canada, the Land of Infinite Winter


It has happened to us all, you travel somewhere warm and sunny and someone local asks you where you are from. You proudly tell them you're Canadian.  "Canada!? That must be cold! Do you have snow there?" They ask as they start to shiver, like the word Canada chills them to their core and makes their body temperature drop a degree or two. You try to explain that Canada does see it's fair share of snow but that it is not a land of perpetual winter, despite our horrific ice storms and the odd September snowstorm we do have a summer and it does get hot. Your explanation will not change their mind, but that won't stop you from explaining it to the next person that asks where you are from.


What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Monday, 21 August 2017

Letterkenny

Promo photo for Letterkenny
It doesn’t get more Canadian than this: six of the actors who co-star in CraveTV’s Canadian comedy Letterkenny met star and creator Jared Keeso in a beer hockey leagueThe show embellishes Canadian small town life in the town of Letterkenny, dividing the town into 4 different social groups. The Hicks, Skids, Hockey Players and Christians. Put those four groups together and you have  a TV show for Canadians that like to laugh at themselves.


photo from thestar.com

The Hicks have little patience for people who aren't like them, especially the Skids an Hockey players. They generally like to keep to themselves. 

The Hockey Players No one can chirp like a hockey player. They speak exclusively in hockey player slang and are constantly taking the piss out of anyone who crosses their path.


Completely inspired but entirely unmotivated, The Skids are smart but spend their time doing meth and dancing outside the local convenience store. 


There are also The Christians but nobody pays them much mind.


What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Sunday, 20 August 2017

Tofino, British Columbia

Tofino, British Columbia
By martin bell - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60549990

A popular resort town in the summer, Tofino is Vancouver Island's favorite outdoorsy retreat. It's not surprising that surf fans, families and nature seeking Vancouverites keep coming: packed with activities and blessed with marvelous local beaches, it sits on Clayoquot Sound, where forested mounds rise from roiling, breathtaking waves

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here



Saturday, 19 August 2017

The California Roll

When Hidekazu Tojo emigrated from Japan to Vancouver in 1971, sushi was not on the menu. Most people didn't eat raw fish and thought seaweed belonged in the ocean. In 1974, determined to make sushi appealing to the locals, the chef opted for more palatable fillers, such as cooked crabmeat and avocado. To conceal the offending dried seaweed, he rolled the sushi so the rice was on the outside. Calling it the Inside-Out Roll.
California Rolls
By Alessandro Scotti - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5764637

Tojo's creation became a great success and was eventually dubbed the "California roll." Tojo is still working as a chef and owns his own restaurant, Tojo's, in downtown Vancouver.
Hidekazu Tojo at his restaurant in Vancouver
photo from VancouverSun.com

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here



Friday, 18 August 2017

Mount Logan

Mount Logan is the highest mountain in Canada and the second-highest peak in North America, after Denali. It is also believed to have the largest base circumference of any non-volcanic mountain on Earth.The mountain surprisingly enough is not named after Theodore Logan from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, it was named after Sir William Edmond Logan, a Canadian geologist and founder of the Geological Survey of Canada. Mount Logan is located within Kluane National Park Reserve in southwestern Yukon, less than 40 kilometres north of the Yukon/Alaska border and is the source of the Hubbard and Logan Glaciers. 
Knife Rige - Mount Logan
By Christian Stangl - https://www.flickr.com/photos/127405808@N06/15116832326/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38608961
Due to active tectonic uplifting, Mount Logan is still rising in height. In May 1992, a Geological Survey of Canada expedition climbed Mount Logan and fixed the current height of 5,959 metres (19,551 ft), including a massif with eleven peaks over 5,000 metres (16,400 ft).

South east view of Mount Logan
Temperatures are extremely low on and near Mount Logan. On the 5,000 m high plateau, air temperature hovers around −45 °C in the winter and reaches near freezing in summer with the median temperature for the year around −27 °C. Minimal snow melt leads to a significant ice cap, reaching almost 300 metres in certain spots.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Thursday, 17 August 2017

The Northwest Passage - Stan Rogers

Post By Michael Faulkner

Stan Rogers was a Canadian folk singer and songwriter, born in Hamilton, Ontario. There's a list of great songs Rogers was able to release before his tragic death back in 1983. One song stands out as his best, and that is "Northwest Passage". This song has been referred to as one of Canada's unofficial anthems, and upon hearing the first few seconds of the song you can see why. Rogers' voice creates an emotion inside that makes you want to join in with him so you can both chant the lyrics wholeheartedly; and who doesn't like a song that does that to you?!

Northwest Passage - Stan Rogers
Photo from the montrealgazzete.com
Stan Rogers left us at a young age, but he left us with some great music, so I encourage you to check him out.







What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Wednesday, 16 August 2017

Prince Edward Island National Park

Prince Edward Island National Park stretches out over 65 kilometres of shoreline, made up of beaches, red sandstone cliffs and rolling sand dunes on the North Shore of Prince Edward Island, just 24 kilometres away from the Birthplace of our Confederation in Charlottetown.
Cavendish Beach
By Loganwhite6 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59629646
Sweeping, sandy beaches draw crowds of day-trippers and campers throughout the summer. If the scenery seems storybook-perfect, there’s good reason. The park is also home a 19th-century farmhouse that was immortalized in the novel Anne of Green Gables, now one of Canada’s most popular heritage places.




What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here



Tuesday, 15 August 2017

The Raccoons


The Canadian animated television show The Raccoons was centered around Bert Raccoon and married roomates Ralph and Melissa Raccoon. The shows mostly involved the trio's efforts against the industrialist forces of greedy aardvark millionaire Cyril Sneer, who usually tried to destroy the forest for a quick buck. However, the Raccoons would always save the forest from Cyril's evil plots, with help from their forest friends including Schaeffer, a gentle sheepdog; Cedric, Cyril's college graduate son; and Sophia Tutu, Cedric's girlfriend.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Monday, 14 August 2017

Banff National Park

Canada’s inaugural and flagship national park is impressive with more than 6,000 square kilometres of mountain wilderness and is part of the larger Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site. Banff National Park is home to magnificent 3000-metre peaks, meadows in the clouds rich with colourful wildflowers, brilliant turquoise glacier-fed lakes and the picture perfect town of Banff and village of Lake Louise.

Banff, Alberta, Canada
By Tony Webster from Portland, Oregon, United States - Banff, Alberta, Canada, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39882973

The park offers exceptional hiking, camping, skiing and scenic driving. Navigate the world-renowned Icefields Parkway, a drive that parallels the Continental Divide, where wildlife like bighorn sheep, mountain goats and bears roam.
Banff National Park
By Tony Webster from Portland, Oregon, United States - Banff, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39883728
Throughout the park, visitors can choose from thousands of campsites at 13 campgrounds surrounded by some of the worlds most breath taking mountain scenery, ski at three ski resorts and stay at a range of accommodations, from hotels to lodges.


What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here


Sunday, 13 August 2017

The Igloo Church

Possibly the Northwest Territories most iconic, most photographed structure, the Our Lady of Victory church in downtown Inuvik. Also known as the Igloo Church, it is a bleach-white cylinder capped by a silvery dome, imitating the Inuvialuit snow-houses of old and is truly unlike any other church on earth.

Our Lady of Victory Church
By Adam Jones, Ph.D. - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27739723

The round or igloo shape was chosen to mitigate possible structural damage that might be caused by frost heave. Its unique structural system, "a dome within a dome", further protects the church with a foundation consisting of a bowl-shaped concrete slab on a gravel bed atop the permafrost and, in the building itself, an intricate system of wooden arches to support the load.

Interior of Our Lady of Victory Church
By Adam Jones, Ph.D. - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27739723

Designed by Brother Maurice Larocque, a Catholic missionary to the Arctic who had previously been a carpenter, designed the church despite a lack of any formal architectural training, sketching it on two sheets of plywood that are prominently displayed in the building's upper storeys. Construction was started in the late 1950s  and completed by a group of volunteers in 1960. The church was then rebuilt in 2005. A trip north of the Artic Circle would no be complete without a photo in front of the Igloo Church.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Saturday, 12 August 2017

Cream Soda

James William Black of Berwick, Nova Scotia was granted a U.S. patent on December 8, 1885, and a Canadian patent on July 5, 1886, for "ice-cream soda". Black's ice-cream soda, contained whipped egg whites, sugar, lime juice, lemons, citric acid, flavouring, and bicarbonate of soda, was a concentrated syrup that could be reconstituted into a bubbly or fizzy beverage by adding ordinary ice water.

Modern day Canadian cream soda is not really vanilla-flavored in the same way that American cream soda is; instead, it’s an intensely sweet, almost cotton-candy-type flavour. The most popular cream soda in Canada is produced by Crush and is mostly pink, except in Quebec and Newfoundland and Nova Scotia where it is sold clear. 



What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Friday, 11 August 2017

Alliston Potato Festival


Every year on the second weekend of August things start to change in my hometown, an amusement park pops up in my old grade school yard, the streets start to get busier, the store fronts begin to take on a festive appearance as they compete for the best potato display. The town of Alliston is a buzz for it's annual Potato Festival. 

If you are wondering why Alliston chose to host a festival of potatoes. It is because at the time of the Potato Festival's conception (1972-73), Alliston was the biggest and the best potato growing area of Ontario and most likely even Canada. 

Friday night Victoria street shuts down for the annual parade, not many know this but it is one of the biggest parades around and by far my personal favourite part of the weekend, but as a child I can remember the rides and games were always a top priority. Besides the midway and the parade there are many other things to keep one busy, such as sidewalk sales, live music and beer tent, a car show, street buskers and much more. 

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Thursday, 10 August 2017

Jasper National Park


Jasper National Park, Alberta
By Talhamujahid at the English language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11369898



The first time I had ever laid eyes on Jasper National Park, it was 2:30am and I was riding middle row of a Greyhound bus, we passed the Jasper sign and saw a small heard of elk, they were grazing and hanging out on the front lawn of a motel, like it was no big deal. 
By Shaun Syvertsen - Shaun Syvertsen, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1507632

On the way back through Jasper, the sun was up and I found myself in a much different Jasper than the time berfore. Jasper is a small alpine town in Nortern Alberta that is surrounded by snow-capped Canadian Rockies, forests, glacier fed lakes and rivers. I spent my entire time taking in the stunning beauty of the mountains and breathing that fresh mountain air. One day I hope to return to Jasper, the views alone are one of my most vivid memories and that makes it a shoe in for one of our 150 favourite Canadian things.



Wednesday, 9 August 2017

Bret "The Hitman" Hart

My brother and I used to turn my parent's basement into a WWF wrestling ring. Often we would take turns pretending to be different wrestling characters, and for safety we used beanbag chairs to absorb the off-the-top-rope impact. When we would select which wrestler we'd want to be for the match, my go-to would almost always be Canadian born Bret "the Hitman" Hart.

photo from profightdb.com

Bret Sergeant Hart is a a member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler. A major international draw within professional wrestling, he has been credited with changing the perception of mainstream North-American professional wrestling in the early 1990s by bringing technical in-ring performance to the fore. Hart is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. He retired in 2000 and was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2006 

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Tuesday, 8 August 2017

The Skydome

One stadium in Toronto has hosted The Blue Jays, The Raptors, The Buffalo Bills and Toronto Argonauts, as well as many concerts and plenty of main events. It is now known as the Rogers Centre, (especially to those who are born after the 92-93 World Series) but if you are or were a fan from 1989 to 2005, it will forever remain the Skydome.

The Dome, just as it is opening.


Fun Fact 1: The highest attendance for the Dome came from Wrestlemania 18 in 2002 with 68, 237 people.

Fun Fact 2: The venue was noted for being the first stadium to have a fully retractable motorized roof, as well as for the 348-room hotel attached to it, with 70 rooms overlooking the field.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Monday, 7 August 2017

A & W Canada

Known for it's Root Beer in a frosted mug, A & W Food Services Canada Inc. is a chain of fast-food restaurants. Its origins come from the U.S. back to when Roy W. Allen opened a walk-up root beer stand in Lodi, California, in 1919. Allen's employee Frank Wright partnered with him and founded the first A&W restaurant in SacramentoCalifornia, in 1923. The company name was taken respectively from the initials of their last names — Allen and Wright. 


A&W Hamilton, Ontario

Yes, I do know that what I just explained was American history. This is where it comes back around. 

A&W Canada was part of the U.S. based A&W Restaurants chain, but was sold to Unilever in 1972, and then bought by its management in 1995.  A&W Canada gave the peace out to the U.S. Chain and no longer has any corporate connection to A&W operations outside of Canada. 

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Sunday, 6 August 2017

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a NHL hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec. The club's official name is le Club de hockey Canadien, often referred to as the Habs.


Photo By Maniacduhockey - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17318965

Founded in 1909, the Canadiens are the longest continuously operating professional ice hockey team worldwide, and the only existing NHL club to predate the founding of the NHL. The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup more times than any other franchise. They have won 24 to be exact, and their fans are only second to beluga whales for being the biggest babies on earth.



What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Saturday, 5 August 2017

Oka Cheese

Oka cheese is a surface-ripened, semi-soft cheese, it has the typical orange rind and expected pungency of the washed-rind style. It’s buttery and creamy with mellow, nutty notes. It's pretty good and it's Canadian.


Not many people realize that the original recipe was made by Trappist monks in a monastery. Here is a short breakdown of Oka's history.  On an afternoon in February 1893, Brother Alphonse Juin knocked on the door of the Abbey of Notre-Dame du Lac (known as Oka Abbey) in Deux-Montagnes, Quebec. The monastery was struggling, unable to make ends meet, and Brother Alphonse had been sent from the Abbaye de Bellefontaine in France (the Oka monks hometown far, far, away) with a recipe for Port-du-Salut cheese that might help them. Brother Alphonse tweaked and adjusted the Port-du-Salut recipe, creating a unique Quebec cheese that was named after the village. The rhythm of cheese-making combined well with the monastic life – it allowed time in between work for prayer and the divine lectures. It was humble work that was a form of meditation and a pathway to God. Skills were passed from generation to generation.

In 1996 the Les Peres Trappists sold the rights of Oka cheese to Agropur. To this day the cheese is still made in Oka but is also made in the town of Holland in Manitoba, Canada.




What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Friday, 4 August 2017

The Halifax Donair

Peter and John Kamoulakos tried to introduce Bluenosers to traditional Greek style gyro's during the late 1960s at their small restaruant in Bedford, N.S. The brothers soon found, however, that Nova Scotians weren’t very fond of lamb served with a yogurt sauce. They bailed on the lamb for beef and crafted the distinctive sweet sauce, creating something unique.


photo fromjomaspizza.ca

According to locals the best way to eat a donair is at night and outside. That's why when the bars start to close in downtown Halifax, a mass of people congregate at the intersection of Blowers and Grafton Streets, better known as Pizza Corner (A whole corner of pizza?!?). They seek slices of pizza, subs and, above all else, donairs.
A donair has heavily spiced ground beef that’s shaped into a large loaf and roasted on a spit, then shaved and seared on a range. The meat is tossed on a thin, Lebanese-style pita and topped with tomatoes and raw onions. The magic donair sauce is an addictively sweet blend of evaporated milk, vinegar, garlic powder and sugar. The sandwich is wrapped in tinfoil and eaten out of hand. Kind of. Let's just say its best held away as far from your body as possible
What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Thursday, 3 August 2017

Algonquin Provincial Park


Sprawling over an estimated 8000 square kilometers of rugged Canadian shield is Ontario's oldest and 3rd largest provincial park. Algonquin Provincial Park is located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Central Ontario. The park is home to moose, wolves, black bears and smaller mammals like otters, fox or raccoons. Over 250 bird species have been recorded within Algonquins corridor.

Sunset on Rock Lake
By Eric Raymond Lanning, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52747316

In the fall the park explodes with colours as the leaves change, and in the spring the odds of seeing a moose at the side of the road increases as they are attracted to the left over road salt from the winter. The real attraction for outdoor enthusiasts comes from the 1,500 kilometers of canoe routes on over 2,400 lakes and all of that unexplored wilderness.


What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Wednesday, 2 August 2017

Churchill, Manitoba

Polar Bear statue in Churchill, Manitoba

Churchill is a Canadian town on the Hudson Bay in the far north of the province of Manitoba. It's best known for polar bears that inhabit the area in the fall. When the bears show up so do the safaris in raised, reinforced tundra vehicles that allow for up-close encounters in the wild. In the summer months, beluga whales are on view in the Churchill River. The area also offers the chance for witness the Northern Lights.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Tuesday, 1 August 2017

Sharon, Lois and Bram's Elephant Show


The Elephant Show is a Canadian children's television show that featured the adventures of the Canadian singing trio Sharon, Lois & Bram and Elephant. Elephant doesn't speak but is voiced by a tuba, which conveys thoughts and mood by its pitch and inflection. The four are usually accompanied by a group of children and a sidekick, family entertainer Eric Nagler.
photo from VanCitybuzz.com

To refresh your memory every episode contained a concert segment, featuring the trio, Eric, and the Mammoth Band. They would sing songs and help children with their problems (including arguments, fear, and the failure of plans). In classic television fashion, they would either go for adventures around the town or stay home and have an adventure in their yard. Each episode concluded with the beloved children's song "Skinnamarink" 


For nostalgic reasons I have placed a video of the Skinnamarink song below to remind us of our younger selves. 





What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here