Peter and Bonita’s 2010 Canada Blog

Lunch heading toward the remote Labrador Highway

Whale sounding near our boat

Ferry to Tadoussac

Here is Alain doing a good impersonation of someone going about his religious responsibilities. At the time he had a bad knee and was trying to get the right angle for a photo.

A typical view along the St Lawrence River

Oh ‘dem eyes!

A colourful old church

Hotel along the St Lawrence

Free overnight camp along the river

Inland toward Labrador, a meteorite landed and created this permanent reminder.

The nearby Manic 2 dam and power station with an old turbine on display.

Manic 2 dam at night

A dead wolf beside the road

A typical river rushing away downstream

Embarrassment! I drove into soft gravel and had to be towed out by the much smaller New West truck.

At Fermount (Mount of Iron), they built this 4 storey block of units around the entire northern side of the town to block the prevailing winter winds. It runs for about 2 km with small breaks like the one shown for vehicles to pass through.

Serge Trudel and Lorraine Mayer from Montreal on a dam/power station tour

Inside the Manic 2 underground power station

Here I am hamming it up and simultaneously murdering the French language.

Canadian fisherman in Labrador

Happy Valley-Goose Bay was the end of the road until summer 2009 when the Labrador Highway was completed joining this town to Cartwright. When we drove through, there was still about 30km of rough track waiting to be finished.

Fire hydrant with pole to enable it to be found when it is covered with snow.

Mid-summer maximum of only 11 degrees

Out into the remotest part of Labrador. Thankfully Harvey had a range of 700km so no need to worry about fuel.

The beautiful Canadian ‘outback’

Nice geometric bridge

Plenty of potholes. The locals look forward to winter when the water in the potholes freezes making the road much smoother.

Road workers looking like ETs

When will we get there?

This is an example of an Inukshuk (singular), meaning "likeness of a person". In Inuktitut (the Inuit language), this is a stone figure made by the Inuit. The plural is inuksuit. The Inuit make inuksuit in different forms and for different purposes: to show directions to travelers, to warn of impending danger, to mark a place of respect, or to act as helpers in the hunting of caribou. Similar stone figures were made all over the world in ancient times, but the Arctic is one of the few places where they still stand. An inukshuk can be small or large, a single rock, several rocks balanced on each other, round boulders or flat. Inuit tradition forbids the destruction of inuksuit. (Wikipaedia)

A typical overnight camp in a pullover ...

with magnificent views from the kitchen of our motor home.

Dinner in the New West prepared by our French chefs, Alain and Nicole

More inuksuit

An ice-house waiting for the water to freeze in a nearby lake. Then the owner will tow it out onto the lake behind a snow mobile, drill a hole in the ice, light the wood fire, and fish, etc

Crab nets

A typical fishing village on the eastern Canadian coast

Local seafood

Nicole acting like Nicole. I have no idea where she got this idea from! (Well, to be honest, it was me actually!)

At Rocky Harbour near Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland. This is the view from where we camped near the home of a lobster/cod fisherman on a high shelf over-looking the bay.

Lobster traps

A big ‘truck-camper’ on a typical big pick-up truck

Bonita at Trout River, Newfoundland, the afternoon prior to farewelling Alain and Nicole and our resuming our travels alone again.

Lobster traps

The ’Nufies’ have a very different accent and a lot of different sayings from the rest of Canada. Some of these are well-known in Australia. (Double click the image and you will be able to read it better.)

A Hummer as a bridal car!!! Let the battle begin!

Spider sculpture - outside the Museum of Art, Ottawa

Parliament Hill, Ottawa

Inside Parliament House, Ottawa

Outside Parliament House, Ottawa – remembering the suffragettes

The plaque reads ‘Women are Persons’!

‘Truly, whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40

How about a cuppa?

Main stadium of the Olympics, Montreal

Library, Parliament Hill

Inside Parliament House, Ottawa

Bike riders getting into the swing of things, Ottawa

If you want to see what was making them dance, have a look at this video. It was taken in Ottawa on the day that Spain won the Soccer World Cup so this musical group was celebrating in an appropriate way. I do not have the name or contact information for this group, so please send it to me if you know them so I can get permission to use this clip.