The Canadian Tulip Festival is held for 3 weeks in May of every year in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada. I had the great opportunity to visit this year, although it was unfortunate that it rained throughout the whole weekend I was there. I still managed to get a great first hand glimpse of the beautiful flowers that decorated around Parliament Hill. The festival features over 1 million tulips and receives over 500,000 visitors annually. This is a really enjoyable event to visit in Ottawa if you ever get the chance to go.
About The Thousand Islands (Ontario, Canada & New York, USA)
In late July of 2011, we decided to hit the road and make it to the 1000 Islands (The Thousand Islands). This is an archipelago (cluster of islands) situated in the Saint Lawrence River at the border of Ontario, Canada and New York, USA. It emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario and stretches for 50miles (80km) which makes it perfect for Canadians and Americans to visit and enjoy many of their summer hobbies such as boating, kayaking, fishing, and simply just vacationing in a cottage.
Kayaking through the Thousand Islands
It has gorgeous and serene atmosphere, especially when the water is still. Even when a boat zooms by, it makes small ripples in the water and then its back to stillness is no time. This made it perfect for kayaking which I never knew how much effort it would take! It looks so relaxing to watch, but not AS relaxing to do. Nevertheless, it was still extremely enjoyable. It was my first time kayaking and I was especially tense as I was worried I would tip over (which was silly considering how still the water was).
It was a great work out for my arms and abs and is relaxing if you aren’t as worrysome as myself. The second time I kayak I think I would be more confident so I would be able to take better strides, be a much more efficient kayaker and thus, enjoy it much more.
Nevertheless, the Thousand Islands was perfect on a sunny day, it was so nice to just sit back in my kayak and feel the sun on my face and arms. The Thousand Islands is approximately a 3 hours and 30 minute drive from Toronto and approximately 6 hours from New York City. It was a worthwhile road trip.
Kayaking and The Thousand Islands Photos
Driving Directions from Toronto to the Thousand Islands
One of the most known places in Ottawa, Canada is The Rideau Canal (French: Canal Rideau) which is also known as the Rideau Waterway. It was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States and is still in use today as it connects the city on the Ottawa River to Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario. It is the most scenic waterway in North America.
In 2007, it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is operated today by Parks Canada as a recreational waterway. The locks on the system open for navigation in mid-May and close in mid-October. Each lock is unique and the lock staff are always ready to offer the tourist any assistance they can. Most locks provide washrooms, overnight mooring and picnic facilities, including tables, benches and barbecue grills.
The best way to visit the Rideuau is via boat – to experience the atmosphere in its full. However, I made a quick stop to check it out in Ottawa near Parliament Hill. Unfortunately the day I went to see this – it was pouring rain! We quickly took some snaps and quickly got some shelter to dry off. Nevertheless, it was still all lovely sight to see and visit.
In the winter, the water is frozen and becomes the famous Rideau Canal Skateway – the world’s largest skating rink! That’s right, you can skate your way through the heart of downtown Ottawa. The skateway begins just steps away from Canada’s Parliament Buildings and is 7.8km long. It is typically opens to the public for skating in January for Ottawa Winterlude.
It’s that beautiful time of the year again: Spring! I just love Spring, it’s when all the flowers bloom and everyone comes out to play. That’s exactly what the atmosphere was at High Park during the Cherry Blossom (Sakura Tree) Festival, which I also went to last year in 2010. As last year, many came here to catch a glimpse of these beautiful flowers as they do not last long! A full bloom (mankai) is usually reached within about one week after the opening of the first blossom (kaika) and after just one week, the blooming peak is over and the blossoms begin to fall from the trees. If there are strong winds or rain, blooming season will be even shorter.
Please check out my video below to learn more about the Cherry Blossom Festival at High Park.
Sammylicious TV: Cherry Blossom (Sakura Trees) at High Park
As mentioned in my video above, the Cherry Blossom (Sakura Tree) Festival is a highly celebrated event in Toronto because of the much anticipated spring after a long brutal Canadian winter. Many from all over the city come to enjoy this spectacular sight, from professional photographers to family and friends having a picnic in the park.
The Cherry Blossom Flower Viewing is an old Japanese tradition also known as “Sakura Hanami” and many spend hours viewing and enjoying these flowers on full bloom. The blooming of Cherry Blossoms (Sakura Trees) typically occur in late April to early May, depending on the winter. The milder the winter, the earlier these will bloom. Because the winter in Toronto of 2010 – 2011 was both long and harsh, these flowers bloomed in early May which is much later than last year when it bloomed in mid-late April. Sometimes, when the winter is too harsh and cold, these flowers may not even bloom at all!
High Park has two Cherry Blossom walks but as last year, we took Walk 1 again which approximately takes 30-45 minutes to complete. This walk offers gorgeous views of High Park’s largest collection of Sakura trees as well as the Grenadier Pond and Hillside Gardens. Please enjoy my photos below!
Photos from the Cherry Blossom (Sakura Tree) Viewing
Here’s Elliott and I.
And then there’s just me! Hahaha..
Chinese Blossoms at High Park
High Park also has a wide range of other beautiful flowers – just like this pretty pink Chinese blossom (I am unsure the name! If someone knows, please let me know!). Most of them weren’t bloomed just yet, but we found a few that were :)
Elliott & I in front of the Chinese Blossoms
Kaori & I by the pond
The Canadian maple leaf: What’s a Canadian park without a Maple Leaf, right?
Large tall trees – so beautiful!
High Park Wildlife in the Spring
Mr. Squirrel who lives at High Park, also wanted to come out and play! Helloooo!
I adore High Park, because I love to see these amazingly beautiful birds. Above are two Canadian Geese.
This really cool duck is known as the Wood Duck.. but only the male looks as cool as this, spotting so many colours! I saw shades of orange, red, purple, green, black, white and brown.
The most convenient and easy way I find is to take the TTC to High Park station (on the Bloor line) and just as you cross Bloor Street, you’ll see High Park. It’s too big to miss!
If you prefer to drive, there’s free parking available at the Grenadier Restaurant (enter the park from the intersection of Bloor Street and High Park Avenue and follow the one-way loop to the Grenadier Restaurant in the centre of the park) and the lot immediately east of the Zoo (enter the park from the intersection of High Park Blvd and Parkside Drive).
For my birthday, we went to Niagara on the Lake for some wine tasting but we ended up leaving Toronto much later than we planned and arrived at Niagara in the mid-afternoon. Because of this, we only managed to visit two wineries at Peller Estates and Jackson Triggs.
Also, because we rushed over to Niagara we didn’t have a proper lunch so we were starving by 4pm! Unfortunately, the restaurant at Peller Estates was not open until 6pm but they recommended that we visit Grill on King which is located on 233 King, Niagara on the Lake. The lady at Peller Estates mentioned that the place made excellent steaks! Mmm… Driven by our hungry stomachs, we rushed over and was lucky to have the entire restaurant to ourselves (because we were so early!). It was a lovely setting though.
Muscles: these were soooo delicious. I couldn’t get enough of the tomato sauce that these were cooked in. It was so tasty and the muscles were cooked to perfection!
Grilled Calamari: this was another lovely tasting dish.
This is my shrimp skewer with roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and zucchini. I loved the peppery seasoning they put all over this. So yummy!
Check out the size of Elliott’s steak. It’s gigantic! The potato mash was smooth and creamy and the steak was cooked perfectly and was nice and juicy! The vegetable side was cooked very similar to the way mine were.
After we filled up our bellies with so much food, we drove over the border to the U.S of A for some shopping! Look how rainy and depressing it was outside though :( We made it over to the Coach outlet, bought mummy a bag and then went back home to Canada :)
On my birthday at Niagara on the Lake, Jackson-Triggs was the second winery we visited after Peller Estates, which we thought was beautiful with a lovely range of wines. As we approached Jackson-Triggs, we were disappointed by the boring factory look of the winery especially coming from Peller Estates!
Jackson-Triggs at Niagara-on-the-Lake
Jackson-Triggs is a Canadian winery with vineyards in Okanagan Valley, British Columbia and the Niagara Peninsula. It was founded in 1993 when Donald Triggs and Allan Jackson began producing the wine in Mississauga. In 2006, Jackson-Triggs won the Gold Medal at the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) for the best Shiraz/Syrah, which was the first Canadian red wine to be recognized by the IWSC. Jackson-Triggs kept up their reputation and in 2010, they won their seventh Canadian Wine Producer of the Year trophy and have now been awarded more than 50 medals at 3 competitions.
We got to taste a wide range of wines here as well, from the Sauvignon Franc to various Icewines. Wine tasting here will set you back approximately $1-$3 a pop (depending on the type of wine).
Here are some of the wines at Jackson-Triggs.
I saw this and thought it was really cool, I had to take a snap! Maple Infused Wine Vinegar? How interesting.
We accidentally went down the wrong way and caught a glimpse of where they store the wine! Very cool.
Here’s me and Elliott.
Here’s what it looked like outside. So wet and rainy! It was unfortunate because this part of Niagara Region is so beautiful!
For my birthday, Elliott took me to Niagara on the Lake for wine tasting. The weather was awful, but it didn’t stop us in going and getting some wine-on. I enjoy wine tasting a lot and have been recommended by quite a few people to visit Peller Estates so we made this our first stop.
Peller Estates at Niagara-on-the-Lake
Peller Estates began in 1927, when Andrew Peller first arrived in Canada from Hungary. He had the dream for Canadians to enjoy premium-quality wines and to share them with family and friends. He then opened a winery in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley and then later on purchased a winery at Niagara on the Lake, Ontario in 1969.
Peller Estates has won many prestigious awards for their signature products, such as the Icewine, Chardonnays and Rieslings. Most recently, they been named Best Canadian Winery of the Year at London’s International Wine & Spirit Competition.
We ended up each trying about 6 of their wines and took home a really nice bottle of Merlot. :) The ice wines they had available were incredible! I loved them, but they were damn pricey! The one that I enjoyed the most was $70 for the bottle!
If you’re ever in Niagara Region, you must make it to Niagara on the Lake and definitely Peller Estates to try these wines. They’re fantastic, and I (as an Aussie, and a lover of wine) couldn’t believe the quality of wines here in Canada (even though most of the reds here weren’t really too much to my liking but was surprised by that Merlot).
Wine tasting here will set you back aproximately $3 a pop, however if you like to try a pre-set of wines for just $7 (for example you can try the Peller Estates Signature Collection which includes a white, a red, and an icewine – Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Vidal Icewine).
We were hoping to try the restaurant here, but it was only open from 6pm and it was 4pm and we were absolutely starving! We knew all the wineries would be closing soon, so we made a quick rush out of here and onto our next before we had dinner. I hope to be back here for dinner some other time!
The wine tasting room itself was gorgeous with so many products on offer!
These wines (especially the rosé) looks divine.
Mmmm Icewine truffles. It was incredibly difficult to resist these!
The Distillery District is a historic entertainment district which is located east of Downtown Toronto. It was founded in 1832 and by the late 1860s it was the largest distillery district in the world. It once provided over 2 million gallons of whisky but after the de-industrialization of the surrounding area in the late 20th century – the distillery operations wound down and the district was left abandoned. Many industrial and commercial buildings and structures were demolished.
It was only until 2001, the site was purchased by Cityscape Holdings Inc. and they transformed the district into a culture and entertainment neighbourhood. It was then opened in 2003 and was largely popular, now filled with unique boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, jewellery stores, cafés and a micro brewery (Mill Street Brewery).
A lot of tourists (and locals!) enjoy frequenting The Distillery District to enjoy a good meal, a drink or two, see the unique stores and galleries. But most of all, people enjoy the interesting and old rustic feel of this place. I probably should’ve taken more photos to show you all!
Taste of Quebec – offers French style cheeses and patés. Yum!
Lileo – offers a wide range of urban men and women’s fashion
This dog was situated inside Lileo – it was still as a statue posing for the camera. So cute!
Smoking is positively prohibited: We saw this sign on the wall and thought it was hilarious.
Interesting design
.. And interesting dead plants on display? Odd.
Old Beer Keg
Macarons from The Sweet Escape. Above maracons in the flavours mango, lemon, red velvet and chocolate. I really enjoyed the mango flavour!
I am so so so ridiculously tired of people asking me if you can ski in Australia. OF COURSE YOU CAN SKI IN AUSTRALIA. It’s like me asking a Canadian if you can swim in Canada. Australia may have a warmer client, but we do have the four seasons! It does snow! You might have to drive higher up the mountain, but you can get decent snow and decent snow resorts and runs. I met some Canadians down in the land of Oz who loved skiing in Australia!
Alpine Resorts in Victoria, Australia
In Victoria alone, there are SEVEN alpine resorts: Mt Buller, Hotham, Mt Baw Baw, Lake Mountain, Mt Stirling and Falls Creek. In the late winter of 2008, my friends and I whipped on over to Falls Creek for the weekend. Now when I say whipped on over – I mean a cruisy four hour drive (350 kilometres) from the heart of Melbourne – but it was sure worth it.
Falls Creek: 1,780 Metres High
Falls Creek is known to have better runs than the very popular (and often very packed) Mt Buller. The Falls Creek resort lies between an altitude of 1,210 and 1,830 metres, with the highest lifted point at 1,780 metres high. It also has a wide range of runs for beginner/intermediate skiers and snowboarders alike, but best for proficient skiers as it has the wide open vistas and rolling hills unique to the High Plains in Victoria. This is great because it is much less crowded and there are very short chair lift queues even on the busiest of weekends.
When we went in mid September (late winter in Australia), we didn’t have the greatest conditions with fresh powdery snow which was a little bit of a bummer but the snow was much better conditions than I got when I went skiing in a late Canadian winter (was too icy). Also, the skies are clear and blue with no wind. It was so beautiful to sit and absorb the atmosphere.
You can also cross country ski, go tobogganning, snow tubing and there are many bars/cafes to hang out at. And if you’ve done all that, you can sit in your resort hot tubs and relax or just stare out into the beautiful mountain ranges.
Gorgeous, ain’t it? Now you need not wait for summertime in Australia to head on over – you can go in the winter and test out the runs yourself.
Last Saturday I used my Groupon coupon for a 1 hour snowshoeing guided tour at High Park which I only paid $25 for and is normally $50. Pretty good! It was snowing all morning until about noon that day, so when I arrived at High Park at 12:30 for my lesson, we had beautiful fresh snow and it wasn’t that cold either maybe about -5C. It was a really nice day because it was sunny and not windy. Absolutely perfect!
This is what it was like outside my condo while waiting for the streetcar.
Snowshoeing at High Park Photos
And this is what it was like when I finally arrived at High Park! So pretty!
Then we put on our snowshoes! What are snowshoes, you say? They are footwear to help you walking over the snow. Snowshoes distribute the weight of your feet over a larger area so that your feet do not completely sink into the snow. Snowshoeing is easy to learn, and is a relatively safe and inexpensive recreational activity.
We put the snowshoes on, had a quick 5 minute lesson and then we were off! There’s not much to know about snowshoeing because you’re just walking but in long and wide strides. You need to pretty much pretend you have clown feet!
Sammylicious TV: Snowshoeing at High Park (Video)
httpvh://www.youtube.com/embed/TQnOEnQA8Sg
Watch out for the part I trip! We were going down a hill and the snow was so soft, I slipped! Hahaha. Quite funny..
We went up and down so many hills, we were so dizzy, sweaty and hot after the hour. It was SUCH an amazing workout!
In all, the tour was very enjoyable and a great way to enjoy winter in Toronto without going far at all!
