We enjoyed the picturesque landscape of the Quebec and Charlevoix regions as we followed the mountainous coastline of the St Lawrence River to Baie-Ste-Catherine where we departed on our whale watching cruise to the Saguenay-St Lawrence Marine Park. We sighted two humpbacks. They were diving to feed and so we saw their backs and tail fins, however with black whales in the dark water we did not see much. But the coast is lovely and we had fun trying to take pictur...

A day on the road today leaving Ottawa in Ontario province and entering Quebec province, the largest Canadian province in terms of area. This province is officially uni-lingual (French) with all road signs for instance only in French and the population generally only French speaking. While there are exceptions to this of course in the main tourist areas and cities where English would be more evident, but as we were travelling today through rural areas on the way ...

Departing Toronto we headed east along the north side of Lake Ontario to Kingston at the head of the St Lawrence River. Despite this being a short break Kim has time to buy shoes (!!) before a drive further east to Gananoque where we depart for a cruise in the Thousand Islands. The weather is mediocre but the scenery is still impressive, especially when you remember these expanses are all fresh water - there is lots of it. Apparently in the early days they could ...

Well, this was a signature day. Niagara Falls just has to be seen to be believed! We set off from Toronto for two hours by road to firstly a town called Niagara-on-the-Lake. This is where the Niagara River enters Lake Ontario and it is pretty as a picture. The small business area is festooned with flowers in beds and hanging baskets while the homes are just what you expect to see with green lawns, beautiful gardens and of many individual but elegant designs with ...

A hop, step and a jump (1 hr flight) from Boston to Toronto (take 2). Our tour accommodation is mainly at Marriott hotels which is so disappointing. Not! The Marriott here in Toronto is stunning. So we were out and about in a different area of Toronto than when we were here 5 days ago searching for the Christmas shop (which we found by ourselves) and Kim continued her second tradition of collecting Christmas tree decorations from each country/ location visited. ...