Ottawa

Ottawa - Monday and Tuesday, which was Canada Day

From Oka National Park, we headed to Ottawa, Ontario: the capital of Canada. We had worked out a few weeks ago that we would be there for Canada Day - more fortuitous than proper planning!

Ottawa has about 880 000 people, making it a similar size to Quebec City, but Ottawa has a neighbouring city of Gatineau, across the river. Combined with Gatineau, the Ottawa region is over a million people. Interestingly, Gatineau is in the province of Quebec and thus French speaking; so Ottawa has a real mix of French and English - more equal than Quebec cities which are predominantly French.

The beginning of the Rideau Canal

One of the most famous features of Ottawa is the Rideau Canal. The canal connects the Ottawa River with Lake Ontario, about 202 kms away, at Kingston, Ontario. The canal has more than 40 locks, most of which are heritage listed and subsequently still operated by hand. Right in the central area of Ottawa, at the mouth of the Ottawa River, there is a series of 8 locks which are fascinating to see in action.

One thing we've observed while wandering around Canada (and a little further afield) is that our favourite cities embrace their waterfronts and make them accessible and practical for tourists and locals alike. Whether it be cafes along the harbour, or walking/running tracks, or interesting history to discover, it is getting to the water which makes us feel that we understand a city. Ottawa was no exception and is indeed a beautiful city.

Ottawa is made for biking, with the canal providing great tracks. We parked Bertha just outside the city and rode the path along the canal right into the city centre. Tony and I have both run Ottawa streets, so some were very familiar to us, but mostly it was new. We watched as the locks raised about four boats from Ottawa River to the first height of the canal. It truly is a marvel of engineering, how water is released and then let in, to move the boats up and down.

This girl will sleep anywhere!

We rode our bikes along the Ottawa side of the river, over into Gatineau, along the waterfront on that side and back into Ottawa. It was a great ride and the children handled it much better than we expected.

After lunch and a long rest (for Sophie, a little snooze), we planned the afternoon. We actually thought our ride would take us much longer than it did; thus we wouldn't have time to do much else. It was an added bonus that we could explore more. The children had befriended a little girl at our van park the previous night, who had recommended the Mint to them. Lach was super keen. We had landed in Byward Markets for lunch, and just looking around there, Liv and I were super keen to explore!  So ... Tony, Lach and Sophie jumped on their bikes again to head to the Mint and Livvy and I went to explore the markets! Both teams came back feeling very satisfied with their afternoons!

With a nugget of gold at the Mint - didn't bring it home though!

Very festive for Canada Day.

Tuesday 1 July was Canada Day, so we started the day in the best way possible to honour and respect the land of Canada ... by having pancakes with maple syrup! We drove Bertha over to Gatineau this time, as we were heading to the Museum of Civilisation. It was free entry on Canada Day, so it was packed but still really interesting. The city was packed with people and it was a sea of red and white. We didn't actually head to the epicentre of celebrations; rather observed from a distance then quietly took our leave! We were heading to Mt Tremblant, back up into the Laurentian Mountains, just north of Montreal.



In writing this now, after heading to Mt Tremblant (one of our favourite ski destinations in winter, so we were keen to explore in summer) we have decided that we tried to do too much this week. Hindsight is wonderful, but we do need to keep in mind that its better to do less and do it well.  Both Ottawa and Mt Tremblant were great, but I think both left more to be explored .... so we should have just chosen one location. More on Tremblant coming up soon!