Exploring Canada

Canada is a pretty big place and I've only really been exploring a tiny portion of it. But I want to share with you some of the beautiful places I've been to and show you how even in your backyard, Canada is a beautiful place. The majority of these photos are surprisngly from Hamilton (my current home). Hamilton is a University town and industrial steel city but for many it's gone a bit into decline. I would argue that Hamilton has some of the best hidden gems including over 1000 waterfalls and an emerging art scene. Dundas Peak gives you a great view of Hamilton and the surrounding area (you can even see Toronto) and hiking along the Bruce Trail takes you to some gorgeous waterfalls which you can paddle in. If you continue to hike along the Bruce Trail you will eventually end up at Niagara Falls which as you will know straddles the US/Canada border (the Canada side has better views mkay?).

Horseshoe falls is probably the most famous of the two and is spectacular when lit up at night. I've also managed a sneaky trip to Toronto, as I mentioned in a previous post. It's a really amazing city- what I would call a 'liveable city'. The waterfront is for many the best view of the city, illuminating the famous CN tower and offering great views of the Rogers Centre Sports Stadium. The best views can be seen from the island, which I haven't been to yet, but I do have a good 7 months left! This weekend I'm travelling to Algonquin National Park. There I'll be canoeing and swimming in the lakes and enjoying the autumnal golds and reds of the surrounding trees- honestly the photos look amazing! The park itself is huge and offers plenty of oppurtunities to see local Canadian wildlife; moose, bears and wolves all live here! Although if I do see a bear I'm not sure if that's good news. The weather is set to be beautiful- 26 degrees and sunny! So I'm pretty excited.

So a quick overview of the backpacking trip I did last weekend. We woke up bright and early for a breakfast at Pancake House and to pack all of our goods away. This included stuffing a sleeping bag, mat, part of a tent and a few pots and pans into my already over-filled backpack. Heaving the thing on made me feel like a turtle to say the least. After a big pancake and bacon breakfast (with a bucket of strength inducing coffee) we jumped on the bus to Dundas and started the hike. The first part of the hike got some getting used to. Carrying an 80l backpack in 20+ degree heat aint so easy my friends. We walked along an old railway track which eventually led up to our campsite. However after walking for 20 mins or so, we took the high ground which led up to Dundas Peak and some great views. We even spotted a train that had at least 50 + carriages! It was great so see some of the autumnal colours coming through and also see a bit of the surrounding area. After this our walk took us past a golf course and along to see some of the waterfalls.

Most of the falls were pretty shallow but some you could paddle in. Which leads me onto the second day! After an evening of s'mores, campfire stories and 'interesting' pasta, we woke up in a puddle. It had been raining all morning and we had to pack everything up in torrential rain. It wasn't a great start to the morning and trying to cook bacon has never been so tiresome! The rains cleared up eventually however and this took us on a great path through the woodlands. It was a very peaceful start to the day, sun shining through the trees and a couple of wildlife sightings; snakes yo. Then when we reached some of the bigger waterfalls, paddling and climbing happened. A few of us drenched ourselves in the falls to cool down, others (like me) enjoyed the spray and snapped a few shots.  We carried on walking back towards Hamilton and even passed McMaster, seeing it from an almost birds-eye view! Finally we ended up near downtown and caught the bus back to campus. A great trip and a new side to Hamilton I'd never seen!