Hello... I'm home!
Hello Everyone!
I've just got back home from an absolutely lovely 2 week holiday in Canada. My husband spent a month working at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo and then I got to go out and join him to spend a fortnight to explore Ontario - the perks of being married to an academic! *g*
Anyway, we had an amazing time and Ontario is just so stunningly beautiful I just have to share some of our photos with any of you who may be interested...
We started off, as I suppose most tourists do, with a trip to Niagara Falls - which do not disappoint. We stayed in Niagara on the Lake and cycled in the lovely spring sunshine to the falls about 25km away which was a really fun way to approach the falls. I cannot express how simply stunning they are... see for yourselves...
The Horseshoe or Canadian Fall.
The view from the Maid of the Mist, a boat which takes you right to the edge of the plunge pool.
A butterfly, obviously(!) - one of the 2000 in the Butterfly Conservatory at Niagara.
We then travelled west to Leamington and Point Pelee Park, where we stood on the southern most tip of Canada and admired all the birds that live on the wetlands there on Lake Eerie. Then we drove north to Tobermory on the tip of the Bruce Peninsula which arches into Lake Huron. We took a water taxi over to the gorgeous Flowerpot Island, so named for the 2 rock formations. We spent another day hiking in Bruce Peninsula National Park. The weather was wonderful - bright sunshine, clear skies and cold temeperature - and the surroundings so beautiful.
Flowerpot Island
Bruce Peninsula Park
Next was more hiking on Beausoleil Island, part of the Georgian Bay National Park, and then we spent our last 3 days hiking in Algonquin Provencial Park. Alonquin was wonderful - again perfect hiking weather (clear & cool & thankfully mostly bug-free), interesting trails with lots of info about the ecology of the area, and great chances to spot the wildlife.
Me on a trail.
A pretty trillium flower.
A porcupine attempting, rather unsuccessfully, to hide.
Lots of terrapins, all in a row!
A tiny and very well camoflaged frog - I can't believe I managed to spot him on the trail!
This little squirrel was so enamoured of his nut that I was able to get really close to him!
A beaver lodge - we saw so many of these but, despite lying in wait for over 40minutes in the late afternoon, we didn't spot any beavers.
But, I certainly cannot complain because we did see....
MOOSE!! I was *so* excited to see them...
We saw 12 in total. Apparently they're starting to feed now and come to eat the salt washed down from the highway after the winter. Unfortunately it's the wrong time of year to see the males with their full antlers and they're all rather ragged as they molt their thick winter coats, but they are just captivating! So odd-looking, all tall and gangly, yet also strangely dainty as they pick their way through the boggy and water-logged meadows.
So, yes, an unforgettable holiday!
So, it's back to reality now and the prospect of work tomorrow with jet-lag is not a particularly nice one... Please do let me know what I've missed. I'd love to hear any of your recs as to any fics, art and anything else that I need to catch up on! I've also got to get back in the swing of writing - with the deadline for both
mcshep_match (for which I am lucky enough to be collaborating with
sgamadison for Team Home) and
sgabigbang rapidly approaching...
Yay!
*hugs*