Timmy Travels

Mont-Tremblant this was the fake ski village at the foot of the Mountain not the actual village which is about 10kms away, it was tacky and expensive but it was only a stop off for an hour. We quickly moved on to the Hostel which was situated next to a gorgeous lake. After a arriving we all ditch our stuff and spent a few hours swimming and larking about in the cool water which was much appreciated after a hot day on a bus.

After another great meal this time cooked by the driver although Liam helped out we had a few beers and played touch football, it was good fun and my team won and the victory was made all that sweeter by the fact that on the opposing team was the Canadian driver who's idea it was to play.

There was a massive Tipi (Teepee) in the garden containing a roaring fire but since it was still about 25 degrees and sticky at 11pm it was more like a furnace than a camp fire!

The next morning before breakfast Liam and I went for a swim in the lake which was still lovely and warm although the girls didn't believe us and refused to go in :-)

I spent 3 nights in Montreal partly as a break from the daily bus rides and partly to see more of the City.

Luckily I have been traveling with Liam and Amanda, Liam is a chef so we've been eating some tasty meals on a budget. We had some Thai coconut soup dish that fed about 10 people for $25 and a pasta dish which stretched so far we had it for breakfast the next day.

Enough about my eating habits a little about Montreal, it's name is derived from the French Mont Royal the name of the 3 head-hill in the City. We walked up to the hill and got some amazing views of the City. We also visited St Joseph's Oratory which gives spectacular views of the city and is also home to some dudes heart in a box, Brother André, it's supposed to give healing to the sick. There are lots of dicarded walking sticks hung up where people have supposed to have been 'healed' I don't buy into any of that rubbish though, all these crippled people must have shopped at the same walking stick shop that's all I have to say!!

The next day I went to the La Rhonde theme park with Shanna, Jacqueline and Chris, it was a great day and really really hot so made use of the water rides to get soaked and cool off, not something you get to do at the theme parks in England very often! In the evening we went to the Montreal Fireworks festival and managed to catch the German display on Wednesday evening, it was very very efficient even if it doesn't make economic sense!

I know I keep talking about great views and not loading any pictures but I've yet to stay in a Hostel that has allowed me to connect my camera. Once I get to Toronto I'll find an internet cafe and spend an afternoon uploading photos.

Another early start! today we headed to Tadoussac which was France's first trading post on the mainland of New France. It lies at the foot of wild rounded hills the name “totouskak” means “breasts” in the Innu language

We arrived here later than planned as we had to turn back 30 mins into our journey because the crazy French driver, Paul, we have left without a passenger. I blame the girl as she should have been there by 9am and she wasn't.

As we were running late the planned 2pm trip to go whale watching was postponed until 5pm which gave us time to check out Tadoussac so I joined the Dutchies for a wander along the beach and discovered that the water was bloody freezing despite it being close to 30 degrees in the sun.

For whale watching we first had to change into warm clothes and then put on more layers in the form of some rather attractive orange and blue suits, bearing in mind it's still only 5pm and the sun was blazing, to say I was hot would have been an understatement! Once speeding along in the Zodiac boats we soon realised why we were give the suits, it was bloody cold! It was all worth the wait though as we got to see lots of whales including a mother and her calf and a couple of comical Seals doing Mere cat impressions in the water.

The Hostel we stayed in was a real hippy place and served the most amazing Mexican food and plenty of cold beer to wash it down with. We all spent the evening listening to a couple of old guys playing classics from CCR and such like on a guitar and Banjo each with a foot operated bass drum and symbol.

Still no sign of Moose!

So after another early start we arrived in Quebec City which I have to say is beautiful a very picturesque place. Before exploring the city we visited the massive Montmorency Falls which is higher than Niagra at 83 meters. We started at the top and walked down the 400 plus steps which was a wise move. It's an impressive site but it is a little strange that not 200 meters after the falls is the freeway, you can see the falls each time you enter and leave the city, it's just there at the side of the road.

After the falls we headed back into Quebec City to have a look around and of course eat. There is a group of us that have got pretty friendly so we all went out together, these are Liam from Dublin and his wife Amanda from Australia, Ian from Guernsey, Steve from Southampton, Kerone from Dublin and two lovely Dutch girls called Chana and Jackie.

It is a walled City which is unusual for North America, we were told the best way to see the City was to follow the wall so that's what we did, it's not like the walled Cities we have it's like it's brand new and in perfect condition which is funny as it is one of the oldest settlements in North America. It's just not as old as the places in the UK.

Hi all, so Friday we started the Moose tour, so far I've seen zero Moose, our driver Nick picked us up from our Hostel at 8am and I was feeling slightly ropey after the Pub Crawl the night before (see facebook for some pics) the PB & J bagel was helping the quash the sick feels I was having from the hangover though.

So I got chatting to Nick on the way to the bus and he asked where I was from, I said Manchester, he said okay cool so what do they call people from Manchester are they like Manchurians?.... Nick turned out to be a laugh and along the way managed to set off with the back doors open and also placed a cup of coffee above the drivers seat and then drove off spilling the contents onto Liam and Amanda who were sat behind him. (It's ok it was cold coffee)

On the way to Montreal we stopped at Thousand Island (home to the famous sauce) at Lake Ontario for a boat trip which was pretty cool, thankfully I'd beat the hangover by then, half the lake is in the US and half in Canada. Many of the islands have houses on them as this being one of the Great Lakes the islands are pretty damn big. There are more than 1000 islands and the number changes each year. For it to constitute an island it has to have at least 2 trees on it, go figure?!

Arrived in Montreal at about 5pm tired and hungry so after a quick shower we all went out for some nice food and more drinks plus a few games of pool.

Not been able to upload any photos yet but I will as soon as I can. Ciao for now!