Aug 2007

Today we travelled to Fort Coulonge from Ottawa but before leaving we visited the RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police which was pretty dull really the highlight being when Andy almost stood in a big pile of horse crap.

Our next stop was a town called Wakefield similar to Wakefield in the UK in that there were a number of weird people wandering the streets. This was an experimental stop by Moose and our driver took us here as nobody was up for the bungee jumping that normally takes place. On arrival we were greeted by a load of hippies and hippy kids playing in a Teepee. We were all a bit nervous that we might end up in some strange cult but the offers of free corn and fresh melon was too good to miss. One of the hippy guys kept telling Liam to check out the Teepee but he wasn't having any of it. After eating all their corn and Melon we borrowed the huge car inner-tubes the kids were playing with and set off to the river for a spot of bridge jumping followed by a lazy float down the river in the tubes.

We arrived at Fort Coulonge in time for the Sunset and found it packed with Mountain Bikers doing a 36hr bike ride. After being allocated our tents Liam cooked up some more tasty grub and we spent the evening enjoying some live music and a few beers.

We stayed in Fort Coulonge for the whole of the next day and had a great time relaxing in hammocks, swimming and Kayaking, I know it's a hard life but someone's got to do it! :-)

Still on the Moose tour the next stop was Ottawa, on the way there we went to a Safari park containing Bears, Wolves, Deer, Arctic Wolves, Mountain goats with huge straight pointed horns oh and some fat wart hogs, the bears were very funny. Here I also got to see my first Moose, he looked bored stiff!!

I didn't spend much time here in Ottawa as we arrived fairly late. I did a quick guided tour courtesy of our Moose driver Mikey B which took in the Parliament buildings with some great views across the city we also saw the fattest Groundhog ever. There is a stray cats shelter near the Parliament buildings that was built by some crazy dude who has since died but people still put out food for the cats however a family of Raccoons the fat Groundhog and numerous squirrels find the cat food to tasty to pass up and have also taken up residency there.

The Hostel in Ottawa provided the most entertainment as it was formerly a jail only 3 official hangings ever took place at the jail, however there are rumors of unofficial hangings taking place at the hands of the guards. After the jail had closed, a bridge was constructed along the side of the grounds and several unmarked graves were discovered. It is possible there are still bodies buried under what is the parking lot today. The dorms of the hostel are converted cells which have been knocked through to make them bigger as there are originally just 2x3 meters. It's a pretty cool place to stay.