about two hours northeastish of ottawa, inside the borders of french-speaking quebec, is montreal. so i thought id go for a visit. it actually reminded me a lot of european cities - with the foreign languages, the bulk of tourists, the cafe vibe and the expensive icecreams. its a very beautiful city. and i discovered that it was named after the (no longer active) volcanic hill in the north - mont royal - which, once climbed, has a huge park on the top. couldnt find the crater though.

global warming is most certainly upon us. ottawa - the second coldest capital in the world (after mongolia!) - still feels like summer! its amazing! apparantly it often is snowing by thanksgiving (second weekend of october), and if not snow, then definitely weather that is colder than what would be expected in auckland mid winter! yet this year it is still so warm. i love it! perhaps i will be able to have a perfect leap from summer here to summer back in new zealand...

the trees are starting to change colour. two friends of ours are coming up to visit this weekend from america (hurrah for jen and karin!!) - and i think we plan on heading across to the gatineaus to admire the colours. watching out of the bus window as i travelled to montreal - the trees are looking incredible! this was my favourite time of year in canada when i was last here so i am excited to see it once again!

hmmm - i admit ive been just a tad bit useless at keeping you all updated on my happenings now that ive reached a new continent. sorry about that. its tough though to see sense in sitting infront of a computer screen when there is so much canadiana to experience. hence i have devised the following list of bullet points.

- squirrels are the best. and live life to the max here in canada. they enjoy backflips off treetrunks and making crazy dives through the air. chipmunks join the fun at a faster speed - probably as they are smaller and more streamlined.
- plenty of loons calling to each other, the sound echoing off the forested shores as i sat in a canoe.
- four moose were sighted, three on one day, including two male moose less than ten metres from me - playing* in a swamp.
- i have seen three bears - the first was a bit scared - as were we - but the other two were happy to continue dining at the local rubbish dump and posing for photographs.
- three deer pranced about and showed off their little white tails.
- two racoons including a little baby. cute to the extreme.
- one otter / muskrat (identity uncertain due to incompetence of the observors)
- one beaver swimming through a lake.

*you know - just chilling, eating some swamp food, sinking into the mud, shaking their shoulders, that sort of thing.

- i also made a trip to toronto to relive the year of 1990 when my family lived there. saw my old house, walked down to the lake and then up to my primary school. amazing the amount i remember - but the twist being that i remember it from a nine year old perspective - so the front yard, the school playground, and the walk down to the lake is a lot smaller than i recall. suppose i was shorter with teeny eyes back then. or something.
- camped in algonquin park.
- canoed.
- lost one of my orange jandals to one of the many lakes of ontario.