Mexican Coastal Resorts

In Mexico, Mayan Riviera, Cozumel on the Yucatan Peninsula, Cancun, and Los Cabos on Baja Peninsula are the most popular tourist destinations. Particularly, the Yucatan has witnessed a spectacular rise in resort and hotel development because of its amazing beaches and Mayan archaeological sites such as Chichen Itza and Tulum. The Mayan Riviera is also popular as the top destination for Canadian travelers. Climbing up the popularity charts are also Puerto Vallarta and a revitalized Acapulco on the Pacific coast. In Puerto Vallarta, the destination that is gaining rapid popularity is Nuevo Vallarta, which is located at north of the old town.

Growing Golf in Cuba

Cuba was devoid of any golf culture until the famous Varadero Golf was built. After it was set up, the island has just not looked back in terms of the sport’s popularity. Today, Cuba is the most sought after golf destination and is a vital attraction for the local as well as international sports lovers. Currently, the much famous Varadero Golf Club does over 32,000 rounds annually. It intends to add nine more holes to its existing facility, according to the management. A European has been given the responsibility to design the new golf site that is likely to have five holes on ocean, instead of the existing two.

Dominican Republic’s all-inclusive Packages

The growing popularity of The Dominican Republic as a tourist spot is reflected in a spectacular rise in its hotel rooms to nearly 40,000. The destination is among the favorite tourist spot for the Canadians, because of its all-inclusive vacations. In such packages, one up-front payment covers facilities including airfare, accommodation, unlimited alcohol, food, and resort activities like tennis and windsurfing. So much so that the popularity of the Dominion Republic’s all-inclusive packages have reached Caribbean and Mexican destinations. Canadian tourists heading to the Dominion Republic pay as low as $999 per person for an all-inclusive trip to a hotel/resort situated at just 10 minutes away from Puerto Plata.

Caribbean Cruises

Even the biggest tropical storms move at snail’s pace when compared with the cruise ships, which is the biggest reason for the growing popularity of the Caribbean cruises. The nice weather of the Caribbean serves like an icing on the hot cake. Even a hurricane in the cruise’s path seems like a vacuum cleaner that sucks the moisture out of the air, leaving behind bright sunny days for the tourists. Moreover, with the political uncertainties across the globe, the Canadians prefer holiday trips close to home, which is another reason contributing towards the increasing popularity of Caribbean cruises.

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Canmore is nestled deep inside the Bow Valley beneath the Front Ranges of the Canadian Rockies. Due to the beauty of the surrounding wilderness areas, several Hollywood movies have been filmed here, including movies such as Legends of the Fall and Dances with Wolves.

The development of this area really took off when the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) constructed its railway line through the mountains in 1888, providing convenient access to mining companies looking to tap into the area’s rich coal deposits. Canmore was founded shortly after and attracted prospectors which were soon followed by hotels, restaurants and shops. The North West Mounted Police had an outpost here with a “two man and two horse barrack” and at some point Canmore even had an opera house.

Mining came to an end in 1979, but today Canmore has developed into a major recreational centre that attracts athletes, artists, nature lovers and adventure seekers. That was the category that I fell into today, as I was seeking out a truly unusual adventure: Dog sledding!

Punctually at 8:15 am I arrived at the retail outlet of Snowy Owl Adventures to be included in their 2-hour “Power Hound Express” tour that was to start at 9 am. The retail outlet itself features a variety of clothing, souvenirs, pictures and books with a dog sledding theme. I also rented big insulated boots to make sure my feet wouldn’t get cold on this very brisk winter day.

A group of about 9 or 10 people were ready to get out on the trails, to be pulled by a group of enthusiastic canine athletes. Our group had travelers from various parts of Canada, Texas, England and Holland and everybody was excited to get out there. Chris, our driver, packed us into a van and up we went into the mountains. We drove by several extremely scenic drinking water reservoirs and about 20 minutes later we arrived in the Spray Lakes area of Kananaskis County, very close to the Three Sisters Hydroelectric Generating Station.

The first thing we saw was the trailer with the transport kennels for the sled dogs and five teams of enthusiastic canines were already waiting for us. Jereme, one of our dog sledding guides, gave us a half hour safety presentation and instructions on how to ride the sled. That’s where my first big surprise came in: I didn’t realize that we ourselves would get a chance to drive the sled, I had assumed that we’d simply be packed into the sled and the guides would be driving us.

But no, there are actually 3 options for dogsledding adventurers: you can sit comfortably inside the sled and be driven by a guide; you can drive the dog team one-on-one together with one of the instructors; or you can actually drive the sled dog team yourself with the company of family and friends, following one of the instructors. So for all the real adventurers out there: this is an opportunity to get behind the sled and drive the dog sled team yourself!

To get started I actually decided to play it safe and elected to sit down and let my instructor Natalie handle the driving. Since I was here to document this experience that would allow me to actually take photos and video clips of this unique experience. Three of the dog sled teams this morning had signed up for the 2-hour program and 2 of those sleds were going to be driven by the participants themselves rather than the instructors. Two other teams were scheduled for the 4-hour “Sunfeather Winterlude” program, this half-day excursion is Snowy Owl’s most popular ride.

The safety instruction introduced us to the essential commands to get the dogs going (“Hike!”, or as Natalie would say “Hike up, puppies!”) and to get them to stop (“Whoa” – in a deep voice) while stepping on the sled’s brake. In between it’s a great idea to cheer on the dogs with enthusiastic comments. Jereme also explained that the dogs are Alaskan Huskies, and most of them are a mixture of huskies or malamutes with other breeds like border collies which makes for a very enthusiastic, cooperative and smart breed of dog.

Jereme mentioned that it’s very important to step on the brake while riding downhill to slow the sled down, and to lean right when heading into a right-hand turn, and to lean to the left when heading into a left-hand turn. The key thing is never to let go of the sled or step off the brake when standing since the dogs can be a bit mischievous and may take off on you. On uphill runs it is recommended that the sled driver get off and run beside the sled so the dogs have to pull less weight.

Well, now that our briefing was coming to an end, the excitement was building, both among the human passengers/drivers as well as among the dogs. 5 teams of Alaskan huskies were raring to go and towards the end of the safety presentation there was lots of barking, yelping, howling and commotion, indicating that the dogs were indeed ready to take us out on our big adventure.

So I sat down inside the comfortably cushioned sled and Natalie zipped me into a sleeping bag to keep me warm. All the teams were now ready to go and Natalie issued the key command “Hike up, puppies!” and off we went through a beautiful narrow forest trail that opened up into a clearing from where you had a gorgeous view of the imposing mountain range behind. Then we went down a series of hills and I got bounced a bit in the sled, fortunately the sled’s and my own built-in cushioning protected my rear end from most of the impact. There were a few spills in the amateur-driven sleds behind us, I guess first-time dog-sledding is similar to any adventure sport in that it takes a bit of time to get the hang of it. But none of the spills were serious and once the initial challenges were overcome it was a smooth ride for everyone and we continued our beautiful journey through the forests above Canmore.

After about half an hour our three teams on the 2-hour program had reached the turnaround point and we arrived at a picturesque mountain lake called Goat Pond that was completely surrounded by mountains. Now it was picture time and Natalie kindly offered to take photos of all the sled teams.

After a brief rest we were ready to continue on and Natalie asked me if I actually wanted to drive the sled myself. By this time I was thoroughly comfortable with the experience, so of course I jumped at the idea. One of the passengers from another sled took my cozy spot inside the sleeping bag, and Natalie and I each balanced ourselves on one of the rails of the sled, while our eager sled dogs were pulling us onto the home stretch. Natalie told me a little about herself, that she is a dog sledding instructor in the winter and a construction worker in her brother’s company in Northern Alberta in the summer. She seems like a thoroughly outdoorsy and adventurous woman who really enjoys what she is doing.

Our ride continued on beside a river until we reached the Three Sisters Hydroelectric Power Station and finally returned to our starting point. Then it was time to pet the dogs and take pictures of our eager transportation providers. The dogs are amazingly friendly and from what I could tell, they enjoyed the experience as much as we humans did.

Our exciting outing concluded with refreshments, hot apple cider and “mystery cookies” beside a fire at West Side Camp where all the adventurers and our instructor had a chance to socialize and talk about our experience. A photographer had also taken pictures of each dog sled team and this was an opportunity to buy some photos.

In addition to the 2 hour and half-day dog sled tours, Snowy Owl Aventures offers a variety of other unique adventures: Snowy Owl also offers an 8 hour full-day program that includes instructions on how to track indigenous animals like wolves, cougars and rabbits. Their 4-hour “Snowy Mountain Experience” takes you back in time to a winter festival in local Inuit and First Nations communities. Their 4.5 hour “Bow Trail BBQ” combines a 2-hour dog sled outing with a Western Style Ride provided by horses, capped off by a blazing bonfire in their “Donut Tent” for storytelling. Their “Ghosts of Fortune Mountain “program extends over 2 days and 1 night and includes touring, kennel visits and hearty meals. The nights are spent in a genuine, heated Sioux Indian Tipi. Last but not least, the “Flight of the Great Snowy Owl” lasts 4.5 hours and takes you by helicopter into the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies before spending a half-day touring by dog team.

Just shortly after 11 am our van driver Chris arrived again with another batch of adventurers from the village and it was time for us to wave a final goodbye to our canine friends and enjoy the scenic ride back into Canmore. Once back at the retail outlet I returned my boots and hopped back in the car to drive back to Banff to pick up my husband so we could go on our final half-day of skiing at Lake Louise.

My two-hour Dog sledding adventure in the morning was the perfect start to an exciting winter day and it’s certainly been one of the most unique and special adventures I have ever had a chance to experience……

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In Canada, one of the great historical challenges was to provide a way for goods to move from the Great Lakes to the open ocean, thus avoiding the high costs (and sometimes impossibility) of transport overland. The answer was to build canals that ran from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.

One of the most celebrated of these canals is the Welland Canal. Located in Ontario, the canal runs from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It is part of a series of canals that allows shipping to avoid the Niagara Falls region of the St. Lawrence River. Today, over forty million tonnes of cargo is carried through this canal by ships each year!

One can only imagine the new opportunities that were opened up with the completion of the first Welland Canal in 1829. In fact, compared to the Canal today, this operation might well be considered small time.

The Second Welland Canal opened in 1854, and was a much larger investment both of public and private money. After seeing how a canal could open up the trade possibilities of the interior, many interests became involved. The giants of industry in those days specialized in transportation (the railroad developers and so on) and shipping was no exception, thus the opening of the canal was a very formalized event. It included a ceremonial recognition of the first trip up the canal by hanging a top hat (indicative of wealth and power) on both the hull of the ship and the first bridge on the canal.

Today, the Top Hat Ceremony has continued, both as a demonstration of prestige and for reasons of good luck. Each year, the first up bound ship going through the canal is honoured with a ceremony and the presentation of the lucky Top Hat.

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Going through such a process can undoubtedly be hellish for those who have time constraints. Following the below-mentioned steps can however save you a lot of trouble and speed up the process resulting in quick approval:

Get your Canada passport application form – These application forms are now available online are interactive in nature. They guide the applicants through all the procedures very well to minimize the possibilities of errors and eliminate chances of omission. You can also get them at a Canada postal outlet or passport service location.

Take passport size photos – You need to take a passport size photograph and its two identical copies, not more than a year old.

Get your form and photo identity cards signed by a guarantor – Just take a print out of the form mentioned above and fill it accurately checking all your queries online. You need to have at least one proof of your identity that has your name and signature; the document must have been issued to you by the provincial, federal, or municipal government. One such document could be your provincial driver’s license. You must submit the originals of all the documents along with their photocopies. After the necessary verification, the original copies of all the documents submitted by you will be returned. In case, you are submitting only copies of all documents, your guarantor must sign them all.

Obtaining a guarantor’s signature on the Canadian passport application is a must. Generally, a guarantor is a person who knows you personally for not less than two years and can verify the accuracy of your statements and documents supporting your Canadian passport application. In fact, the guarantor must also sign one of your passport size photographs too along with the documents supporting your identity and citizenship.

Obtain proof of your valid Canadian citizenship – You need to have your birth certificate or that of your Canadian citizenship. In case you are born outside Canada, you may produce certificates of Canadian Citizenship, Naturalization, Retention of Canadian Citizenship, or Registration of Birth Abroad.

Using a previous Canadian passport as supporting identification – A previous Canadian passport may be used a supporting identification provided that all of the following conditions are met: the passport is still valid or is year after its expiry date; the passport itself is submitted with the application form; the name on the passport is the same as the one on the application.

On average, the passport application process takes 10 days if you are applying in person and 20 days if you applied by mail. The Canadian government also provides urgent or express services for emergency or compassionate reasons on a case-by-case basis, applications must be in person and submitted with a proof of emergency.

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Right off the bat I had two really strange experiences: I politely approached a very nicely dressed woman to ask her how to get to Kensington. She responded curtly “2 stops” and then she started running away from me. She ran down the elevated platform back in the direction she had come from and stopped several times to look over her shoulder back at me to see if I was following her. I knew it was a bad hair day today, but I didn’t realize I looked that scary……

Then, right after, an older Asian-looking man came up to me and told me “I am looking for a woman, I don’t have a wife”. I told him that I wouldn’t be able to help him in that department. He was very short and not threatening-looking at all, and he really seemed to be desperate for some female company. I wasn’t at all scared, but rather bewildered, somewhat bemused and almost sympathetic to his plight. He then proceeded to ask me a few more questions about whether I was married and where my husband was. At that point he realized he wasn’t getting anywhere with me. Then a young rather dishevelled-looking woman came up on the platform and he tried his luck with her, settling in comfortably in the transit shelter beside her.

I stood there, puzzled, after two really strange encounters: one nicely dressed woman runs away from me (I must have looked really scary), and right afterswards an older man solicits my company (I guess I must have looked good enough to him….). Every urban centre has its interesting characters and experiences, and Calgary is obviously no exception.

Then one young couple restored my faith in humanity. I took all my courage together and asked them too how to get to the Kensington Area on the C-Train. They explained that sometimes 7th Street can be a little gritty and then took me to the automated ticket machine and showed me how to obtain my $2.25 admission onto the C-train to get over to Kensington. The world was sane again….

I was in the mood for a light lunch and right in the heart of Kensington there is this recently opened restaurant called “Indochine Bistro”, a bistro/ lounge serving Vietnamese food. After my filling breakfast at the Twin Gables B&B I couldn’t have handled a big lunch, but by this time (about 2:30 pm) I needed a little meal to tide me over to the evening, so I had a lovely vegetarian noodle soup, which was just enough after my delicious morning meal. .

Often my curiosity gets the better of me and I started talking with the owner. It didn’t take me long to realize I had stumbled over a really interesting human story.

Kevin Nguyen is 31 years old and was born in Saigon / Vietnam (today’s Ho Chi Minh City). He grew up in a well-to-do middle class family and lived a very good life until he was 12 years old. Then his family had to flee the country due to Vietnam’s political problems.

His mother, his sister and Kevin became “”Vietnamese boat people” and spent about 2 years living in a refugee camp in Malaysia. Kevin describes the living conditions as incredibly difficult, hundreds of people were squeezed into long buildings that were subdivided into different sections that each held many families. In addition to the cramped conditions, there was never enough food and Kevin’s aunts and uncles kept sending money from Canada to help. Kevin summarized his experience as “living in very poor conditions, but there was also a lot of love and humanity”.

Originally Kevin’s family wanted to move to the United States. But because they had family members in Canada and Great Britain, that would have meant that these two countries would have had to reject their refugee status application first before they would be able to apply to go to the USA. Kevin’s mom decided that the wait would be too long and applied to go to Canada instead.

At 14 years of age Kevin came to Canada, more specifically to Calgary and his family settled in. Kevin said that to this day he is very grateful that this country took him, his mom and his sister in. Upon his arrival in Canada, Kevin went straight into Grade 10 at Western Canada High School in Calgary and said that he never really experienced rejection from his class mates as a newly arrived refugee. He did say that he went through a major experience of culture shock adjusting to Canadian culture, food and traditions.

After high school he went to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and studied electronics and petroleum engineering and graduated with a Bachelor of Petroleum Technology. He worked for several oil and gas companies and consulting firms in Calgary before he decided to partner up with a friend to open a restaurant.

Although that business venture did not work out, Kevin was hooked on the hospitality industry. Despite the fact that there is a significant amount of risk involved in running your own restaurant, he enjoys being his own boss. He opened his own restaurant, Indochine Bistro, in October of 2005 and he intended it to be different from the usual Vietnamese restaurants that resemble cafeterias more than comfortable eateries. The name of his restaurant is from the French word Ïndochine which used to be the French name for Vietnam.

Kevin enjoys owning a restaurant and said he loves meeting people. In particular he loves working behind the bar and calls it a dream job. Kevin explained that the Kensington area is a great neighbourhood for his restaurant since there are so many people taking a stroll and it’s a really close-knit neighbourhood with the feel of a real village. In the summer there are many street festivals so there is lots of action going on.

Indochine Bistro features an extensive menu with 73 items of quality Vietnamese cuisine. Eating out at Indochine is extremely affordable: only one item was over C$10.00 and most of the dishes cost between C$6 and C$8.

I enjoyed my little exploration of Calgary’s Kensington area, it definitely had a very cozy, village-like feel to it. And it was great meeting a young Calgarian who has made an amazing life transition from living a comfortable middle class life in Vietnam to becoming a refugee to making his mark as a successful young entrepreneur in Canada.

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Winterlude is a great time because during this winter festival, many of Ottawa’s restaurants offer entertainment and special events. Our destination was Fat Tuesday’s, a New Orleans-style restaurant that is known for its Cajun Creole cuisine and its contemporary dishes.

After we refreshed ourselves and got organized, we headed off at about 6:45 and started our walk toward the ByWard Market, Ottawa’s prime entertainment area. We crossed the Laurier Bridge, which is the setting of quite a few of my husband’s anecdotes about Ottawa’s winter cold which he got to experience in full force during his time at the University of Ottawa in the early 1980s.

We too noticed that there was a stiff fresh breeze coming off the Rideau Canal and by pure coincidence we did a smart thing: we headed into the Rideau Centre, Ottawa’s largest shopping centre. For about 15 minutes we got to walk inside past all the retail stores, totally sheltered from the biting wintery wind.

Well, it didn’t take us long at all to get to the heart of the ByWard Market, and a friendly guy at a Beavertail sales booth (Beavertails are Ottawa’s famous trademark pastry) gave us directions to Fat Tuesday’s, home of Ottawa’s Mardi Gras experience.

Once inside this stylish yet cozy bar/restaurant we had a chance to get a lay of the land from Manny Garcia who’s the general manager and one of the co-owners. He told us that Fat Tuesday’s was created about 4 years ago and is an independently owned restaurant (not part of any restaurant chain). Fat Tuesday’s combines an upscale Cajun/Creole kitchen with live entertainment and great friendly service, and it’s a place where people of all ages congregate.

When we were there the place was packed and the waitresses were dressed up in bustiers and some were wearing face masks in keeping with the Mardi Gras theme. The staff seemed to have a lot of fun and they enjoyed interacting with the customers.

Our appetite had been building up appropriately and for me, the escargots in a garlic-white wine sauce were just the thing to warm up the palate. After this tasty appetizer I followed up with a Mediterranean salad of baby greens with goat cheese and a citrus vinaigrette. Manny came over and persuaded us to try the Pacific rim seared tuna with a pepper crust in a sweet teriyaki sauce, accompanied by shaved ginger and a wasabi mayonnaise. A delicate and tasty treat.

We even had a chance to meet the chef himself. Executive chef Neil Baker told us about himself and we found out that we had a true cosmopolitan world traveler in front of us.

As the child of diplomatic parents, Neil was born in Singapore and has also lived in Barbados, Kenya and Thailand. He’s run restaurants in Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York City and now Ottawa. Needless to say, Neil is going to be my next contact for an interview about this international lifestyle.

Neil also made a couple of interesting comments about global cuisine. He mentioned that the same culinary themes reappear across the globe. Chinese fried rice is essentially the same as Jambalaya which is essentially the same as Biryani, with a slightly different mix of spices thrown in. And the world’s most popular cuisines are those based on the dishes of poor people.

Neil insisted that we have dessert and we had Bananas Foster, which is a mouthwatering concoction of flambéed bananas with caramelized sugar and rum and some vanilla icecream thrown in with a twist of cinnamon on top. I was going to stay away from dessert, but Bananas Foster totally corrupted me. I wasn’t going to worry about the extra calories since we are going to go skating on the Rideau Canal tomorrow anyways.

At 10:30 every Friday and Saturday night Fat Tuesdays serves up the dueling pianos, a live show where the audience can request their favourite songs from two piano players. Today unfortunately the second piano player was significantly delayed, and given our packed schedule for Saturday, we were unable to stick around for the second piano player to show up. But virtuoso no. 1 played his heart out and really got the crowd going. The place was packed and everybody was in a great mood.

So, it’s just past midnight now and I am looking forward to another action-packed day tomorrow: some skating on the Rideau Canal (to work off that delicious banana dessert), watching the famous Bedzzz Races on Dow’s Lake and then the Fire and Ice Culinary demonstrations at Confederation Park right across from our hotel.

It is definitely time to get some rest for a big day and hit the hay……

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Georgian Bay

Georgian Bay is definitely one of the most beautiful and unique spots in all of Canada, and possibly all of North America. It is about 320 kilometres long and 80 kilometres wide, on the northeastern side of Lake Huron. More importantly, the Bay itself is almost as large as Lake Ontario, one of the smaller of the Great Lake. The Bay contains literally thousands of small islands, known collectively as the 30,000 Islands. Canada’s own Group of Seven made the Bay and the islands famous throughout the art world.

UNESCO

UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations, established with the purpose of promoting international co-operation through science and other areas. In 1971, UNESCO began to promote the Natural Science side of its operation through the creation of biosphere reserves. These biospheres are designed to demonstrate a balanced relationship between man and nature; part of the UNESCO condition for these biospheres is that they contain both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Once established, these regions have an area that is protected under the laws of the country they are in, a buffer zone, and a transition zone where some economic activity can be pursued.

The Georgian Bay UNESCO biosphere reserve was established in1990. The reserve contains a great variety of plant and marine life, including several species of reptiles and amphibians, which are rare in Canada. In fact, as amphibian populations plummet around the world, the importance of the populations in Georgian Bay is being highlighted as never before.

The Georgian Bay UNESCO biosphere reserve is an example of how international bodies can work to create important sites for the preservation of treasures that are both national and global in nature.

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Durham Region administers its Healthcare and Education following the Provincial guidelines. The responsibility for the day to day operations of the education belongs to the Durham District School Board and the Durham Catholic District School Board - all the schools in the area are governed by these boards.

One essential piece of research you need to do BEFORE you purchase/rent a house is to find the school(s) you want your child(ren) to attend. This is vital as the schools are dedicated to particular residential area’s so where you live decides where they go to school.

The Region has excellent transportation links including Pearson International airport, Oshawa airport and the Harbour at Oshawa which give tremendous access to North America. This is coupled with easy access to recreational opportunities in the outdoors and everything that a Major metropolitan area like the GTA has to offer!

Each section below is only an overview so please use the links to each Town/City website on the main website linked below for more detail. For job research definitely use the Chamber of Commerce websites for each location for great information on the local businesses.

Durham’s Municipalities

The Town Of Ajax - In 2005 Ajax will celebrate its 50th anniversary as a town and has many events planned to recognise this. A small town in the South of Durham Region on the shore of Lake Ontario, it was named after the World War two British Warship The Ajax.

With a population in excess of 80,000 the Town covers an area of over 65 square km. The unemployment rate was 5.4% (2001) with an average family income of around $80,000 a year. The average price of a house was in the region of $215,000 making Ajax one of the cheaper areas in the GTA. Transport is provided by the Ajax/Pickering Transit that also links in with GO Transit and the Greyhound Bus.

There are two recreation centres in the Town that offer a full range of activities and sports. There are skateboard parks for the kids as well as summer camps for various activities during the school holidays. The Lake provides great recreation for the residents during both the summer and winter months.

The Municipality of Clarington - A collection of several smaller communities, the municipality now has around 75,000 residents and occupies just over 600 square Kilometres of the Lake Ontario shoreline in the south of Durham Region. The main settlements are Darlington, Newcastle and Bowmanville/Courtice. The area is growing quickly with a 10 year population growth average of 4% per year.

The main businesses are agriculture (and the services), aggregate excavation and cement works, tourism, manufacturing, retail and construction. There is an average unemployment rate of only 4.9% as the area is very business friendly, with the average household income around $74,000. There are great transportation links with 3 major highways, docks, rail links, a regional airport with 2 runways and of course - Pearson International. The Clarington Transit connects with Whitby and Oshawa Transit and you can even use the same tickets on each system.

There are good facilities with a modern hospital that continues to expand, plenty of schools and the newly built University of Ontario Institute of Technology. There are 5 golf courses, 2 marina’s, 2 indoor and 2 outdoor swimming pools, 5 arena’s with 7 ice surfaces, extensive parks and 7 conservation areas that have downhill and cross country skiing. Last but not least - Bowmanville even has its own Zoo!

The City Of Pickering - Ideally situated between Downtown Toronto to the West and Port Whitby Marina to the East, the 94,200 population of the City of Pickering enjoy life on the shores of Lake Ontario. With the Waterfront Trail extending along the shores and the “environmentally significant” wetlands of Frenchmen’s Bay residents are provided with some great scenery and recreation opportunities. On top of that the impressive leisure centre has fantastic modern facilities that any community would be proud of. For those with interest in the History of the region, a visit to the Pickering Museum Village should not be missed.

Business in Pickering is also well catered for and the City unemployment rate of 4.9% is well below the Canadian average. The main employers are the Ontario Power Generation plant that can be found on the waterfront and includes a massive wind turbine, Manufacturing and Construction, Business services and Retail. As with all the municipalities in Durham Region, for employment research go through the City’s Business Directory for some idea of who is in the area and how to contact them.
Public Transport is administered by the joint Ajax/Pickering Transit Authority who also link into the Toronto Transit Commission, GO Transit, Whitby Transit and Oshawa Transit to maintain a comprehensive network. Schools and Healthcare are administered by the Durham Region school boards and Health service.

The City is young with 79% of the population under age 45 giving a median age of only 35. The average household income is over $80,000 with an average price of a home around $235,000.

The City Of Oshawa - After starting off as a French fur Trading Post in 1750, The City of Oshawa has come a long way. Now, it is renowned as the eastern Gateway to the Greater Toronto Area and has become the economic centre of Durham Region. Its rapidly expanding population of over 146,000 also marks it as the largest residential community as well.

General Motors Canada are based here in North Americas largest automobile production facility that produces over 1 million vehicles per year and are the City’s leading employer. Minacs Call Centre has arrived and along with many different manufacturers, research and development companies, advanced manufacturing of transportation equipment, Healthcare, Printing and Publishing the city has a truly diverse Business base. The City has an unemployment rate of around 6%.

Being well located on the shores of Lake Ontario in the South of Durham region, the City has excellent transportation links that include a deep water port. Two major highways pass through the city and it has its own regional airport with close proximity to Pearson International. The Transit system links in with GO Transit, Toronto transit Commission and several other local community networks. Via rail provide the rail network to give the City every possible transportation option.

There is also plenty to do in the area - with the big city close by and easily accessible. For outdoor pursuits, the Kawartha and Haliburton tourism areas are close along with numerous parks and conservation areas that provide hiking, skiing and cycling. Over $60 million is being invested in the City’s recreational infrastructure in the next 2 years. This includes many renovations and improvements of existing facilities and a large new recreation centre for the city.

Many new residential and business developments are being constructed in the north of the city as it continues to grow. The cost of housing is cheaper than Toronto with an average home costing around $160,000 in 2001. The median income for each household was in the region of $60,000.

The Township Of Scugog - In the Northeast of the Durham Region, the Township of Scugog is located on and around the shores of Lake Scugog and occupies around 470 square km. Once the separate Towns of Port Perry (now Municipal Government HQ), The Island of Scugog, Cartwright and Reach, all have now amalgamated into the single municipality to reduce the administration costs.

The area is well set up for Tourism and the major employer is a Casino. After that, retail and manufacturing provide employment to the approximately 20,000 residents of the Township. There are 5 Marinas, 2 ice rinks, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a Theatre and 4 golf courses. The average household income is around $70,000 with an unemployment rate of 5%. It will cost an average of $220,000 to buy a single family home in the area. Police, Healthcare and Schools are administered by the Durham Region Government.

The Township Of Uxbridge - The Township of Uxbridge has a relatively small population of around 18,000 spread throughout various village sized communities in the Northwest of Durham Region. Located about 40 miles North of Toronto in the picturesque OakRidge Moraines, the Town of Uxbridge is the centre piece of the Township. A pleasant community that is close enough to the big City for all its amenities, Uxbridge has its own leisure centre, swimming pool and two ice arena’s.

The Town also has the Northern terminus for the York - Durham Heritage Railway in the form of a fully restored station.

The Township’s main industries are the Construction and Manufacturing, Business Services and Retail. These provide plenty of employment with a low unemployment rate of 4.1% (2001). The average household income is around $75,000 with the cost of a home coming in around $270,000.

The Town Of Whitby - Conveniently located just 15 miles to the East of Toronto, the Town of Whitby is an industrial town. The rapidly expanding population is now over 100,000 and the towns businesses are also expanding at a fast rate as it aims to be the business centre of Durham Region. With 4 major highways, close proximity to the Oshawa harbour (and its own smaller harbour)and Pearson International airport, extensive rail network and an enviable Transit system the Town is thoroughly “connected”.

The automobile industry has a large presence, though the town has a truly diverse base of companies. The services range from plastics and steel work through to telecommunications and pharmaceuticals. The two main downtown area’s (Whitby and Brooklin) are both historical “heritage” areas with an old world charm. The Town has an unemployment rate of just 4.9% and an average household income of $80,000 taken from the 2001 figures.

For recreation, there is a multi million dollar leisure centre (Iroquois Park Sports Centre) with fantastic facilities. Golf courses, parks, a marina, yacht club, Whitby Shores waterfront trail, indoor soccer and all the other facilities you would expect to find in a modern Canadian urban centre. There are plenty of schools that are administered by the Durham Region school boards and close proximity to several Universities and Colleges. Healthcare is administered by the Durham Region and is provided through several clinics and the main Lakeridge Health Centre, Whitby.

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With over 3,300 acres of skiable terrain Sunshine Village is one of the largest ski resorts in Canada. The top elevation is 8,954 feet (2730 m) and the base elevation is 3,514 feet (1070 m). It receives a huge amount of natural snowfall: up to 33 feet or 9 m. Skiing usually lasts from mid November all the way to late May.

This resort straddles the Continental Divide and some of the runs are in Alberta and some in British Columbia. 107 runs spread out over 3 mountains (Goat’s Eye Mountain, Lookout Mountain and Mt. Standish). The whole area is serviced by a high-speed 8 passenger gondola that whisks you from the parking lot up to the main village. In addition, there are also 5 high-speed quad chairs, 2 quads, 1 triple, and 1 double chair and 2 magic carpets.

Sunshine Village also offers extreme terrain for really expert skiers. Delirium Dive is an expert ski area that requires special safety equipment and precautions such as being equipped with an avalanche transceiver, a shovel and having at least one other person with you. Goat’s Eye Mountain offers a number of highly challenging double-black diamond runs that should be mastered before you even consider venturing into this area.

At our level we decided to stick to the blue runs, which on this snowy day with lots of accumulated snow were plenty challenging enough for us. Every trail had turned into a mogul run, with all the extra piles of snow that had been carved into bumps by the other skiers. It was basically snowing the whole day with the sun peaking through in between the snow flakes. The night before 10 cm of fresh snow had fallen, and during the day several more centimeters got added. All the extra snow made this a really great workout, and we had to work really hard to push the white powdery stuff around.

The Banff National Park is unique in that it restricts development and there are no sprawling condominiums at the base of any of the 3 Banff area ski resorts. It is almost a throw-back to an earlier time when skiing was less commercialized. The only ski-in/ski-out accommodation is at the recently renovated 84-room Sunshine Inn, located in the main village of the Sunshine Village Resort at an altiude of 7082 feet. Ski Canada has referred to the Sunshine Inn as “the best rooms with a view in Canada!”.

For those with an appetite Sunshine Village offers a variety of culinary options: the Creekside Bar & Grill is located the gondola base. The Deli, Alpine Grill and the Lookout Bistro are all located in the Day Lodge in Sunshine Village. The Java Loft Coffee Bar and Chimney Corner Lounge are located in the Sunshine Inn while the Mad Trapper’s Saloon can be found in the Old Sunshine Lodge. Goat’s Eye Gardens is located right next to the Goat’s Eye Express and offers cafeteria style food.

An interesting feature of this resort is that it offers a SnowHost program, an absolute free program for visitors, that are welcomed by a team of frontline ambassadors for Sunshine village, all dressed in yellow and black outfits. Every day at noon the SnowHosts take skiers / riders out on tours using blue runs and show them how to access this monstruous ski area.

We spent most of the afternoon in the Lookout Mountain (top elevation: 8954 feet or 2730 m) and Mt. Standish areas, going up the Angel Express and the Wawa Quad Chair. There are many blue and green runs available in this area which was helpful on this challenging day. After a rest in the Goat’s Eye Gardens cafeteria and a sinfully filling portion of poutine, a truly Canadian culinary treat that combines French fries with curds and gravy, we felt strong enough to tackle Goat’s Eye Mountain which offers mainly single and double black diamond runs. By that time it was about 3:30 and after getting safely down the mountain we decided to make our way down to the Gondola Base. We skied down a picturesque green run called Banff Avenue all the way to our car, surrounded by peacefulness in the forest.

On our way back to Banff the sun finally came out and we stopped the car several times because the scenery was so breath-taking. The Rockies do have a way of sucking you in….

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It was an early day today, I got up at 4:30 am, and my husband dropped me off at 5:45 am at Toronto’s historic Union Station. Several buses of young students were already unloading their luggage and ready to enter the train station. At about 6 am the Via Rail counters were opening up and since I had a first class ticket (called Via 1), I was directed to Via’s Panorama Lounge, a special section with comfortable armchairs, free newspapers and soft drinks. This was my first time on a Canadian train and I was very excited about experiencing train travel and not having to fight my way through traffic driving to Montreal.

Via 1 passengers received their own special priority boarding announcements and off we went to the first coach behind the locomotive. I made myself comfortable in the seats and stretched my legs. The seats recline very far back so a tired traveler will have a chance to get a good rest. Shortly after I was joined by a gentleman, a businessman from Edmonton who had some appointments in Toronto and was now heading to Montreal for other business duties. Ray kept me entertained with his family stories and humorous tales of growing up in Montreal and time passed quickly as we started rolling through the suburbs of Toronto.

We stopped at the Guildwood Station and then headed off into the green farmlands of Ontario farm. My ticket also included meal service and in a short while we received breakfast, starting with a fruit plate. For our main breakfast dish we had a choice between a Ranchman’s Breakfast (a Cheddar cheese omelette and grilled beef steak served with mini rösti potatoes, sautéed mushrooms and cherry tomato), the second choice were buttermilk pancakes filled with apple cinnamon and cranberry compote served with Canadian back bacon and Quebec maple syrup. Giving in to my sweet tooth I opted for the pancakes.

Mid-morning I got a bit tired and apologized to Ray and said I had to sit back, relax and close my eyes a little since I had had such an early morning. We both fell asleep for a while and Ray was soon entertaining us the whole compartment with a very talented lumberjack impression. I think he cut down an entire old growth forest in the hour and a half during our last stretch to Montreal. When he woke up just outside of Dorion, he told me he never has a problem falling asleep in a train or a plane, and believeme, I could certainly attest to that.

But all in all, I really enjoyed the ride, especially once we started rolling into the suburbs of Montreal. We passed through some of the old industrial areas, some still in their original state, and some beautifully renovated and refunctioned as condos. Montreal, a historic shipping and railroad centre, is one of the cradles of the industrial revolution in Canada and its industrial history includes tanneries, wordworking factories, breweries, shoemaking, textile milles, tobacco and rubber factories, all on display during our train ride through the southern outskirts of downtown Montreal.

Downtown Montreal and its skyscrapers came into view and I was excited to embark on my explorations of this exciting city. Just about 5 hours after we had left Toronto our Via Rail train rolled into the subterranean Gare Central (Central Railway Station), dating back to 1938, at 12 noon. I caught a taxi and was astounded at the congestion in the street in mid-day. The taxi driver himself commented on how busy the city was today. It seemed everyone was getting ready to do their last errands before the long weekend.

I arrived at the Holiday Inn Downtown, located at 90 Viger Street and realized that I was in a perfect location, right in the heart of Montreal’s Chinatown. I was literally only 5 minutes away from Montreal’s biggest and most impressive church: the Basilica of Notre Dame, Montreal’s City Hall was about 7 minutes away and right across the street is the Place d’Armes subway station. I could not have had a more convenient location. Finding a hotel room on this Canada Day long weekend, which incidentially coincides with the July 4 long weekend in the United States is certainly a precarious proposition, and I was very fortunate that the Holiday Inn Downtown had a room available for me. I dropped my luggage with the concierge since the room was not ready yet and I was ready for my first real adventure in Montreal: a personally guided driving tour through the centre of the city which would give me a great lay of the land.

For the entire article including photos please visit
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/montreal_arrival.htm

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