So long Canada, and thanks for all the fish!

What a long, strange trip it's been.

So far, Canada has been a trip of a life time. 3 months and just over a week spent in the Winter months of the Great White North, and I'm still standing to tell the tale. I've seen so much (but not enough) of the beautiful country and met so many incredible people along the way.

I've taken thousands of photos, written up 21 blog entries, and have taken in so much of what Canada has to offer.

I've visited 4 of the provinces, and have travelled by hitching, car, bike, bus, taxi, Greyhound, train, tram, monorail, subway, sea-plane, plane, gondola, chairlift, snow-shoe, ice-cleat, snowboard, and foot. Have stayed in 11 or so Hostels, an over priced Hotel, one airport, a couple bus terminals, one amazing home in Vancouver, and various nap spots along the way.

I've survived -40°C, more snow and ice than I could ever imagine, a horde of squirrels, Canadian Geese (terrifying things), an illusive cougar (with photos of 5 minute old footprints), a near encounter with a full-grown wolf, Elk, Deer, a Bald Eagle, Grouse and other interesting birds, snakes, scorpions, tarantulas and too many Australians to count.

I've eaten Poutine, a bucket full of Maple syrup, Mon­tréal-Bagels, Mon­tréal-smoked meat, Bloody Caesars (shuddddder), Nanaimo Bars, Bison, Buffalo, Alberta Beef, and some fantastic Salmon. I've been to what must have been a total of 7 craft-breweries—tried the best Hefeweizen, Coffee-Porter, and too many Lagers to count—been to Tim Hortons, IHOP, Dairy-Queen, A&W, Second Cup, Montana's, and many more Canadian staples I'm sure.

I never imagined the great amount of diversity across Canada, even just within British Columbia itself. My favourite places had to be Tofino, on Vancouver Island, and Jasper, in the North of the Canadian Rockies, Alberta. But if I had to factor in the people I've met (outside of my Canadian family in Vancouver of course), then that's a tough contest.

Thanks to all the people I've met (and will meet again for some of you), and for having me.

So long Canada, and thanks for all the fish.
-M

I'm not sure if I'll realistically do a write-up of each country as I visit (I'm hoping to see another 25 or so countries...) but after 3 months in Canada, how could I not!

Ontario: Niagara Falls & Toronto

Niagara Falls is truely spectacular. As expected the Maid of the mist wasn't operating due to the general frozen-ness of February, however winter was still an excellent time to visit. There were severe windchill warnings issued for upper-state New York, as well as Ontario throughout my visit, so the first of my two days ended up being particularly unforgiving, but the second, unfortunately shorter day didn't bring with it as much wind so I was able to stay outside for longer periods and enjoy far greater visibility. During much of the afternoon on the first day the falls nearly disappeared in fog, mist and the intense snow-fall, but it was also a good time to walk up up-river through the snow to the hydro-electric power plant, and get lost in the frozen expanse along the way. The harsh wind demolished much of the ice and snow nestled on the otherwise bare trees, so the short walk often turned to chaos with the trees howling and clashing like thousands of differently tuned wooden windchimes as the ice and other debris collided. I ended up with a completely solidified beard, eyebrows and moustache and no feeling in much of my body—despite my extensive layers—and although only escaping the nearby horde of visitors a short distance, I could have believed I was on one of Jupiter's moons.

I initially spent time by the American falls, which appeared almost completely frozen from across the river, and I was a bit puzzled at the lack of familiarity, but through the mist a few hundred metres away was the Canadian Horseshoe falls, which is in a league of it's own. I was accustomed to seeing photos of the falls from beneath by boat, so was amazed when I got to walk out to the point where the falls drop off just metres away, and I could watch the chunks of ice hurtle down into the foggy abyss below. It was certainly worth braving the cold. There was also a small collection of tunnels that open up to lookouts beneath the falls, which had me giddy walking out from the old-industrial looking concrete hallways, after descending by elevator, into the ferocious power provided by mother nature and gravity.

The city of Niagara, Ontario, itself was a peculiar little place. It seemed greatly like a time capsule of a by-gone era, and at times had an eery desolate feeling — the frozen winter months are definitely the off-season. There always seems to be Frank Sinatra, or some 80's soul ballad playing from mega-phone looking speakers fixed to street lamps, and everywhere seemed to have massive Las Vegas style neon-signs, with most places boarded up or closed. There were dozens of pawn shops, tattoo parlours, cash for gold/cash for gift certificate stores, wig shops, loan sharks, 99c stores, cheap tourist knick-knack shops, Mom & Pop style classic Americana diners, all-you-can eat and all-day breakfast joints, motels galore with deals associated with the casino, a number of Dennys, Hooters with wings for 79c... not to mention the rock & roll museum, wax figure museum, Ripleys Believe it or not attraction and Ferris wheel. Despite my efforts and know-how, I was unable to locate Elvis, but I'm sure he is living out his days here in the Great White North.

Regarding Toronto, unfortunately I haven't too much to comment — I certainly didn't do the city justice this visit. I arrived on the couple coldest days of the year, during the coldest February on record, with windchill of -40°C so I was not a fan of staying outside for very long. I spent a lot of time catching up on Netflix (thanks Meisha), playing Zelda (thanks Chase), and finishing a book or two on my Kindle (thanks me). However when I did make it outside, I saw a number of different news crews try to sequester people until they spouted the catchy one-liner about the weather their producers were looking for... (much to the condescending laughter from the northern Canadian provinces watching the news segment later on I'm sure). I made a decent trek out to the CN tower, and downtown areas, but don't have very many photos to show for it. My camera suffered greatly from the cold and instead of 1/2000 second shutter speeds it behaved like 1/20, giving very different, blurry photos. And my wish to photograph some of the nightlife and scenery was definitely not one I was prepared to undertake. Next time I'll come in summer!

A prolonged period of severely cold wind chills continues.

Bitterly cold arctic air combined with gusty north winds is resulting in extreme wind chill values of minus 30 to minus 35. The winds will remain in the 20 to 50 km/h range through the evening. Winds east of a line from Barrie to Hamilton will continue overnight in the 20 to 40 km/h range giving wind chill values of minus 35 to 40 into Monday morning.

People outdoors should exercise extreme caution in this hazardous situation. Frostbite on exposed skin may occur in just a few minutes.

Extreme cold warnings are issued when very cold temperatures or wind chill creates an elevated risk to health such as frost bite and hypothermia.

Montréal, Québec

I wasn't sure how different Montreal and Québec would be, but I'm glad I made substantial stops at both as they each have their unique charm and stand out from one another. Montreal is both full of towering skyscrapers and incredible historic architecture, with many streets sharing an interesting mixture of centuries. I stayed in North America's best hostel for 2015, and it was fantastic. Free tea/coffee, croissants for breakfast, incredible amenities and a rain shower in the rooms ensuite... I was rather impressed. I shared a room with an Italian restaurateur and one evening under my strict guidance he cooked up the most delicious Carbonara for some of us lucky backpackers. I've let him know I'm definitely heading to his restaurant once I've made it to Italy and that he should keep a table open for the entire week or so I'm there, perhaps again I could show him a thing or two.

I covered the city extensively by foot. I gave the subway a try a couple of times, and it was excellent (Auckland, please take note...), but despite the very cold weather, I much preferred travelling above ground and seeing all the nooks and crannies tucked away around the city. I was also lucky enough above ground to visit some historic landmarks such as the Notre-Dame Basilica, and see all the Gothic Revival architecture. I hadn't realised initially that it's open to the public for a small fee, so I was quite happy when I was able to spend a full morning inside, sheltered from the snow pelting down, taking some incredible and very unique photos.

On several occasions I tried to make it to the restaurant La Banquise, which I'm told is home to the best Poutine in Quebec. It's open 24/7 and has been around since the 1960's. Every time I went there was a 40 person line not even in the door yet, so finally after arriving at further obscurer and obscurer times, I managed to get a seat without waiting too long. I have to say, it was worth the wait, and was the best poutine that I've tried so far. I went for the classique, as I thought it would give me a good baseline, but now I'm wanting to head back (after a few days of poutine cooldown) to try the perhaps 30 different kinds of poutine, particularly with different kinds of smoked meat.

Of course, knowing my track record, I happened upon another happy family of squirrels. This time one of them (named Jean-Pierre), following a fist-bump and handshake, proceeded to climb up my arm, onto my shoulder, then halfway up my toque (beanie). That was definitely a first for me, but he seemed to know what he was doing. He also disappeared inside my camera lens hood, I'm sure he licked it... So I spent a good couple of minutes braving one of Montreals colder days to get a few photos. I've now happened upon black, red and grey squirrels and kickstarted my budding wildlife photography career, focusing exclusively and extensively on squirrels.

On the last day I made it out to a massive snowball fight after I saw an event on Facebook listing 1500 attendees. It ended up being a couple hundred people or so, braving the elements, in all out warfare. I took a good chunk of ice to the face, and a few wheelbarrows full of snow, but I ultimately lived to tell the tale.