June 13: Overview

So what was my impression of Canada, and of the trip in general?

Overall, I’m glad I went. I’m certainly glad I went now; it’d be harder to lug heavy bags in my 70s. There’s a sense of confidence that comes with this: I was able to organise and take an overseas holiday entirely by myself. Sure, I made mistakes, there were things I could’ve done better; but I still successfully finished the journey through my own effort, tour hiccups and bag mishandling notwithstanding.

Canada? A very large, diverse, naturally beautiful and very large country.

Highlights

• The EdgeWalk on the CN Tower. I booked this as soon as I found out about it. It was nervy enough to be fun and I had a beautiful sunny day for it. You don’t soon forget seeing the vastness of Toronto from 356m up.
• Niagara Falls. You can’t not be impressed with millions of tonnes of water falling just a few metres away from you.
• Architecture. Cities and towns have some absolutely stunning old houses and buildings, in great variety: such a contrast between the Château Frontenac in Quebec and the Banff Springs Hotel, and Habitat 67 in Montreal. Each time I saw these, I thought “We could still build like that if we wanted to.”

Stand-outs

• The Flora and Fauna. Walk through a forest of pine, fir and spruce, and you get a very different feeling from walking through the eucalypts of Australia or the kauri and totara of New Zealand. I never got to see any bears, but I saw deer, mountain sheep, chipmunks, squirrels, jack rabbits (running around the suburbs of Calgary) and Canada geese.
• The Toilets. Water in Canadian toilets doesn’t flow down the sides of the bowl. Instead, it comes in through a hole in the base, then everything gets sucked out through another hole in the base. It always felt bizarre to watch.
• The Size. Cities like Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto are, again, vast. When travelling into or out of them by train and bus, you could see how far their metropolitan edges spread. Land travel in general reminds you how large the country distances are.
• Friendliness. No, Canadians don’t all say “eh” and “sorry” all the time, but they were usually quite helpful and nice. I never felt threatened at any stage.
• The Homeless. In every city, there were several people who were obviously homeless, destitute, often high on something. Even in small towns like Hope, I saw makeshift tents beside the river and under overpasses. I’m not singling Canada out in this regard: every Australian city has plenty of homeless people too. It’s just a bit sad that, clearly, neither Canada nor Australian are doing enough to help their homeless.
• Public Transport: a study in contrasts. In major cities, trains, trams (sorry, streetcars) and buses generally come quite regularly, often every 10–15 minutes, even on Sunday evenings; would that Melbourne’s transport did the same! In small towns, public transport is sometimes non-existent or has to be booked; let the lone traveller beware.

What I Liked Less

I challenge the notion that “the journey is more important that the destination”. I enjoyed being at the destinations; I had less affection for the getting to these destinations, which usually involved long hours in low-space buses and planes, or very long walks. Travelling by train was better, but with VIA Rail’s late arrivals, the effect wears off after a while.

What Would I Do Differently If I Went Again?

• Invest more in a stronger, smaller travel case that can take extended knocks (and reduce the amount of clothes by a third).
• Check details about attractions more thoroughly, if only to see if they still exist and are reachable.
• Most major cities in Canada have bicycle routes that don’t interact with cars a lot. Were I to go again, I’d start in such a city (say Montreal), buy a second-hand bike and spend time cycling along these bike-only paths until I’d trained my mind to ride on the right. Then I could pack the bike onto a train and coach, and use it to reach the more far-flung attractions I missed out on.

I’ll head OS again one day, but not for a while: I have to find new work and arrange other parts of my life first. This could be the subject of another blog, if I haven’t bored you already with this one.