Constance Bay (by speedboat!)

Constance Bay is in Ontario, about 35 mins upriver from Aylmer by boat.  My flat-mate got us invited out on Saturday afternoon.   Being on Stephane's boat was very exhilarating; there's no chance to be modest if you're wearing clothes for the beach - it's merciless when you're going along at 45kph, everything moves!

 

We drank beers and clamato juice with vodka (called Caesars), and I brought along some dill-pickle crisps.

 

 

Below are some efforts at bird pics, a young gull was hanging about for pieces of apple. Yes, the i-pad does have its limits as a camera ....

 

 

Montréal, Québec



At the beginning of May, on a very hot weekend, I had my first visit to Montréal.   [When you are from Québec, it is not pronounced with 'awl' at the end; nor with a 't' in the middle!]  I was shown around the city by a couple whom I'd met in Vietnam earlier this year.  (Having breakfast one morning at my hotel in Hoi An, I heard them speaking in French.  I asked them if they were from Canada, and we fell into conversation, and I said I'd be travelling to Québec in the Spring - so we swapped e.mail addresses).  Anyway, Maurice and Viviane came to pick me up from my hotel on the 2nd May and took me on a tour which included:

- Palais de Congres
- Victoria Square
- International Trade Centre
- Some banks
- Basilic du Notre Dame de Montréal, Place D'Armes
- Palais de Justice
- Hotel de Ville
- Chateau Ramezay
- Place Jacques Cartier
- Bonsecours Market
- Maple Syrup Museum
- Science Parc
- Vieux Port
And the next day, I went to the Olympic Village (1976) and the Biodome.

V & M in front of the Hotel de Ville





Stade Olympique


Vieux Montreal

Basilic du Notre Dame de Montréal



Interior of RBC HQ

Interior of RBC HQ
 [you can tell who had all the money]

More Montréal pictures ...



Maple Syrup densities



International Trade Centre

Chiang Mai - Flight of the Gibbon (1)

On Boxing Day, we went on a trip to the rainforest in the mountains for a 'touristy' activity (daughter's Christmas present to me) ... more in post (2).  We actually got to see some of the eponymous gibbons - although the photos are quite blurred, it was a lucky bit of timing to see them in their natural habitat.

Chiang Mai - Flight of the Gibbon (2)

This company based in Mae Kampong - a North Thai village about 50km from Chiang Mai - offers zip-line eco-adventure tours of the rainforest and, marketing blurb or not, it was exactly as we anticipated: fun, exhilarating, an amazing experience; a Boxing Day we'll never forget.

Here are some of the literal highs and lows.

 

Chiang Mai - Flight of the Gibbon (3)

Lastly, here are some 'people' pics

 

There were those that looked self-assured,others who were less certain ....

All encouraged by Golf, the 'sky-ranger' (even as he was giving you a shove off the edge) 

Chiang Mai-style Christmas

This trio deserve their own special post!  We were on our way to have dinner on a boat on the Ping River (I had made a reservation for this in October as it was for the evening of 25th December) - and we decided to have a pre-dinner foot-massage in the open air market (as you do).  Anyway, en route, we saw these three and they let us take a picture.  We were particularly enchanted with furry 'Santa'.

Chiang Mai - Food

Forget the restaurant reservations; when you're in Chiang Mai, head to the market beside the Tha Phae gate to buy your dinner.
 
[It isn't all a) deep-fried b) whacky; I ate the best kebab I've ever tasted in this market]

Chiang Mai - Colours!

Now that I've had time to sort out my hundreds of photos, I am going to post some up here - some from recent travels, and maybe some from further back.  I went to visit my daughter in South East Asia over Christmas 2012/New Year 2013 - and so some random posts will pop up - starting with a selection from the vibrant and bustling city of Chiang Mai...


Yesterday's sunrise (3 mths later)

 

05h50 - the sky looked promising