A happy pumpkin in Dunham, one of the many lovely communities in Quebec's Eastern Townships.
In 1796, Dunham was the first proclaimed township in the area and the first to be officially established in Lower Canada.
Early settlers arrived in Dunham around 1820 and the township municipality was set up in 1845. It went on to become a municipality and eventually in 1971 it became the town of Dunham.
The town is named after Sir Thomas Dunn, born in Durham, England and one of the many shop owners.
The town of Dunham is typical of the Loyalist era, with many brick and stone houses bordering Rue Principale – some more than 150 years old.
Photo by Sue Frause.
It's history making.
For the first time in 47 years, the Canadian dollar has hit an all time high.
Yesterday it was valued at US$1.05, something that hasn't happened since 1960.
Read the complete story in the National Post.
Although not a good deal for Americans traveling north of the 49th parallel, it does have its upside.
I have several Canadian clients and now when I get paid in Canadian dollars -- I actually make out even better.
Sure beats the days when a $500 Canadian check meant about $350 US.So is a Canadian penny worth anything in US funds?
Photo by Sue Frause.
The Globe and Mail recently ran a travel feature about top spots around the world to visit titled 10 places to check out (before you check out).
I haven't been to any of them.
But they also did destinations closer to home called Top 10 Home, Sweet Wonders.
I did better on the Canadian list, having been to Montreal, the Broken Islands, Ninstints and the Rideau Canal (but not on skates!).
HOME HOPEWELL ROCKS, NEW BRUNSWICK
The Bay of Fundy, featuring the highest tides in the world, is a marine wonder. For me, the most dramatic place to appreciate this force of nature is at the Hopewell Rocks. The 90 billion tonnes of water that move in and out of the bay twice a day have carved cliffs into dramatic pillars. Where else can you walk on the ocean floor at low tide, and then watch from observation decks as the incoming water rises again? Laszlo Buhasz
DAWSON CITY, YUKON
Once a raunchy frontier town of shacks, saloons and brothels, the capital of the Klondike Gold Rush had 40,000 people swarming it in 1896. Now, the lively little town of about 2,000 in the land of the midnight sun lives off its colourful past and is full of eccentrics, fiddle music, festivals and bearded men reciting Robert Service poetry. Laurie Gough
MONTREAL, QUEBEC
Montreal, during a summer festival of your choice, is a model for urban Canadian living. Why no other major Canadian city has properly exported it remains a mystery. (Hint: the key is shutting down the streets completely and allowing people to carry their drinks to the next venue). Chris Turner
CHURCHILL RIVER, SASKATCHEWAN
The main highway of the fur trade and exploration on which everyone from Sir John Franklin to Simon Fraser and David Thompson paddled was the voyageurs' pick as the most beautiful section of the entire Montreal to Athabasca route. It's still that way today. Jason Schoonover
BROKEN ISLAND GROUP, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Off the west coast of Vancouver Island lies a pristine archipelago of about 100 islands and rocky outcrops that beg to be explored by paddle. A labyrinth of lagoons and channels passes through a landscape of wind-sculpted rock, weathered cedar, and pristine beaches. Don't be surprised to find yourself sharing the sheltered waters with whales, sea lions and seals. Julie Angus
NINSTINTS, GWAII HAANAS, BRITISH COLUMBIA
This tiny abandoned B.C. fishing village of decaying houses and weathered totem poles, which are slowly being reclaimed by the surrounding forest, is animated by the spirit world of Haida myth. Norman Howe
RIDEAU CANAL, OTTAWA
The best way to experience the canal is on skates. Get up early on a cold winter morning and skate its length when it's quiet and uncrowded. Anthony Jenkins
CAPE ST. MARY'S, NEWFOUNDLAND
It is best to walk the trail to Bird Rock, Cape St. Mary's, in a fog. The trail skirts bogs and brooks and sheer cliffs that plunge to the sea. You can hear the Atlantic booming, and as you near the Rock you can see ghostly swirling shapes and then hear the cacophony of gannets, kittiwakes, murres, razorbills and more. Marq de Villiers
ELLESMERE ISLAND, NUNAVUT
Ellesmere Island is as far north as you can go in Canada. When the ice melts for the brief summer, the sun – perpetually at the horizon – reveals green Arctic meadows alive with tiny wildflowers and a contented silence the rest of the world has lost. Wallace Immen
LAKE O'HARA, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Cupped like a jewel between Rocky Mountain peaks, the lake's setting belies the fragility of this environment. Access to a small campground and a rustic lodge, as well as day use, is limited. But even a day trip provides a remarkable alpine experience. Laszlo Buhasz
Ninstints in Gwaii Haanas, British Columbia.
Photo by Sue Frause.
The village of Wakefield in the Outaouis has been declared Quebec's first Fairtrade town.
An article in The LowDown to Hull & Back News said the artistic community was awarded the designation.
Wolfville, Nova Scotia was named Canada's first Fairtrade community in April 2007.
The U.K.'s Garstang became the world's first Fairtrade town in 2000. Since then, hundreds of towns across Europe have been given official certification.
According to the CBC, support for fair trade products has grown steadily.
Canadians bought 21,500 kilograms of fair trade coffee in 1998 and 940,000 kilograms in 2004.
Wakefield Bridge and the Gatineau River.
Photo by Sue Frause.
Here's a fun gift for the holidays.
The Fairmont gift card can be used for luxury accommodation, dining or recreation at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts -- which include 21 Canadian properties.
Or purchase a Willow Stream gift card and indulge in an energizing experience at Willow Stream Spas.
They're at The Fairmont Banff Springs in Alberta, The Fairmont Empress in Victoria, BC and Le Chateau Montebello Fairmont in Quebec.
For every gift card sold, Fairmont is donating $5 to Right To Play.
Right To Play is an international development organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, build life skills and foster peace for children and communities affected by war, poverty and disease.
Fairmont Royal York's Shop With Chef Package in Toronto includes a Saturday morning visit to the St. Lawrence Market. Pictured above is Royal York Executive Chef David Garcelon checking out a salmon at the market. Sue Frause photo.
Volunteer firefighters from Running Springs try to halt the spead of flames in Green Valley Lake, a community about 12 miles east of Lake Arrowhead. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times / October 22, 2007)
Due to heavy smoke between Los Angeles and San Diego, BC's Martin Mars water bomber that flew down to Southern California earlier this week won't take off to assist in fighting the fires until later this morning.
CKNW reports the bomber was scheduled to leave Lake Elsinore around 8:30 AM.
I was happy to read that the Talgo trains are back on the Amtrak Cascades line this week.
That's the route between Eugene, Oregon and Vancouver, BC.
But alas, the Talgo between Seattle and Vancouver is still in the fix-it shop.
Amtrak removed it from service in June for refurbishing and it won't be returned until early 2008.
Simply put, that means the Superliner equipment will still run on that route.
That means no Business Class (meaning you get off first in Vancouver for Canada Customs), no white tablecloth dining service and no movies.
There are also no bicycle racks, so bikes need to be boxed.
Hurry up, Talgo!
The Superliner arrives in Everett, Washington.
Sue Frause photo.
Canada is coming to the aid of crews battling wildfires in Southern California.
According to the CanWest News Service, a Martin Mars water bomber was scheduled to leave British Columbia this morning for San Diego.
Two water bombers are stationed at Sproat Lake on Vancouver Island where they scoop up water to take to forest fires.
The Martin Mars water bombers can take up to 27 tons of water and are the largest water bombers in the world.
I recently had a discussion with a Vancouver resident who said he would never live in Seattle.
As much as I love Vancouver, I became somewhat defensive of my urban hometown.
Although I live on an island north of Seattle, it's my hub.
Instead of getting all snotty about it, I told my dining companion that I thought Vancouver was slowly losing its soul.
I've been going to Vancouver ever since I'd roar up there on Interstate 5 as a high schooler in Arlington, Washington.
My friend Susan loved to drive her family's big Buick across the border, and we'd hang out on Robson Street and walk through the lobby of Hotel Vancouver and pretend we were staying there.
That was so long ago the pubs had separate entrances for men and women.
So now 2010 is coming, and like any good host, you want to look your best for the Winter Olympics.
But what's with the generic high-rises and condos that are cluttering up the Canuck sky?
Vancouver is all about fresh air, mountain vistas, salt water, biking, walking and that wonderful place called Stanley Park.
Coincidentally, Knute Berger wrote a piece in Crosscut today that carries the same sentiment.
Titled Vancouver is Shangri-not, it says "The city that inspires Dubai has some soul-searching to do. After the Olympics, of course."
I don't like ragging about a place that I love.
But Vancouver, slow down.
You're losin' that lovin' feeling. Vancouver skyline from Granville Island.
Photo by Sue Frause.
The word is out that delays resulting in long lines at the border crossing at Blaine, Washington will begin next month.
Major construction is expected to commence Nov. 5 at the Peace Arch Canadian border crossing.
According to an article by Seattle Times travel reporter Kristin Jackson, half of the booths on the west side of the U.S. border station will be closed, resulting in even longer lines.
Now might be a good time to ride Amtrak if you've never taken the train -- it's my favorite way to get to Vancouver.
View across False Creek from the Granville Island Hotel.
Photo by Sue Frause.
A coalition of Canadian and US environmental groups say American citizens and businesses, including Victoria’s Secret, Aveda and Norm Thompson Outfitters, deserve credit for a major environmental victory announced this week in British Columbia.
More than five million acres of forest, an area 100 times the size of Seattle, will be protected for mountain caribou, one of North America's most endangered mammals that travels between Canada and the US.
Today, fewer than 2,000 mountain caribou remain.
Mountain caribou enjoy legal protection in the US under the Endangered Species Program, but in Canada their numbers have been rapidly diminishing due to habitat threats.
The recovery plan commits the BC government to legislating protections from logging and road building over five million acres. This will include new protections amounting to over one million acres, and upgraded protections over hundreds of thousands more.
The plan also commits government to developing more environmentally-friendly forest practices in surrounding forest habitat and restricting motorized recreation in caribou habitat.
During the three-year campaign, messages were sent to the BC government by celebrities, customers of BC forest products, business leaders and more than 16,000 US and Canadian citizens.
Nearly 600 US businesses wrote directly to BC Premier Gordon Campbell, urging greater protection of mountain caribou habitat.
Mountain caribou are an ecotype of the woodland caribou that is found across Canada and parts of Alaska. They live in old-growth forests in steep mountain ranges, where they rely on tree lichens for their winter food.
Their numbers have plummeted from about 2,500 animals in 1997 to 1,900 today, largely due to logging, road building and flooding from dams.
Today’s announcement commits the BC government to restore their numbers to at least 2,500 animals.Photo courtesy ForestEthics.
The headline in today's Globe and Mail caught my eye:
Volcanic eruption may be linked to quakes
Scientists with the Geological Survey of Canada are determining whether hundreds of small earthquakes near a remote volcano called the Nazko Cone is the sign of a pending volcanic eruption.
The Nazco Cone is in the small village of Nazco, located 75 km west of Quesnel, in the Cariboo region of British Columbia.
The Nazco Cone in Nazco, British Columbia.
On Oct. 11, 2008 the initial round of Canadian ticket sales for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games will begin.
According to the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), half of all tickets are priced at less than $100 and 100,000 tickets are priced at $25.
Tickets for some of the most popular events such as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be less expensive than those in Torino and Salt Lake City.
But a recent article by The Associated Press titled 2010 Vancouver Olympic tickets: a cool $775 doesn't make the announcement seem quite so rosy.
Tickets will be made available in phases, with lotteries for the most-requested events. An online ticket buy and sell exchange program will allow spectators who can't attend events to exchange their tickets with others who can.
The 2010 Olympic Winter Games are February 12-28, 2010.
To receive updates on ticketing information and other Olympic news, sign up at the Vancouver 2010 website.
Dessert at Victoria's Grand Pacific Hotel.
Photo by Sue Frause.
Montreal is a lovely place to visit in the fall.
Photo by Sue Frause.
I recently attended the 52nd annual convention of the Society of American Travel Writers in Manchester, England.
More than 500 travel journalists, photographers and PR associates attended the fall gathering.
Among those was Laura Serena, of Vancouver's Immedia.
Here she is after dining at Harvey Nichols in Manchester.
Good seein' ya, Laura!
To read more about Manchester, go to my Seattle P-I blog.
Laura Serena of Immedia. Sue Frause photo.
Canada's leaf-peeping season is short, sweet and as vast as the country itself.
From vineyards at harvest time to vast maple forests, the magnificent colours of autumn enhance the landscape.
Traveling by train is a great way to see the foliage -- and it's hands free!
VIA Rail Canada's Windsor-Québec City Corridor has multiple daily departures. Great for one-day or overnighter getaways.
Travellers with more time may select from VIA Rail's signature transcontinental service including The Canadian (Vancouver to Toronto), The Ocean (Montréal to Halifax) or The Chaleur (along Quebec's magical Gaspé Peninsula).
For extra savings, the CorridorPass offers 10 days of travel in the Ontario-Québec Corridor, available in VIA 1 or Comfort Class. Adult fares are CAD $714 for VIA 1 and CAD $299 for Comfort Class.
VIA's CanrailPass offers 12 days of travel in Comfort Class over a 30-day period.
The pass is good for travel anywhere within the VIA Rail nationwide system and upgrades to VIA 1 or various Sleeper Classes are available for a surcharge. Adult fares for the CanrailPass through October 16, 2007 are CAD $837 and drop to CAD $523 for the extended off-season.
Pumpkins at Montreal's Atwater Market. Sue Frause photo.
Annual Turkey Trot in Vancouver, BC.
Photo by Sue Frause.
The Sutton Place Hotel in Vancouver, BC has been voted British Columbia’s Leading Hotel for 2007.
The World Travel Awards were held in New York City in September.
The Sutton Place has maintained its AAA Five Diamond certification for the past 18 years. A recent multi-million dollar renovation was completed in La Grande Residence portion of the hotel, updating 164 long term stay apartments, the Jacuzzi, pool and lobby area.
An international wine boutique is scheduled to open in the hotel the end of October.
Other BC awards were given to Brentwood Bay Lodge & Spa, Leading Boutique Hotel; The Fairmont Chateau Resort, Leading Resort; The Fairmont Chateau Resort, Leading Ski Resort; The Westin Resort & Spa Whistler, Leading Spa Resort.
The World Travel Awards were established in 1993 to acknowledge excellence in all sectors of the global travel industry.
Vancouver's Sutton Place Hotel. Sue Frause photo.
Air New Zealand begins service between Vancouver and Auckland next month.
To celebrate the new route, tell your tale of why you deserve to win two tickets to fly to New Zealand and you could be on the inaugural flight on Nov. 2, 2007.
To answer the question (in 1000 words or less) "Why you deserve to win two tickets to fly to New Zealand?" go to:
Canada.com
The Province
The Vancouver Sun
The contest closes October 22, 2007.
Air New Zealand will provide three non-stop flights each week between Vancouver and Auckland: Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays until March, and July through August; and twice weekly for the remaining months.
Star Alliance partner Air Canada will be code sharing on this service, which will be aboard the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. It accommodates 313 passengers, has premier entertainment options, award-winning food and wine and lie-flat beds in Business Premier.
Flight time to New Zealand from Vancouver will be just over 14 hours. Typically, flights via San Francisco or Los Angeles are around 20 hours.
The Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand.
Northern British Columbia offers fine freshwater fishing in some of the most pristine and beautifully natural areas of North America.
And fall is a great time to visit. The fish are biting and the weather is crisp and refreshing in the mornings with warm afternoons. Changing leaves transform trees into forests of brilliant colours.
October is good for steelhead trout in the Morice, Bulkley, Babine, Sustut and Kispiox Rivers.
The Skeena River is another popular destination for steelhead. It's located between Kispiox and Prince Rupert, off Highway 16. Terrace is one of the main gateways to this rugged terrain territory. All five species of salmon, Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout are found in the Skeena River system.
The Spatsizi Plateau Wildnerness Park north of Smithers has some of the best trophy lakes (a term for remote lakes with the biggest fish) in northern BC. The only access to this smorgasbord of rivers, lakes and parkland is by air. It's home to rainbow trout, Arctic grayling, bull trout, char lake trout, and whitefish.
The Atlin area features freshwater fish, along with lake trout and northern pike up to 30 pounds. There is also an abundance of Arctic grayling. Short flights from Atlin take fisher folks to lakes with fish in double-digit weights, and rivers teeming with sea-run steelhead, bull trout, chinook and coho salmon.
In the Lakes District, Babine Lake joins Nilkitkwa Lake and narrows into the Babine River to form Rainbow Alley. This legendary stretch of water offers some of the best rainbow trout fishing in the world.
JF Bergeron Enviro Foto.
I've sort of followed the mayorship of Sam Sullivan of Vancouver.
In fact I saw him in person last fall during the Totems to Turquoise exhibition at the Vancouver Museum.
He's not your typical mayor. Paralyzed from a ski accident as a teenager, he now lives his life from a wheelchair.
But his lack of mobility doesn't slow him down.
Here's a personality profile that ran on the front page of Sunday's Seattle Times.
He's a politician to keep your eye on.
Vancouver skyline. Photo by Sue Frause.
A week after the official end of summer, Whistler Blackcomb received its second dusting of snow.
Up to 30cm (almost a foot) of snow fell in the alpine on Saturday night and the snow line made its way to the valley.
Another 18cm (7") of snow was expected in the next 24 hours with more forecast throughout the week.
Weather experts say the upcoming winter will likely be a La Niña year, which is good news for Whistler Blackcomb.
Traditionally, La Niña calls for wetter and colder than normal weather in the Pacific Northwest during the fall and early winter.
On average, Whistler Blackcomb receives 33.5 feet of snow a year. Last year Whistler Blackcomb received over 46 feet of snow.
To give Mother Nature a boost, Whistler Blackcomb is currently putting its snow guns into place, ready to be fired up early next week.
Live footage of the mountains can been viewed on the Whistler Blackcomb webcams.
Whistler Blackcomb in 2005. Sue Frause photo.
