Greater Ottawa and part of Quebec : Day out with Peter Wilson Friday 22 July 2016

22 July 2016

Peter (Claire's dad) kindly offered to look after us on this day. He took us for a tour of greater Ottawa and parts of Quebec. Our first stop was a Rockcliffe Lookout point north of Ottawa that allowed us to see the full glory of the Ottawa River and the region of Quebec on the opposite bank.  

View of Quebec from Ontario.

We then went to the official residence of the Governor General of Canada, who is the representative of the British Queen. Rideau Hall has been the official residence and workplace of every governor general since 1867. For those of you that don't know , Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Canada and the Head of State. Since 1947 the governor general has the duties of the Head of State, not only in Canada, but also abroad. and the Governor General is also the commander-in-chief of Canada.
Changing of he Guard, Governor General's Residence.


So big that it was used to play tennis in.


The residence is in a 79 acre urban oasis and more than 130 commemorative trees are planted in the grounds of Rideau Hall, by members of the Royal Family, heads of state and other dignitaries, and to mark special anniversaries and the end of a Governor General’s mandate. These include Queen Elizabeth, Diana, Princess of Wales; Prince Charles and among others John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin and even President Piñera of Chile. We had a mini tour of the residence , where all the splendour of power and royalty were displayed , not something that impresses me. We were also fortunate enough to see the changing of the guards , which was a very British styled affair. 




After the pomp of Rideau Hall we went to the village of Chelsea in Quebec, and the Chelsea pub for lunch. The pub has been part of the the village life since 1875 and they brew their own beer called 'Chelsea'. https://www.chelseapub.ca/en . We had a rather enormous delicious burger for lunch downed with a jar of Chelsea. 





Chelsea is the heart of Gatineau Park, which was under miles of ice during the ice age. The most recent glacial advance occurred between 35 000 and 10 000 years ago and at its peak, a single blanket of ice covered everything east of the rocky mountains as far south as southern Ohio and all of Quebec and Ontario. 

To appreciate the extent of the depth of ice we walked to another lookout point in the park and from this point the whole extent of the valley and the Ottawa River can be seen. The ice stretched a few kilometers above the point of the lookout. The Gatineau Hills are remnants of Quebec’s ancient Grenville (or Laurentian) Mountains, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. These mountains, part of the vast Canadian Shield, may have once towered as high as today’s Rockies.

This point is 300 meters above sea level and the ice stretched
a further 2 to 3 kilometers above this point. 

It was a very hot day indeed so Peter suggested we go for a dip in one of the many lakes in the park. Although we didn't have our swim wear with us we went any way. So in our underwear we cooled down.  It was very nice, the water was spectacular and the view of the place was great. We really enjoyed the dip after the incessant heat but I only notice the warning about 'swimmers itch' when we finished. 

Swimmer’s itch is a skin rash caused by tiny larvae called cercariae, which are found in some lakes. Swimmer’s itch is not associated with polluted water. Over the past few years, cases of swimmer’s itch have been reported at the beaches in Gatineau Park and elsewhere in Quebec. Thanks Peter! Fortunately we didn't suffer this fate.

It was a lovely day and thanks Peter.

That evening we bought pizza, beers and wine and enjoyed a a relaxing evening on of Claire and Ryan's balcony , while we listened to the thunder in the distance and the evening shower cooled us down. A great day indeed.

Claire and Ryan live upstairs 
Memorable food and drink 
Chelsea Blanche - a wheat beer, original Chelsea burger

Thought of the day  

How much we miss the company of Claire and Ryan. 

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