Almost immediately after entering the park and paying our $16 entry fee we spotted two moose, a mother and calf. We have been to Algonquin before and on one occasion spotted one moose, but never two before, so already we were really pleased and it made the visit worthwhile.

Here is the mother and her baby.

We carried on driving through the park to the other end, then turned round. Next we went to the visitors centre where we ate lunch and watched the birds outside on the feeders.

Here are some siskins, male goldfinch and a purple finch.

After filling ourselves with hotdogs and fries (we went for the healthy option) we carried on and then spotted another two moose. We had to do a quick U-turn to get back to where I had spotted them and it was again a mother and baby. Soon after we stopped, the baby moved into the woods, but I managed to get a photo of the mother. As soon as we stopped, other people saw us and they too stopped. Before we knew it there were half a dozen cars parked up taking photos.

All the moose we saw were very patchy with their fur. They must be in the process of getting rid of their winter coats and replacing them with summer ones. This is something we had to do ourselves as it got really warm. T-shirt weather for the first time this year, yippee!

After spending a few hours at the park, we drove home and saw another groundhog. So the total animal count was 4 moose, 1 deer and 2 groundhogs, not bad at all.

Last night it was announced that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by the US. Not sure how I feel about this as it could have bad repercussions. I doubt his people will let it go without a fight – literally! It is good he is gone, but there are plenty more when he came from.

Also, today is election day, so hopefully everyone who is eligible to vote will. Will we wake up to a majority conservative government tomorrow, or another minority? It does seem that if it is a minority conservative that it will be with the NDP in second place not the expected Liberals. We will have to wait and see.

In the evening we didn’t really do too much as the jet lag was catching up with them and they went to bed early.

On Wednesday we went up to Algonquin Park. We had a really good drive up there and stopped off at Tims in Bancroft. This was their first taste of Tims and they really liked the donuts and muffins. We then carried on the journey to the park.

We were lucky with the weather as it was nice and warm but not too hot so walking around was pleasant. One car park we stopped in had lots of black butterflies fluttering around. I managed to get a couple of pictures. They are apparently Mourning Cloak butterflies!

We did the beaver pond trail which goes round two beaver ponds. We saw the dam they had built as well as a couple of lodges where they live.

We then visited the visitors centre and took a look at the photo gallery they had there. There are some stunning photos on display and anyone into nature and photography should definitely visit. We also went round the exhibits they have on show and of course the girls went in the shop.

At the rear of the centre is a viewing platform where you can see across the park and we took some more pics there. When we had visited before they had a feeding station for birds and squirrels etc. This time however the area was a little run down and no food out so no birds or squirrels.

After having a bite to eat at the restaurant we ventured on to one of the many lakes in the park. We spotted some tracks in the sand and when we looked them up they appear to be coyote – unless anyone knows different!

We did a few other trails but failed to see any significant wildlife. The girls wanted to see a moose, but none were playing the game!

At the weekend we took the girls to Toronto where they stayed for two nights. They had a great time and went up the CN Tower, explored the lakefront area and of course shopped. We picked them up on Sunday evening and they were excited but pretty exhausted.

Yesterday we went to Toronto Zoo as this was somewhere they really wanted to go. We drove down together but then split up so they could do their own thing and us oldies were not cramping their style!

We saw some lovely butterflies pictured here.

There were also some amazing animals – here are a few. I will put the rest in my photo album section as soon as I have a few minutes.

This is an acrobatic orangutan baby posing is a slightly undignified way!

A rather stunning tiger

Some lazy river hogs

Just how cool is she?

A grizzly bear who was unfortunately wandering around in circles which is never a good sign in a bear!

And this handsome creature is a Southern hairy-nosed wombat. Now he has a face only a mother could love!

Today we dropped the girls off in Cobourg where they are spending the day on the beach. The weather is going to be great in the mid 20′s so they should get a bit of a tan.

We parked the car at the airport and helped them with their bags to the checkin. Trouble was we were too early, so they decided they would wander round the airport for a while. We said a rather tearful goodbye and then they were gone.

The journey home was uneventful and we chatted about the last two weeks, reminiscing already! When we got home I cooked the two pork steaks David had left for us – to his cooking instructions and they were lovely.

On Tuesday morning I had a business meeting to attend and when I got home found they had not phoned to say they had landed which was a little worrying. But looking at the plane schedule on the web it got in ok, so we figured they had got the car and driven straight to their friends house in the UK where they are staying for another week and fell asleep. At about 2pm aunt Judy phoned to say they were okay, but that her friends mum was ill in hospital so they were going to visit that evening and would phone us again later in the week.

The weather has certainly taken a downturn since they selfishly took the Spanish weather back with them. We haven’t gone into double figures yet and have had rain and even some snow flurries yesterday – SNOW!!!!! The weekend sounds warmer but wet.

On Tuesday we spotted the groundhog for the first time this year, lovely to see him back. The deer seem to have moved on though as we haven’t seem them much at all. Now there is plenty of food in the woods they cannot be bothered with us!

When Judy & David left they were had decided that they really wanted to come and live over here. I cannot believe it as I never in a million years did I think they would be prepared to leave the warm climes of Spain to come to Canada, but they loved it. I can possibly sponsor them, so you never know. If they sell their Spanish house – buyers queue up here please, then I think they will seriously look at moving here rather that another area of Spain. We will have to wait and see what happens.

On Wednesday we stayed in for a rest, other than taking the hire car back to Avis. On Thursday we drove up to Ottawa. We set out nice and early and too highway 7 as it is far more scenic than going along the 401 etc. We stopped off in Perth for a Tim’s and got to Ottawa late morning. Although we couldn’t check into the hotel that early we left the car there and got the bus into the city. The hotel is outside the main city area so it cost us just $3 each to bus in.

Once in the city we walked to Parliament Hill which looked great. The sun was shining it was 25C and everything looked beautiful.

The views across the Ottawa River were great too.

Once we had done the sightseeing on Parliament Hill we went to the Byward Market area to look around the stores and the stalls. We also went into the main shopping centre.

After all this we were hungary so we took Judy & David to the Hard Rock Cafe as they had never been to one before. They really liked it and we had a great meal. After this we headed back to the hotel and checked in. We met up an hour later in the bar area for a couple of drinks and a chat then went to bed exhausted.

Next morning we decided we didn’t want to shop and decided to visit Gatineau Park on the Quebec side of Ottawa. We found it quite easily but also found than many areas were still covered in snow and some were inaccessible.

Some of the lakes were stunning however!

After a few hours at the park we drove back home.

Saturday we didn’t do much and Sunday we sat on the deck in the morning as the weather was so nice. In the afternoon I took my aunt to a couple of local open houses. We are still tentatively looking and she was really interested to see the different styles of house, so we have a good couple of hours house hunting.

In the evening we went to Montanans for dinner and then relaxed in the evening.

Today they return to the airport for the journey home and it is poring with rain and thundering, so could be an interesting drive!

BTW, both have decided they love Canada and want to live here – is this what happens to everyone when they visit this country?

Yesterday was out first full day together and they got up really early as they were still on European time. We spent the morning catching up on thing and then later took them into Belleville to show them the sights. We took them to the mall and Chapters book shop which they were really impressed with. We toured the city and went across the bridge to The County and went along Rednersville Road where there are some really nice waterfront properties.

We went shopping and they were very impressed with the choice and price of food available. $200 of food shopping later we went home and my uncle cooked us a meal. I know you are all thinking, poor man, he comes here on holiday and has to cook a meal. But he loves cooking and is very good at it so is doing us all a favour – honest!

Every night we get deer in our garden and we had told them about this. So, with video camera set we waited for them to come – but no, the deer decided that last night was going to be their night off – making liars of us, typical!

The evening was spend watching telly and chatting, but soon the jet lag was catching up and they went to bed.

Today we went to Presqu’ile Provincial Park in Brighton. Trouble was many of the trails were flooded and inaccessible, but we still managed to visit a lot of the places and the lighthouse etc. They were amazed that Lake Ontario was so vast and looked to all intense and purposes like the sea. The weather was great and temps up to 16C so they haven’t got frostbite yet!

Tomorrow we are going up to 1000 Islands and Charleston Lake which should be really nice.

We decided to go on Monday because according to the Fall Foliage Report the park was at its peak with full colour red and orange foliage.

We had a very uneventful journey there, very little traffic on the roads and great fall scenery. Stopped off in Bancroft for a Timmy’s and paid our $13 for a day pass to the park.

As we entered the park it became apparent that the foliage report was wrong. A lot of the park was still very green with a few clusters of red/orange areas. We were a little disappointed but it is still a beautiful place.

The weather was nice with temps around 25C, but it was cloudy. Did I mention the temps – bearing in mind it was the 1st October?

We did a few of the trails and walked quite a few km’s. The beaver lodges and dams were very evident.

Apart from five squirrels and one chipmunk we didn’t see any wildlife, which was disappointing as last time we were there in April we saw quite a lot including a moose.

When we got home in the evening we spotted a deer in our garden. We had not seen them about since around March when the weather started to improve.

So it turned out we saw turkeys on the way, deer at home but nothing in the park itself – typical.

By the way, here is that tree again.

When we were first looking at places to settle in Ontario, Bancroft had been a contender, but for whatever reason we dismissed the area, cannot remember why now!

We took a scenic route to Bancroft and saw many places that looked really nice. The closer to the town we got the hillier the surroundings. When we reached Bancroft we found it to be a really nice place which reminded us of some small American towns we had visited. We were a little peckish when we got there so found a Timmy’s for a coffee and muffin – well you have to, don’t you!

We wandered around Bancroft for a short time then decided, as it was still early to venture further north. Looking at the map we realised that we were reasonably close to Algonquin Provincial Park, so decided to drive there and take the road which runs through the south of the park – Highway 60.

When we got to the East Gate I went into the ranger station to see if we needed to pay or anything. The guy told me that as long as we were only driving along the highway we didn’t need to. We were also ok to stop off and take photos etc. He gave me a info sheet and map and off we went.

The road runs for 54 km and as we travelled along almost immediately noticed several cars parked up for no apparent reason, so we stopped too. It turned out there was a moose at the side of the road. We saw our first ever Canadian moose. It was a female and she was a bit tatty as she was shedding her winter coat, but hey, we saw a moose.

We stopped off at quite a few vantage points to admire the scenery. Some of the lakes are stunning and we took lots of photos. We also managed to see a couple of deer, but as we get them in the garden most nights we were a bit blasé about them.

The guide sheet we were given gave details of the hikes you can go on in the park and also the best time to visit to see wildlife. It seems that the first couple of weeks of May are good, so we plan to return then, better equipped and do some of the hiking trails.

We left the park late afternoon and managed to spot a groundhog grazing at the side of the road on the way home. We stopped off at Timmy’s again for a coffee before travelling the rest of the way home.

We had dinner and settled in for a night of TV. Whilst watching TV we always have one eye on the window to see what is going on in the garden. As usual the raccoons paid a visit and then quite a bit later my hubby spotted something else in the garden. We thought at first it was a raccoon, but it was moving differently, so I got the scope out and could just make out a porcupine in the dark. I took some pics before it wandered off, but because it was dark they are not very good.

So, we managed to see a moose, a groundhog, deer and a porcupine, quite a day!

We started the day with breakfast at Denny’s which was very nice and very cheap. Then, as we still have no transport we wandered over to the mall and went to Sears home section to have a look at beds and sofas etc. After that we went to Home Depot (like B&Q) and went down every aisle deciding what we needed for the new house and hubby got excited about buying new power tools!

After that we looked in a few other places, had elevenses at Tim Horton’s and then wandered back to the hotel. Strangely we timed our arrival just as the World Cup final was kicking off, so we stayed in to watch that. Well hubby did, I played on my computer and read my book – much more interesting!

When the game had finished after extra time and penalties we had dinner at a local restaurant. Then we wandered down to the Ford garage to see if we could see our new car. We couldn’t, but found a couple of other Sport tracs so spent a few minutes peering in the windows.

Then we walked back to the hotel and spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Today (Monday) will be a busy day as we have to see the solicitors about our new house, collect the truck, see our insurance agent, get Ontario driving licences and any number of other things. As I write this, hubby has just looked out the hotel window and it is pouring with rain – damn.

We picked up the 401 and travelled along to Trenton. The scenery to the east of Toronto is much more interesting that that of the west, where we have been before. The land is not so flat, there are more trees and it is generally quite nice. When we got to Trenton we diverted and took a trip round Prince Edward County. We entered the island at Carrying Place and just followed our noses and went round Wellers Bay area into Ameliasburgh, which we were not so impressed with. There are lots of properties which seem to be quite run-down and we decided that we probably would not want to live in this actual area. We then went into Picton which is a lovely town. There is a main road running through it which has shops and is very clean and looks really nice. We stopped off at Tim Hortons for a turkey and bacon club with muffin and drink. This cost $13 for two, very good value and very tasty.

After Picton, we went along the 2 and followed the coast to Cressy. This is a lovely road and there are many really lovely properties here, some with fantastic waterfront locations. At the tip of this coastal route we took the 8 back down to Smith’s Bay and then went across to Milford. We had to stop for petrol, sorry gas here and as we pulled up a man came out and filled the tank for us ($1.02 per litre). After Milford we went across to the Sandbanks area which again is very nice, but more geared to tourism. After this it was back up to the Wellington area and then off the island via Belleville.

We found the island to be very nice and are looking forward to meeting up with the real estate agent there and look at properties and get an insider’s view of the area.

Once in Belleville, we headed north as it was still to early to check into the hotel. We decided to drive around and get a feel for the area. we went to Foxboro, then across to Plainfield – very nice, then to Halston and down the Shannonville Road to Milltown. Then we headed back to Belleville and found our hotel. We have now checked in and have a very nice room with king bed and separate living area.

We popped across to the Quinte Mall which is near our hotel and it looks a pretty good mall. Not the biggest we have been to but it has most of the shops you would need on a regular basis. We had dinner there and have now come back to the hotel to chill out for the evening.

Tomorrow we are meeting up with the real estate agent from Kingston to view properties in that area – will report back then.