We had good intentions of getting up early this morning but alas it wasn’t the case. Breakfast in the hostel where the bagels are soft and really good (like really good). Our aim today was to go to the Biosphere to see the contrasting landscapes and see the penguins and beavers. First up we organized our accommodation in Quebec City, our next destination, and then we hit the train station and sorted out our tickets. We had a few problems but the Quebecois ticket man was really helpful. As with all places we have visited when someone says they speak “A little English” it practically means they are fluent! All sorted.
Next stop the Metro, similar to Paris with rubber tyres and it didn’t let us down. We got out on Iles Ste Helene to see the Biosphere.. As we left the Metro station there was a photographic exhibition on a trip from fall and winter from the east of the country to the west. Canada is the second largest country on earth and the diversity in landscape is vast. We looked at photos from a number of different provinces with fall leaves and winter snow. It was good. The path lead us to the Biosphere. Penguins here we come!!! The Biosphere was built in 1967 for the Montreal Expo and consists of 1m long bars which lock together like a large scaffold to form a large dome.
Just before we got into the Biosphere we thought we saw a squirrel. We chased after this thing and it went down a hole. Hang on, squirrels don’t do that! Anyway this animal wasn’t too phased by us so it come out and chewed on the tasty grass. It was a bushy little thing with a stubby flat tail and lived underground. My immediate impressions was Caddyshack and my guess was a “gopher”. Tan thought otherwise (later confirmed to be Chippy the Attack Gopher). 
These things were more fun than squirrels!! Why? There were heaps of them and when you chased them they ran down their burrows and then they would wait. After a while they would come out for round Two and then Three etc.. After a while when they got spooked they would stand on their back legs like a meerkat and look all around. One was near a crab-apple tree so we started rolling these small apples towards her. About 10 of them ended up rolling down her burrow and when it was time to go in (i.e we were getting closer to her) she had to dig them all out to fit down her burrow. She wasn’t too impressed. 
We got into the Biosphere, had some hot chocolate and then realized we need to go to the Biodome to see the penguins and beavers. The Biosphere is now an environmental museum, though interesting, it didn’t have what we were chasing. Sa le vie! We walked around the island to the St Laurent River and now realize why it is running so fast. All of the Great Lakes eventually empty out into the area, that’s a huge catchment! 
We found another gopher who wasn’t impressed with Tan tickling him with a twig (hehe). 
Another metro ride and we were at the Biosphere, no I mean Biodome. Fancy that, having similar names! The metro station had a picture of Bert Reynolds which was similar to my moustache from site (which I thought looked very sauve) so I snapped a shot. Now both Tan and Alex think that I look like a 70’s porn star or Leo Wanker protégé when I had my mo. 
Vaiu Metro Station is the entrance to Parc Olympique, the site of the 1976 Olympic Games. Here the velodrome has now being converted into a four different eco-systems and it called the Biodome. This was set against a backdrop of the former Olympic stadium.
The Biodome was really good, with four ecosystems from tropical rainforest, Laurentian (woodlands), Quebec marine and Arctic systems. First up from the cool winds of outside to humid, tropical moist atmosphere. It was like turning up to Denpasar airport. We saw a a-kicker of a capybara, a guinea pig on steroids, macaws, Golden Tamarinds (monkeys), caimans (like an alligator), and some cool fish such as piranhas, pacus (just like Nobby the Pacu on Boulder Road in Kalgoorlie) and catfish.
The next ecosystem was the Laurentian woodlands where we saw a lazy lnyx and more lazy otters. The beaver didn’t let us down and was busy pulling twigs and branches all over his pond. Everything went quiet so we left the beaver pond and then the underwater version complete with beaver dam camera showed us what they we up to. The good thing is the beaver pond was full of walleye, small mouth bass, pike and the occasional small sturgeon. Good for me. The beaver were busy ripping twigs and branches into there den and swimming around with them. Tan loved the beavies.
Next up was a huge underwater scene of huge salmon (1m long), sturgeon to 1.5m and numerous other fish swimming around and having a ball. I was frothing and wanted to get out my doubly broken rod and catch one. Alas, we just had to sit and watch.
Next step was the Arctic display. Did you know puffins are only 6-8 inches high. Well after Witless Bay and Tan coping with her seasickness, we finally saw some close up. They were cool and terrible fliers, but underwater absolutely amazing.
In the next area there were three different types of penguins, all having lots of fun from sleeping to nesting to nest building to swimming around. The ice on the deck and cold water meant they were pretty comfortable. In the water they were powering along, one beat of the wings and they moving like no tomorrow. They ended up chasing each other around at top speed with the occasional jump out of the water for show. There was one fella, who was helping his partner make a nest. He grabbed some small stones from 8m oway and brought it back. She would delicately place it down and he would be off again. Lucky his timing was right as one above did a massive projectile turd (about 2m trajectory right onto his path – we thought this was funny!). It was quite cute seeing this courtship occurring around the nest. 
After this we powered on to the Olympic stadium and looked at Olympic memorabilia and went into the swimming complex complete with warm up pools, 50m pool, diving and water polo pools. We clicked a few shots and then walked around the park. It was a big centre.
On the Metro again, stopped off with a few tins at Brutopia, Cheval Blanc (White Horse) is now my favourite Quebecois beer), and then back to the hostel. A phone call in the pub with Leo and everyone sorted out our plan for the next few weeks which involves Sudbury, Saskatoon, and Raven camp. Yay!!! It’s good to have a plan.
Next stop the Metro, similar to Paris with rubber tyres and it didn’t let us down. We got out on Iles Ste Helene to see the Biosphere.. As we left the Metro station there was a photographic exhibition on a trip from fall and winter from the east of the country to the west. Canada is the second largest country on earth and the diversity in landscape is vast. We looked at photos from a number of different provinces with fall leaves and winter snow. It was good. The path lead us to the Biosphere. Penguins here we come!!! The Biosphere was built in 1967 for the Montreal Expo and consists of 1m long bars which lock together like a large scaffold to form a large dome.
Just before we got into the Biosphere we thought we saw a squirrel. We chased after this thing and it went down a hole. Hang on, squirrels don’t do that! Anyway this animal wasn’t too phased by us so it come out and chewed on the tasty grass. It was a bushy little thing with a stubby flat tail and lived underground. My immediate impressions was Caddyshack and my guess was a “gopher”. Tan thought otherwise (later confirmed to be Chippy the Attack Gopher). These things were more fun than squirrels!! Why? There were heaps of them and when you chased them they ran down their burrows and then they would wait. After a while they would come out for round Two and then Three etc.. After a while when they got spooked they would stand on their back legs like a meerkat and look all around. One was near a crab-apple tree so we started rolling these small apples towards her. About 10 of them ended up rolling down her burrow and when it was time to go in (i.e we were getting closer to her) she had to dig them all out to fit down her burrow. She wasn’t too impressed. We got into the Biosphere, had some hot chocolate and then realized we need to go to the Biodome to see the penguins and beavers. The Biosphere is now an environmental museum, though interesting, it didn’t have what we were chasing. Sa le vie! We walked around the island to the St Laurent River and now realize why it is running so fast. All of the Great Lakes eventually empty out into the area, that’s a huge catchment! We found another gopher who wasn’t impressed with Tan tickling him with a twig (hehe). Another metro ride and we were at the Biosphere, no I mean Biodome. Fancy that, having similar names! The metro station had a picture of Bert Reynolds which was similar to my moustache from site (which I thought looked very sauve) so I snapped a shot. Now both Tan and Alex think that I look like a 70’s porn star or Leo Wanker protégé when I had my mo. Vaiu Metro Station is the entrance to Parc Olympique, the site of the 1976 Olympic Games. Here the velodrome has now being converted into a four different eco-systems and it called the Biodome. This was set against a backdrop of the former Olympic stadium.The Biodome was really good, with four ecosystems from tropical rainforest, Laurentian (woodlands), Quebec marine and Arctic systems. First up from the cool winds of outside to humid, tropical moist atmosphere. It was like turning up to Denpasar airport. We saw a a-kicker of a capybara, a guinea pig on steroids, macaws, Golden Tamarinds (monkeys), caimans (like an alligator), and some cool fish such as piranhas, pacus (just like Nobby the Pacu on Boulder Road in Kalgoorlie) and catfish.The next ecosystem was the Laurentian woodlands where we saw a lazy lnyx and more lazy otters. The beaver didn’t let us down and was busy pulling twigs and branches all over his pond. Everything went quiet so we left the beaver pond and then the underwater version complete with beaver dam camera showed us what they we up to. The good thing is the beaver pond was full of walleye, small mouth bass, pike and the occasional small sturgeon. Good for me. The beaver were busy ripping twigs and branches into there den and swimming around with them. Tan loved the beavies.Next up was a huge underwater scene of huge salmon (1m long), sturgeon to 1.5m and numerous other fish swimming around and having a ball. I was frothing and wanted to get out my doubly broken rod and catch one. Alas, we just had to sit and watch.
Next step was the Arctic display. Did you know puffins are only 6-8 inches high. Well after Witless Bay and Tan coping with her seasickness, we finally saw some close up. They were cool and terrible fliers, but underwater absolutely amazing.
In the next area there were three different types of penguins, all having lots of fun from sleeping to nesting to nest building to swimming around. The ice on the deck and cold water meant they were pretty comfortable. In the water they were powering along, one beat of the wings and they moving like no tomorrow. They ended up chasing each other around at top speed with the occasional jump out of the water for show. There was one fella, who was helping his partner make a nest. He grabbed some small stones from 8m oway and brought it back. She would delicately place it down and he would be off again. Lucky his timing was right as one above did a massive projectile turd (about 2m trajectory right onto his path – we thought this was funny!). It was quite cute seeing this courtship occurring around the nest. After this we powered on to the Olympic stadium and looked at Olympic memorabilia and went into the swimming complex complete with warm up pools, 50m pool, diving and water polo pools. We clicked a few shots and then walked around the park. It was a big centre.On the Metro again, stopped off with a few tins at Brutopia, Cheval Blanc (White Horse) is now my favourite Quebecois beer), and then back to the hostel. A phone call in the pub with Leo and everyone sorted out our plan for the next few weeks which involves Sudbury, Saskatoon, and Raven camp. Yay!!! It’s good to have a plan.
1 comment:
Go PIES
Post a Comment