Gatineau Park (i.e. Turf)
Jenn, Oliver and I decided to head out to Gatineau Park for some hiking on the trails on Saturday afternoon. Jenn and Oliver (an adorable lasso apso poodle) are going to be my new roommates starting July 1st! I am so excited to have Jenn live with me and I think that Oliver will offer some entertainment and good company too. I am also planning to use him to attract cute guys when I take him for walks :)
Getting back to the park... we drove out to the start of the Lariault Trail that would take us to some lookout points along with a waterfall and the Mackenzie King Estate - all sounded appealing and the trail was a dog-friendly one so we were set! We came to a great looktout about 10 minutes into our walk (see pics below) that gave a great view of the countryside in Quebec.
The waterfall proved to be slightly less than excpected but still pretty and there was two older couples sitting having a picnic lunch on the benches overlooking the water. They gave Oliver lots of attention and spoke with Jenn and I for awhil e too. One of the older men offered to take our picture by the falls so that was nice too.
We stumbled upon the Mackenzie King Estate kind of by accident but that was great and we walked through the grounds and explored the old chapel ruins and the gardens. We saw a couple getting their engagement photos done at the ruins and another wedding party doing photos on the lawn!
The biggest highlight of our trek was seeing a deer drinking from the water. Oliver spooked it a bit and it took off up the hill and then stayed on top where we could see it for a couple more minutes before bounding off - Jenn and I were pretty excited!
We spent about 2 hours at the park and could have easily spent longer. Oliver was tuckered out (and filthy as it rained all morning) and after a bath in the sink, he slept about 18 hours straight... poor little gaffer. If you enjoy hiking, there are miles of trails in Gatineau Park - next time we go, we're going to do the Pink Lake trail and the caves - stay tuned...
Getting back to the park... we drove out to the start of the Lariault Trail that would take us to some lookout points along with a waterfall and the Mackenzie King Estate - all sounded appealing and the trail was a dog-friendly one so we were set! We came to a great looktout about 10 minutes into our walk (see pics below) that gave a great view of the countryside in Quebec.
The waterfall proved to be slightly less than excpected but still pretty and there was two older couples sitting having a picnic lunch on the benches overlooking the water. They gave Oliver lots of attention and spoke with Jenn and I for awhil e too. One of the older men offered to take our picture by the falls so that was nice too.
We stumbled upon the Mackenzie King Estate kind of by accident but that was great and we walked through the grounds and explored the old chapel ruins and the gardens. We saw a couple getting their engagement photos done at the ruins and another wedding party doing photos on the lawn!
The biggest highlight of our trek was seeing a deer drinking from the water. Oliver spooked it a bit and it took off up the hill and then stayed on top where we could see it for a couple more minutes before bounding off - Jenn and I were pretty excited!
We spent about 2 hours at the park and could have easily spent longer. Oliver was tuckered out (and filthy as it rained all morning) and after a bath in the sink, he slept about 18 hours straight... poor little gaffer. If you enjoy hiking, there are miles of trails in Gatineau Park - next time we go, we're going to do the Pink Lake trail and the caves - stay tuned...
Lobsterfest (the Surf)
Saturday night took us to Lobsterfest at the Royal Oak, a local Ottawa pub (they are EVERYWHERE - they may outnumber the Tim Hortons...). Jenn, Cully, and I had never eaten a whole lobster that we had to crack open and pull the meat out ourselves before so we were lucky to have Jerrica along - a native Newfoundlander - to show us how to do it. I would never have eaten the roe of the female lobster (because it looks disgusting), but that was the tastiest part! Well, that and the garlic butter that Jenn managed to have dripping down her entire arm before she was finished... Luckily, we all wore our lobster bibs!
Some lobster lessons I learned from Jerrica and my first experience:
1. Don't eat the lobster poop - it's a longish black strand that you'll want to remove
2. If you try to pull the lobster apart, it will explode and cover the table with lobster innards (inc Cully's sunglasses - whoops!)
3. Lobsters have way more meat than you think! The claws have huge chunks in them and even the feet have meat you can suck out
4. Don't call the lobster Sebastian (as in Ariel's friend in The Little Mermaid) when it arrives at your table - it is frowned on by other diners
The pictures below pretty much tell the tale of how much we loved the lobster!
PS: Alec the Boddingtons I tried was for you and if there's one thing you know, it's good beer! I loved it.
Some lobster lessons I learned from Jerrica and my first experience:
1. Don't eat the lobster poop - it's a longish black strand that you'll want to remove
2. If you try to pull the lobster apart, it will explode and cover the table with lobster innards (inc Cully's sunglasses - whoops!)
3. Lobsters have way more meat than you think! The claws have huge chunks in them and even the feet have meat you can suck out
4. Don't call the lobster Sebastian (as in Ariel's friend in The Little Mermaid) when it arrives at your table - it is frowned on by other diners
The pictures below pretty much tell the tale of how much we loved the lobster!
PS: Alec the Boddingtons I tried was for you and if there's one thing you know, it's good beer! I loved it.