Pictou

This was our last day with our grandparents, so we took a picture with them in front of this boat. Apparently the first 200 settlers to Pictou (from Scotland) all came on a boat this size. This one is just a replica. It must have been very cramped inside though, unless they were all pandas and platypuses. I think they were probably humans though. The middle sail got hit by lightning, so that's why it is so short.


Strange Panda and I got to pretend to be typical citizens of Pictou, fishermen and lobsters. However, I think I moved too much during the picture because of my excitement, so I am blurry.

Cape Breton National Park Animals

Mom and Dad took a trip to Cape Breton National Park one day. They drove all around it and saw lots of Canadian animals. This is a baby moose they took a picture of to show us.


During one hike, Mom and Dad saw a large group of whales down below in the water. It was interesting that they could see so far since they were so high up above the whales.


Another animal they saw was a bald eagle. He was just sitting on a tree when they drove by.

Baddeck

After a few days in Halifax, we drove up to Baddeck in the North of Nova Scotia. We stayed at a nice B&B there, which used to be a farm.

Halifax

We ended our long drive at the airport in Halifax. It was exciting watching all the planes land, knowing that our grandparents were on one of them.


Mom found a giant colorful lobster in the middle of Halifax. It was thankfully too big for her to take home. Otherwise we might not have fit in the bed anymore!


When we were back at the B&B, Mom liked to use us as a pillow. I think it made it easier for her to read. Dad spent the whole time at the B&B reading the last Hairy Potter book. I guess we are not furry enough for him, despite both of us being covered in it.

Fundy National Park

The second night of our drive we stopped at Fundy National Park. It was an amazing park where the tides are about a mile long. During low tide, Dad took us out on some rocks and took this picture. In the far background is a covered wooden bridge that we got to drive across. I had never been on a covered bridge before.


We had a little friend at our campsite. An inchworm came to visit us at our picnic table.


Here we are sleeping in our tent that night. The ground was a bit hard and we didn't have enough padding. Strange Panda didn't mind though as he has thick fur.


Unfortunately, on the way out of the park, Dad was temporarily captured by pirates in the town of Alma. Luckily Strange Panda and I freed him so we could continue on with our journey.

Fredericton

We rented a car in Quebec and drove to Halifax to meet our grandparents. It was a long drive, so we stopped over the first night in Fredericton. Outside our motel, a bunch of locals were playing horseshoes and we watched them for awhile. I don't think I could lift the horseshoes though, as they looked heavy.


If you look really closely at this picture, you can see the groundhog we saw at Fredericton airport. He looked a bit like me, but they live in the ground instead of the water.


We ate dinner at a rest stop, where there was a giant canoe of some animals. I hope Strange Panda and I can ride in a canoe like that sometime.

Around Quebec

On our last day in Quebec, we rented a car and drove north to an island called Ile d'Orleans. Dad wouldn't let us drive, but he gave us a map and had us figure out the route.


Mom got very excited when we stopped at a small petting zoo on the island. The goats and sheep got very excited about her food too.


We also drove further north from Quebec, and went to Saint Anne's Basilica, which was a huge church built for a lady. The church is supposed to be able to heal your leg injuries. I think my sore paws did feel better after our visit, but that could be because Mom and Dad carried me.

Sunbathing

We had a bit of fun outside on the lawn at Quebec. It was nice and sunny, and really relaxing during our time there.


Bill and I tried to get rid of our white bellies and get a bit of a tan.


We did a bit of spooning in the sun, and promptly fell asleep again.

Sleeping Quebec

While Mom and Dad were out wandering around Quebec, Bill and I slept a lot. It was very resting, as traveling makes us very tired. Sometimes we played Yahtzee while Mom and Dad were gone.


When we weren't actually sleeping, we also played hide and go seek for hours around the B&B. It was a lot of fun.


While we were sleeping, Mom and Dad went to the Quebec Citadelle, where Mom found this stuffed version of Batisse, the regiment's goat mascot. She wanted to take him home, but Dad said that the love of a panda and a platypus should suffice, so Mom did not get him.

Day Out in Quebec City

Bill and I spent a lot of our time in Quebec sleeping and resting up. But we did manage to go out one day and see the city. However, in order to go around the city, we had to be jammed into Dad's backpack all day. Bill kept squashing my face!


Bill and I don't like to be ordinary tourists, who only see the sights and never meet the people. So we made friends with some of the natives here in Quebec.


This is the largest hotel in the city, Le Chateau Frontenac. Mom really wanted to stay there, but they did not accept pandas and platypuses as guests, so we had to settle on a smaller B&B. Because Bill and I felt personally rejected my this affront, we refused to look at it during the pictures. Besides, you wouldn't get to see our adorable faces if we were looking the other way.

Long Journey to Quebec

After four days, we left Toronto and headed to Quebec. First we had to take a bus to Montreal, then we transfered to a train in Montreal. Here we are waiting for the train in Montreal station with Mom.


The train had really big comfortable seats to sit on. It was much nicer than the trains we have taken in England. Strange Panda and I spent most of the time looking out the window. Everything outside the train was moving so quickly. Altogether we spent over 9 hours traveling that day. We were really tired when we finally arrived in Quebec.

Toronto

We started out our Canada trip in Toronto. Toronto has the largest structure in the world right in downtown. It is supposedly 4256.4 platypus tail lengths tall (553.33 meters for you humans), but when I got on top of Strange Panda, I could nearly touch the top of it, so I think it is not really that tall. Mom and Dad went up it and they said it was really tall, but they didn't take us up, so I am not sure if they are telling the truth.


The best part of our time in Toronto was the bike ride around the Toronto Islands. It was a lot of fun, and the weather was great. You can see the Toronto skyline in the background here. There were lots of boats but we couldn't go on any of them but the ferry, as Mom said they were other people's boats.


Mom looks really happy in this picture! That's how fun the bike ride was around the islands.


Here we come, in the first of the bike action shots Dad took.


Here's the close-up as we cycle next to Dad.


You can see my tail poking out from the basket as we cycled past Dad and down the boardwalk.

The Great Canadian Beavers

My favorite part of the whole trip was when we saw the beaver swimming around the Biodome in Montreal. It must be a relative of mine, as we look similar and like to swim in the water. Dad took a video of it so I could watch it again when we got home.

Bike ride in Canada

Starting in July, we took a trip to Canada for a month. It was great fun and Bill got a bit of a tan. I am, sadly, as white (and black) as ever. One of my favorite parts is that we got to take a bike ride around the Toronto Islands, which are islands just off the main part of the city. Dad even captured a video of us riding the bikes.

Eiffel Tower photo shoot

I set Dad's camera on timed photos and tried to get Bill to pose with me in front of the Eiffel Tower.

And then we tried again...

But none of the pictures came out that well as Bill kept pushing me and trying to hog the whole picture with his large snout.

Me and Mom's new waterproof jacket

Here are some old photos of me and Mom when she bought her waterproof red jacket.

Going out with Mary

Mary wanted to play with Liono, since he does not get a chance to leave the house much. Normally he is on guard duty with Rabbito.

Mary kept sneaking me sips of the wine from her glass.

Obviously the alcohol had an effect on both of us.

Time with Sarah

Sarah came to visit us again, so we got to play with her a lot. That was very fun, so I hope she will come again soon.

Sarah likes to sneak rum-filled smoothies to Strange Panda because she is very naughty.

Bill sleeping as always

As usual, Bill was sleeping while I was playing dress up. During the floods in Sheffield we mostly lay around sleeping and watching tv. Not much else for us to do really. Bill wanted to go swim in the water, but Dad said it would be too dangerous because of the currents.

Not much to do

We haven't gotten to go on a trip recently, so we don't have many pictures. Bill and I have been looking through the computer for any pictures we might have missed.

Since we were a bit bored, I decided to reenact The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I make a lovely caterpillar I think. It also gave me a chance to eat lots of food.

A Visitor

We had Kitty, a visitor, come for the weekend. Helen from work left him there by accident, so he came home to visit us, as we are not far from the office. He got along well with Big Cat in particular.