The Fairview Cemetery

There had been countless Titanic events throughout the week in Nova Scotia, and while I wasn’t able to catch them all I wanted to make sure I visited the Titanic memorial at the Fairview Cemetery. I ended up biking to the grounds, and watched as people from all walks of life quietly walked through the rows of graves. I have to admit I was concerned that people would be a bit “off” at these graves. Many of these people likely didn’t have a clue who any of these Titanic victims were, and I was no different. I feared that young girls would be crying out for Jack Dawson, the fictional character from James Cameron’s film. But it was nothing like that.

The Unknown Child

Young and old stared at the stones, reading the inscriptions to themselves. I watched as a young girl laid out flowers in front of the tomb of the youngest victim. I small boy who had remained unknown until 2011, 19-month-old Sidney Goodwin. He was an English child whose entire family died in the sinking. I watched an elderly couple hold eachother as the women shed a tear, perhaps for the unknown child, perhaps due to the heart warming sentiment of the youth of today honouring a child who never got to lead a full life.

The Brave Crew of the Titanic

I walked the rows and read the names, the numbers, the dates. Many of the men who perished in this tragedy were my age. Men in their young twenties. I couldn’t help but shake my head in disbelief, I asked myself “Would I have been so brave had I been put in that situation?“. I decided it was time to leave, and found one last stone stone to photograph. The stone was that of Everett Edward Elliot. It poetically read “Each man stood at his post while all the weaker ones went by, and showed once more to all the world how Englishmen should die.”

Remembering the Victims of the Titanic in Halifax Nova Scotia is a post from: I Backpack Canada

Chez Ashtons, the birthplace of poutine

There will always be alternative views, but Chez Ashtons is believed to be the inventor of poutine. There’s been many claims in the past, but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter to me. I’m just happy Quebec shared this dish with the rest of Canada. If you speak with the locals and let them know you’re going to Chez Ashtons, you’ll either get a big smile and a thumbs up, or a clicking tongue with frowning shaking face. Perhaps it’s because of the Fast Food nature of Chez Ashtons. Many people feel a cultural dish as incredible as poutine shouldn’t be served in under 5 minutes. I clearly don’t share that philosophy.

I had just left some post Crashed Ice celebrations, which included partaking in a couple St Patricks Day beverages with my younger sister. All that partying and excitement worked up a serious hunger. It was time. We made the trip down Rue Saint-Jean, stumbling past groups of drunk french speaking teenagers and adults. We stayed on course, “This is no time to socialize!”. We came upon Chez Ashtons and B-lined it into line.

Deux très grand Poutine s’il vous plait

I ordered in my best french, which unfortunately after a few drinks, is also considered my worst. The lovely girl behind the counter laughed and deciphered whatever it is I said to her. A couple minutes later we were presented with two large dishes of original poutine. Nothing fancy, no extras, no pieces of sausages or splashes of weird sauces. Just a straight up traditional Quebecois poutine.

I observed this poutine. Crisp fresh cut fries, ooey gooey gravy, and cheese curds the size of human digits. It was beautiful! A drunk man can only observe food like that for so long. My fork quickly made contact with the dish, and crushing ensued. The fries retained their strength, which is to say they didn’t become a soggy mess. The curds were thoroughly spread throughout the fries, ensuring I didn’t eat all of them before getting to the bottom. It was the perfect Poutine. Simple, elegant, and crafted with years of experience. I high fived my sister and laughed, “Wow, that was crazy good! Quebec does poutine right!”.

 Have you ever enjoyed a Chez Ashtons poutine? Ever come across a poutine that’s better? Comment below or toss me a tweet @ibackpackcanada!

The Best Poutine I’ve Ever Had – Chez Ashton’s in Quebec City is a post from: I Backpack Canada

‘Toronto Tempo’ by Ryan Emond

Toronto Tempo was created by Ryan Emond, a Toronto based photographer, videographer, and visual artist. His time lapses are some of my favourite I’ve ever come across. Ryan was able to capture the city of Toronto perfectly. Anytime I’m lacking creativity, I jump into one of his time lapses and am immediately transported into another city, but in an alternate universe where the world speeds by. If this video doesn’t want to make you take in Toronto, you’re out of your mind.

If you’re looking to visit this beautiful Canadian city anytime soon, check out some of these cheap flights to Toronto today. What’s up budget-friendly!?

Sunday Canadian Travel Video: Toronto Tempo is a post from: I Backpack Canada

Tire D’érable, Maple Toffee on a Stick

That was the first time I had ever heard of “Tire D’érable“, or Maple Toffee for us english speaking Canadians. Our french teacher intern took our classroom outside in the winter. We were taught that in the old days these types of treats were incredibly popular with children, not only because they tasted amazing, but because they were also fun to make.

We watched as she boiled Quebecois maple syrup to a liquid state. The smell of melting maple syrup filled the entire schoolyard. Aunt Jemima would be proud. Once it was ready, she happily handed out popsicle sticks and instructed to find some clean snow. She proceeded to poor this hot liquid in a small straight line and told us to wait a second before rolling our sticks through the amber trail.

Mmm, “Maple-ee”

As the liquid solidified around the stick, a Maple Syrup “sucker” was born. Forged from heat, snow, and tree guts. We were blown away. Needless to say some kids ended up with more of it on their face than in their mouths. Regardless, we were hooked! French culture was officially awesome from that day on. Unfortunately that was the last time had Home-made Maple Toffee until my recent visit to Quebec City.

Sold on the Streets of Old Quebec

Located on the streets of Old Quebec, little stands were selling these maple syrup treats. A plywood box held a patch of clean snow. I watched as a young man splashed the snow with a gracious amount of liquified maple syrup. A customer waited for it to cool, her smile growing as she saw it was ready. She rolled the wooden stick slowly and confidently through the hardening toffee. This clearly wasn’t her first rodeo.

I promptly jumped in line with my sister and a couple friends, and for about $2.00 I was treated to my favourite Canadian candy. Still sticky, still gooey, still incredibly tasty! I spoke to my friends as I watched them devour theirs. One of the guys I was with was going to town on his. He smiled and began to loudly declaring “Why aren’t these everywhere!?!“. I believe he liked them.

Have you ever had Maple Toffee/Maple Taffy/Tire D’érable?

T’ire D’érable – Why aren’t you everywhere? is a post from: I Backpack Canada

My younger sister and I joked (albeit terribly) about “crashing” Crashed Ice; however, it wasn’t until we figured out that this is likely going to be the last year we’ll both be in eastern Canada that we decided to make it happen. We hopped on a bus full of University students from all over Nova Scotia and made the pilgrimage to see the insanity with our own eyes.

Arriving in Quebec City was a breath of fresh air, and trust me, we needed it after that bus ride. It’s my experience that people tend to spoil, much like meat kept out of the refrigerator, after about 8 hours. Thankfully showers have the uncanny ability of washing off the miles from a 12 hour bus trip, and after a soak, a scrub, and downing one of the complimentary Red Bulls, I was ready to see the course.

Crashed Ice Starting line

It was a short walk between the Delta Hotel and Le Château Frontenac, a magnificant hotel that opened in 1893 by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Le Château Frontenac is apparently the “most photographed hotel in North America”, but this weekend most seemed to be referring to it simply as “The Starting Line”. Situated at the base of Le Château Frontenac was the Crashed Ice Start platform that would propel equipped skaters, both male and female, along a 580 meter (0.58 km) long urban track.

The Crashed Ice Course

The 2012 Crashed Ice course is roughly 4.5 meters (14.7 feet) wide. Combined with its 60 meter vertical and a length of 580 meters, the ice track requires skaters to plan their path wisely. As the whistle blows, skaters stride down Rue du Fort where they will come across the front of the Post Office. They’ll then come across a new addition this year, the 360 degree turn, right before arriving at what everyone is calling “The Splitter”. A 30 meter section of the course where skaters will be forced to pick sides. Fast & tight, or slow & wide. Once they survive “The Splitter” they’ll have the beauty of the Saint Lawrence in sigh, and it will be a fast sprint down “The Royal Corridor” where they’ll hit the final “Victory Turn” and race for the finish line at “Place de Paris”.

Trois, Deux, Un

Our small group gathered along the boards of the course. The air was heavy in excitement as music and loud cheers were erupting from the growing crowd. The lights seemed to dim, as the announcer counted down the next race in one of the most powerful and inviting of french accents. The crowd exploded in cheers, my head was on a fast swivel as I watched skaters tear through ice, pushing every extra ounce of speed out of their trajectory. The sound of blades slicing through the rock hard ice sent shivers down my spine. The only logical thing to do was scream and hollar with the rest of the 105,000+ attendees.

I proceeded to wander and get as many photos from alternative angles. Unfortunately navigating through the crowd was like crossing a river full of hungry piranahs. Nobody wanted to give up their spot, and everybody was craving a better view of the event. I used my best “Je m’excuse“, holding my camera above the heads of the crowd to snap blindly. I managed to find a few clearings throughout the track, which allowed for some incredible photo ops, along with a couple convorsations with spectators. Some were drunk, some were high, some were confused as to what was going on and just followed the crowd, and others were simply too french for me to understand. Whatever their case was, they were all smiling and enjoying the sights. There was no shortage of high fives that’s for sure.

Ice Cold – Require Beer

As the hours flew by in excitement, toes began transforming into ice. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one feeling the cold. I found my younger sister and a couple of her friends and we proceeded to search for beer. We knew it had to be near the crowds somewhere. This was after all Quebec City, hands down the most “European” Canadian city in terms of liberties. We saw a group drinking beer out of plastic cups and proceeded to ask them “Ou est la bierre?!“, they said something I didn’t quite understand, but followed it by a solid smile and a point in the right direction.

We followed the Crashed Ice track down, took the occasional side street to sneak by condensed groups that didn’t appear to be moving. Then finally, we came upon the finish line at “Place de Paris”. Greeted by lights, a couple of awesome french DJ’s, and a huge crowd of people. All of which had at least one beer in their hand. We made it! The beer warmed our spirits, which in turn allowed us to forget about our numbing feet.

Merci Beaucoup Quebec

Looking up at Quebec City from the bottom of the Crashed Ice course, it was clear to me that this city is something special to Canada. It’s a piece of beautiful difference lined with cobblestone, and spoken almost entirely in french. This is one of those locations where assuming everyone speaks even a bit of english is seen as foolish. While the language barrier can make simple things take an extra minute or two, ultimately everyone in this city is happy to help, even if that means you have to speak in “bastardized” french.

As the final races finished, party’s erupted across Quebec City. Beer was consumed in honour of Saint Patrick, in honour of the winners, the losers, the french, the english, and the beautiful city that graciously hosts this event year. Red Bull Crashed Ice is one of those events that words can only do so much to describe. Next March, pack your bags and see it for yourself!

 Video of 2012 Crashed Ice in Quebec City

A Weekend in Quebec City for Red Bull Crashed Ice is a post from: I Backpack Canada

cc licensed ( BY ND ) flickr photo shared by EyeofJ

Rainbow Haven Beach

Located just outside of Lawrecentown and Cow Bay is the Rainbow Haven Provincial Park. This beach offers full ammenities including boardwalks, restrooms, and a canteen that serves your typical beach canteen food groups. Popcicles, freezies, burgers, fries, and those addictive 5c candies. The drive is about 30 minutes long from downtown Halifax, and includes a drive by the famous set (or what’s left of it) of the showcase TV show “Trailer Park Boys”.

The beach and it’s boardwalks are great, and though the water can be a bit chilly at times the water’s great. The beach is large enough to show up with a large group to setup up “shop” for the day and just stretch on your own turf of sand. However, I should note that due to it’s proximity to Halifax it can get busy here. Thankfully the beach is long enough that you can usually find your own spot away from the hoards. This beach also seems to be quite popular with the Ed Hardy wearing types who are all too keen to “take a lap” around the beach in order to strut their stuff. If you can get past that you’ll have a great time at Rainbow Haven.

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by newminaswilders

Clam Harbour Beach

Another gorgeous natural beach on Nova Scotias eastern shore, Clam Harbour Beach is a great place to check out if you love safety. The Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service has been supervising Clam Harbour since 1978. If you’re not a strong swimmer, or with somebody who isn’t, rest easy knowing the boys and girls in Red & Yellow can keep and eye on you (Weekends only!).

Clam Harbour beach is a bit further away, it takes roughly an hour to get there from downtown Halifax, but if you’ve got the fuel it’s a great place to check out. There’s plenty of parking nearby, as well as a full concession including restroom, an interpretive center along with some boardwalks.

cc licensed ( BY ND ) flickr photo shared by Ashley Coombs

Crystal Crescent Beach

One of the more popular beaches in the Halifax area, Crystal Crescent Beach offers folks a bit of everything. There are some great hiking and biking trails nearby, several picnic areas, and some incredible waters to get your swim on! Crystal Crescent is great for a day at the beach, or if you’re feeling adventurous – a place to throw caution (and your clothes) into the wind. I know what you’re thinking…”Finally, a place to show off my birthday suit!” – hold tight though. There’s some unwritten rules.

Crystal Crescent is made up of 3 beaches, the first two beaches are for clothed patrons, while the 3rd (a 15 minute walk or so) will lead you to the land of sand and skin. A few common courtesies, no cameras and no sex, gawkers and scallywags looking to laugh it up are also discouraged. If you’re not brave enough for the nude scene, worry not. The first two beaches are great – and for those of you with a family no need to worry. The nudists don’t leave their area.

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by eskimo_jo

Lawrencetown Beach

Lawrencetown Beach is a south facing 1.5 km long and is sort of Halifax’s extreme playground. Surfers, kiteboarders, windsurfers, and extreme castle builders flock here in the summer to practice their art. If you’re new to the world of surfing, there’s a couple surf schools who operate in the area and are happy to show you how to rip it up, or at the very least stand up.

If relaxing is more your thing, there’s plenty of room for that. Just note that because Lawrencetown is blasted by so many waves the beach does change, which means it can be sandy one year, and a bit rockier another. Regardless, there’s usually plenty of space to lay down a towel and do your best seal impression. The beach has several supervised areas, some boardwalks, along with restrooms, showers a large picnic area and a canteen.

cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by FormFunction

Martinique Beach

Hands down the longest white sand beach in Nova Scotia, Martinique Beach is located at the end of East Petpeswick road. This incredible beach has some great surfing, which means rentals and lessons can be found right near by (see Happy Dudes Surf Emporium). If you’d rather lounge around and watch some serious birds (not talking about girls in bikinis here) you’ll be pleased to hear there’s also a bird sanctuary at Martinique where visitors can scout a variety of birds according to season. Seals have also been known to pop in and out of this area so keep your eyes peeled.

Driving from downtown Halifax to Martinique will take you almost exactly an hour. While Martinique is still very popular, due to its longer drive the crowds tend to be smaller than Rainbow Haven. Martinique Beach has several supervised areas, large picnic areas, boardwalks and hiking paths, along with restrooms and change rooms.

cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo shared by alex_ferguson

Queensland Beach

Queensland Beach isn’t the largest beach by far, but it makes up for its size by it’s great location. This Beach is one of the most popular beaches on the South Shore. The water in St Margarets Bay is a bit warmer than any of the real coastal beach locations near Halifax, which is part of the reason why this beach draws such big crowds. Queensland Beach is located just outside of Hubbards, a cute little town famous for it’s Shore Club.

Drive time to Queensland Beach from Downtown Halifax will take approximately 45 minutes. There’s supervised areas, picnic tables, some hiking paths, along with outhouses & change rooms.

Think I’m missing any other great local Halifax beaches? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

The Halifax Beach Guide – Nova Scotia’s Summer Playground is a post from: I Backpack Canada

Any Canadian roadtrip that includes 5 guys, a large truck, and winter gear is typically accompanied by beer. Lots of it. Due to our strong cultural ties with Canada we felt it was necessary to abide by this “tradition”. Needless to say the first stop in New Brunswick was the NB Alcool where we filled any remaining space in the truck with beer, gin, and my favourite road trip bubbly, Baby Duck Sparkling Wine; the epitomy of refinement.

Our first night was spent in the Ramada on the North Side of Fredericton. The north side of Fredericton is known primarily for its view of the south side, the “apparent” cooler side of Fredericton, which is also home to the downtown core. We took in the view, remarked on its similarities between Halifax and Charlottetown, and then promptly got acquainted with our new carbonated friends.

The Journey to Crabbe Mountain, New Brunswick

The drive to Crabbe Mountain from Fredericton takes approximately 30 minutes, a whopping 40 minutes less than any GPS will tell you. Either satellites are stupid or we were slightly speeding, but I have a sneaking suspicion it was the latter. It’s been my experience that most ski & snowboard trips are accompanied by nausea inducing hangovers. I’d love to tell you about the drive up to Crabbe Mountain, but being true to tradition, I was more concentrated on not ruining the inside of my friends truck than what was going on outside of it. All I can say is there were trees, and snow.

Breathe it in boys!

We made it to the mountain in one piece and breathed in the cool New Brunswick air. Blue skies surrounded us and the weather was perfect for a day on the slopes. My snowboard gear is still calling Saskatchewan home, so I was forced to rent. Thankfully the folks at Crabbe Mountain kept things moving fast, and I was fully outfitted with board, boots, and bindings in under 5-10 minutes ($30 full day rental). The rest of the guys happily donated extra winter apparel to keep me from freezing “mes fesses” off. For those who weren’t aware, New Brunswick is a bilingual province, so including French out of the blue is kind of the norm, and also fun.

Crabbe Mountain Chairlift

For the next 8 hours, the five of us hosers enjoyed the Crabbe Mountain slopes. The liftees were friendly, the chairlift speed was fast, and we couldn’t have picked a better weekend. There had been a recent snowfall before our arrival which meant we had some great snow and freshly groomed trails greeting as at every bend. During the entire two day ski & snowboard trip I didn’t see a single snow machine at work.

The Terrain Parks

The terrain parks had some technical boxes, tables, and rails along with the death-inducing jumps one would expect to find in a terrain park. Having not been on a snowboard in a couple years, and because I’m one of those “too cool to wear helmet” types, I stuck to simple boxes, wimpy jumps, and the occasional run through the glades. That is whenever I could sneak by without being caught, apparently out east it’s the norm to not let people into the terrain parks without helmets. Regardless, I vowed to myself to make it back in one piece. Thankfully my hangovers kept me from doing anything I would have regretted… and they say alcohol is bad for you? Ha!

Who’s ready for Lunch!?

A friend of mine who’s been living in Fredericton set my hopes up high for lunchtime at Crabbe Mountain. He was going on and on about their poutine and how supposedly incredible it was. A smile grew across my face and shiny cheese curd shaped stars shone in my eyes at the thought of a gravy infused New Brunswick Apres-Ski. He went on to tell me it was a french-canadian poutine so awesome it would melt your face off at the sight of it. Gravy filled every crevice, and fries so perfect people would have plastic fork fights in the lunch area just to get a taste. My mouth oozed in the best possible way. It was scary.

Lunch-time rolled around on Day 1 and my hangover was reaching that “feed me or I’ll punch you out” stage. I’m not one to argue with my hangovers. I kind of let them captain the ship and just roll with whatever they need. As I recalled what I heard about the poutine my heart fluttered. My hangovers tight grip on my intestines eased. I was about to be fed a miracle.

Then I overheard the worst possible convorsation a hungover snowboarder could hear. The customer in front of me asked,

“Does your poutine use cheese curds or grated cheese?”.

A silence spread within the line as clearly this customer and I weren’t the only ones curious.

“Grated cheddar”replied the lady behind the counter.

The line erupted in a sobbing chorus, “Ohwwwwwww…”. Then I saw the fries.I did not want to engage in all out plastic-fork warfare with anybody. They looked like store bought shoestring fries…yawn. My soul died after that. I no longer wanted to eat. I no longer wanted to snowboard. I wanted to cry, and hurt, and rage against the machine, and inflict pain upon my lying friend. I imagined myself yelling at the cook, then my friend…

“CHEDDAR?! Grated cheddar!? Are you out of your mind!? There are strict rules in the poutine recipe, and nowhere does it say grated cheddar!!!! And really…shoestring fries!? Common!!!”

Breathe Corbin, it’s just Poutine

I breathed in deeply, using all of my will to settle down and just be happy with where I was. Good snow, good times, good friends. Then my hangover began punching me. It was time to feed the monster, poutine or not. I ordered a burger. Crushed it. I don’t remember it. The whole time I was eating the “silver prize” I was picturing myself devouring a Miracle Poutine. It was the saddest moment of the trip, but kind of funny none the less. I don’t like insulting people or businesses for no reason, but Crabbe Mountain, if you ever read this…please for the love of Gretzy, fix this poutine faux-pas.

Regardless, I plan on coming back to snowboard again

The skiing and snowboarding continued for hours, and needless to say by the end of Day 2 my body was turning on me. Muscles ached, bruises formed, and being in “Guys Night Out” mode for 3 evenings was beginning to beat the crap out of me. The fresh air was clean. The weather was great. Blue skies greeted us each morning, and the slopes were surprisingly long despite not being in the Rockies. Crabbe Mountain, you are A-OK by me! I would even go so far as using the ‘L’ word if you work on that poutine of yours. All in all, Crabbe Mountain is definitely worth a stop if you’re the snowboarding/skiing type hanging out in Atlantic Canada. Just whatever you do, ask before you order the poutine.

Visit the Crabbe Mountain Website for more information. If you plan on doing any of you’re own skiing be sure to keep an eye out on some of these great cheap ski holidays.

More Photos from Crabbe Mountain

Snowboarding in New Brunswick at Crabbe Mountain is a post from: I Backpack Canada

Photo by RedBull

While I’d love to say I’m crazy enough (and fit enough) to compete with these guys, chances are I’d get trampled. My skating skills are best left on the outdoor rinks, and not “ice slaloms”. My own skills aside, I decided before the holidays that I was going to try to check it out this year! Seeing and experiencing the Red Bull Crashed Ice event in Old Quebec has been on my bucket list since I first heard of it. Living on the East Coast, it’s now way more feasible to just pop by and it out!

Photo by Redbull

When I first heard about Crashed Ice I was blown away. As kids we did almost the exact same thing, only on a smaller scale with a smaller crowd, and without energy drinks. We would play Shinny at the local outdoor rink until we couldn’t feel our toes. -30 degrees celcius and you’d still see us out there, frozen boogers, icy eyelids, rosey cheeks and giant smiles. Being kids, our attention could only be on one thing for so long, and distractions became a routine to a night out at the rink. Our local rink was nearby this big giant hill (giant on a Saskatchewan scale), and one of us had the genius idea of strapping on our skates and using the skates as a make shift “stand-up toboggan”. After the first guinea pig made it down alive, it wasn’t long before we turned it into a competition. I remember telling my parents all about it when we got home and my Dad scornfully laughed as he told us  ”You probably wrecked your skates, but way to go!”.

Crashed Ice takes place this March in Quebec! Stop by, cheer loud, and keep an eye out for me!

[learn_more caption="Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship 2012 calendar:" state="open"]

• Saint Paul (USA) –January 12-14
• Valkenburg (NED) – February 2-4
• Are (SWE) – February 16-18
• Quebec City (CAN) – March 15-17

[/learn_more]

I still haven’t decided where I’ll be staying when I travel to Quebec. I’m considering either checking out the local hostels, maybe splurging on a hotel, or going crazy and finding one of the local vacation rentals! Click here to check those out!

Crashed Ice is Coming Back to Quebec, and this Hoser’s checking it out! is a post from: I Backpack Canada