Skating

I have been skating!

Uncle Rohan has lived in Canada for almost seven years and only this week learned how to ice skate. Most Canadians learn how to skate before the age of 3 years old, like Hannah - who now plays hockey with the Thunder Bay Women's Hockey League.

When we first arrived we found a spot in the stands to put on our skates and helmets:

Then Hannah helped Uncle Rohan around the rink:

Once he was steady I was able to join him.

Uncle Rohan and I on Center Ice:

We skated around and around..

and posed for pictures..

We had a lot of fun skating. I will be sure to bring my flat skates back to Australia with me to show you all!

The Sleeping Giant

The Sleeping Giant is a land formation on a peninsula in Lake Superior, which when viewed from the harbor of Thunder Bay resembles a giant laying down.
He is known as Nanabijou, from Ojibway tradition, and is dearly loved by everyone here.

Everyday he looks different. Some days he's purple, some days he's blue, sometimes he's hiding under a blanket of clouds. The sun rises over him, and sets shining on him; each time is spectacular and unique.

This morning we ran up the hill to Hillcrest Park to take his picture with the sunrise.

An Afternoon Walk

We went for a walk today in downtown Port Arthur (Thunder Bay's north end).

Through Waverly Park,

past Port Arthur Collegiate Institute (once a high school, now part of the university)
on the hill behind us.

We went by a theatre

and the public library.

We saw some interesting buildings downtown - some old, some new.

Some quite funny looking!

Then we came to Marina Park.

This is where people dock their boats in the summer. Right now it's covered in ice.

The Sleeping Giant out in the great lake.

 Here's a better view of him:

The sun was bright but it was a cold, windy day.

..and I fell in the sparkling snow!

We walked by these flags: 

the Canadian flag and the Thunder Bay flag,

 and a fire station,

and a pretty shop front that matches my pants!

Then finally it was time to stop and warm up.

We went for hot chocolate and tea at Uncle Rohan's favourite coffee shop.

Dogs!

There are dogs everywhere here!

I have been licked a few times :)

I found an old map!

This big, old map reminds me of the bulletin board that flattened me. It's a map of Thunder Bay from 1885! Thunder Bay used to be two cities: Port Arthur and Fort William that joined together in 1970.
You can see I'm not far from the shipping yards on the shore of Lake Superior.

Stanley in the Garden

We had a snowstorm in Thunder Bay today, with big wet flakes of snow falling from the heavens.

Stanley went for a look in the backyard after the main snow fall and nearly got lost in a snowdrift.

Afterwards, we had a barbeque cooked in the snow. Stanley braved the cold and helped cook the steaks.

Stanley the Baker

 I made brownies with Hannah. 

YUMMY!

Where is Thunder Bay?

Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada is on the western shore of Lake Superior - the largest fresh water body of water in the world by surface, third largest by volume.


Thunder Bay Wiki link

Traveling

This was my envelope. I traveled in this to Thunder Bay all the way from Australia. Phoebe nicely packed some supplies for me: a suitcase, a poly bear, a bowl of soup, ...