Goin' on a bear hunt!

It had come to the stage that, if we were to see a moose or to see a bear sufficiently still, (us, rather than being in a train or driving at the time) we had to take serious action as we don't think there are bears or meece on Prince Edward Island. And our determination paid off!

A bear!

The elusive moose!

Yes, we had given up on seeing a moose in the wild - but remember, we had seen 2 bears! One hour from Ottawa, in the province of Quebec, in the region of La Petite Nation La Lievre, near the town of Montebello is Parc Omega. Parc Omega is a 2,200-acre park where you can discover animals living in the wild. There is a 12 km winding road which you can follow in your car and discover several species of wild animals living in their natural habitat. While on that winding road you must not step out of the car. However, there is a variety of trails where you can walk/hike. There is also a boarrdwalk from where you can watch bears and wolves. We were a bit anxious that we would pay, follow the driving route and see very little. We needn't have worried. It was well worth going to and would be an excellent day trip for a family (if you lived in the area - obviously not from Ireland!). We saw endless deer of varying species. You could buy carrots to feed them but we were not keen on them slobbering all over us through the car window so we denied them any treat - they were far from deprived as everyone else seemed to have an endless supply.

There were lots of elk - or wapitis as they called them.

Cochon!

Beaver Lake - we didn't see any beavers.

Oh deer, deer!

Canada Goose on lake - it was very scenic there.

It moose be a wapiti.

More elk.

Raccoon.

Wolf.

Arctic Wolf

Bison.

Bison and calves.

Grazing.

Rolling in the dust!

Big-headed!

Bambi

Un Coyote

Plusieurs coyotes

It's all in the eyes!

Alpine Ibex. Forgot to close the window so had to disappoint him as I had no carrot!

Inukshuk at the entrance to  the First Nations Trail.

Tipi picnic area at Trout Lake.

There was a 2km trail around Trout Lake which we did. The terrain was rather Fionnuala Falls - like but I managed to stay upright.

The falls at Trout Lake.

Whose pigs are these? They're not John Potts' 'cause they haven't any spots. Bet they're heading for the vicarage garden!

Raccoons, simply lazing about!













After a wonderful day animal watching, we made one other stop to see the world's largest log castle. It is on the outskirts of Montebello in a wonderful setting on the Ottawa River. The photos do not really do justice to it. Of course it is another Fairmont property along with Chateau Laurier in Ottawa and Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City.

The journey home would have been uneventful if the GPS had not suddenly lost satellite reception just as we were getting into Gatineau. We were depending on it to get us from Gatineau on the Quebec side across a bridge into Ottawa, Ontario and then bring us through the city to Stedman St. Frantic fumble for a map, flustered opening of it and searching for the streets we were passing and we succeeded! That's the trouble with relying on a GPS - you are not using a map but reacting to Nuvi's instructions. When she refuses to talk to you, you are in trouble!