Today I headed out to Walmart again. My small carry-on backpack has started to fall apart, so I wanted to buy some glue and tape to help hold it together. I did more research this time on getting the right bus number, a map of the whole route, the street and stop to get off, and added them all to my iPhone. I also brought along my “PocketJuice” battery backup to recharge the iPhone if the battery went flat due to the cold. So I got to the right bus stop, got onto the right bus, knowing that I had 9 stops until I had to get off. Except (and the buses here have a screen listing each stop – and the next 3 at any one time) – my stop was in 5 stops from when I got on. Thanks again Dr Google Maps. I will write to them when I get back to Karratha to assist in their improvement.

Anyway, I got to Walmart, wandered around to the hardware section and got some glue. The only tape that they sell is box tape of duct tape, neither of which would be strong enough for the backpack. Not a big deal maybe but given how enormous the store is, I’d have thought they’d have the material tape that Bunnings has. I also bought a packet of two torches, one small one for a key ring and the other a normal size. I find I need one of these to change the settings on my camera when the sun has gone down. So that was a good purchase.

Anyway, I got back to the hostel and then arranged my bookings for Toronto. Firstly the train from Quebec City to Montreal and then after a 30 minute stopover, another ticket from Montreal to Toronto – for this Friday 23^rd December. I then booked my hotel, after which I prepared for my visit for the day – the Plains of Abraham. It was only around 1.5 kilometres from the hostel, so even though it was snowing, I rugged up and walked. The air was crisp (around minus 10C) and I enjoyed the walk. I went to get into the museum, however the building is under significant renovations with scaffolding all around the front.

So I walked around it and found a way in through the back entrance. The museum is situated in one of the nearest buildings to the Old City itself, on the Grand Allee (the road I walked along to get there). Whilst built in the late 1930s, it works with the design of the Military Barracks. Given the history and background of the Plains of Abraham, I purchased a DVD that I can watch later. Interestingly, I learnt that the Plains were used not only to hang baddies and as a place for ladies of ill repute, in the 1830s, a gang led by a Charles Chambers used the Plains as a hiding spot and a place to recruit new members. He was caught and found guilty of theft in 1837. His punishment? Deportation to Australia!

There was lots of information in the museum around the way the troops and their families lived, some of the battles fought on the site, and a number of archaeological artifacts from the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s. All in all quite an interesting spot (like most museums).

By the time I was ready to leave the museum, it was 2.45pm and getting cooler. So I decided that this would be the perfect time to go snowshoeing. My philosophy was that if I could move around with wide shoe bottoms like snowshoes, without breaking my neck, then I could move up to something thinner like skis. So I found out that the snowshoeing hire chalet was collocated with the ski and ice rink – and that was right at the other end of the Plains (another 1.5 kilometres away). I therefore headed off. On the way I took a few photos.

The last photo is of the Statue of Joan of Arc, which is placed in the Joan of Arc Garden (the scene of many hangings in the past). Not that it looks like a garden at the moment.

The Chalet was at the large oval. The way it was set up was that there was an ice rink in the middle, a skiing area to the side of the oval (to the front of the site near the river), and then there was a road. On the other side of the road was a walking path about 2km long parallel with the river, then closer to the river there were two skiing paths the same length as the pathway, and they went in an oval shape, and then closest to the river was the snowshoeing pathway. So I then spent 20 minutes working out how to put the snowshoes on (I did ask two people and neither of them could work it out either) and then after that I went for a walk. Frankly I don’t see the appeal. The walking was okay but after a while of hard slogging, my knees started to ache due to the pounding. I found that they were no good in the soft snow, as I just pushed lower into it. So really it was only good when the snow was hard, in which case I may as well have used my Nikes.

The snowshoe area was also supposed to be along the Nature Trail (there are little signs along the route of plants and animals that are around that area). But those signs were along the skiing trail, so I suspect the skiers hijacked some of the snowshoe trail because it was better placed for them. This pushed some of the snowshoe trail right near the edge of the cliff (very little fencing), meaning that the snowshoe trail kept going down from the ski trail into the scrub, and then back up again when the ski trail was close to the cliff. But it was an interesting walk. The descriptions of the trees and plants were useless as of course it’s winter and the trees all look the same, and there were no birds around. There was nobody snowshoeing on my way from the start of the trail to the end, but after I turned around to come back, I came across a couple of other snowshoers, a couple of people with dogs, and a pair of young ladies running in snowshoes. But theirs were smaller and narrower than mine (I could barely walk fast as my hire pair were very long and wide), so maybe if I had my own snowshoes it would be more enjoyable.

Also on the way back, I went down closer to the cliff so I got some photos of the wharf and ships in the river. So I’m glad I got to do  it.

Despite the lack of sensible showshoes (you have to start somewhere), it was quite an enjoyable couple of hours on the trail. Wandering through the snow in solitude is just such a great thing to do. And I know now that I am no longer “dreaming of a White Christmas”.

I thought of going back tomorrow and hiring some skis, but decided it would be more sensible to have some lessons first from someone who can provide feedback, rather than just get onto Youtube to see if I could find a video on learning to ski in ten minutes. So that will be in a few weeks. Below is a photo of the Musee national des beaux-arts du Quebec, with the skiing grounds in the front and Quebec City’s revolving restaurant (Ciel!) in the background.

By the time I finished, it was 5.15pm and starting to get dark. I decided to take a long walk home (it would end up being a 20 kilometre walk for the day), and just get to admire some of the decorated houses and buildings.

I then headed off to Beffroi Steak House to treat myself to a delightful steak meal. The seafood bisque had a great range of seafood, in an interesting bowl that was on an angle. In fact just the right angle to accidentally spill half the soup on myself (which I didn’t thank goodness!). I followed up with a prime rib 14 ounce AAA steak with mashed spuds and a Madagascar green pepper sauce. All of this was washed down with a bottle of Woodbridge Californian Zinfandel 2014. I imagine it will be even more tasty in a few years’ time, but certainly I got the good berries and pepper and plum flavouring. A great bottle for a great meal with quality service. I finished off with a trio of sorbet and a small porto.

After which I went back to the hostel, rested a little while and headed down to the lunchroom where they have a bar from 1800 to 200 hours. I had a couple of CC and colas, and got chatting to some young ladies who have recently finished their legal studies, one from Brisbane, one from Germany and one from Chicago. Had some interesting discussion about the refugee crisis, but it always ended up going back to the President-elect of the USA. The young lady from USA is really not looking forward to the next 4 years. However she is more concerned with those without the means to stand up for themselves, which was really good to hear. There seems to be a lot of that in the USA.

It’s been good over the last few weeks to speak with people from countries like the USA where their media representation is usually pretty negative, and to see that the people are generally not as they are portrayed. And to get a different slant on events that occur in different areas. I did learn a lot about how their political system works. I also apparently promised to follow the Chicago White Sox in the Major League Baseball competition in 2017!