October is a terrible month for us... We love the weather, but rarely get the chance to enjoy it. Meghan and Emma have their birthdays, I'm usually travelling, we have our wedding anniversary and Hallowe'en gets in there too.

It's our second fall back home, and wanted to take advantage of the nice weather we had been having... We found an afternoon between birthdays and decided to head downtown to take a boat tour on the Ottawa River. We had heard some really good things about the trip, especially in the fall with a all trees turning colour.
It was a beautiful day - 20C, sunny and we figured there would be plenty of others wanting to do the same, so we went down early bought our tickets and walked around the canal for a little while.
The Canal was built after the war of 1812, to provide a path other than the St.Lawrence River between Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston. There were no boats moving through on this day, but the girls have seen the locks in action before, further up the canal (it runs for 200km!). In the winter, we'll come back and enjoy the worlds longest skating rink!




We finally boarded, and got some nice seats on the side so the kids could have a good view. In the video footage, you can hear the tour guide of course speaking in English and French - attempting the same bad jokes in both official languages. We started up river for a nice wide look at the Parliament Buildings, the Chateau Laurier and the National Gallery. Not too far upriver before we had to swing around to head back down on the Quebec side. We passed the Museum of Civilization on the way to mouth of the Gatineau River. At this part of Gatineau it looked like a little riverside town, with an old school church, small marina and an eclectic mix of homes.
As we entered into the open waters of the Ottawa River, the boat stopped for a few minutes to allow us to look around before heading back up the Ottawa side. The colours on all the trees - the red, the orange, the yellow, the browns lined the hills. It was really nice to see. Too bad it only lasts a week or two... We turned back right around Rockcliffe Park, and for those who don't know Ottawa, Rockcliffe houses many historic homes and foreign embassies, not to mention the Prime Minister and the Governor General. Up on the hill overlooking the river, you can see the Prime Ministers house. Not too shabby...
Heading back to the dock, we got a great look up at the Ottawa Canal locks. Looks like a series of steps heading up into the downtown. As it was approaching 6, and the sun was heading down, the girls were happy to see that it was coming to an end - it was a little cool in the open air deck without the sun to warm them up.



We finished the evening with a walk in the market, and dinner downtown.
Pretty good day for us in October!