Canadiana Backpackers Blog

I’ve been asked the same question many times by so many backpackers. “What is there to do in Ontario that is uniquely Canadian?”

Glad you asked. Now listen up here is the answer!

To begin with, this “experience” is absolutely uniquely Canadian! But it is reserved for those who have a sense of adventure.

Canada is a vast nation stretching six-and-a-half time zones east to west. It is also a giant waterway connected by a series of rivers and lakes that cover the entire country.

The precise number of lakes in Canada is not known but it is well in excess of 3 million! In some areas there are more than 30 lakes for every 100 square kilometers!

The result of such a wondrous gift of nature is an enormous network of navigable waterways that made it possible to explore this vast land centuries ago, using traditional native Canoes.

Pow Wow Wilderness Trips arranges for our backpacking guests the opportunity to canoe some pristine lakes in Ontario’s Algonquin Park and experience the “portage” from lake to lake in a real adventure quest! This is exactly how our great nation was explored!

Six brave souls from Ireland just returned from a Pow Wow Algonquin Wilderness Trip and have thoughtfully shared a few photos and their comments with us.

You can book a Pow Wow Tour through our front desk. There are a lot of sightseeing adventures available in Canada. And from past guests, a Pow Wow Trip is most often described as “Unforgettable!”

(see: www.powwowwildernesstrips.com for more information then contact our front desk for bookings.)

It’s a relatively new concept that has really caught on in recent years. It involves young people from certain developed nations one-time, one-year working holiday visas on a reciprocal agreement.

It is an excellent concept and provides rich cultural exchanges between participating nations. A consequence of having so many backpackers on work/holiday visas is the opportunity to hire eager, intelligent and hard working young travelers to work in our hostel!

The bring so much to the table too! The have language skills, knowledge of travel and are interested in interacting with other travelers and can often make life-long friends in their travels.

Of all European visitors to North America, it is patently obvious that the Germans travel more than the rest. The Dutch too (although, a much smaller country) are also remarkably disproportionately represented at the hostel.

We employ quite a number of backpackers as hostel support staff and they rarely fail to impress. They have proved to be an excellent source of hard-working, dedicated and efficient employees.

The current rules say we can keep them for up to a year and some have worked out so well that we wished we could have had them longer!

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Working/Holiday group from Holland, South Africa and Germany! A pleasant foreign invasion!

That’s the yell of easily the most irritating sports announcer on the planet! It’s his reaction to every soccer goal he sees!

Anyone who thinks that soccer (football) won’t soon be the most popular sport in North America better think again! The game is catching on here!

In this day and age of budget cutbacks in schools, it is the most cost-effective sport to offer young children. All you really need is a ball! If you consider old soccer legends like the Great Pele, you don’t even need shoes!

We have a professional team called Toronto FC (Football Club) who are carrying on the great Toronto professional sports franchise tradition of not winning games (Go Leafs; Go Jays; Go Argos; Go Raptors!).

In the hostel right now we’ve got a group of three Americans from the Dallas/Fort Worth area who have come up to support their team Dallas FC. Good choice of venues I might add if they want to see their team win!

Dustin, Beau and Alex are all from Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area and qualify as ardent soccer fans. Alex’s job has taken him to Cleveland and Dustin now works in South Carolina. Yet they still manage to meet up on these junkets to support their team!

They’ve brought their noisemakers, drums, uniforms and flags and they are joining other Texans who have come all the way to Toronto for this game.

They are such dedicated and pleasant guys that I hope their team wins. You see, as a Toronto sports fan, I am used to our teams losing! (Not to mention the game is soccer and I really don’t care!)

(Just checked the score of yesterday’s game. Dallas FC blanked Toronto FC (2 – 0) What a shock!

Curly, Larry & Moe from Dallas! (Sorry! Dustin, Alex & Beau, from Dallas!)

It’s pronounced “Voter” and it is the Dutch word for “Walter”. Its not as rare a name as you might think because we have two of them in the hostel right now!

The other Wouter is not Dutch however. He is in fact South African. He is actually an Afrikaner and their language is quite similar to old Dutch as they were originally from the Netherlands, albeit 15 generations ago.

Coincidentally, both Wouters work at the hostel. When I first met Wouter from South Africa more than a year ago (he has Canadian Citizenship as well) I said to him: “Now there’s a name you don’t hear everyday!”

To which he replied; “Actually, I do!”

Like a lot of travelers, Wouter (the one from Holland) is here on a working holiday visa. He worked for us at the hostel’s reception and proved to be a most valued employee.

We are losing Wouter today. He has a childhood friend visiting him and has purchased a camper van and the pair are heading for New York City and beyond. And they plan to travel the USA and Canada until Christmas!

Wouter will be missed as he has proved to be a most willing and efficient worker who has trained many of our new staff members on our computer system.

The only good news is that when he returns in December, he has expressed interest in working at the hostel again. His working visa will be valid until the end of March 2009!

Have a great trip Wouter we’ll see again you at Christmas. Just wait until you taste Teresa’s turkey!