Canadian geese in Covington Louisiana

We see lot of Canadian Geese in Covington.
Canadian Geese start nesting during spring time. Our office has few small ponds and few Geese nest here. Canadian Geese defend their nests very aggressively from humans dogs and any other animals.

This pond is one of the many ponds in Covington, Louisiana

Many employees jog along these ponds and since some of these Geese were nesting in our office premises, there were some incidents where these Geese chased any one who wanted to jog or walk around these ponds. Our nature friendly Management issued a notice to block all walkways that lead to the nesting area to avoid any further and posted signboards to educate everyone and also sent out a notice to all employees.



I remember we had nominated an employee as a egg monitor and use to check the health of eggs. They even tried to have a live web camera fitted so that everyone could watch them live. Because of firewall and other issues that idea was dropped. But it feels good to be working with an organization that is sensitive to nature.

Related Article: Swans in Stratford Canada.

Hot air balloons in London, ON

Brief about Hot air balloons
Hot air balloon is one of the oldest technology to carry humans in air dating back to 1783. It consists of a bag that holds the heated air, and a basket and heating sources are carried along with passengers/pilot. They can also come in a variety of shapes and sizes.


Balloon festival was going on in London On August 4 2007, Saturday. It was 1 hour drive for us from Stratford.


View Larger Map

It takes place in Harris Park at the forks of the Thames River during Simcoe Day(first Monday in August) weekend.
After having some food and roaming around the groud that had some amusement games, slowly the crowd started gathering and a few balloons started inflating.


First ones were a maple leaf and Canadian Flag hot air balloons. Crowd cheered with pride. There were other participating balloonist from USA. More than 20 balloons were launched from this location one after the other.



Then there was a diano which was inflated but never took off. It finally bent over the crowd and fell down. It was just an attraction for kids.

How and where do they land?
Each hot air balloon will have its vehicle on the ground that chases these balloons. they will have GPS


Official site :http://www.londonballoonfestival.com

Sumo wrestling in stratford

Although sumo wrestling is played by professionals in Japan and other eastern countries, We dont need to be professionals to try out with special outfits for fun.
This one was organized in Stratford and found it when we were out for an evening walk.

Facts

Sumo wrestling is Japan's national game.

Rules -(1) The wrestler who either first touches the floor with something else than his sole (2) leaves the ring before his opponent, loses.

The fights usually last only a few seconds and in rare cases up to one minute or longer.

More details http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumo



This is a video footage of my wrestling with one of the participant.

CN Tower - Toronto

History of CN Tower
The CN Tower, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a communications and tourist tower standing 553.33m (1,815 ft 5 in) tall. Since its completion in 1976, it has been the world's tallest free-standing structure on land; however, its status as the world's tallest building is contentious. It is considered the signature icon of the city, attracting more than two million international visitors annually.



CN originally referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. Following the railway's decision to divest non-core freight railway assets, prior to the company's privatization in 1995, the CN Tower was transferred to the Canada Lands Company (CLC), a federal Crown corporation responsible for real estate development.



Comparing the heights of other tall structures with CN tower.

KVLY-TV mast is the tallest structure on earth with 628 meters located on Traill County, North Dakota, USA. This structure is supported by cables.

Petornius platform standing on water is taller than CN tower at 610 meters located in New orleans, USA.

Sears tower is the tallest sky scraper with antenna at 527 meters located in Chicago, USA.

Eiffel tower is merely 324 meters, but truely a master piece located in Paris, France.
If these facts interst you, read more about worlds tallest buildings and structures

Road to CN tower
It was a 150 Kms 2 hours drive for us. take a look at the satellite image of the CN Tower.

Glass floor
You can look down 342 m(1,122 ft) right below your feet. Many people experience acrophobia when they walk on this glass floor. It also has a cafe in this floor.
At 1150 feet height 360 restaurant takes a full rotation once every 72 minutes. You can take a look at the whole city in about an hours time sipping your coffe.



Skypod
Skypod at 447 m (1465 ft) is the highest observation deck in the world. On a clear day you can see up to 120 Kms, including outline of lake Ontario and mist rising from Niagara falls.
Skypod gives a spectacular view of the high rises of the city.
Visitors love to spend most of their time here.



Facts

CN Tower is world's tallest free-standing structure on land. Made a detailed study on this claim and CN tower isnt the tallest free structure on earth (as i was told) its Petornius platform standing on water.

CN Tower is alomost twice as tall as Eiffel tower is.

this building is used in various games like Simcity 3000, Ace combat 5

CN Tower experiences lightning strikes 40 to 50 times a year

CN Tower is listed in Guinnes world records as tallest free standing structure.

This is one of the most important tourist place in Canada.

Lion Safari in Cambridge.

Watching captive animals in the cages is much different from watching them freely roaming around in safari.
Lion safari is an attaractive travel destination to see more than 1000 exotic species of animals and birds. Its specially enjoyed by young ones.

It was 60 Kms drive for us to the LionSafari from Stratford.

Entry fee for adults is $22 Cad. which almost covers everything. Map is provided to you so that you can drive through the park by yourself. You can also choose to see the park in Safari tour bus. Check the lion safari website for details and timings.

First animals you will find are Asian elephants swimming in the lake.


You will find Baboons climbing on cars to get whatever people offer them. Be careful & do not to open the windows. You are not allowed to feed any animals in the safari(Although many people do feed them for the sheer fun of having the animals around their vehicles).



Then there were Lions sleeping lazily in the sun. These are not bothered about humans as none of the visitors feed them.



This zebra was just looking around visitors as if its a waste of time.


Herd of deers (i do not know the sub species of it)


Few peacocks were walking between visitors. One of them was dancing with its beautiful feathers open.


Apart from these animals you will also find African Macaws, Different types of parrots, Eagles, hawks, Falcons, Emu, Owls, Cheetah, camel, Yak, American Bison, Rhino, Shetland Sheep and Horse.

Safari also includes demonstration of
Parrots paradise, Birds of prey and elephant round up (this is much like our old days animal circus)


Apart from animals and birds, safari also has Misumu Bay Wet Play area. We were running short of time and could not see this.

Driving experience in canada.

I had to completely unlearn my indian driving habits and start afresh. Most important one was driving on the opposite side of the road and lot of driving rules which must be followed so that others wont honk at you.

Here are some of the driving behaviours that we learnt over a period of time from others who shared the roads with us in the past.

we use to pass through pedastrains even if they are crossing (it was also a confusion and scary for pedestrains). And this is nothing new & is very common.

Cover all valid lanes by pushing your vehicle where ever it fits (thats how all bikes fit in between all lanes of cars)

Not bothered about speed limits as you will never exceed them because

1. Sufficient traffic on the road does not let you speed up but follow them.

2. Roads have enough speed breakers & Traffic signals to see that you do not reach good speed.

3. Curves and people crossing the roads

Right hand drive (Driving on left side of roads)

And over here the driving is 180 degree different.

Pedestrains get the highest preference to cross the roads.

Change the lanes with precaution and proper signaling.

Speed limit violations get you fines delivered right at your door steps :p Roads are good enough to go at 200Kms speed anywhere so you got to control it as the signs tell you.

Left hand driving of vehicles. Initially for a few days its scary to see vehicles crossing in opposite directions.

Learning driving in canada
Previous driving experience will definitely give you confidence. Do not think of driving from the first day itself. Here are few tips to get you started.

1. If possible get local driving license. You need to go through proper formal training for this. In Canada it costs up to$40 a class of an hour.
2. Take your time to see the traffic behaviour and signals.
3. Read through Drivers handbook for complete listing of traffic rules & driving instructions. Some of the rules change from state to state (applicable to US also) so be watchful.
4. Do not drive if you do not have valid license. International driving Permit will also do as long as it is valid and in English or French language.
5. Do not drive without insurance. It is illegal to drive without insurance, fines are up to $2500.
6. Do not think of driving on highways if you are not very comfortable to drive at high speeds of 100-120Kms.



Finally
Its a great feeling to drive on good roads with greenery all around. I enjoyed every bit of driving on Chrystler Sebring 2007 model. Respect all rules of traffic, have fun and enjoy a wonderful drive.

Swans of Stratford - Avon river

Last weekend we went on lakeside drive. We started at 6:30 - Just incase you are wondering that it will be dark,it wont be. Summers have relatively longer days and it gets dark at about 8:APM here.



Some history..
In August 1918 a pair of swans was released in this river and their population has grown considerably over the years.
White swans (in the picture) are called Mute swans. The Stratford Waterfowl And Nature Society (S.W.A.N.S) Group is a group of volunteers dedicated to helping waterfowl along Avon river (also called Lake victoria)



Swan facts

Swans can live upto 25 years.

Swans are vegitarians.

Male swan is called a Cob.

Female swan is called a Pen.

Baby swan is called cygnet.

Group of swans is called a herd.



Its common to see some swans crossing the roads and the car drivers waiting patiently for them to cross the road. It was a wonderful evening spent with these swans.

Swan emergency in stratford.
If you see a swan in need of help call 519-271-0250 ext 243




Official website of the swans in stratford

My footprints in Canadian snow

Its wonderful to see snow again after a gap of a year. Last time it was in Netherlands ,

now its in Canada. Its an ever exciting thing to step on snow for people like us who come from dry lands where we dont see snow.

Nature looks beautiful and gets painted with white color all over when it snows. Playing snowball is fun for kids & audults equally. We enjoyed it :)

Early morning walk gets you some wonderful glimpses of the nature. You get to see the small bird chirping around, Water droplets that got frozen trying to drip from corners, Lakes frozen and lot more.

Whenever i saw my own steps in the snow i grin'd..."My footprints in Canada!!"

Since this is almost the beginig of summer we may not find this snow for long.

I hope summer will be far more exciting when we can walk around places freely.