Our Canadian bucket list

Canada is such an amazing country and there is always something to see and an adventure to be had. From towering mountains to rugged coastlines, tranquil lakes and rivers, to barren prairies, all contrasted against modern, metropolitan cities, the country is huge and must be one of the most diverse and most beautiful countries on the planet.

There are so many things we have wanted to see or do since arriving here and, while we can already tick off some of the things on our list, I don’t think we will ever get to do all the things we want to here. But we will most certainly try.

Here is our Canadian bucket list:

See the northern lights. We don’t need to travel far out of Calgary to do this, but it’s just about finding the right time and place to do this. Hopefully soon!

Drive to Tuktoyaktuk. This is Ivor’s dream – to drive to the most northern region of Canada. I’d love to visit the Yukon and the Northern Territories – it all seems so rugged and a totally different world up there. The wildlife is also incredible.

Visit the eastern coast and the beautiful maritime provinces. Canada’s eastern region looks absolutely amazing and culturally seems very interesting. We’d especially love to see this part of the country in the fall when the colours change.

See a bear and a moose in the wild. We really haven’t had the best luck when it comes to seeing wildlife in Canada – we’ve seen plenty of deer, and some beavers, muskrats, big horn sheep, goats, and eagles, but top of our list is still a bear and a moose.

Take a road trip from Calgary to Vancouver. We have a number of friends in towns along the way so we’d love to make a proper trip of it to see old friends and different parts of Canada along the way. I’m especially keen to see the Okanagan valley and the wine region. Of course, super keen to also see Vancouver – it looks so beautiful.

Camping. We camped a few times over the summer and have had so much fun. It was one of the things we were looking most forward to before we moved here and it definitely didn’t disappoint. This will definitely be a regular feature of our Canadian summers. Ivor now wants to try winter camping too.

Ice skate down the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. It looks so amazing to skate down the frozen canal.

Ice skate on a frozen lake – we were excited to tick this one off the list with a skate on Lake Louise.

Visit Montreal – the city looks so beautiful and seems so culturally different to the rest of Canada with its more European feel.

See Lake Louise, Lake Morraine and Emerald Lake. We’ve visited Lake Louise a few times now and it never disappoints. The crystal-clear, and sometimes turquoise, waters and the Chateau Lake Louise looming over the shore is quite magical. Hopefully next summer we’ll be able to get to Lake Morraine and Emerald Lake.

Driving through the Rockies – we love getting into the Rocky Mountains and I don’t think I will every grow tired of it. It truly is a magically beautiful drive and takes my breath away every time. I just love how the landscapes change so much from one season to the next.

Visit Banff. Another thing we have done a few times and we absolutely love the Alpine feel of this little tourist town in the Rocky Mountains. There are great restaurants and shops to explore in Banff – and best of all, an all-year-round Christmas shop. It’s a wonderful place for a family weekend away.

Winter sports – skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding. You can’t live so near the Rockies and not get to at least try these. Hopefully, we will get to experience these soon – our snowshoes arrived recently, so this will be a good start.

Take a road trip or cruise to Alaska. The US state looks so untouched and wild, and after watching so many Discovery Channel programs about it, I’m so interested to see it for myself, and now that it’s not that far away, this is definitely an attainable dream.

Attend the Calgary stampede and a real rodeo. Calgary is known as “Cow Town” thanks to all the farms and country feel, so I’m excited to experience a real rodeo. Sadly, the stampede was cancelled this year, but hopefully next year we’ll be able to experience it.

We’re so excited to carry on with this list and experience all these wonderful things. I’m sure we are going to be adding a lot more to this list in the years to come.