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Canada

korver

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After taking a look at Toronto, today we'll be touring the rest of Canada, another one of the world's most beautiful countries. Our tour starts off on the Eastern shores, in the Newfoundland province. The small town of Red Island Harbour is quite picturesque - and the locals here make their living off some of the richest fishing grounds in the world, the Grand Banks. Wintertime can be quite beautiful - if you're lucky, you might get to see a unique wonder that rarely occurs across the globe: pancake ice.


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We travel south along the country's Atlantic shoreline where lighthouses dot the beautiful coastlines.


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Our next stop is Quebec City. Located on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, Quebec's capital is one of the most historic cities in all of Canada, and in fact is the only North American fortified city north of Mexico whose walls still exist. It's most famous landmark however is the stunning Château Frontenac - built in 1893, this grand hotel is one of Canada's most spectacular buildings.


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Not too far away is Montréal, the most populous city in Canada's Quebec province and the second largest city in the country. After Paris, it's the largest primarily French-speaking city in the world. Since it's founding as a small colony on Montréal Island back in 1642, it's transformed into an international metropolis ever since.


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We now move into Manitoba, where we'll take a look at it's largest city and capital - Winnipeg. Known as the "Gateway to the West", the city is a railway and transportation hub and has a vibrant downtown area.


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Canada's great prairies are superb for farming - and have made Saskatchewan known as the breadbasket of Canada. Small rural farms like this one can be seen virtually everywhere.


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We head into Alberta, stopping in the "Gateway to the North" - Edmonton. This city of nearly 1 million is home to one of North America's northernmost skylines, filled with highrises like the 441 ft tall ATB Place (formerly known as the Telus Plaza).


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Our next stop will be in Northern Alberta - in the city of Fort McMurray. Due to its location near valuable oil sands, massive industrial complexes have sprung up and smokestacks can be seen for miles around.


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We head north, venturing into the Arctic - visiting the capital of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife. Located on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, it's the only city for hundreds of miles around - and wintertime can be especially brutal here. The YK Centre sign has been an icon in the city for decades, tracking the frigid temperatures. With temps reaching as low as -51 C - make sure you dress warmly!


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As we travel further north into Nunavut, the temperatures drop even further - the local Inuit hunters who live here make igloos their home, and have done so for thousands of years. They do a great job of shielding them from the elements - and from the occasional nosy polar bear, too...


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Iqaluit is Nunavut's capital - its a city filled with simple yet beautiful architecture. Colorful houses and unique structures like the igloo-shaped St. Jude's Cathedral make this city of 7,700 people stand out. Iqaluit's name literally means "many fishes" - and has long been a prominent fishing location, but stocks have been declining in recent years.

 

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We travel back south, and along the shores of Great Bear Lake is where we'll see one of Canada's most awe-inspiring sights - the Northern Lights. Also known as Aurora borealis, these colorful lights in the sky are the result of electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere.

 

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Our last stop in the Arctic is the Mackenzie River delta - where we'll get to see one of Canada's most unique natural wonders, the Pingo. These mounds of soil are filled with a core of expanding ice and usually a small pool of water at the top - and when the ice melts, the pingo collapses. Their name originates from Inuvialuktun word for "small hill" - and can reach huge diameters, sometimes as many 2,000 feet wide.


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Our next stop is Calgary - the largest city in Alberta and home of the Calgary Stampede. The city's skyline has seen expansive growth in recent years - giving it one of the most impressive skylines in all of Canada.


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The towers of Eighth Avenue Place (completed in 2011 and 2014) rise above the city - they're some of Canada's most spectacular skyscrapers.


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For those wanting to get away from it all, there's no better place than the Canadian Rockies. Stunning lakes like Moraine Lake are nestled between pristine forests and towering peaks - and their turquoise color (caused by glacial flour) is truly mesmerizing.


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We make our way to Canada's western coast, stopping to take a look at some of the totem poles that dot the shorelines. The ones here at Stanley Park in Vancouver are one of the country's most visited tourist attractions, and are one of the most recognizable cultural symbols of Western Canada.


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Our last stop in Western Canada will be Vancouver's downtown - it's one of Canada's best, filled with sleek and modern buildings like the Bentall Centre.  Despite a little rain, it's truly one of Canada's most beautiful cities.


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Don't forget to comment, like, and follow True Earth if you haven't already!

-korver


---

Previous Update: "New Zealand"

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Thanks to @Handyman, @Dgmc2013, @PaulSawyer, @Edvarz, @redfox85, @CorinaMarie, @JP Schriefer, @_Michael, @Jonas_Chaves, @BruceTedder, @Urban Constanta, @RobertLM78, @bobolee, @bladeberkman, @Odainsaker, @art128, @The British Sausage, @scotttbarry, @RandyE, @Manuel-ito, @Toby Ferrian, @jakis, @Bastet69008, @mrsmartman, @Elenphor, @raynev1, @nRVOUS, @Ling Ziming, @Tonraq, @Finnbhennach, @Tyberius06, & @Oerk for all the likes!

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wow .... and what would Vancouver be without its Rain. And altough its called Winnipeg... many non-winnepegers in Canada call it in Winterpeg due to its brutal winters :)

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Great job once again. It's amazing how you managed to show an entire country —a quite big one, actually— and its contrasts in a single update. Canada in a nutshell *:D

—SC4L0ver.

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6 hours ago, redfox85 said:

Winterpeg

We Winnipeggers call it that too; sometimes Loserpeg, Middle of Nowhere or "Icy Hell" LOL'

Nice update :P 

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1 hour ago, Tonraq said:

We Winnipeggers call it that too; sometimes Loserpeg, Middle of Nowhere or "Icy Hell" LOL'

Nice update :P 

LOL! I spoke with my father-in-law last night and he informed us that the annual Winnipeg Christmas tradition was in progress; an arctic front bringing lows of -29 degrees Celsius had just hit. I felt it inappropriate to poke fun since we got 30cm of snowfall in Calgary yesterday, despite having recently broken warm weather records over 100 years old with temperatures in the mid-teens a week prior.

@Tonraq - don't get too down on Winnipeg. It's a city that gets too little credit. Winnipeg has lots of history and there's surprisingly lots to do there. It's like what Edmonton could aspire to, if it there was more to do there than visit a 35-year-old mall and the road network was well thought out and the city had charm and appeal and the hockey fans had a sense of humility after serving as the NHL's doormats for a decade, etc. (Relax Edmontonians - I'm only mostly serious)

Great update as usual, @korver! You've done great justice to this country, surprising absolutely no one. I was particularly pleased to see a shout-out to Moraine Lake; one of Alberta's hidden gems.

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2 minutes ago, mike_oxlong said:

@Tonraq - don't get too down on Winnipeg. It's a city that gets too little credit. Winnipeg has lots of history and there's surprisingly lots to do there. It's like what Edmonton could aspire to, if it there was more to do there than visit a 35-year-old mall and the road network was well thought out and the city had charm and appeal and the hockey fans had a sense of humility after serving as the NHL's doormats for a decade, etc. (Relax Edmontonians - I'm only mostly serious)

Don't forget Winnipeg's elm tree canopy :P If I may concur, aside from visiting a 10km radius of downtown, MTS Centre (that's right Bell, it ain't Bell MTS Place to us), 2 Jollibees and Polo Park... yeah :lol: The hockey tradition is quite lively since we got the Jets back but outside of the hockey arena it seemed to be quite dead :\ 

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My old home of Quebec City and my Montreal amazing! I can even see my former office :D

Great job my friend! the small recreation of Yellowknife is also a gem, small but effective, very well balanced and the snowy effect is perfect!

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I've been to several of those locations, from Ontario eastward, excellent work, very inspiring.

How do you do it? How often do you require a recharge?

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I'm glad to see my (formerly) Telus Plaza making it easy for someone. I do try to adapt buildings such that they can be used in recreations, even if the surrounding buildings are ones that would likely never be BATed.

(What I mean to say is that I'm always happy to see my BATs show up in recreations. :) )


  Edited by Jasoncw  
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Nice update.  You covered a lot of the 2nd largest country in the world in one entry.  That alone is pretty impressive.  There's actually a running joke (that I didn't start, for the record) in my family that I'm Canadian, because I apologize too much and like hockey.  I personally don't think I apologize too much.  I do like hockey, although my favorite team is the Flyers, my local team.  Either way, I'd like to go north of the border to Canada, especially Montreal.

Speaking of Hockey, I notice the Bell Centre in Montreal, the NHL's largest.  Where did you get that?

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What a cracker! So much covered in one entry, and all of it, rural and urban, is splendid.

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@redfox85 Thanks for the comment! I had to include the rain - it went together quite nicely! Glad you liked it.

@SC4L0ver Thank you very much! It was a bit difficult to compress everything into one update - especially with a country the size of Canada - but I think it turned out nicely, glad you liked it!

@Tonraq Thanks for the comment! I've heard of "Winterpeg" before but those other ones are definitely new *:lol:

@Ducio Thanks, glad you liked it! *:thumb:

@mike_oxlong Thank you very much! The Canadian Rockies have always been a big inspiration so I was glad to finally do a scene from there!

@The British Sausage Thank you! Glad you liked the MMPing *:)

@Bastet69008 Thanks for the nice words, good to hear that I did a good job recreating your hometown! Glad you liked Yellowknife too. *:)

@RobertLM78 Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it! *:)

@Handyman Thanks! I've been working on this update off and on for a while but finally finished it up in the last week *;)

@Jasoncw Thank you very much! It's always a pleasure to use your wonderful BATs *:thumb:

@Mr Saturn64 Thanks! Unfortunately I don't know too much about hockey, but from what I've seen it looks pretty exciting! The Bell Centre was a model I downloaded online but I had to re texture some of it so it's still a work in progress.

@_Michael Thanks for the kind words! *:)

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Well, the vodafon can block the imgur pictures, but at least the giffgaff/o2 mobile data network doesn't do it, so on my phone I could check the latest pictures, and they are truly amazing! Beautiful work @korver, thank you for sharing these amazing pictures! :)

 

- Tyberius

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Pardon the pun but all of your work has that certain je ne sais quoi inducing visual-gasms multiple times in a row! It was definitely extreme but oh so satisfying with your Canada entry. Now, if only I can move over there for once! *:D

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