Let's Travel! Tell us about your state/province

LaurieLovesLearning

@Kuri and Kona inspired me to start this fun discussion. After all, we all need to "get out" once in a while. 😄 ...And I have had the travel bug really strongly lately. I will be pulling out maps to look at your home regions!

We have done this exercise once before on the forum, but I think its time to travel once again. Post some facts & descriptions and of course, pictures! If your country is very small, take us on a tour of it.

My province is Manitoba.

Most of our population is in the southern region. Our growing zones are 0a to 4a. I have seen our temperatures go below -50°C and up to 43°C. We have wide open skies and fantastic thunderstorms. We've had tornadoes up to an EF4. Lots of snow & blizzards are quite normal.

In our province we have a variety of landscapes, from flat or rolling prairie (cattle, grain & potato/veg farming, oil), some rolling sandhills, ravines & valleys also in the south, to massive steep & beautiful rolling hills (also in the south) to rocks much further east & north, to a multitude of falls & deep lakes in the mid to northern regions (the province is known for its great fishing), huge marshland areas (east) and mixed evergreen forest to bare arctic tundra in the north (Churchill). Going that far (its really far north in the province), we have beluga whales, polar bears and in winter, ice roads over permafrost, lakes, & rivers! In summer, many of those places are only accessible by bush plane. Also, the further north you go, the more issues you will have with mosquitoes & blackflies (which I hear are unbearable). We also have the largest garter snake den in the world.

Here is a bunch of interesting stats...however, I'm not so sure about the "mountain range" thing. Lol It's more like a much higher in elevation area, but it isn't rocky! However, the higher elevations are labelled as "mountains" and they do get different weather at times due to their elevation. These are mainly set aside as provincial parklands, and one is a national park. But Toronto (Ontario) folks are a long ways away and I suspect many have never left that big city to confirm these "facts".

https://cubetoronto.com/manitoba/how-big-is-california-compared-to-manitoba/

This next site has extensive information, however, it appears to be like Wikipedia in some ways and it appears as though increasing political correctness has weaseled its way in, but its information sounds okay for the most part. I found that they are incorrect in at least two places (possibly more, but that's all I caught). The eastern part of the province is the most populated from what I understand due to Winnipeg's size, and Mennonites actually have a large, not small, presence in the province. Most are in the SE, because that's where the federal govt. initially put them on reserved land, but you can find us pretty much scattered anywhere. Manitoba actually has the largest population of Mennonites in Canada.

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/manitoba

Manitoba is known for its many festivals (pre-2020). At Gimli, there is the Icelandic festival that even the head of the government of Iceland visits each year. It is heavily promoted in Iceland as a great place to learn about their own country & culture.

Here are some very beautifully done pictures. Keep in mind that the rocky mountain pictures are not from here. Maybe from BC, but certainly not here. The last 2 pictures on the first page are from the area where I grew up.

https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/manitoba-landscape

https://fineartamerica.com/art/photographs/manitoba%2Blandscape

The combine picture above would be in the southeast. It's is flat. You can see for miles.

Torey

British Columbia, Canada

I’m sure everyone knows from my comments that I am from BC. People from southern BC refer to us as living up north but we are about 3 hours south of what is considered the geographic center of BC. Beautiful British Columbia is what our vehicle license plates say and the slogan for tourism calls us Super-Natural British Columbia. I have to agree with both.

BC is a huge area. Larger than most states and some countries. Almost 1 million square km or 365,000  square miles. We are bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean with many offshore islands, including the largest one, Vancouver Island (which in itself is larger than some states) and the amazing Haida Gwaii archipelago. To the east is the province of Alberta with the Rocky Mountain Range running along a portion of the border. South of us are the US states of Washington, Idaho and Montana. We also border Alaska, which comes down along the coastal portion of BC’s northwest flank. The Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories are to our North.

We have elevations from sea level (or lower where dikes have been built) to the top of Mount Robson at 12,972 feet (3954 meters) in the Rockies. There are several other mountain ranges, mostly running south to north with deep valleys between. About halfway up the province, the Rocky Mountains turn to the north west leaving northeast corner of the province to the east of the mountains and it is very similar to the prairies. Very flat but good growing so lots of large grain and hay farms.  

There are 14 biogeoclimatic zones as set out by the Ministry of Environment; everything from deserts and rainforests to tundra and glaciers. The range of growing zones in BC is 0a-9b. My zone is 3b/4a. I have personally experienced temperatures as cold as -49C (-56F) and as high as 49C (120F). Our southwest coast has a climate somewhat similar to the Western US states with climate zones up to 9a & b. Snow is rare for that area. The Okanagan Valley in south central BC is very warm with the extreme south being considered a desert, although I believe it is just slightly over the rainfall levels to be an official desert. The Okanagan is our wine growing region and we do produce some fine, award winning wines.  

There are many large lakes, though some have been created as reservoirs behind hydro-electric dams. We have several huge rivers that travel thousands of km before emptying into the oceans, sometimes cutting deep chasms into the mountains. The Fraser is the longest river in BC; the Columbia is longer, but it flows through the US to empty into the ocean at Astoria, Oregon. River rafting is a big sport here. Some rivers have class 6 rapids, but the most extreme I have been on is class 4. There are some truly spectacular waterfalls.

Sport fishing is another popular activity. People travel from around the world to fish our rivers and oceans, with many, very high end resorts on the coast. We have salmon runs that come far inland every summer and world-class fly fishing on the steelhead runs. Lakes and rivers see a lot of summer fishing but it is also very common to see people ice fishing for trout, Kokanee, fresh water cod and other species in the winter.

Whistler/Blackcomb made headlines a few years ago when we hosted the 2010 Olympics but there are 13 major ski resort in BC with a large number of smaller or community hills. Winter sports are very popular and include snowshoeing, cross country skiing and snowmobiling as well as downhill skiing and snowboarding.

Being on the edge of the Pacific Rim of Fire, we are a bit geologically unstable. Much less so in my area but the Coast and Cascade Mountain Ranges are considered to be potentially active. The most recent volcanic activity was the Tseax eruption about 230 years ago in Northwestern BC. But BC’s not that far from Mount St. Helens in Oregon in the Cascades. This has also given us a large number of hot springs (over 100). Some are just little trickles or not so hot but many have huge volumes of water output and several have been developed into large resorts. I prefer the wild ones but hot springing has become a popular hobby lately and they are becoming overcrowded.

We have quite a few big game species in BC: Moose (3 sub-species), Deer (White-tail, Black-tail & Mule), Mountain Goats, Sheep (Rocky Mountain Bighorn, California Bighorn, Dall & Stone), Elk (2 sub-species), Mountain Caribou, Bison, Black Bear (although they come in other colours) and Grizzly Bear (aka Alaskan Brown Bear). We also have Cougar, Lynx, Bobcat, Wolverine and Wolves (Grey & BC Coastal Wolf) as well as several other smaller critters including Coyotes, Foxes, Porcupines, Marmots & Ground Squirrels, Rabbits & Hares, Beaver and Muskrat.

I live in a small valley with two lakes just a few hundred feet above the Fraser River. We are on a migratory bird flight path so we see a huge number of birds here. The biggest two are trumpeter swans (which a BC family saved from extinction several decades ago) and sandhill cranes but we have a lot of raptors, too. Golden eagles, bald eagles, osprey, many hawks and owls and more recently turkey vultures have been making an appearance. Lots of water fowl, too.

Most of our population is in southern BC; primarily on the southwest coast and Vancouver Island. The Okanagan Valley is also popular. Mostly because of milder climates than the rest of the province. There are a few cities in the north but they are generally there because of resource development. Most of our economy is based on natural resources; timber, minerals, oil & gas. But farming and ranching hold their place, too. The Gang Ranch, not far from me, is the second largest in Canada at the moment but at one point, with all its other ranch holdings, it was the largest ranch in North America. 

This first pic is Mount Robson. I took this and it is a very rare shot to get it with no clouds or fog surrounding the peak.

This one is Liard Hotsprings in Northern BC. It produces a tremendous amount of water. There is another pool similar in size just below this one, so you can choose your heat level. There is another larger pool further into the bush but it has been closed to the public so the wildlife can have access. Its pretty amazing to visit during the winter when everything is covered in a thick frost from the steam.

This is Columbia Lake which is part of the head waters of the Columbia River in the Monashee Mountain Range.

This next one is in the Cariboo Mountain range a couple of hours from my house.

Not one of our tallest water falls but a very popular tourist hike takes you to Helmken Falls.

Vancouver, set in the Coast Mountain Range. The small strip of water you can see is an inlet of the ocean that makes up the Port of Vancouver.

I'd better stop with the pics. I could go on and on.

JodieDownUnder

I think what we could end up with here is a global travel brochure, with each of us waxing lyrically about where we live. I live in New South Wales (N.S.W.) on the east coast of Australia. NSW is roughly 800,000 km2 and as of Sept 2020, population was 8.2 million. Sydney is the capital of NSW & the largest city by population but Canberra is the capital of Australia, that is where our federal govt resides. It is Australia’s largest state economy with the largest population. Roughly 65% of the population live in the Greater Sydney area. Almost 30%of residents of NSW were born overseas, while over a 30% had both parents born overseas.

I live on the mid north coast at Coramba, just west of a popular coastal holiday destination Coffs Harbour. NSW is a state of uniqueness, beautiful beaches in the east & sprawling open wilderness in the west & everything in between. The east coast is the most heavily populated but the regional areas are of real interest. Farming communities, dairy, beef cattle, racehorses, cropping, vineyards, orchards, market gardens, rivers, rainforests. It’s a very diverse state, I live in a wonderful climate, average winter days around 18 degrees C, summer 28C & av rainfall about 1250mm or 50 inches.

NSW is home to the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Byron Bay but some of you would know that, so my plan is to mention other interesting & unique things & places, especially in my local area. It never ceases to amaze me, that where I live is so diverse & naturally beautiful. The tallest tree in NSW is only couple hours drive south. The grandis tree, a spectacular flooded gum, or Eucalyptus grandis, over 70 meters tall & over 400 yrs old. Just a short drive up the road is another large tree the “Jack Feeney” a 50.5 metre tallowood or Eucalyptus microcorys, which is over 250 yrs old. The tallest single drop waterfall in NSW is only a 3 hr drive south west, Ellenborough Falls 160 meters. In a short radius from where I live, there are pristine beaches, world heritage National Parks, prime farming land. Because of the very favourable weather conditions, our area has become even more popular to city dwellers wanting to make the sea change. I could wax lyrical a lot more about where I live. I’m lucky & proud & wouldn’t change it for the world!

The photos included above are all from my local area, dairying country around Bellingen in the top pic, waterfalls, tall trees & the coast in the others.