Something to see on the long way while driving Ontario Highway 2 from Grand Pre / Lunenburg back to Quebec City - World's Longest Covered Bridge in Hartland. Google coordinates: 46.29664522499367, -67.53058857242459. Just few km from the main highway, road signs. Bridge is still in use, quite an interesting local landmark.

Thanks! I'll pencil that in for the way back.

So here is the more detailed wrap-up of my East Canada Trip in June 2022.

I spent 235 EUR per day (excluding international flights), my fifth most expensive trip per day ever after Iceland, Palau, Central Africa, and Australia. Nevertheless, the cost per WHS at 619 EUR (all-inclusive) is still within my 650 EUR limit.

Route and highlights:
Day 1: Direct flight Amsterdam - Montreal. Overnight Montreal.
Day 2: Drive south along the Rideau Canal WHS. Overnight Kingston.
Day 3: Back to the north again, with a detour via Ottawa and the Canadian Museum of History. Overnight in Quebec.
Day 4: Visit of Quebec WHS. Overnight Quebec.
Day 5: Drive to and overnight in Carleton sur Mer.
Day 6: Miguasha WHS. Overnight Carleton sur Mer.
Day 7: Joggins WHS. Overnight Amherst.
Day 8: Drive to North Sydney for Ferry, stop underway at Alexander Graham Bell Historic Site. Overnight on the ferry.
Day 9: Drive to Deer Lake. First short hikes in Gros Morne WHS. Overnight Deer Lake.
Day 10: Hiking Gros Morne WHS. Overnight Deer Lake.
Day 11: Western Brook Pond Tour. Overnight Deer Lake.
Day 12: Drive to St. John's, with a stop for a boat tour in Witless Bay. Overnight St. John's.
Day 13: Mistaken Point WHS. Overnight Clarenville.
Day 14: Drive for 9.5 hours. Overnight near St. Anthony.
Day 15: Visit L'Anse aux Meadows and saw some stranded icebergs along the way. Overnight near St. Anthony.
Day 16: Labrador Ferry. Overnight Blanc Sablon.
Day 17: Visit Red Bay WHS. Overnight Blanc Sablon.
Day 18: Ferry back to Newfoundland. Visit Port au Choix Historic Site. Drive to Port Aux Basques. Overnight on ferry.
Day 19: Drive from North Sydney (3.5h) and a bit of a rest day. Overnight Pictou.
Day 20: Grand Pre WHS. Overnight New Minas.
Day 21: Cape Split hike. Overnight New Minas.
Day 22: Lunenburg WHS. Detour to Prince Edward Island. Overnight Moncton.
Day 23: Mostly drive, only stop at the world's longest covered bridge at Hartland. Overnight Cabano.
Day 24: Drive some more, another 500+ km towards Montreal airport. Overnight on the plane.

Here are my thoughts about the non-WHS on this trip, plus a link to my photos of each. A (*) means that I recommend a detour:
- Ottawa and Canadian Museum in Gatineaux: the latter is an oversized building with few original historic objects in it (maybe they wanted to create a metaphor of Canada overall), the city is OK (with a good view of the Rideau Canal locks) but not nearly as pretty as Québec
- Alexander Graham Bell Site: popular place but old-fashioned and not sure what it is about other than celebrating the man's life.
- Port au Choix*: the major indigenous archeological site of this region, and therefore should not be skipped although there isn't much to see above ground (similar to L'Anse aux Meadows or Red Bay). It lies in an interesting landscape (Limestone Barrens), and there are hiking paths; to get a feel for it takes 1.5 - 3 hours.
- Witless Bay*: great site for birders and also whales are easy to see. Cape St. Mary is even said to be better, but that would take an extra day / huge detour.
- Cape Split: 4h forest hike towards a Cape point with birds. Good Sunday morning hike but not spectacular.
- Prince Edward Island*: would have been a good place to stay overnight on day 22. Very pretty beaches and interesting farming landscape. Spectacular bridge to get there (though expensive at 50 CAD).
- Covered Bridge in Hartland: good place to stretch your legs, it's long indeed!

Just bringing this over from the Denmark thread related to Winnipeg Ukrainian Labor Hall.

But my interest was piqued by the talk of a Vancouver Chinatown nomination. It isn't something I know lots about beyond general knowledge of the large Chinese diaspora in Canada, and the basic details around Chinatowns (well presented in this podcast/ essay from 99% Invisible though that one is focued on San Francisco)

It isn't something I have thought of before, but it certainly seems intersting, and probably has more impact than things such as Moravian church settlements, even if at its route it is a sort of pastiche.

I think I will head off and do some more thinking and reading on it.

In regards to Vancouver, I will be there about a month from now. I wasn't really planning on visiting Chinatown or the nearby Labor Temple. The later might have some chance to be included, but a visit right now will likely have very little value outside exterior architectural appreciation.

My main focus in regards to potential (future) tentative world heritage sites will be:
- Steveston Village (including key component Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site)
- Salish Sea (hikes along the coast)

The Chinatown in Vancouver was an interesting place to visit, particularly the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. I'm not sure whether it is still too soon in history for this distinctive immigrant neighborhood, started in the late 19th century, to be considered of Outstanding Universal Value. On the other hand, with the number of Chinatowns that exist in cities throughout the world, maybe one should be preserved on the list someday as an example of how the Chinese diaspora has been able to maintain their culture in new lands.


Quite interesting that you bring this up today, since I have thoughts on this (mostly from having visited Bethlehem before Christiansfeld), and had already planned to write a review about Christiansfeld tonight.


Interesting timing -- I'm hoping to be up in British Columbia in September, too, provided all the flights work out. Hope you have fun in Vancouver!

Interesting article about the Anticosti nomination: https://www.journaldequebec.com/2022/08/07/anticosti-porte-les-archives-geologiques-de-la-vie

Thanks for the article on Anticosti Island, FredericM! This sounds like a fascinating place; have you or anyone you know been to the island?

I haven't. I'm waiting for the site to get inscribed (and the boundaries known) to organize a trip. I think some of my friends visited for student jobs in biology. Deers and salmons are studied there.

Regarding the likely boundaries of an Anticosti nomination.
As Anticosti is being nominated solely for its Paleontological values using Criterion viii ("L'île d'Anticosti constitue le meilleur laboratoire naturel du monde pour l'étude des fossiles et des strates sédimentaires issus de la première extinction de masse du vivant, à la fin de l'Ordovicien") , the boundaries of the Anticosti NP founded back in 2001 to cover a much wider range of "natural" aspects, were always likely to be unsatisfactory.

It appears that, in direct support of the UNESCO WH nomination, Quebec has been creating a different reserve titled "Réserve de biodiversité".
These 2 links provide background and include maps of the proposed "Reserve" which presumably will be the same as the nominated area -subject to any "minor" changes arising during evaluation.
a. August 2020 Proposal for the Reserve. I includes a formal description of the basis on which the reserve boundaries were determined.
b. Current Web site for the reserve

The maps indicate a slight overlap with the existing NP along the northern coastline of the island. But, whereas the NP is largely inland, the Biodiversity Reserve mainly follows the coast.

Here we are in Aug 2022 and the nomination is "up" for consideration for a possible 2023 WHC which could be in under a year from now and IUCN may well be about to commence detailed evaluation work - but I can't find anything on the Web to confirm that the Reserve has officially been created/gazetted etc. Even the current Web site still calls it "Proposed".

That makes sense. I'm keeping it in mind as a possible place to visit next summer (whether or not it is yet inscribed) since I have yet to visit much of Quebec.


Thanks for the links! The current website for the reserve that you provided a link for has a link to the Executive Summary of the UNESCO nomination, and pages xxix, xxx, and xxxi of the executive summary have maps of the nominated property and proposed buffer zone.

It looks like the easiest way to see the proposed site would be to take the Transanticostienne road inland to at least Chute Vauréal (Vauréal Falls) in Anticosti National Park. The road runs very close to the coast near the McDonald Visitor Center, which may provide an opportunity to see some of the cliffs. If planning a visit, the Anticosti National Park website information page mentions there is a limited summer season (between June and August) when facilities are fully open. The page also includes a link to a map of some of the hiking trails available in the park, which includes what looks like a fascinating trail along the Vauréal River from the falls to the coast.

Thanks a lot Solivagant and Colvin. I never actually dig it that much, but your findings are super interesting! The Vauréal canyon and falls will become the easiest and most spectacular spot of this WHS. We will just need to figure out where to look for fossils.

Despite the Steveston Historical Society's attempt to include Steveston Village on Canada's updated Tentative List (2017/2018), the opportunity passed and 5 years later one wonders if another attempt will ever be made. The application was rejected primarily because of the Steveston Harbour Authority's opposition. There seemed genuine confidence in the sites OUV.

Over the long weekend, we visited Vancouver and Steveston was certainly included on our itinerary. I thought there was real merit to the proposal and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit. To avoid the opposition of the Steveston Harbour Authority, one would think it might be worth simply nominating Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site alone.

Steveston Village [Flickr Album]

Additionally, the Museum of Anthropology at the University of BC was spectacular and felt like an essential component for those who make the journey to Gwaii Haanas (SGang Gwaay).

Just arriving back from British Columbia and SGang Gwaay today (though I probably missed you in Vancouver Airport). I can imagine the Museum of Anthropology at BC would have a great exhibition on SGang Gwaii and the Haida villages they have worked at; thanks for the recommendation. I've been told the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria is also supposed to be pretty informative, for those who make it to Vancouver Island. But if folks can make it further north to Haida Gwaii, I fully recommend visiting Gwaii Haanas on one of guided tours that are offered in order to see several village sites and hear from the Haida watchmen who stay at the villages throughout each summer to speak to visitors; it was an awesome experience.

I would love to read your review for either/and or both the tentative nomination and for S'G̱ang Gwaay. The logistics seem complicated and the prices are high, but the experience does seem worthwhile.

I flew from Burbank (smaller Los Angeles airport) to Seattle and drove with friends to Vancouver for the long weekend. Because I have connections in the area, I plan to return and either try to reach Gwaii Haanas and/or Stein Valley.