When British adventurer Ed Wardle fulfilled a lifetime’s ambition by being left to fend for himself for three months in wilds of Yukon, the resultant TV show on the UK’s channel 4 and National Geographic channels (backed by Twitter and live blogs) proved something of a fiasco. Wardle cracked up, nearly starved, and was brought home after 50 days… Some, however, get on better with the Canadian wilderness. We review a couple of examples…

Northern Wilderness

The latest exploits of the remarkable Ray Mears

The book of survivalist Ray Mears’s journey through Canada’s vast northern landscapes tells the story of the fur trade, learns the ways of the Inuit, and follows the paths of great early Northern explorers through the tundra and Rocky Mountains.

At the heart of northern Canada is the vast boreal forest. Like the Amazon, the boreal forest is of critical importance to all living things. Its trees and peatlands comprise one of the world’s largest “carbon reservoirs”. Its wetlands filter millions of gallons of water each day. It’s a vast and intact forest ecosystem, home to moose and beaver, birch and spruce, insects and people.

For centuries this forest was seen to have no commercial value. In fact, frozen for six months of the year, it was deemed impenetrable, but ultimately when British pioneers, working with indigenous tribes, learned how to explore this land, they set the way for modern Canada to evolve.

Ray explores the wonder of this special place, giving insight as to how the eco-system works, forest survival and traditional crafts. He sees how different it is in late summer and winter, learns about the interdependence of all things in the forest and unlocks the secrets of this forgotten place.

If you buy the book through Ray’s own site, Woodlore, it comes individually signed by Ray himself at a cost of £20 (UK pounds).

A DVD of the series – shown in the UK on BBC 2 – is due for release shortly after the series.

www.raymears.com

Journey to the Edge of the World

Billy Connolly's latest adventure

The brilliantly charismatic comedian and actor Billy Connolly is back in his guise as a tour guide as he travels through the legendary Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. His adventures were filmed for a TV series, just screened for the second time this year on the UK’s ITV network. The DVD release not only contains all four episodes in the series, but also includes footage exclusive to the DVD. In Journey to the Edge of the World, we follow the intrepid comedian on a once-in-a-lifetime trip across this fascinating landscape.

The ever-engaging Billy Connolly invites you to escape from the humdrum of a busy and stressful lifestyle and take this journey with him to the edge of the world from the comfort of your own home. What’s it like to live on the edge on the world? Here’s your chance to find out and have your mind blown away by the scenery!

Universal Pictures, £8.38 on Amazon.

The book of the same title is available in hard cover for £19.95

A good map here of Connolly’s route is available here…

http://www.audleytravel.com/Destinations/Canada-Alaska-and-The-Arctic/Features/Journey-to-the-Edge-of-the-World/Introduction.aspx

The Five Fishermen Restaurant in downtown Halifax

There was a nervous sense of anticipation in the air in downtown Halifax the night we ate at the Five Fishermen. I’m tempted to say the famous Five Fishermen, because anyone who has visited Nova Scotia’s boisterous port and capital city seems to ask, “did you eat there?”.

The anticipation, though, was not just about the promise of fine food. This was the eve of the predicted landfall of Hurricane, an interloper from the Caribbean that had raged up North America’s eastern seaboard for a week.

Yet right now the evening air was warm and still and shirtsleeved citizens were in street cafés, listening to music: the décor of the Five Fishermen was like a captain’s cabin and, as we were shown to our window table, overlooking a pretty square lined with maples, I reflected fleetingly on the band playing on in the ballroom of the Titanic, with disaster already unavoidable.

We declined the $40 all-in selection to venture à la carte. Dinner at the Five Fishermen begins with the complimentary salad and mussel bar, with a choice of sauces for the mussels and dressings for the salads. A lovely touch, but it did seem to render my starter of fresh oysters slightly superfluous. For my main course I chose the haddock, blackened, in Créole sauce, “N’awlins” style.

My partner began with an “exquisite” lobster salad, followed a medley of seafoods.

All were perfectly prepared and professionally presented by a waiter who was polite and helpful without being intrusive.

The wine list was solid and dependable, combining a few Canadian wines with a varied world selection. We chose a South African Viognier, always a good bet with fish.

I was able to shoehorn in a delicate desert of rhubarb and semolina bouchot, which proved delicious.

A peppermint tea was the perfect digestif, if the offer of cream to put in it was rather alarming.

The bill came to an acceptable $167.24 before tip, which we reckoned good value for one of the year’s most enjoyable meals on either side of the Atlantic. Having booked prior to leaving the UK through the excellent Opentable website, our positive feedback will no doubt already have added to the legend of the Five Fishermen.

The Five Fishermen, Argyll Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

www.fivefishermen.com

+1 902.422.4421

Footnote: Hurricane Bill duly arrived the following morning, striking Halifax a “glancing blow”. There were no reported deaths or injuries.