♪ mandolin strumming Brandy: I'm a journalist and I am traveling across my home country Canada.

On this journey, I'll be visiting some amazing signature experiences.

My next stop is in western Canada in Banff, Alberta.

♪ ♪ acoustic guitar Brandy: I'm in Banff National Park and this place is Canada's first and oldest national park.

I've come here to explore the majestic scenery.

I'm surrounded by the Rocky Mountains and I'm going to try out the Plain of Six Glaciers trail... on horseback.

♪ cowboy chord guitar Trailbos: This is your horse for today.

Bailey.

Brandy: Hi Bailey.

There's Bailey's breakfast.

We'll tie him up here, and I'll go get some brushes for you and you can brush'im.

Get'im ready for today's work.

Gettin' ready.

There's a brush for you.

OK.

So... brush'im over the withers and where the saddle sits.

"The withers."

So where are the withers?

Right behind the shoulders and that's where the saddle sits.

And that's where you have to clean him.

Yep, real good and hard.

Right up over here.

Now does this hurt him?

No.

Is it feeling good like when someone massages my head during a massage?

Exactl.

Ooooh, I bet you love this.

So I'll be his favorite gal?

Exactly right.

Feeding him, brushing him.

And you do this every day?

Every day on both sides and the best you can.

Most important is where the saddle sits.

So what happens if you don't do it?

Actually there is evidence.

You see the white marks?

Yes.

That's probably from not cleaning'im before he was saddled.

So can I walk behind him, because I'm always nervous about being kicked.

As long as you're aware.

He's aware.

As long as he's aware?

Yep, so that he knows that you are brushing him, so you can brush right around.

So I always had this idea that he was going to kick me in the face.

Kevin: Nope!

Brandy: Okay... Kevin: Actually if you stay close... you're probably safer than... back farther.

Y'know every day, I learn more things about animals - that they're not as intimidating as you imagine.

Right?

Brandy continues: When you grow up in the city you never have access to them.

So you think - I'm going to see a horse, he's gonna kick me.

Kevin: M-hm.

Brandy: But look how gentle he is!

Kevin: He doesn't even know you're there, he's so busy eating.

Brandy: Couldn't be bothered, right?

Kevin: (laughs) Yup.

All right, beautiful.

♪ guitar strum Brandy: Now it's time to hit the trails.

Kevin is going to guide a group of us around the famous Lake Louise.

It's emerald beauty has been drawing visitors to see it for over 100 years.

Kevin: Welcome to Brewster stables.

It's one of the oldest outfitting businesses and stables in Banff.

Brewsters was even here, even here before the National Park.

We were an old company and we've been duding people forever.

And we were going to go to the Plain of Six Glaciers.

There's lots ups and downs.

Brandy: How long should it take?

Kevin: We'll be about four hours round-trip, and we'll see mountains and glaciers and we'll have some fun and relax!

It's a holiday.

Remember the horse's name because if there's something going on the trail I'll holler the horse's name and because I don't know I'll always remember everybody's name.

So I remember horses' names.

So, very good?

Thank you.

Awesome!

Hi Bailey.

Okay.

That's a girl.

Okay... Good job.

That's a boy.

Alright!

Beautiful.

I love it.

(chuckles) Brandy: The majestic Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise in the distance, had its beginnings around 1911.

The Canadian Pacific Railway built it, hoping to lure visitors to Western Canada.

It worked.

Kevin: You're getting him figured out.

Brandy: Yeah.

Good job.

Brandy: I just want to see this, lake, close up.

Lake Louise is beautiful.

Kevin: It's a gorgeous spot.

This is the end of the lake that nobody ever sees.

So you are in a unique place.

So I guess you get a lot of people who want to canoe on there and just explore all around the perimeter.

Kevin: It's a busy lake.

Brandy: It's so famous.

I know a lot of people come here for their honeymoon.

Brandy: I've heard that.

I love the color of the, of the water - it's like an emerald, almost.

Kevin: Between the cold water and the minerals and the silt.

That's what creates the color.

And the glaciers that we're going to see will be feeding into Lake Louise.

Yep.

We follow the Louise Cree all the way up to the glaciers.

Wonderful.

I can't wait to see those glaciers.

Let's go.

Brandy: It's the first time I've explored Banff National Park by horseback and it really gives you easy access to the back country.

Something I've never experienced before.

So there was a big avalanche here.

Last winter.

(horse hoofs) Wow, beautiful.

Brandy: There's also something very wild and exciting about being on a horse.

You can imagine what it would be like to be a cowboy.

Kevin: It's pretty amazing that this, at one time, this would have been all ice.

Brandy: Wow.

And the glacier has receded so much.

Kevin: Yep, but most likely before, y'know, zillion years ago.

It was probably all the way down to the lake.

Brandy: Amazing.

Kevin: Yep.

Brandy: Beautiful.

It's a bit smoky because of the forest fires in British Columbia.

Brandy: On this day, the Alberta high country was somewhat obscured from smoke from the massive summer wildfires burning in neighboring BC.

My horse Bailey has done this ride many, many times and has started to act up, he's lagging behind the others, so Kevin is grabbing a rope to help guide him along.

So, Bailey and I decided to take a little bit of a break here and the spot is just amazing.

All around us you see these rocks.

People are hiking to the Victoria glacier and then below is just this incredible view of Lake Louise.

It's, it's wonderful here.

What do you think, Bailey, hmmm?

I think he just wants to have a break.

Hmm, going up all those rocks?

You're a sweetie.

Come on Bailey, you can do it!

♪ snare drum and guitar Kevin: We're only about fifty yards to the tea house.

Alright, we'll tie up the horses here and stretch your legs and we'll probably go back in about tweny minutes, half an hour.

But relax and take it easy, n'...

Enjoy...

Hop off here now.

Good job.

Tie up and loosen up the saddles and give 'em some fresh air underneath.

♪ gentle acoustic guitar Welcome to the Plain of Six Glacier's Teahouse.

It's at about 7,000 feet.

The family's been bringing people here for... eighty years.

It was built by the CP, it gets busier and busier every year but it still has a soft spot in my heart to come and visit with the people and the owners all the time.

It's great.

Brandy: What do they have in there?

Kevin: Tea and crumpets and sandwiches and they are usually open June to September.

Every year gets busier.

Kevin: The Plain of Six Glaciers is created by this, this whole area as a plain of ice and rock and, and the glaciers are all of the above it.

Brandy: Which glaciers are we looking at?

Kevin: Ah, the Victoria glaciers is the upper and lower.

And that's probably the largest glacier.

And Fairview is over here.

And all these little peaks are probably part of Lefroy.

Brandy: It's beautiful.

Kevin: Gorgeous.

Brandy: So what comes next?

Ridin' back down and seeing gorgeous views all the way back down.

Love those horses.

Let's do it.

OK.

Very good.

Good job, you guys.

♪ acoustic guitar strumming Actually the light is better now.

Isn't it?

Brandy: My horse Bailey was definitely faster coming down the mountain than going up.

He sure can handle any terrain.

♪ guitar (horse hoofs) What an amazing experience!

Thanks Bailey!

Kevin: Wonderful Day.

Wonderful day.

Thank you.

Wow.

This guy really was amazing going up and down that mountain.

It was a lot of work and I really really appreciate it and I just so enjoyed having the point of view of what it would be like to be a horse.

It was wonderful.

(jet noise) Brandy: The next stop on my journey is in Ontario.

It's one of the most famous places on this earth.

A natural phenomenon that so many tourists want to see when they come to Canada.

I've come to the honeymoon capital of the world - Niagara Falls and in order to really see how big it is, I've decided to see it from the sky with the help of a helicopter.

♪ classic violin (whirring rotor) On this trip, Anna Pearce and pilot Rene Heussey are my guides.

For thirty years their company has been showing the falls to guests, from the sky.

Anna (headset): So we're located very close to the whirlpool area of Niagara Falls.

So this is a really spectacular place to be.

Brandy: How big are the falls?

Anna: They are about six million bathtubs of water per second falling over the falls at any given time, so the most water volume from any falls in the world is from Niagara Falls.

It's kind of cool.

Brandy: Wow, this is beautiful with the water all here.

Anna: Those are class-six rapids.

They look a lot smalle from the air, but they are huge, non-negotiable so, you couldn't even white water raft through those rapids.

Brandy: Really?

Wow, it's just amazing.

Whoo, it gives me the goose bumps, actually.

I love, love this view of the falls.

Brandy: Wow, this is so different than being on the ground.

Oh, it's incredible from here.

You actually get to see how the falls makes sense from here because you are actually seeing the water flowing from Lake Erie on the one side to Lake Ontario on the other.

So it's literally funneling between two great lakes.

Brandy: It is kind of scary though.

They seem quite powerful.

Anna: Oh, they are very powerful.

Brandy (voice over): Niagara Falls sits in the middle of New York in the USA and in Ontario in Canada.

It is one of the world's greatest sources of hydroelectric power.

There are two hydro generating stations in Ontario and one across the border in New York State.

Together they supply one quarter of all power used in New York State and Ontario.

So Renee, tell me about you?

Tell me what you think of the falls?

What I think of the falls?

I'm seen them 35,000 times and it never gets old.

Every day is different, especially in the winter.

It looks crystal clear in the winter and we have nice rainbows in the summer.

So yeah, every day is a little different but it never gets old.

We have people from all over the world and the last time I checked there was twelve million visitors.

I can't think of a country we haven't shown them to.

So I've heard that some people go to the Falls to feel good.

Tell me a little bit about that.

Anna: Niagara Falls is one of the creators, the best creators, of negative ions in the world.

So negative ions make you feel good!

So when they say this is the honeymoon capital of the world I think the negative ions have something to do with it.

It's not just the romance?

I don't think it's just the romance.

I think it's a chemical thing.

Brandy: Wow, seeing the Fall from the sky is just magnificent but I've seen those boats below and now I want to feel that midst on my face.

Brandy: The summer is the busiest time here in Niagara Falls when most of the visitors come see it.

The top countries that are visiting are tourists from across Canada, T he United States and the United Kingdom.

I wanted to get as close as I could to Niagara Falls and the best way to do that is in a catamaran which takes you eighty feet or twenty-five meters from the Falls.

My guide on this boat is Mory DiMaurizio.

It's his job to make sure everything runs smoothly in this wild environment.

Mory: This is the most iconic boat tour experience you're ever going to see.

"Honeymoon Capital of World" Niagara Falls, Canada has been bestowed that title for many, many years.

A lot of people come here.

It's so graceful, it's so peaceful.

It's so friendly.

I mean we are Canadian, right?

So it's a really great place to visit.

We are about to embark on something not too many people get to experience in a lifetime.

You get to get up close and personal with the Falls.

Brandy: I see a rainbow over here.

Why are there so many rainbows?

Absolutely, the water comes over the falls with such force that it creates this fine mist.

And you are going to see one, two, sometimes three rainbows stacked.

It's great for selfies, it's great for pictures.

You'll see, it's a postcard picture.

Brandy: I'm definitely getting excited as we move closer to the falls.

The intensity of the spray surprises me.

Mory: Do you feel the negative ions?

Yes!

I'm feeling very happy, Mory!

Absolutely!

(laughing) I can't believe that I am this close to Niagara Falls... and it's very, very wet!

(Mory laughing) Wow...

It's amazing, really crazy.

The best part is that you can see the swirl of the water and you can see how powerful it is below.

♪ majestic orchestral (roaring water,crowd chatter) ♪ quiet piano Brandy: About 25 kilometres from Niagara Falls is Niagara-on-the-Lake.

This area is in the heart of Ontario's wine region and attracts visitors from all around the world.

Today, the province of Ontario produces 71% of all Canadian wine.

There are over 180 wineries in the province and the Niagara region is home to 60% of them.

This unique cool climate is famous for its ice wines which makes up half of its wine exports.

I've come to Peller Estates winery, it's one of several in the region that tourists can visit to learn about how wine is made and taste what they have to offer.

With the Niagara region being known for its wine, there's one great way to sample it and that's with cheese.

Tell me how it's done, chef Parsons?

Well, this is the whole experience about wine and cheese.

And I'm going to show you.

What we got here is a beautiful meteorite cheese which has got a blue vein through it, a litle ash rind.

But what our guests do is, actually take a little bit of ice wine and they macerate that cheese.

So we'll just pour a little bit over the top - but then, of course, we're going to need to drink some as well.

So, I'm gonna pour you a little - -tasting here.

But we're not going to taste this right away because we need that to actually infuse.

So while that's infusing then we go on to our next cheese, which is more of a creamy, it's called Saint-Henri, which is like a creamy Brie-style cheese.

This is neat though, because we actually take our blowtorch here and of course the guests love this because they get to get interactive but they get to brulé the cheese.

Can I do it!?

Yeah, here...

So what do I do?

Just pull that down.

Pull that?

So pull that little thing at the bottom down.

You have to use two hands and pull the trigger.

Whooo!

And you can just hold the trigger you don't have to hold that.

Jason: Look at it and what's that doing?

It's changing the cheese.

It's giving it more of a nutty flavor.

It's carmelizing, it's almost like it's been on the bbq.

How you going to bbq cheese, right?

Wow, how much do I do here?

You're good.

Look at that!

I'm great.

Can I stop?

Yeah, okay good.

But I mean, smell that now.

Isn't that amazing?

It's like you know, you've got that nuttiness coming through.

It's like a caramel flavour.

But we're not gonna eat that yet, either.

Okay...?

But we are going to pair that with a beautiful sauvignon blanc because again it's got those crisp aromatic notes that are actually going to work great with those toasted in the actual cheese.

So I am going to pour you a little of that, to taste.

This is where the suspense builds because you're looking at wine and thinking: "When do I get to drink this?"

And now we have a Sir Laurier cheese.

It's got a real kind of almost a stinky cheese, you know.

So what are we going to do?

We're actually going to put it under the dome here.

And I'm going to get yo to pick up that blowtorch again.

OK...

I've put some actual vines that we've dried, wood-chipped them down, just stick the blowtorch right in there.

So you pull that thing down.

It's a little noisy guy, can you get it?

Pull the trigger.

There you go.

Watch it here.

Look at that!

It's actually adding smoke to the cheese... totally changing the flavor profile again.

So the last one is a Maratages.

Which is a beautiful blend.

It's got a little spiciness to it - looks almost red - fruit-like cherries which I think is going to go great with the smoke.

But what we want to do is go back to our first one now.

So... if you want to just pour a little bit of cheese out of here.

I'll pass that to you.

OK.

Right... Now... take that with your hand there.

Okay, thank you.

Alright, you got it?

You just got to take a little bit.

What you want to do is just a bite... Move it around your mouth.

Taste the sweetness of the Icewine.

Now try it with the wine.

Mmmm... You see that?

So what it's doing is, really opening up the flavors of the cheese.

it's working with the sweetness that's going on there.

You've got sweetness in the wine, but what's interesting is with this wine there's almost no pear notes in there.

You know, Riesling ice wine has a great acidity to it.

So, also the fatty creaminess of the cheese - the acidity cuts through that and makes it all balance.

It's delicious!

Isn't that great?

Can I keep eating it?

You can keep eating it, (laughs) But we have another cheese to move on to here.

Now, this is where it gets nice and gooey.

So I'm going to give you a little napkin here.

OK.

Thank you.

But the next one, so now we have the Sauvignon Blanc.

So this one is - really fresh crisp, herbaceous wine and just dig in there and pull a piece of that cheese out.

Okay and it's very soft and gooey.

Yeah, this is like a... almost like a brie.

OK.

It's been bruléd, melted.

So just try a little of this.

This smells really good.

And then your second wine.

It's delicious.

You see that?

So it changes it.

Now it's almost like a dry feel on your mouth.

It allows the herbs to kind of come out in the wine.

And I find that when you eat the cheese on its own, it's got a char to it, but it's almost a little bit burnt.

But once you put it with the actual wine they start to soften everything and kind of bring it all together.

I really believe that food and wine truly need each other.

Drinking this wine is great.

Eating that cheese, that's great.

But putting them together - whole new experience.

So th we want to finish up now.

Lean right in here, ready... to get in this.

Look at that.

Ooh, it looks like a science experiment.

(laughs) That is brilliant.

Smoke, we have smoke cheese that we've done in - what...?

A minute and a half?

Wow.

So this one, we've got a Maratage which is a beautiful blend.

And what we got in there is like little cherry notes, a little more black pepper if you really dig deep - you find almost a little bit of vanilla in the back.

So take a little piece of that cheese... which is a real stinky cheese, which, on its own.... Whoa!

Yeah, great, eh?

Very stinky.

Oh yeah.

So you eat that, a little - overpowering, little kind of - you know - almost crazy flavor going on your mouth.

Try it with the wine.

Mmmmm.

That's my favorite, actually.

Isn't that cool?

Everybody has - because you know, some people like sweet.

Some people were like, that little herbaceous.

Some people like, this one - there's a little oak in here as well.

Oh, it's so good.

It really works because the toastiness of the smoke and the oakiness in the wine and then the fruit actually makes the oak not too dry on your palate.

Again we're creating whole new flavor experiences.

Do you mind if I drink the rest of my ice wine?

Please!

Enjoy it!

Cheers!

♪ (laughter) ♪ orchestrtal & piano One of the coolest things about the Niagara Region is the ice wine which is produced here.

And at Peller Estates winery, they have a -10 degrees Celsius "cold room" which simulates the picking and growing seasons of the grapes.

Tell me about it, Emily.

OK - so icewine is a sweet, dessert-style wine that we make here in Ontario and it's, we grow the grapes all year and then after we pick our tablewine we leave those ice wine grapes until the middle of the winter and then when it's -10 degrees we pick those frozen grapes and press them, just to get that one perfect, sweet, flavorful drop from each grape.

Can we try some?

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you.

So, here we've got a Vidal Blanc which is a hybrid grape that we use a lot here in Ontario for ice wine.

So I'm going to pour this golden colored wine for us to taste.

It does look like gold.

So first we're going to start by swirling this and just stick your nose right in there.

Oh, yeah.

And so, you're going to smell lots of apricot, maybe a little bit of peach, some nice honey flavors.

And then when you taste it you're going to get a really sweet but nicely balanced with acidity and it's just going to coat the whole inside of your mouth.

Wow.

It's quite powerful actually.

Oh yes.

So strong and just hits all your senses, all at once.

Wow, that's delicious!

It's beautiful, isn't it?

So what's the red one?

Let's give that one a try, too.

Totally different smell.

Yes.

So it's just a nice strawberry.

And when you taste it, it's going to be like drinking a spoonful of strawberry rhubarb jam.

Whoa...!

That's really sweet... but tart.

It's like.. whoof!

Yes!

So that's what we look for as winemakers.

It's to balance that sugar that you get from the ice wine grape with nice acidity and that roundness that just makes this beautiful balanced wine.

Can you just explain to me, as a winemaker, a day in the life of someone who's making icewine?

So usually, we're watching the temperatures.

So, we have to get to at least minus 8.

But really the best temperature is minus 10 degrees Celsius.

So... we'll watch the temperatures.

And then the growers will be out - usually at four in the morning - that's when we hit that temperature.

They'll go out and pick it.

And we actually have our growers press the icewine.

And then we go out and we taste it.

We tell them what we like and they send that juice back to the winery and that's where we take over.

Brandy: Do you find that people find this room interesting?

Emily: Oh, absolutely.

I mean look around this place.

Brandy: It sort of takes you right to the moment where those grapes are growing.

Those poor people at four o'clock in the morning who have to pick them but it's freezing!

The farmers out on their tractors.

Yeah, it really gives you the impression of how cold that actually is when we do this.

And how much work it really takes.

Absolutely.

Well cheers to all of you who freeze out there for us to enjoy.

Thank you.

Cheers!

♪ orchestral I'm not sure if it's the negative ions generated by the Niagara Falls or the icewine I drink, but I feel great.

I've had a wonderful time in Niagara.

(fireworks explosions ) Whoa, I like those little ones!

♪ brass orchestral (fireworks)