Mike Yardley: Beavering around Ottawa

It’s party time in Canada as the nation’s year-long birthday bash rolls on. The French may have staked their claim nearly five hundred years ago, but Canada as we know it, is only 150 years old. And it’s that celebration of the nation’s Confederation that has further fired up the travel boom to Canada. Kiwis are part of that global love affair with Air New Zealand just announcing increased flights to Vancouver.
Out east, I’ve just enjoyed my first foray to the capital city of Ottawa. Similarly sized to Auckland’s population, but a lot more compact, like all great capital cities, Ottawa is a wedding-cake city, studded with grand patriotic confections. But she’s not a stuffy, stilted town, groaning under the weight of bureaucracy. She’s incredibly photogenic, carpeted in green spaces, with a playful, gregarious and welcoming spirit.
The inner-core of Ottawa boasts some strikingly distinctive neighbourhoods, like Wellington West, The Glebe and China Town. Wellington West is a foodie favourite, crammed with cafes, bakeries and specialty stores like Emulsify – a veritable trove of the world’s best olive oils and balsamic vinegars.  If you find yourself in China Town, you must check out The Shang, a 45 year old institution, where the resident karaoke star, China Doll, is even more famous than their egg rolls.
The Glebe is another extra-lively pocket of Ottawa with some signature specialty stores. The 24 Hour Bagel Shop is revered by the locals, while feline fanatics get their fix at Cats R Us, the most bewildering feline-friendly boutique imaginable, stocking apparel, toys and catnip candy. Pussy galore!   But if you’re a newbie to Ottawa like I was, you’re first port of call should be at Justin Trudeau’s joint, Parliament Hill.
The centre piece of Canada’s seat of government is the gargantuan gothic-revival building called Centre Block. Not dissimilar in style to the Dunedin Railway Station, but on a much more flamboyant scale, the 1865 masterpiece is a show-stopper. Think gargoyles, copper-topped turrets and sweeping archways. The interior is equally as lavish in a Harry Potter kind of way. At the heart of the building is the soaring Peace Tower. 
You can see Canada’s Prime Minister in action every day, when Parliament is sitting, in the House of Commons at Question Time. Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis, as are the free guided tours. You’ll need a ticket for the tours, which are distributed across the street from the Hill Centre, daily from 9am.  Plus after dark, the sprawling façade of Centre Block transforms into a trippy canvas for the nightly sound-and-light show, trumpeting pure Canadian pride.
Like all good capitals, Ottawa is awash with museums, many of which are free to enter in birthday year. And the Canadian Museum of History has unveiled its new Canadian History Hall to mark the nation’s milestone. If you’re an Arctic buff, don’t miss the new Canada Goose Arctic Gallery at the Museum of Nature. Two cores of real permafrost are included in this substantial showcase of the Arctic region, its diversity and undeniable global importance.
I’m a walkover for historic hotels and Ottawa boasts a star specimen in the Chateau Laurier. The toast of the town, this landmark property was built in French-gothic chateau style, by the Grand Trunk Railway Company, at the dawn of rail’s golden age, over a century ago. The hotel was to scheduled open to much fanfare in late April 1912, but the railway boss, Charles Melville, died on the Titanic, en-route to the grand opening.
He never got to see the completed masterpiece he had commissioned. Over the decades, guests and staff claim to have seen his ghost walking through the hotel corridors. Whether you’re staying in-house or not, the hotel allows you to wander through opulent marble hallways, admiring the art and soaking up the history.
Fairmont Chateau Laurier overlooks the Ottawa Locks, a sequence of steep, step-like locks that mark the northern end of th...