I haven't gone on a major trip since my journey to Riding Mountain National Park last autumn, so I booked off a week to travel out west. However, things didn't work out as I had planned, and my vacation turned more-or-less into a staycation.
Thankfully, it wasn't all for naught. I managed to get away one day, and I did a couple of little day trips throughout the week too. The day I got away I wanted to go as far north as possible, and I chose the Cochin Lighthouse.
The Cochin Lighthouse is just north of the Battlefords and it is the only lighthouse in the landlocked province of Saskatchewan. It sits on the top of Pirot Hill in the village of Cochin and shines a light out onto the nearby Jackfish Lake – or as locals call it, the "Cochin Ocean".
The lighthouse sits on land owned by Don Pirot – whose name looks like "pirate", but isn't pronounced that way – and is leased to the village for 99 years. It was on his request that the hill was named "Pirot Hill". The lighthouse was constructed in 1989 and in 2017 it received a facelift following decades of graffiti.
The lighthouse is fully equipped with a working spotlight, and functions, like any other lighthouse you'd find on the coast. The biggest difference between those lighthouses and this one is that you can't go inside. I think this would be an excellent place to have a museum or gallery but by itself, it is still very impressive.
The lighthouse may be visible from Highway 4, but don't let it fool you. To reach the lighthouse you need to climb 152 (some say 153) wooden stairs, and these stairs are absolutely gruelling. When I got to the top, I felt like Rocky after climbing the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art – and to think, he only had to climb 72 of them!
Before I attempted the climb, a gentleman at the bottom told me to climb up beside the stairs, on a little beaten path. I wanted bragging rights to say I climbed them so I ignored his advice, but I think it would have saved me a lot of pain had I just listened.
If you plan to visit the Cochin Lighthouse, it is a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Regina, or about a two-hour drive from Saskatoon. If you need a bite to eat, there is a nearby restaurant called The Lighthouse Café. I didn't have time to visit it since it closes at 8pm, but next time I'm going through the area, I'll make that a priority.
Have you ever visited the Cochin Lighthouse and the nearby "Cochin Ocean"? What other attractions should one visit while in the area? Let me know in the comments below.
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And, as always, a big thank you to my sweetheart Jessica Nuttall for proof reading a countless number of my articles. I couldn't do any of this without you. I love you.
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I haven't gone on a major trip since my journey to Riding Mountain National Park last autumn, so I booked off a week to travel out west. However, things didn't work out as I had planned, and my vacation turned more-or-less into a staycation.
Thankfully, it wasn't all for naught. I managed to get away one day, and I did a couple of little day trips throughout the week too. The day I got away I wanted to go as far north as possible, and I chose the Cochin Lighthouse.
The Cochin Lighthouse is just north of the Battlefords and it is the only lighthouse in the landlocked province of Saskatchewan. It sits on the top of Pirot Hill in the village of Cochin and shines a light out onto the nearby Jackfish Lake – or as locals call it, the "Cochin Ocean".
As this was my first time flying a kite, I'm proud to say I only crashed it about thirty times. Thankfully, my instructor said, the kite wasn't too expensive and was made for crash landings. After one particular sharp nose-dive, however, he came over to show me what I was doing wrong. After a few minor adjustments, I kicked the kite back into the air and managed to do my first loop.
The field we were in was empty that day. Within 24 hours, however, the field would be full of kite enthusiasts from across the world. Many of the kite flyers were from Canada and the United States, but some even came as far away as London, Germany and New Zealand. At only 13 years old, the SaskPower Windscape Kite Festival has become internationally renowned to kite flyers around the world.
When people think of kites, they might think of the classic diamond shaped kite of Charlie Brown. However, these days there are many different kinds of kites, and each with their own unique design and purpose.
Puebla is much smaller than Mexico City so it isn't as noisy, it isn't as rushed and it's much more walkable. While there are still 1.4 million people living here, it doesn't feel that way. To be honest, if I was to choose between Mexico City or Pubela to revisit, I would probably choose Puebla.
Puebla is known worldwide for its colourful buildings, narrow streets and hundreds upon hundreds of churches. I was told by one gentlemen that there are 365 churches in the city – one for each day of the year – but when I told another gentlemen that, he looked at me surprised and asked "Is that all?"
