MAKE LOVE IN A KAYAK?

Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is said to have said that "A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe."

Never been sure about that, myself. It sounds like fun, but I gotta tell ya that, sadly, it wasn't part of my citizenship test.

Trudeau isn't around today to offer his opinion on kayaking, which appears to be picking up steam as an alternative to the canoe. We can assume he'd opt for a double kayak; there being a little more space for a traveller of the female variety and all.

I hadn't tried a kayak until last summer in Muskoka, when a friend let me borrow his and I spent an hour scooting around Stonewall Island and had a fabulous time. Anyway, the point (yes, there is one) is this particular blogger just loves a good list, and the folks at the Canadian Tourism Commission have come up with a pretty cool one on the best spots to kayak in our wonderful country.

Writer Suzanne Morphet picked the following spots for her best-of list: Desolation Sound, B.C., Broken Group Islands, B.C., Lake Athabasca (Alberta and Saskatchewan), Pukaskwa National Park, Ont., The Thousand Islands, Ont., Saguenay Fjord, Que., Kane Basin, Nunavut and Borgeo, Newfoundland.

The only thing that surprised me was the lack of anything in Nova Scotia or PEI. When I was lucky enough to drive along the north shore of Nova Scotia a few years ago on the way to PEI I noticed mile after mile (sorry, kilometre after kilometre) of lovely waterways that seemed just perfect for a kayak. As does the area down around Mahone Bay.

Guess I'll just have to give it a shot and give Ms. Morphet a call when I'm finished.

BC GOLF STILL ON THE RISE

Hadn't noticed it until now, but I see that Tower Ranch out in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley has been chosen as a top new course in North America.

Travel + Leisure Golf named The Club at Tower Ranch, just outside Kelowna, as one of the "Ten Best New Courses in the World."

The magazine cited Tower Ranch's "broad vistas" and "bulging hills" and credited Toronto designer Thomas McBroom for a "bold shotmaking agenda."

It's another notch in the belt of McBroom, who earned an award for Best New Course in Canada last year with Tobiano in Kamloops. B.C.

Other great courses in the interior of B.C. include Predator Ridge near Vernon, where Toronto's Doug Carrick is working on a new layout and where Mike Weir has plans to add his first-ever design.

So kudos to Tom for Tower Ranch. And now I've got another addition on my list of "must-play" courses in what is clearly a great golfing nation.

Also on my "untapped" list: Bigwin Island in Ontario, Dakota Dunes in Saskatchewan, Big Sky, Bear Mountain, Tobiano and Furry Creek in B.C. (my Dad's fave!), Crowbush Cove in PEI and Banff Springs.