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Canada is vast and occupies most of North America; therefore it has adventure travel opportunities in abundance. From winter sports such as skiing and dog sledding to summer activities such as hiking, biking and rafting, in Canada you will be sure to find something for everyone.

For the best of Canadian adventure travel why not explore the Canadian Rockies by foot whilst keeping an eye out for bears and other wildlife. The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a mountain range in western North America, extending from northernmost British Columbia, in Canada, to New Mexico, in the United States and stretching more than 4,800 kilometres. The Alberta half of the Canadian Rockies includes two national parks: Banff National Park, including the towns of Banff and Lake Louise and Jasper National Park, including the town of Jasper. It also includes Kananaskis Country, to the south-east of Banff National Park, including the town of Canmore. The British Columbian half of the Canadian Rockies also includes the eastern sub regions of the Kootenays region: Columbia-Rockies East Kootenays, including Yoho National Park and Kootenay National Park. Hiking is the most popular activity here as well as wilderness camping.  Read more...

Ploughing has always been a sport between neighboring farmers in Ireland. This sport reached a point in 1931 when two farmers from Kildare and Wexford had an argument over which county had the best ploughmen. As a result the National Ploughing Association was born and the first National Ploughing Championships were held in Athy, Co Kildare, with a total of 40 entries. Not much is known about this first plouging championship, but it is known that Wexford won the county championship with Wicklow and Kilkenny finishing second and third while Edward Jones won the individual title.

Early ploughing competitions were for horse drawn ploughs, and it was not until 1949 that tractor ploughing became part of the competition. Since then the Ploughing Championships have kept pace with the development of machinery and technology of farming equipment. Today the National Ploughing Championship is the largest annual exhibition in Ireland and is run by the National Ploughing Association of Ireland.

Today the National Ploughing Championships attracts crowds in excess of 100,000 people over the three days that make up the event. The location of the championships is changed each year, although in recent years locations have been revisited biannually (2000 & 2002 – Ballacolla, 2004 & 2006 Grangeford). The event needs at minimum of 300 acres to accompany the competition and the huge village of trade stands and livestock exhibitions.  Read more...