Griff’s Canadian Adventure
Griff Rhys Jones embarks on an epic journey…
Comedian-turned-adventurer Griff Rhys Jones embarks on another epic journey, this time around Canada, which involves travelling by seaplane, cargo boat, monster truck and even dog sled. This week, he starts his adventure in Newfoundland and Labrador in the east, but expect beaver and polar-bear encounters later in the six-part series.
Holidays are supposed to be relaxing, but Griff Rhys Jones isn’t taking it easy in his new six-part TV travelogue, as the Welshman takes a 4,000-mile trip across Canada, from Newfoundland in the east to Vancouver Island in the west.
It’s in at the deep end in this week’s first episode, as we find Griff floating in the freezing Atlantic Ocean!
‘I always say we should have something arresting to start the series, so it’s genuinely my own fault!’ laughs the 68-year-old, whose previous travel series have taken him to Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
‘My intention was that I’d be rescued by helicopter, but unfortunately the budget wouldn’t run to that. And I had to wear a drysuit, otherwise I’d have been dead in 30 seconds!’
Sporting challenge
His second destination, the province of Quebec, sees Griff trying his hand at being an ice-hockey goaltender.
‘That was terrifying!’ he admits. ‘The players were sent one by one to whizz down the rink and bang a puck in my general direction at about 150mph!’
Later in the series, he also has a close encounter with a polar bear when he visits Churchill, Manitoba.
‘Every year, polar bears go through the town as they move from the tundra to the ice in search of food,’ he explains. ‘We arrived on Halloween, when the kids were trick-or-treating, and the fire service, police and local volunteers had formed a cordon, armed with guns, to look out for polar bears!’