"Make sure you keep your googles and ear defenders on when the range goes live," said our firearms trainer as we pointed our Smith & Wesson 5906 pistols at a row of body-sized paper targets.

      The 100 metre indoor firing range was just a small part of a challenging Royal Canadian Mounted Police boot camp experience which I undertook at

the RCMP's national headquarters in Saskatchewan province's capital city, Regina.

       It's no real surprise that the Mounties are one of Canada's most recognisable institutions. Originally known as the North West Mounted Police, they were founded in 1873 to patrol the vast northern territories of what is the world's second largest country. However they were reformed as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920 and today their bright scarlet tunics and musical ride display team have give them iconic status.

      A large purpose-built Heritage Centre has been built on the doorstep of Regina's Fort Dufferin Academy and it tells the story of the Mounted Police from its inception, the impressive building welcoming thousands of visitors from all over the world annually.

      However Hollywood's image of RCMP riding horses and paddling Canadian birchbark canoes is a far cry from reality, for today the organisation is so advanced that it helps train police forces right across the globe while retaining close links with its military past.

      The film 'Rose Marie' was originally shot in 1936 in black and white and starred Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald although I still remember as a young lad going with my parents to see the updated 1954 MGM musical featuring Howard Keel.

      I also remember being smitten by the image of Canada's heroic police force… but Sergeant Pharanae Jacques-Croisetiere and Corporal Sean Chiddenton soon quashed any ideas that the film was for real as we went through a gruelling spell of boot camp-type training.

      Arriving at the Academy late on a Monday afternoon and accompanied by three fellow British journalists, we were given a pre-boot camp tour of what is known as 'Depot' Division by the fort's newest Cadets. What followed was an early 5pm dinner in the enormous dining hall while we were then shown to our quarters and told to be up again by 5.30am the next morning, ready to march on the Parade Square and to witness the raising of the Canadian flag.

      What followed was a day of intense training which included learning how to march in a unified order in readiness for the Sergeant Major's Parade which was due to take place on the Parade Square later in the day. We were told that we would march alongside the newer recruits and would be watched by an audience. And that was all fine until the band suddenly struck up the Indiana Jones film theme, much to everyone's amusement!

      Our group had to appoint a 'Right Marker' (another name for a leader) and poor Jodi Holliday immediately got our vote. Our popular Tourism Saskatchewan guide had hinted that she had gained experience with a marching band when she was younger... and she took to it like a duck to water! Despite our obvious and unwarranted protests, she professionally called us to attention under the watchful eye of an over-strict female RSM.

      Circuit training in the Fitness and Lifestyle Unit was followed by a quick shower and a brief insight into Applied Police Sciences before our firearms session. And that was immediately followed by a driving lesson in a mocked-up Ford Crown Victoria – the same vehicle that the Mounties still use – before even more firearms practice in the RCMP's multi-million dollar simulator.

      With everyone told to march everywhere on site with a 'buddy', it was also common to see whole squads of Cadets running at the double as they raced between different buildings to attend lessons on time.

      After a day of various and sometimes frantic activities, we were presented with our 'passing out' certificates by the RCMP's Assistant Commissioner Louise LeFrance who is also the commanding officer of Depot Division.

      "I first came to the Regina Academy as a raw recruit some 29 years ago," she said as we assembled in the academy's beautiful old wooden chapel, adding that she never ever expected to return or to be in charge.

The chapel, with its impressive stained glass windows, is said to be one of the oldest buildings in the whole of Regina, despite half it having been destroyed by fire many years ago.

   "I've been back here for four years now and I really love the job," said Commissioner LeFrance. "We have around 1,000 recruits pass through the Academy ever year … but it's never ever a foregone conclusion that they will all become Mounties," she said.

    At the time we were sitting together to watch the Sunset Retreat ceremony in which a division of newly-qualified men and women displayed their marching prowess watched by hundreds of onlookers as the Canadian flag was ceremoniously lowered and neatly folded to the sound of a lone bugle.

Memories of training with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at Fort Dufferin in Regina.

     That night we checked into the Radisson Plaza Hotel Saskatchewan which is Regina's premier hotel. It has 224 beautifully appointed rooms, including 27 regal suites and, as usual, there is a health club with all the facilities although we hardly had time to enjoy them as we had another full evening programme to enjoy first!

     Unlike some other cities in Saskatchewan province, Regina – named after Queen Victoria (Victoria Regina) – rises from a treeless flat plain. Thanks to a small spring in Wascana Creek, a dam created a decorative central feature lake which is close to the impressive government building (sadly it was covered in scaffolding) and the central business district. Years later the lake turned out not to be deep enough so it had to be completely drained and manually dug out to the more reasonable depth that it is today.

     Another quirky addition to the city was the construction of the province's longest bridge, but at 840 feet, Albert Street Bridge now span what is probably Saskatchewan's shortest stretch of water!

     Back in June 1912, a terrible cyclone killed 28 people and destroyed much of the city and it's still easily the worst tornado that Canada has ever witnessed. Meanwhile in the 1930s, a riot brought further attention on the Regina area in the midst of a drought and the great depression.

     Strangely if a township reaches 5,000 inhabitants in Canada, it officially becomes a city… and if it then drops below that figure, it's allowed to retain city status. Thank goodness it doesn't apply here in the UK as half of our villages would be claiming that they were cities!

     With the mosquitos and flies that we encountered further to the north now a distant memory – apart from those red blotches which were still visible on some of our arms and legs! – prior to arriving in Regina we called in at the town of Moose Jaw to see its infamous tunnels which were once the hiding place of America's most notorious gangster, Al 'Scarface' Capone.

     Capone was listed in the United States as 'Public Enemy Number One' for his evil deeds in and around the city of Chicago. However as a way of escaping from the law following a list of charges relating to murder, supplying alcohol, drugs, prostitution and tax evasion, he crossed the border and headed to Moose Jaw where he could live a secretive life, protected by a group of ruthless gangsters who were happy to gun down anyone who stood in their way.

     'Big Al', as he was known, would hide away from the law in the notorious Canadian town during the USA's prohibition period and today the tunnels under the main street have been opened up to give visitors the chance to get a flavour of those bad ol' days thanks to a team of actors.

     Like parts of Chicago in the 1920s, Moose Jaw's River Street was known for its sleazy bars, brothels and protection rackets, all of which were run by Capone and his gang. There are two sets of tunnels, one of which hid hundreds of Chinese immigrants who lived in intolerable conditions, the other centred around Miss Fanny's Bar.

     Miss Fanny, who was played by an actress, took us deep underground through a maze of tunnels to reach a bar manned by Gus, Capone's right hand man. Gus is actually played by an automaton robot who relays the Capone story in true gangster style. But as we pass through various rooms, the role of Gus is then taken over by another actor. It's all very amusing and is certainly played for laughs.

     Doors  can be flung open while a hail of bullets will bring down anyone stupid enough to stand in an open passageway. Sadly the tunnel experience is over all too quickly but it leaves you with a lasting impression of the period.

Reflections of a wonderful few days in Canada's prairie state

1970s saw a huge influx of new Canadians... the displaced Vietnamese boat people.     

    Many of these families established restaurants and, as a result, Saskatchewan is blessed with an amazing array of Vietnamese dishes. And within the last ten years, a general increase in the popularity of Asian cuisine has led to a new wave of Japanese, Thai and Korean restaurants.

     Today Saskatchewan’s doors remain open to new Canadians from all over the

world while restaurants featuring the flavours of Italy, India, Mexico, Africa, France, Afghanistan and others allow Saskatchewanians and visitors to savour the flavours of the world.

      Saskatchewan is a Canadian province that seldom gets a mention in Britain while it's certainly not on many people's radar, but believe me if my seven days there were anything to go by, then there's still so much more waiting to be discovered.

Saskatchewan Fact File

Tunnels of Moose Jaw - 18 Main St N, Moose Jaw, SK S6H 3J6, Canada Phone: +1 306-693-5261

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Heritage Centre - RCMP 'Depot' Division Tel: 3060780-8332

Radisson Plaza Hotel Saskatchewan - 2125 Victoria Aveue, Regina, SKS4P 0S3 Phone: +1 306-522-7691 www.radisson.com/regina-hotel-sk-s4p0s3/skregdt

Many thanks to Tourism Saskatchewan's Media Relations Consultants Shane Owen and Jodi Holliday for making my Canadian experience so enjoyable. And to Angela Moore of Tourism Saskatoon – 101-202 4th Avenue North, Saskatoon, SK Canada S7K 0K1, Phone 306 242 1955, www.tourismsaskatoon.com – for a very memorable couple of evenings. Thanks also to Nim Singh, Media & Public Relations Manager of the Canadian Tourist Commission – www.keepexploring.ca – for arranging the trip and to fellow travellers, Finnbarr  Webster, Jack Palfrey, Stuart Foster and Octavia Pollock … it's certainly a trip none of us will ever forget.

     For Saskatchewan Province details, contact Tourism Saskatchewan, 189-1621 Albert Street, Regina, SK S4P 2S5 – www.tourismsask.com