Aussies love Canada, but there's one underrated destination most are missing out on

If you saw the Travel Guides take on Canada last week, you might have also glimpsed their tour director, Miranda on the small screen.Though Miranda is a seasoned tour guide at Trafalgar, she had no idea that when she clocked into work, she was going to be broadcast on national TV. It was "shrouded in mystery", she tells 9Travel."I didn't find out what it was actually until the day before the tour started," she laughs. "So that was pretty shocking for me, to show up and they're like, 'oh yeah you're filming a TV show'."Watch clips from the show above.Miranda McGarity is a travel director for Trafalgar, who spends months at a time leading groups on bucket list trips around North America. Though Miranda does tours all across the US and Canada, she has a soft spot for a certain place.A lot of Aussies tend to stick to the west coast when they visit Canada - hitting up the ski slopes around Vancouver and then heading south to the US. But Miranda thinks everyone should visit the eastern part of Canada at least once. One unique thing she loves about the area is the mix of two cultures - French and Canadian. She guides a tour with Trafalgar which starts in Toronto and Niagara, then ends in Montreal and Quebec. "It's really wonderful to have two different types of cultures all in one experience."There's also a great mix of urban cities and gorgeous nature. "You start in a big city like Toronto which is very multicultural, everything you need is right there. Then you drive a few hours and all of a sudden you're at an absolutely gorgeous waterfall, Niagara. "The juxtaposition between the two is incredible."Then there's Quebec City, which she says is "the most European of all of the Canadian cities, and it's still got its original walls."In eastern Canada, you're getting a little bit of everything, she says. "People love Vancouver and Banff and Whistler and those places are wonderful, but you're really missing out if you don't go all the way across and visit eastern Canada too. I just feel like the whole country is well worth exploring."Despite seven years of experience - and an award for Travel Director of the Year - under her belt, Travel Guides was a whole new kettle of fish. Miranda recounts how Karly and Bri "took me under their wing" to get comfortable in front of the camera, giving her makeup tips and pointers on how to present herself. It was "so wonderful to have people kind of take you in," she says. In fact, Miranda's fondest memories of her time travelling with the Travel Guides was the close relationships she built with each of them.She had a great night, she says, splitting a bottle of wine and sharing laughs with Matt and Brett, and having "family dinners" with the whole group. "It was just really amazing to get to do this with people and show [Canada] to them."If it sounds like Miranda has a dream job, you'd be right. But it's not an easy gig to land. She started her career at Trafalgar's sister brand, Contiki, where she had to go through a rigorous training program. "When you go on group travel, a lot of times, your travel director can make or break your experience, and we take that really seriously," she says."You have to give up your previous job and go on a month-long interview process where you go from coast to coast in the United States on a coach."Basically, aspiring tour directors shadow existing ones, joining them on tours and getting a feel for the job. "You'll be driving through a city, and all of a sudden they'll look at you and say, 'get up, give us a tour'. You've never been there before. So you're making things up off the top of your head and learning from Wikipedia as you go."She also recounted one time where the guide woke her up in the middle of the night to say 'someone's broken a leg. What do you do? Where do you take them?'"And at the end of the tour, you might get hired and you might not. It's really one of the most difficult things that I've ever done."