The beginning...

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After a Mission Impossible III and Dodge Ball double bill on the plane journey we arrived in Toronto, slightly dis-orientated thanks to the time difference.

A short bus journey into the city centre and we arrived at our hostel - the Global Village Backpackers. Hmmm interesting. The hostel in clean and we had our own private room which was decorated in a 'Rolling Stones' theme (leopard skin bed cover - nice) but we are clearly 10 years older than everyone!! Not to worry. We had a few beers and tried not let that bother us. Got an early night only to be woken up at 530am when the rest of the hostel decided to go to bed.

Next day we signed up for the Magic bus - a tour company running trips to the Niagara Falls. Only $30 CAD for a full days entertainment but again we are clearly the oldest! The trip included a stop at a vine yard near Niagara to start our wine tour earlier than expected and try some ice wine (grapes are picked slightly later in December after 3 consecutive nights of 'negative 15' degrees), a stop at Niagara Falls and then Niagara-on-the-Lake. Did all the usual stuff at Niagara - lady in the mist etc - it is a fantastic sight but its actually quite a tacky area with casinos and fairground type rides. We expected something a little more rural.

We are slowly getting into the backpacker 'save the bucks' mentality! We ate dinner in a chinese in the heart of china town for about the equivalent of 9 pounds total including beers and an unbelievable amount of food. However, we totally blew this by spending about the same shortly after on two beers in a bar in town! Oh well, live and learn!

On our final full day in Toronto we explored the city itself. Its not an amazing city - we originally planned 5 days here but there was clearly too much as one day was clearly sufficient to see all the sites. The CN Tower was good - a view from the sky pod at the top was breath taking.

Thursday morning we boarded our VIA Rail train from Union station in Toronto for the 2 1/2 day journey to Jasper in the Rockies. We were warned that this may be boring as the scenery through Ontario, Manitoba, & Saskatchewan was quite monotinous, but we actually quite enjoyed it. The country is vast and some of the views were amazing. Still we were glad to stretch our legs when we arrived in Jasper!

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Photos

Global Village Backpackers
Global Village Backpackers

Comments

[Dids]

Hey Guys!
Any pictures of the bush yet? Or the mountains? Bet there were some nice views on the train as you got close to Jasper. Toronto looks very built up but I guess it's a big city. As for the age of backpackers you'll get that loads but don't be down hearted its much better in S. America (but will get worse again in Australasia!)... It's all good fun! x

[Teresa]

Keeping in touch
Hi you two - I'll keep it short as you will no doubt receive loads of comments on your blog. Just wanted to say your Mum (Carole) passed this on to me and it is so nice to keep up with your adventure. Will look forward to hearing more of your travels.

[Andy]

age
you old - spare a thought for some of your squash colleagues. Age isn't a problem as long as you can differentiate between times to be mature and immature. Party with the youngsters they normally know how to do it cheaply!!!!