"It's Not Niagara!"

Toronto & Around (1st-5th August, 2006)

After Amsterdam we had a day in which we turned Bern's flat in London in to a Chinese laundry! It was also then that I realised how much stuff I had accumulated since arriving in London seven months ago. I have left quite a substantial bag plus a smaller bag and my bike in a garage in Marble Arch, central London. I can officially no longer carry all my belongings in one trip!

Standby
We were on standby to fly to Toronto from London because we decided to leave London a week earlier and the flights were full. Our hopes were shattered when we met 2 old women who had been waiting for the past 3 days on standby to fly to Toronto. It wasn't until later we discovered that they didn't actually even have a ticket which puts them at the bottom of the priority listing. We waited for four and a half hours before being called up to get on a flight. And just like the Amazing Race we had to run to the departure gate to get on our flight. We had to take the scenic route to Toronto via St. Johns (State of Newfoundland) and Halifax (State of Nova Scotia). Our luggage also seemed to take a scenic route and didn't reach us until 2 days later. There were several phone calls made to Air Canada. I remember hearing someone say once to always carry spare underwear in your carry on luggage!

Toronto (Hostel International Toronto)
Great views over Toronto City, Toronto Islands and the Harbour from the CN Tower. Majorly overpriced to go up the tower and we didn't even make it to the highest point in the tower. I think the views would have been great at night.
Caught the ferry across to the Toronto Islands and wandered around the beautiful parks. Checked out the haunted Gibralta Lighthouse (many years ago one of the lighthouse keepers disappeared and his skeleton was later found). BBQ dinner on the Islands before witnessing a spectacular lightening storm on the ferry journey back to Toronto. We even saw the CN tower struck by lightening (apparently the tower is struck hundreds of times during the year).

Niagara Falls (King Waldorf Camping Ground)
We spotted the mist from Niagara Falls before we even exited the highway. The Falls were spectacular. From then on during our trip if we saw another waterfall (regardless of whether is was beautiful) we'd say 'It's not Niagara!' Journey Behind the Falls allowed us to enter the tunnels which took you out behind the falls. It bucked down in the evening so we drove by the falls and saw them lit up.
Walked across the Rainbow Bridge in to New York State to get a closer look at the American Falls. We were fingerprinted and photographed when entering the States. Walked across to Goat Island which separates the Horseshoe and American Falls.

Rockpoint Provincial Park (Camped at park on shores of Lake Erie)
Swam in one of the Great freshwater Lakes (Lake Erie). This was just the start of one of many of the great campsites we would stay. In the evening we went looking for deer and skunks but didn't have any luck with our wildlife spotting.

Toronto (Hostel International Toronto)
Spent one last afternoon in Toronto. The hostel organised baseball tickets and a tour of the Steam Whistle Brewery before the match started. The Toronto Blue Jays got thrashed by the Chicago White Sox. The SkyDome is a fantastic stadium and the atmosphere at the game was great. We were hanging out for the organ!

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