Advertisement
Published: December 3rd 2008
Patrick's lovely plums......!
From Ottawa we moved on to Niagara Falls, one of the seven great Wonders of the World and it certainly was magnificent. Instead of the usual day trip from Toronto, which a lot of people that we had met along the way had done or were doing, we chose to stay for 3 nights in Niagara. This later turned out to be a great decision.
On arrival at the hostel, we were greeted by our super-friendly host Patrick, who insisted on us sampling some of his delicious, local-grown, yellow plums everytime we passed reception. After a long chat (with our backpacks still on), we finally dropped our bags in our room and headed down to the falls to catch the evening fireworks display. What a beautiful sight this was. Our first glimpse of the falls and they were lit with multi-coloured lights and the sky above them was decorated with the spectacular colours of the fireworks. On our way back to the hostel we stopped and watched a man making fudge at a local shop. The amount of sugar he put in the mix was enough to make your teeth fall out.... but we still bought
some!
The following morning we got our first view of Niagara Falls in daylight. Having heard about the different ways of experiencing the falls, we decided to buy the adventure pass which allowed us to do 4 different activities over 2 days. First we went on the 'Maid of the Mist' boat ride beneath the falls. We donned our sexy, blue, plastic poncho's and boarded the boat. Only when we were beneath the falls did we appreciate how big they actually are and the sheer volume of water that passes over them. Fortunately, neither of us, or the camera got too wet. Later in the afternoon we began our second adventure, the journey behind the falls. This gave more of a background to the falls, literally! We learnt all about the lunatics who had ventured over the falls ib barrells etc and across on tight-ropes whilst flipping pancakes. Unfortunately, going over in a barrel was not included in our adventure pass, all thrill seeking acts are now banned. By the time we'd worked our way throught the tunnels to the back of the falls, we were feeling slightly let down by the view. SHeets of water were pouring down
in front of us, but we could have been anywhere. Yes, thge sound and ferocity of the water was astonishing but the view was just white sheets of water and it felt a bit of a con for this to be included in the 'adventure pass'.
Our final two adventures were the White Water Walk and the Butterfly Conservatory. The White Water Walk took us along some decking that ran parallel to the class 6 rapids of the Niagara River. Having seen the volume of water flowing over the falls, down stream the river narrows and therefore the ferocity of the water is highly intensified, making this one of the most dangerous stretches of river in the World. Consequently, white water rafting is not permitted!
In contrast, the Butterfly Conservatory was a very peaceful and tranquil environment. Thousands of different species of butterfly roam free and land on you while you explore this haven of plants and cacoons.
On our last day in Niagara Falls, our train wasn't leaving for Toronto until 6pm so we thought it would be a good idea to make the most of our day and hire bikes from our hostel and cycle
to Niagara-on-the-Lake. What we didn't consider was that it was all well and good cycling down hill to the lake but we still had to get back before 4:30pm. It took us 2 hours to cycle the 21km there, we had a quick bite to eat and then it was time to get back in the saddle. We were totally exhausted by the time we got back to the hostel. Niagara-on-the-Lake was beautiful but definitely a retirement village, it was full of lavender and zimmer frames.
Niagara Falls proved to be a welcome break from city life and we could probably have spent a little longer here to unwind completely. Despite the glitz and commercialism of the hight st, the Niagara area is stunning and definitely worth a few days visit rather than your hop-on hop-off tour bus trip.
Walking in a Maple Leaf wonderland!
Our last stop in the east of Canada was Toronto, famed not only for it's size and cosmopolitan feel but more importantly (for Chris) the birthplace of ice hockey and home to the Hall of Fame. After arriving on the train late in the evening from Niagara, our first
evening was spent settling in to the small hostel right in the heart of the city.
The following day we set out on foot to gain a feel for the city. In all honesty, our first impressions weren't great and it felt like just another city. After leaving Niagara on a high, we felt slightly let down by what we saw in Toronto. Having walked down to the water front on the side of Lake Ontario where everything seemed to be closed, we headed to the shopping centre but as Chris was in such a bad mood, we ended up back at the hostel drowning our sorrows in a large pan of curry!
After a disappointing first day we spent the following day at the Hockey Hall of Fame and it was most definitely the best part of Toronto. Chris had been looking forward to this for ages and it captured our attention for virtually the whole day. The museum was dedicated to everything and anything to do with the sport, from the very first days with extremely basic equipment, through to the trophy cabinets containing awards won by past and present teams. There was also a hands
on exhibit which gave Chris the chance to shoot some pucks! The highlight of the museum though, was getting to touch the Stanley Cup and have our photo taken with it. Chris thought all his Christmases had come at once.
When you look out from the shore of Lake Ontario, it's hard to believe that the massive expanse of water is a lake and not actually the sea. On a clear day it is possible to see the other side from certain points along the lake. However, you are more likely to see nothing but oil tankers and container ships passing on the horizon. This is all true except when you are stood on the water front at Toronto. Just off shore are a couple of islands which boast parks and beaches and provide a means of escape from city life. We caught the ferry over to Centre Island and spent half a day wandering along the pier, the beach and around the parks. The view looking back on Toronto from the Island was spectacular.
Our final evening was spent in China Town where we ended up in a Thai Restaurant! With the staff only speaking broken English
and the menu written in a similar fashion we both chose meals fairly randomly. However, Jayne's pet hate (after custard) is lemongrass and soemhow, out of all the items on the menu, she managed to order a dish containing seemingly nothing but lemongrass! Consequently, she went to bed with an empty tummy!
Toronto was by no means the most enjoyable city we have visited in Canada but it proved to satisfy Chris' longing to pick up a hockey stick after 1 month away from the game. Perhaps we had come to a stage where we were all 'citied-out' and needed a break from the sight seeing. We made the most of our time here but wouldn't fly back in a hurry.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.065s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0321s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Martin Toole
non-member comment
Fudge, plums and custard...
Well, you two know how to make all the right decisions and the one to stay over, what a great idea. I'd personally love to visit Canada but I feel that with the descriptive way that you are presenting your travels, that I've been already! Another epic part of your journey and fabulous to be able to share it. Glad you kept the camera dry Chris, otherwise we'd be without pictures for future blogs. I hope Jayney didn't go to bed hungry, what a tale!! Look out for each other, missing you loads. Dad T.