Day 4 Tour Montreal to Toronto via Ottawa

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Wednesday 13 October
Day 4 Montreal to Toronto via Ottawa 403 miles 648km

Another long day today in front of us, we detour via Ottawa to our destination of Toronto. The hotel coffee shops was so slow, 25 minutes for another weird iced late this time. 

The colours of the foliage never cease to amaze me here. The drive to Ottawa was pleasant. Keara and irena once again slept the majority of the way. We meandered through leafy areas into the main centre of Ottawa  which is made up of a combination of functioning but very old and majestic buildings as well as a huge array of museums, public art and galleries. It's a very scenic city and henk gave us a few opportunities to "make beautiful photos" as he says. A quick stop to the museum of civilization was one of those chances to view the skyline from the other side of the river. We also saw a large range of intricate totem poles that were absolutely massive, some as high as 20 meters.

Carmel was able to meet up with her friend Buddy who she hadn't seen for 25 years, although it was only a short catch up, she was so glad that he took the day off for the 30 minute chat.

Back on the bus and on our way to Toronto, the largest city in Canada. I have to say that I had a few reservations about an organized bus tour, but am really enjoying it. There are close to 30 Aussies on here and I was a little worried there would be some "ockers" on here. It has been well paced, interesting and Henk and Sam have been great hosts. Yes, the early starts are somewhat tiring, but we wouldn't get to see half the things that we have been. 

Today was the first of our optional tours that we decided to take, it was a river cruise on the St.Lawrence River. The bus drive to our boat was stunning. It looked like a real holiday retreat, but I'm sure that people live here permanently. All the houses and landscaping was immaculate, it's obvious that people around here take real pride in the presentation of their homes. The riverside road gave a perfect vantage point of the small islands that made up this area called Thousand Islands. 
We arrived at a little hamlet style dock area, I can't say it enough but it was a gorgeous setting. We set off on the boat, we sat in plastic outdoor chairs on the bottom, it was a little cool but comfortable. The islands ranged from the size of a four wheeled drive to an averaged sized street block. And again the presentation was perfect. Some of them had 3 boat garages that sat on the water with roller doors. One of the properties comprised of 2 islands, one large one with a home on it and the other a smaller one, the interesting point of this property was that it was joined by a bridge of about 25 meters long and the large property was in Canadian waters and the smaller one in the USA. Another distinct island had a huge castle on it, I think it was some kind of tourist destination, but was closed as the season is coming to a close up this way. This was a very worthwhile cruise and would recommend it to anyone.

As we approached the large city of Toronto the weather turned a little and it started to rain. We arrived at the Sheraton Toronto around 7ish and we placed our hand luggage In the room quickly before embarking on an underground shopping and eating expedition. PATH is the name given to the myriad of under city walkways and shopping precincts under Toronto, it's huge! We arrived back, showered and crashed.
      

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