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Published: August 5th 2007
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Both Falls
You cant see the majority of Horseshow bay but u get the drift Ok, so my original blog got lost in space somewhere so I will attempt to re-create what happened so u can have the pics & some story all in one go! How lucky are you?!!!!!
Everything went well with my final day of work at O’Reilly’s Pub on Danforth Ave. they even gave me a little send off with a present & everything. It was really sweet. The whole leaving thing went a lot easier than expected too with my boss being fine about me leaving. I was impressed by it all but it all became a little daunting that I was actually leaving my newly adopted country.. where I had set up my little life for the past 4 months.
Headed on a Moose Network tour to Niagara falls on Friday 20 July. It was the most awesome day ever! Well, so far anyways. There are so many preconceptions and expectations about Niagara falls all and I was a little apprehensive that they wouldn’t fulfil those expectations. The tour was all day & went via a few little towns around southern Ontario and we also visited the American/Canadian border which is the whirlpool which you can see in
Maid of the Mist
It wasnt the one I was on obviously but this is how close it gets to the falls the pictures where Niagara river takes a sharp bend to form the whirlpool. There was also the Sir Brock monument which is a big part of Canadian history as it is where the British defended the countryside from the Americans who were trying to expand their borders just after the Boston tea party.
Anywho, we eventually got the Niagara about 6pm. Wow is all I could say. I was utterly speechless. Stuff all the expectations etc, this was WAY more than anyone could have ever imagined. Utterly breath-taking. The only downfall was that the town where the falls are is just like a Disneyland. They have so many touristy kind of attractions there that it is just too much.
To explain the falls, there is actually no place called “Niagara Falls”. It is a combination of Horseshoe Bay (the Canadian side) and the American side which I cant remember the name of. The Canadian side is the one that everyone thinks of when you hear Niagara. But anyways, absolutely beautiful to which the pics I’ve put on here have attempted to show. I went on the Maid of the Mist as well so actually got into the falls. AWESOME!!!
So I left for Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on 21st of July. I went via Greyhound bus to Ottawa & then flight to Nova Scotia (it worked out cheaper that way) but first my incindent in Ottawa. Ottawa is the capital of Canada right, so its not a very small place. I thought, being the excellent traveller I am, that I could manage to find my own way from the Greyhound Station to the airport via public transport on my own. I did have the help of my housemate, Ilana, who is from Ottawa so that (I thought) was an advantage.
Well, it turns out I was wrong. She gave me the wrong directions & I ended up on the other side of Ottawa to where I was meant to be & completely lost. I found that the bus for the airport timetable & there was a spot for it to leave from at the station so I assumed I could get on it from there. An hour & a half later the bus still hadn’t came so the nice bus driver on the next bus offered to take me to where I could catch it. 5 hours later I
Niagara Whirlpool
This is a bit further along the river but basically there is a curve in the layout of the river which causes this whirlpool to happen got to the airport.
I arrived in Halifax at about 1am to be told that the shuttle that takes me to my hostel doesn’t leave until 2:30am and a taxi will cost me CA$53. NOT HAPPY JAN!!!!!!
But I wasn’t willing to wait for the shuttle after the day I had had.
The place I was staying was nice & little with a little café in the front. I didn’t do all that much in Halifax as it is only a little town to which I didn’t think I could occupy myself with enough things to do initially but did venture all around & get down to the waterfront quite a bit. Halifax was definitely very beautiful.
Flew back to Ottawa on Tuesday 23rd July. Arrived late at night & slept in the next day so I really only had about half a day to explore. I started by heading down to the Byward markets just down the road from my hostel. Ottawa is a lot more French orientated that Toronto is so you could definitely see the influence going around. I got breakfast from the markets & I couldn’t help but think of you dad when I
walked into a patisserie & there was cheese sticks and apple turnovers there freshly made. And I know how you always complain that they never have enough apple in them, well these were literally exploding with apple with just enough pasty to handle it & the pastry was covered with sugar. You would have loved it & I so wanted to bring one home for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But for the rest of the day I just headed around. Visited Parliament Hill, the Rideau Centre and Rideau Canals and a few others streets around town. It was nice & I really liked Ottawa.
So headed back to Toronto on the Greyhound bus on Thursday 26th July to commence my last weekend shindig with my friends. It started that night with a visit to the hostel that I used to stay at for a bit of drinking. The partying didn’t really stop until the Monday (the day I left) but I had so much fun. Went to the hostel again on the Friday, clubbing on the Saturday, to a skate/music festival on Toronto islands on the Sunday day & then back to the hostel for final farewells on the Sunday night. I
was so sad to leave & was in tears for most of the night. I didn’t want to leave my adopted family behind knowing that I will probably never see them again. It broke my heart.
Monday 30th July I flew to New York City. I was so excited because it meant I was closer to seeing Bron in London. I wasn’t overly fussed with New York however did get out to see a Broadway production, Chicago namely, on the 31st. it was excellent & am so glad I spent the extra money on the ticket. It was expensive but definitely worth it. Saw the statue of liberty, madison square gardens but missed the empire state building. Wasn’t really phased by that though. I did manage to master the metro (subway) in NYC though. Was so impressed with myself.
Anywho, that was the end of my Canadian adventures & I was really sad to leave it all. Now to the ending phase of my travel with the European part of the tour.
Love u all lots & miss you heaps!!!
xoxoxoxoxox
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Mum
non-member comment
Looks good....
Love the pics. You were so quick getting them up this time - must be an old hat at it now. I think that the salt refers to the salt that they put on snow to make it melt! Not sure. Enjoy NY. There will be heaps and heaps of things to do there - the only thing you will run out of is time and money. Luv you heaps Mum