helllooo Canada
September 3rd, 2006
well despite Zoom not wanting me to fly (cos I hadnt got a return ticket) I made it to Canada…and thru their customs within 30 secs (despite zoom telling me I was in for a proper ‘grilling’)
toronto is a mahoosive place…sprawing over a loooong way
The CN tower i the only part of it I’m really interested in seeing tho. I watched the sun set from there on Friday night (1st sept)….magical….as was the expression on the two young girls faces as I jumped up and down on the glass floor of the observation patform (approx 1300m above ground level)
stayed in a nice hotel for the first night, as the Hostel had messed up
then took a 2 hour train trip to Niagara (it only looks a little way on the map!)…unfortuntaly its chucking it down as we’re getting the tail end of a hurricane from down south
the Falls are fab, but not as high as I thought…until you go on the ‘maid of the mist’ boats to the Falls bottom (no, you dont start at the top and travel down – tho the first person to do it was a 63yr old woman!!) its like REALLY fab from the bottom – and VERY wet…..even IN the boat
took a load of photos of the Falls illuminations – they happen nightly thru the summer – and then the firework display at 10pm…….cany upload them at the mo, but I’ll do it later (assuming they’re any good) I found the perfect place for the photos along the river walk…….waited almost 3 hours to keep the spot…only for the traffic police to cordon the area off and chuck me out….DOH!
oh and V8’s ROCK!!!! -never seen so many BIG ‘pick-ups’, including LOTS of 2500 RAM’s and loads of Hummers (most of which appear to be yellow………is that so you dont miss them????!!!)
tomorrow, I’m getting a bus to Stoney Creek, to visit ‘Chuggy’s Tap & grill’, then on to Toronto
its all very laid back and holiday like……except I’m on me own……..maybe I’l lget used to it……I hope not
…oh, and Canadian prices are lies – they dont include taxes, so what you see AINT wot yu pay – VERY strange
\\more later folks,
Posted in Travel | 6 Comments »
Tags: chuggy, niagara, falls, CN, Tag Index
rounders
September 4th, 2006
today (back in Toronto) I went to a game of rounders:\Toronto Blue Jays V. some Indians
not my cup of tea: I ate a ‘dog had a beer in my seat and got thoroughly bored
the game is split into innings of 3 ‘outs’ at which point the ‘other’ team bats
it is SO uninvolving…shown perfectly when they ave a 5th inning ’stretch’ where everyone stands up and stretcheds to relieve the boredom
…then at the 7th inning, they get some dancers on a podium…to relieve the boredom
the ground was only 1/4 full at the start, then filled to about a 1/3 by the end of the game
nice thing was it was only $9 to get in (aboot a fiver)
..and the airshow was on so we had nice planes buzzing us\….oh and the CN tower is literally next door
nice setting, crap game
pics will follow (honest!)
Posted in Travel | 6 Comments »
Tags: Tag Index
to Jasper …and beyond!!!
September 11th, 2006
2 and a half days on a train was quite a trip – from toronto to Jasper in Alberta (2 time zones away)
the train ride was pretty uneventful – with little sleep (if anyone else does it, then try to get a seat on the skydeck (think thats wot its called)…you can stretch out a bit better up there
Cant beleive how many trees there are in Canada…you’re in forests almost the whole way across, apart from the Prairies.
met some nice folks on the train who gave me more ideas on where to go (thanks Don & Jo)
Jasper is in THE most beautiful setting in the rockies – mountains all around and beautiful blue and green lakes…and creamy/milky green rivers (direct from the glaciers so still full of sediment in suspension …assuming you can have sediment in suspension!?!?!)
the HI hostel is a little way up Whistlers mountain…just a quarter mile from the cable car to the top (OK, I’m energy saving!)
the hostel is at 4000ft and Whistlers rises another 2700ft (or thereabouts). views are a little cloudy due to smoke froma forest fire thats been burning for 6 weeks – way South of here, now! But the views are still fab
first day here I hired a mountain bike to do the 5 lakes valley (about 20 miles in total)…I felt so good at the end of it that I thought I’d have lunch then do another lake or two…BIG mistake…I died. I was sooooo knackered I couldnt pedal up to the hostel and had to push the bike the last 3 miles uphill!…..even the next day I got wobbly legs just climbing the smallest hill!
yesterday I took a canoe out onto a lake and river…it was reet early and the cool mountain air and lack of ANY noise was incredible. I paddled around for a few hours till my arms got tired (am I am wimp or wot???) then went for a wander to Maligne Canyon and Lake…the Canyon was pretty spectacliar…the lake was OK, but you need to get a boat ride to see Spirit Island….and I’m tight (well I just had to buy a new camera as the last one (my baby) got PINCHED from the hostel…along with ALL the photos from the trip so far..to say I’m gutted is an understatement…theiving gits!
the wildlife aint as abundant as I thought it would be…..Ive seen some Elk (the Bulls are BIG FELLAS!!!) and Caribou and deer…but no bears or Moose yet (theres plenty of bear marks on trees, where they’ve cleaned there little paws, bless ‘em but none to see yet)
its kinda odd thinking that theres animals out there that want to kill you if they see you…..in Engerrland we only get sheep! -and last I heard, they werent the most violent of animals
heading off to the Icefields now (about 60m south of here) I’ll post when I’ve done it
sorry theres nowt perticklierly entertaining here….its all in the watching and the pictures unfortunately
xx
Tags: Travel
chuggy
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