Ontario Adventures
TORONTO TAKE ONE!
Having arrived at around 4am in the hotel, we wake quite early and head out to get our bearings and a coffee. Will has recommended Pilot Coffee Roasters in the mall opposite our hotel which doesn’t disappoint. We are staying at the W for this first spell in Toronto and it is in a great central location with friendly staff and the café at the front does great coffee. https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/yyzwh-w-toronto/overview When we hear from Will we grab an uber to their place in St Clair. Their apartment is lovely in a nice area and they have set it up well for their work from home needs as well as a great place to live. We set off for what ends up being a huge walk around Toronto which is a great way to see the city and get a feel for the vibe.
We head to Paris Paris for brunch https://www.parisparis.ca/ passing an amazing Greek house on the way and several green park areas. We carry on to the waterfront and enjoy a stroll around Exhibition Place and East Island where there is a moccasin identifier, part of an Ontario wide programme to honour the past and the First Nations people. From Coronation Park we head to the CN tower. We have tickets to go to the very top and enjoy this VIP trip and the amazing views. The CN tower uses a state-of-the-art weather and lightening monitoring system to be aware of the weather conditions impacting the tower 24 hours a day. This is important as lightning strikes the tower on average 75 times a year. There are fun facts at the top including the fact that the CN Tower is approximately 57626 Lego bricks tall (553 metres) and is the largest tower in the Western Hemisphere and houses the world’s highest wine cellar. After our elevated experience we head for a drink and then part ways as we are all quite tired. Tim and I are happy with cheese and crackers in our hotel room and have an early night.
Monday dawns and we hit the gym conscious that we haven’t worked out other than biking and walking for over a week now. Our plan today is one of our favourites - the hop on hop off bus. We catch this just around the corner from the W hotel in Yorkville and enjoy a very pleasant couple of hours getting to know the city better.
We pass the Royal Ontario Museum (which we will visit on our second stay in Toronto), the amazing Casa Loma, a Gothic Revival castle-style mansion and garden that is now a historic house museum and landmark. It was constructed from 1911 to 1914 as a residence for financier Sir Henry Pellatt and has over 98 bedrooms. The architect was E. J. Lennox, who designed several other city landmarks. We take a trip through Chinatown and learn more of the poor treatment of the Chinese when they came to help build the railway. We travel through the Distillery District, see the place where Drake started his career as an actor, pass the Hockey Hall of Fame and alight at Sankofa Square which is very like Picadilly Circus.
After a nice lunch in Eataly we walk back to the W and meet up with Blair and Will at King Taps https://kingtaps.com/locations/first-canadian-place/ for dinner before we head to watch the Blue Jays and Philly baseball game.
It is only my second baseball game, and our seats are amazing right at the top of the stadium affording us a great view of what is happening. The chanting and singing are lots of fun and Blair treats himself to an ice-cream served in a plastic baseball cap!
We have enjoyed our introduction to Toronto and have fun plans for our days here at the end of our holiday.
GEORGIAN BAY – A PORTAL INTO THE PAST
As we did in the Rocky's we are renting again from SIXT and pick up a brand-new BMW x3 from their Toronto Airport site to drive to Collingwood, which turns out to be one very straight long road! Our accommodation here is a “freebie” through our Interval International exchange at a place called Living Waters https://www.livingwaterresorts.com/ While once this area was the play place of the rich and famous, you can tell that it has not fared as well in recent years and the resort could do with a facelift. Our room is ok though and the resort is right on the bay, so we head out to get beer, wine and food and rustle up a chicken salad for dinner.
We have a walk around the resort in the morning which is rich in bird life and we spot an American Robin, Northern Flicker and a Merganser duck. After sorting our washing out at the local laundrette and buying a very good drive-through coffee from Collingwood Coffee we decide to visit the Scenic Caves Nature Adventures site in the Blue Mountains https://sceniccaves.com/ This turns out to be a great find. The walk we choose (and there are several to choose from) takes us through the Caverns. Once under water they were formed over the course of hundreds of millions of years following ice movement from the glacial age.
The earliest records of the site are from the 17th century and record the Huron and Peton peoples who farmed and hunted in the area. On the walk you pass through a former chief council chamber, see the maidenhair fern, avoid the bear cave and feel the change of temperature in the ice cave. We head on further enjoying the lookout point at the Ridge Top and cross the Suspension bridge, the longest in Ontario.
We are lucky enough to see a chipmunk and discover that the difference between it and a ground squirrel is the racing stripes the chipmunk has on its head and face.
The whole park has plenty for kids to do including a flying fox through the forest and in winter has cross country ski trails. Back in Collingwood we are booked into the Tremont Café in the Dorchester Hotel for dinner https://www.thetremontcafe.com/ which surprises us on the upside. The restaurant is set around a beautiful bar with old black and white movies playing and the menu is amazing. I opt for a dish called Hen of the Woods and am a little surprised that it features no chicken whatsoever but a wonderful blend of different mushrooms. This restaurant really was a first class visit in Collingwood.
We have a later start the next morning and work out in the resort gym. We head into town for a coffee and brunch and walk up and down the main street. We have facial and massage treatments booked at the resort in the afternoon which are first class, and we enjoy the relaxation after the pace of the last couple of weeks.
Afterwards we walk along the Boardwalk – it turns out to be a stunning walk with so many birds and bird boxes. There are some very poignant boards reflecting the poor treatment of First Nations people in the area. We come across a chipmunk drinking from a puddle – it must have been very young as it was tiny. The area also has snapping turtles but we didn’t see any. We spot a Common grackle, a blackbird with a bright blue throat that shines in the sunlight. The walk from the resort to the old port and back is about 5km and gives us a real feel for Collingwood today and what it would have been like in its heigh day.
We also pass a stone commemorating a historic swim across Georgian Bay – some 31km – by John Scott, who did it to raise awareness for the 1997 Special Olympics Winter Games which were held in Collingwood and Toronto. We have dinner at the hotel, a lovely restaurant set beside the water. The food was lovely, unfortunately the service was slow!
For our last morning we get up early and return to the drive-through coffee stop we had on our first day and then pick up our hired ebikes from https://www.littleeds.com/ on the Boardwalk path. We do an hour cycle on the Georgian Cycleway which stretches all the way from Collingwood to Meaford, 34km. It is really pretty, off road and tree lined, a great way to finish our time here.
After checking out of our resort we drive from Collingwood through Duntroo and Singhampton to Shelbourne. This drive is the opposite of our drive here from Toronto. The countryside is beautiful and the area is a real food bowl. When we join the motorway it is a different story. 10 lanes across down through Orangeville to Hamilton and then on to the Queen Elizabeth Motorway – absolutely terrifying and I am once again relieved that Tim is driving.
WINE AND WET IN NIAGARA
We arrive in Niagara on the Lake a little early to check into our Stayz accommodation so we head into town and walk along the high street opting for a late lunch in The Epicurean https://theepicurean.ca/ and Tim has a beer and wine to relax after the drive as I offer to drive to pick up Will and Blair from the bus station later on. Niagara on the Lake was burned during the War of 1812-1814 and has a flag to commemorate the rebuilding of the town. This was done by the citizens mainly in the British classical architectural tradition. Beginning in the 1950’s the residents rehabilitated and restored the old structures demonstrating an exceptional commitment to the preservation of local heritage.
It is really a very pretty town surrounded by 100’s of vineyards. We are really taken aback by how many there are. Our home for the weekend is lovely. Located in Virgil just a few km’s from Niagara on the Lake it is a huge two-bedroom apartment built under Stan the owners' home with every comfort you can imagine and private use of the gazebo in the garden. We buy what we think we need for the weekend and then we set off to pick up Will and Blair in St Catharines. Unfortunately, my well-planned route which avoided any freeway driving was unhelpfully rerouted by Apple and I ended up driving on the terrifying freeway resulting in a slight panic attack on the Skyway bridge!! It was only 4 minutes but felt like a lifetime before we were back on quieter, safer roads. With Will and Blair safely back at the apartment we head out for dinner at night at Kitchen 76 by Two Sisters
https://www.twosistersvineyards.com/visit/dining/ which turns out to be a lovely outdoor setting looking out over the vineyards. The food is lovely and we catch up on the news of each other’s week.
We have a leisurely start and head for brunch at Treadwell Restaurant in Niagara on the Lake https://www.treadwellcuisine.com and a walk up and down the main street including some time in the Christmas shop which literally stocks every Christmas decoration you can imagine. Of course we purchase a couple! Then we head back to change and join our half day Cycle Tour with Grape Escape https://www.tourniagarawineries.com/ .
It is a small group consisting of us, a lady travelling on her own and a group of five girlfriends on a girl’s weekend. Our guide, Ted, is a very interesting guy in his late 60’s and a keen cyclist. He is also very knowledgeable about the area and the vineyards. We are to visit three vineyards this afternoon; Bellaterra
https://bellaterravineyards.ca/ Riverview https://www.riverviewcellars.com/ and Marynissen https://marynissen.com/ . As well as tasting some lovely wines at each location, we learn why the area is so prolific for wine growing, how ice wine is made and the story of the major wine companies in the area. We cycle about 18km in total and the route itself is lovely and provides us with a wider appreciation of the area than we had from just driving around. We have a brief stop at the little chapel https://tourstoniagarafalls.com/visit-living-water-wayside-chapel-canadas-smallest-church/ which claims to be the smallest wedding chapel in the world.
All vineyards are planted north to south due to the impact of the lake. The wind comes off the lake, and it is needed to heat the earth for the vines during frosts. Ted tells us about some of the harsh economics of wine making and describes how ice wine is made from the frozen grapes.
We would highly recommend this tour, a great way to spend an afternoon. Following this we are booked for dinner at Reve https://byreve.com/ I had thought that we were having the 10-course menu but had missed the reservation instruction to give them 24 hours notice that we wanted to do this. However the chef agreed to do 8 courses. It was a delicious, a real culinary delight and again, like Collingwood, amazing to find something like this in a relatively small place.
The weather could not have been more different the next day – wet and rainy and we have an early start to head to Niagara Falls. We have booked a Best of Niagara Falls Canada Premium Tour: Behind Falls and Boat with See Site tours (through Trip Advisor) and we find our guide Mani and head to the Behind the Falls experience – I had been expecting some kind of show so was delighted as we actually get to walk behind the falls into a couple of tunnels leading to a portal. The noise and power of the water is amazing. The great lakes come together here and make up 20% of the world's fresh water.
While not the tallest waterfall in the world, Niagara Falls are surely one of the most impressive and the combination of height and volume makes them breathtaking. The Canadian Horseshoe Falls (one of the three falls that make up the Niagara Falls, the others being the Bridal Veil Falls and the American Falls) drops an average of 57 metres into the Lower Niagara River and connects Lake Erie and Ontario. 2832 tonnes of water per second flows over the falls in the high season.
It is hard to describe the sheer force and power of the water as it cascades past you in the portals. From here we head to do maple syrup tasting at Maple Leaf Place https://www.mapleleafplace.ca where we taste the three types of maple syrup, golden, maple and dark and see the bottling set up and taste the chocolate they have here as well.
Next up is the boat trip to the Horseshoe Falls – red ponchos to keep us dry on the Canadian side and blue ponchos for the American boats on the US side.
This trip is spectacular and we get very very wet. The boat takes us right up and almost under the waterfall and seeing the force of the water from this angle is amazing.
Back on shore we treat ourselves to beer and hot chips to warm up, then Mani drives us to the Skylon Tower where you can look down on the Falls.
Still being quite damp we head back to our homestay for a hot shower and then opt to visit the Angel Inn (British pub style) https://oldeangelinn.com/ for a late lunch where we all choose a different kind of pie! It is still raining and Will and Blair must head back to Toronto tonight, so we drive them to the bus station and Tim and I have a cheese and biscuits and wine quiet evening.
For our final morning here we have a coffee and a walk along the lakeside. The view across to the US and the difference in weather from yesterday is unreal, with bright sunshine making everything look beautiful.
At the side of the lake there is a monument to the solo swims in Lake Ontario including some impressive times for the 51km swim. It is time to head back to Toronto and we think we are driving to a sports outlet place on the way back that Tim believes he spotted on the way here – we clearly have the wrong address as we end up in a residential street however we do see our only beaver on this trip as it crossed the road in a place called Beaver Dam which was cool.
BACK TO TORONTO FOR TAKE TWO!
We take the hire car back to Sixt – we have loved the brand-new car - and then catch an uber to our accommodation, called Movenpick Suites at 101 Peter Street in Downtown Toronto, booked through booking.com. We are early for our check-in so hangout in the café opposite for pizza and beer. The apartment when we get in is nice – one bedroom and balcony and very high up so after unpacking we head out to walk around this new part of the city, looking for a wine bar.
On our walk we pass a place called Vinny’s so we get a picture for him! We must have taken all the wrong turnings as we don’t find a nice wine bar and end up having a disappointing beer in a grungy pub then head back to freshen up. In the evening we venture out to a bar called Piccolo https://www.piccolocaffe.ca/ for snacks and nice wine. The bar man hails from Wellington in New Zealand! Tim is not feeling great so has an early night and I watch the NZ v Iran world cup game which is excellent.
Our trip the next day is a visit to Toronto Island. To get there we have ordered ebikes from Toonie Tours https://www.toonietours.ca so we grab a Sam Jones coffee and then walk to their offices along King Street. It turns out to be a brand-new franchise with beautiful new Trex bikes. After a hair-raising cycle down Yonge Street, one of the busiest streets downtown we arrive at the Ferry Terminal and catch the ferry over to Toronto Island, which is in fact three islands. We land at Hanlan’s Point Dock where there is a statue of Ned Hanlan, a famous rower from the 19th century who lost only 6 of the 300 races he did during his career and was world champion from 1880 to 1884! In the early 1900’s Hanlan’s Point was the site of a hugely popular amusement park that drew thousands of visitors from the city – named the Coney Island of Canada, it included a professional baseball stadium. It was here that Babe Ruth at 19 hit his first professional home run in 1914. We are amused that nearly all our fellow boat travels make a beeline for the “clothing optional beach” which stretches up this side of the island.
We cycle on the path and reach Gibraltar Point which is a lovely beach and virtually deserted. There is also a lighthouse here which is disused. Pushing on to Centre Island (all the islands are connected by quaint bridges) we pass the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, one of three on the island. The beautiful St-Andrew-by-the-Lake Church is here, still used for Sunday services and weddings. In the middle of Centre Island is a park and long pond where they hold regattas. It also houses Centreville a children’s amusement park and we treat ourselves to an early lunch in the Carousel Cafe here. After lunch we cycle past the Disc Golf Course – not a game we have ever come across before.
The final Island is two islands – Ward’s and Algonquin. Here there are 262 homes and about 750 permanent residents. The houses are all unique and very quaint. What started as a place where fisherman camped became a tent city and by 1931 Ward Islanders were allowed to build permanent cottages on their campsites. The houses surround Willow Square with a beautiful 3 metre pebble mosaic that depicts island life. Over the bridge on Algonquin Island there is a very different feel. Originally called Sunfish Island it was a low sandbar. Sand was pumped up from the bay and lagoon to make it higher and more suitable for building houses. It became home to many WW2 returning veterans.
We catch the ferry back from Ward’s Island Ferry Dock and decide that we will cycle along the route that takes us past Exhibition Place and the World Cup Soccer stadium until we get to Lakeshore Boulevard and then turn and retrace our steps.
We have had good weather all day but it is starting to rain a little so we are glad when we get our bikes back to Toonie Tours. Back at the apartment Will pops around to meet us and we head out to Chops https://chop.ca/locations/toronto-downtown a steak house for dinner where we meet up with Blair. Will has booked us tickets to the musical @Juliet at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. We have a fabulous evening with great singers and a funny story line.
Our final full day in Toronto turns out to be quite a wet day. Not to be put off we grab a coffee from Sam Jones again and walk up University Avenue to the Royal Ontario Museum. We enjoy the Bee exhibition and Psychedelic exhibition, but we are a little disappointed that there is not much about Canada or the first nations people in the museum.
They are in the process of building a new wing, which we think might house this in the future. We head to Yorkville, the area we stayed in during our first Toronto week and grab lunch in Trattoria Nervosa https://eatnervosa.com/ .
Tim is really feeling average at this point, so he heads back to the apartment, and I walk down Yonge to find a nail parlour for a badly needed manicure and pedicure and then onto Eaton Mall to get Blue Jays shirts for Keyson and Keyo, the boys next door at home. I get back in time to watch the England game, which is very exciting before we get dressed up for one last time to meet Will and Blair for dinner in the Harriet Rooftop bar at 1Hotel https://www.1hotels.com/toronto/taste/harriets-rooftop – great Japanese food and a lovely close to our time together. It has been such a treat to hang out with these guys, and we will now be able to picture where they are when we talk which is lovely.
We head back from Toronto to Vancouver the next morning and catch a train into Vancouver city to pass the time until our late evening flight. The city is alive as Canada are to play Qatar that afternoon and you can hardly move for fans in red and white – every bar, every shop, the atmosphere is infectious.
We have loved our time here and know that we will return to see more of this vast and diverse country. On the homeward flight I am once again served double fruit platters for all my meals – I must remember to change that setting with Air New Zealand!!!
Photos courtesy of @alpstobeachphotos
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