Canada - a week on

Niagara Falls

We've been in Canada a week. Just over a week to go before we head off to Europe to start our Camino in Spain. There's no rush for that - we're being flooded with experiences every day.

Since the last posting, we've been walking every day. Up until Thursday night, our perambulations took us from the Bloor St area of Toronto, where we were staying with Cathie's brother Joe and his wife Deb.

On Wednesday Cathie had a long visit with her mother (after the mandatory RAT test), while Joe and Deb took me off to Balls Falls. Mr Ball and family had the ambitious notion to set up a model industrial village in the 19th century on the banks of the imaginatively named Twenty Mile Creek. At each end of the short walkway is a spectacular waterfall and in between, Mr Ball harnessed the power of the water to drive various mills for the preparation of wool, flour, as well as a lime kiln and various other buildings, including a grand family house. The weather was a study in grey and brown - misty and on the point of drizzle, refreshingly cold.

Lower falls

Grist Mill

Here's an illustrated map of the walk: Wednesday May 4 - Balls Falls - https://www.relive.cc/view/v1OwQKX5wEq

It's been hard to combat Joe and Deb's generosity. After the drive of an hour or so back to Toronto, during which I had a little doze, Cathie and Deb got out at Bloor St to do a little retail therapy while Joe and I drove home. As a small side issue - we're keeping our phones on flight mode, so we don't get access to the wide world until we come into range of wifi. If we turn on normal phone mode even for 30 seconds to check maps, a daily charge of $7 kicks in - a modest charge, but not when you multiply it by our 72 days away. 

Once we arrived in wifi range, I did a quick search on Google maps and found a wine shop 950m away on Bloor St. Informing Joe that I was on a mission, I shot out the door with my day pack on - in search of a small means of counteracting Joe and Deb's largesse.

Something else that's been handy is our pre-loaded Air New Zealand debit card. That is to say, before we left NZ, we found a day when the exchange rates were OK and loaded a few hundred Euro and Canadian dollars - the advantage being that when using the card there are no foreign exchange fees and other charges. 

To cut to the chase - I piled a few bottles of wine on the counter and had a shot at using pay wave (previously I'd slid the card into the machine). It was gratifying to see the word 'approved' light up. 'It worked', I said. 'No it didn't', said the woman behind the counter, 'it didn't show up on my computer'.

It was a bit of an impasse really. I asked if she had wifi so I could check the card's balance online. There was no way she was giving me access to their precious wifi, even if she knew how to access it (which I doubted). I considered grabbing the wine and making a run for it, but in the end grudgingly agreed to repeat the transaction, this time inserting the card. That went well. It showed on her computer and I set off clankingly down the street with a sense of foreboding. With good cause. When I checked the balance on the card it was no surprise to find I'd paid twice for the wretched wine. I phoned them, threatening to bring implements of destruction when I returned the next day to extract my missing dollars.

Thursday brought a change in the weather. Joe needed to work, so Cathie, Deb and I set off towards High Park, where the zoo animals looked languorously at the passers-by and the cherry blossoms were drawing Instagram snappers by the hundreds.

Bison

Deb left us to our own devices and we wandered on through the park until we came out again on Bloor St.

The fringes of High Park

We were ready for our next encounter. We swung into the wine shop, secure in the knowledge that everything would be ready for us. It's true that there was a note saying we'd be back, but sadly the (different) assistant behind the counter just couldn't make things work. Despite my dark and ominous mutterings, the poor woman couldn't make things work. After a couple of fruitless phone calls, she located a godlike presence in their head office and managed to push the right buttons. I flashed my card on the machine and the magic word 'approved' popped up. I'd wait and see the evidence. 

We bought a couple more bottles of wine, had lunch in a cafe and drifted off home. Of course, we found the wine and the cafe boldly displayed on our bank statement, but the credit was not to be seen (yet).

Here's the video of the walk in High Park: Thursday May 5 - High Park - https://www.relive.cc/view/vRO7gNR5KyO

Later that day, another brother, Mark picked us up and off we went to Burlington, less than an hour's drive south. Mark's wife Diane is busy working on the election taking place here, so she was still out, but eventually we were all united.

In the morning we went to the Burlington waterfront on the shores of Lake Ontario. It was bitter, but we were cheered by the knowledge that our missing dollars had finally appeared back on our debit card.

By the lake

The final effects of jet lag were lingering, so we had a lazy day, enlivened by a neighbourhood circuit late in the day before beer, wine, dinner and loads of talking.

Friday May 6 - Burlington waterfront - https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOnZzkZYBO

Neighbourhood walk- https://www.relive.cc/view/vKv213dz14q

The excitement continued on Saturday. We squeezed a lot in. Diane had a conference call at 11am, so Mark, Cathie and I went off for a walk of just over 8km, which was nice.

https://www.relive.cc/view/vKv213KZP4q

The afternoon was crammed. We drove south, stopping at the Welland ship canal, which connects lakes Erie and Ontario. We did a stroll of close to 4km, but sadly no ships obliged us by steaming by.

Off to a fancy golf club for lunch, which was very nice, then a monument to Major General Sir Isaac Brock, a hero of the war of 1812 between the British/Canadian forces and the dastardly Yankees. The denouement of Brock was apparently in a good cause, as that area of land, including the famous Niagara Falls, remains in Canadian hands to this day, although the ominous presence of the US is just a stone's throw away.

Bordering on the ridiculous. Behind is the Niagara River, with Canada to the left, the US to the right.

And so, on to the Niagara Falls. It's almost a cliche, but with good reason. It's an unbelievably powerful work of nature. Of course, it's fully monetised, with every opportunity provided for the making of money. Hundreds. maybe thousands of people joined us in viewing, but we managed to elbow our way through for some good views, at the risk to our future Covid health, However, we were masked and it was windy, so fingers crossed. The air was thick with spray and it was very cold - the lakes had only recently recovered from the icy fingers of winter.

Here's an album of Niagara photos and videos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/NSgUk88Yypk9FLYT9

We had a jolly night, thanks to the fine company, some products of the Bench Brewery and a bottle of the finest Tempranillo from the wine shop in Bloor St.

So now it's Sunday morning - another day of unbridled delight lies ahead.