Toronto to Victoria

Well, the haircut didn't actually eventuate!! The nice little Francophone girl managed to do the colour, but couldn't actually work out how to cut my hair it seemed, she snipped a few of the ends off, but just fluffed around... It was all getting too hard, and I was beginning to worry about what she would do as she had such a poor grasp of English that I just let it go.... At least the colour was done!! Thank god I have made an appointment for the day after I get home!

Had one last walk around Montreal, and had to kill a few hours before we got on the train to Toronto at 3.40pm. The train ride was memorable..... The train stopped and started, stopped and started, and then "hurtled" along at about 5kms per hour for an hour or so, stopped again, and we finally got into Toronto about 2 1/2 hours late...... Definitely not happy Jan....

We decided to take an early morning trip out to Niagara Falls, but decided so late that we had actually missed the bus. The hotel sent a driver to take us to meet the bus - good service!! There are many wineries on the way, to stopped for a "wine tasting" at one - were given one teaspoon full of wine which had been bottled yesterday, or possibly two days before!! Evil tasting stuff... Noticed an "Australian" wine for sale in the shop - "South Australian wine, bottled in Canada, from imported and local grapes"!!! Omigod - can't imagine what it actually was..

Next stop was a small airfield, where Arch and I took a helicopter flight over the falls. Brilliant.. Arthur won the lottery big time, and had the seat up front with the pilot. His view was spectacular - glass bottom in the chopper, and unrestricted views for 180 degrees... Short flight, but well worth doing.

The American falls and the Niagara Falls are both magnificent. The weather was again stunning - about 25 degrees, and absolutely gorgeous. Took a ride in the "Maid of the Mist" which is the little boat which takes you to the face of the falls - clad in shiny blue raincoats. Good thing to do indeed.... Spent some time walking right along the cliff to the edge of the falls, and took photo's of the water from the top going over the edge... Tee hee..... good fun.

The Totonto Film Festival is on, so the city is positively buzzing. Found a nice Chinese Restaurant for dinner, great foood. On the way home saw an Asian fella busking in the street, actually heard him first - the distinctive sound of a didgeridoo!!! The instruments were man-made versions, one had a really long gentle curve, with a flared end, but they sounded wonderful. I'm sure most of the crowd had no idea what the noise was.. He was self-accompanied by a guitar and a drum - excellent.

Arranged to meet Jim Bell, a friend of Robin and Ian Munro, for lunch. Took us to a really novel restaurant - lots of totally different meal options, choose whatever you like, they zap your card, and then you pay at the end. Lovely fresh produce, and it was good food.

It's also a relief to be in an English speaking city - absolutely nobody speaks to you in French as a first option! Caught a ferry over to a small island off the main city - Totonto Island, a lovely summer playground for the locals. Acres of beautifully manicured lawns, an ornamental lake, a "luna park" type thing, and hundreds of Canada Geese. They have large shallow swimming pools for the kids, and a nice sandy beach created on the lake. This is right on Lake Ontario, so there are also enormous ships in port.

U2 was also in town today, and there was a "Game" (ice hockey) on, so there were thousands of people around, again.

Our apartment had a washing machine and drier, so did ALL the washing!! Have finally worked out how to use the ubiquitous coffee machine which is in every apartment.

Went to the CN tower for a look-see. What an amazing view - this has recently been re-designated the tallest freestanding tower in the world!! Spent an hour or so there, taking endless photo's. After this, we walked to the other side of town to a market, where we had lunch. Not a patch on our Victoria Market, but the locals think it's a good place to go - grabbed lunch here.

Had a few more hours to fill in before catching the train, so turned into Mall Rats... Sat watching the world by in a shopping mall. We also discovered there is an almost entire city built underground in Toronto. Absolutely amazing, and the entrances to these underground malls are really well disguised, and you enter almost by accident. Everything under there - restaurants, shops, McDonalds, etc..

Finally got to the station - we'd been sent on one of these underground trails by our hotel, but without the kindness of a stranger, who showed us the correct way, we would possibly still be down there!!

We had not been told to pack a small bag to take on the train!!! We had to unpack a couple of days' clothes in the passageway, to take into our miniscule carriage.... Omigod - nearly died of shock when we discovered the size of the dog box we were to sleep in for four nights. (If you're reading this Catherine - be very glad it was not possible to ring you at that time!!)

Didn't sleep more than an hour that night....