We arrived in Mississauga, a town just outside of greater Toronto in the early afternoon and after a quick grocery shop headed to our basement apartment for the next 4 days. Claire wanted to go for a gentle jog around the neighbourhood, which meant Gareth had to go too to stop Claire getting lost (she would have at least 3 times). As Gareth’s reward, he got to watch baseball on TV when they got home.
The next day was Niagara day. On the way we stopped off at Bayfront Park in Hamilton for a quick walk and to admire the views around the Lake Ontario shoreline. We arrived at the Niagara Floral clock centre (literally a big clock with the clock face made of flowers) in perfect time to jump on our shuttle bus to the jet boat dock. With Captain Jordan and Taylor our guide, our group spent the next hour racing round the Niagara Gorge, doing 360 degree turns and hurtling through the grade 5 rapids created by Niagara Falls! Claire’s advice to Gareth that because he had a poncho he didn’t need a change of clothes wasn’t entirely correct…. We got soaking wet but it was sooooo worth it!!! After a cup (or two) of coffee to warm up we headed back to the car in time for a late lunch picnic (there’s going to be lots of those in this blog – blame Claire’s Granny) overlooking the gorge before heading to ‘The Falls’ themselves.
Gareth had been to Niagara Falls before and had tried to down-play them a little to Claire, as he had been slightly unimpressed by the commercialisation of the area surrounding them when he had been before. However he had been a bit hungover at the time which had perhaps contributed to the negative memory. As a result, despite the rain showers we both enjoyed seeing the Falls more than we thought we would, and Claire was quite impressed by how close you could actually get (if you had wanted to chuck yourself down them in a barrel you could have definitely managed it – but we decided we had had enough adrenaline sports for one day so would just take pictures).
As the weather had started to improve (and after a number of recommendations) we popped over to the very quaint Niagara on the Lake for an evening stroll, more views across Lake Ontario and a yummy meal before heading home.
Excitement of all excitements, the next day was a Saturday and by complete coincidence there was a parkrun just down the road. So in true Riverside Runner fashion we donned on our green and white vests and headed to Meadowvale parkrun. The vests were immediately recognised by another running tourist, Nigel, from Eye Community Runners in Peterborough! The park was a very pleasant part of a large network of green spaces around the Meadowvale suburb of Mississauga that we were staying in. The run was three laps and had a very friendly community of volunteers despite the low turnout by UK standards of 51 (“a good week” at Meadowvale).
Claire came second lady (the first was first overall in a female course record). Gareth did come a place ahead of Claire overall, but only just. Both were beaten on the final lap by a chap in his sixties, who seemed to have run every race in the Toronto area and was training for “The Airfield Run” in a few weeks. Sounded like an incredibly boring multi lap course of an airfield, but good on him!
After a quick shower and some power walking to the bus stop, we were on the GO bus into the centre of Toronto (for St. Neots people, it was a bit like getting the X5 in to Cambridge). We were sat next to a four year old who seemed to have already developed road rage and his dad who seemed to be the most patient man in Mississauga.
“Why aren’t we going anywhere dad?”
“Well, it’s because there’s traffic son.”
“Why isn’t the driver going any faster?”
“Well, there are other cars in front of him, and he doesn’t want to cause and accident.”
Anyway, we got into Toronto without the four year old having to be restrained and took the obligatory pictures of the CN tower (not that it isn’t impressive – it really is) and Rogers Stadium before heading to the Harbourfront Centre based on a guide book recommendation. The centre is an arts exhibition area which was currently hosting veggie-fest (all vegetarian & ethical food) a ‘what item best describes your last failed relationship’ (not even kidding) and a tap-dancing band who were actually pretty good.
Having had our fill of skyscrapers (we are slight country bumpkins) we took a ferry across to Toronto Island, for some great views of the city from a more rustic surrounding. Our afternoon mostly consisted of an intense game of an (18-hole!) Frisbee golf match where Gareth’s actually Frisbee ability just pipped (by a mere three throws) Claire’s remarkably effective ‘roll the Frisbee along the ground’ approach. There was just time for an ice cream (sadly not a Mr Whippy) and a wander along the beach before taking the Ferry back to the city proper, so that Gareth could take a trip down memory lane with a drink at the Steam-Whistle brewery, where he had earned the hangover mentioned above. We headed home on a (double decker!) train to finish another excellent day in Canada.
For our final full day on Ontario we headed west. Our first stop was Fergus, a small town with Scottish roots which is located on the banks of the Grand River and has some pretty gardens along the river banks. After a quick wander we continued on to our primary objective: Elora. As well as being a picturesque village in it’s own right, with riverside parks and a large old mill (which seems to own 90% of the village) it’s main attraction is the stunning 80 foot limestone gorge just outside the town. We took a fantastic circular walk around (and into) the gorge, include a picnic stop (of course). Sadly the zipline across the gorge was closed (next time!).
Our afternoon drive took us through Menonite country (a Christian group with similar roots to the Amish) which felt a little like we had suddenly driven into the 19th century, with the road dominated by pony and trap’s and people in traditional smocks and bonnets.
In the late afternoon we arrived in Stratford (on the Riven Avon of course); which has taken advantage of its name to become Ontario’s Shakespeare country. The Stratford festival runs from May to October and includes a variety of art, theatre, local food & drink, and music. We wandered through the town, catching the end of the ‘art in the park’ exhibition before heading to the Boar’s Head for some live music and supper. This turned out to be an awesome choice. Not only were the band amazing, but half of the audience had brought instruments or songs to sing and were intermittently asked to join the band. On top of this with two separate American football games on different walls, an immense game of stack the beer glasses and some tasty food Gareth had found his mecca! The whole atmosphere was brilliant – a great last night in Ontario.
Claire and Gareth go travelling! 