Niagara

Friday 6th September

So to wrap up my trip,  today was a trip to Niagara. I booked on the later tour as this meant we saw the falls both during the day and after sunset.  I'm glad I did as the falls lit up at night are far more interesting..

I was collected at midday,  and it turned out we only had 8 on the trip,  which was great! Our tour guide was great,  if not a little too enthusiastic,  but nonetheless we got great commentary all the way there as we went on the 90 minute drive.

On the way we stopped at a small vineyard to sample some local wines.  Not bad really but the jewel in the crown,  as it were,  is the Canadian ice wine. Incredibly sweet and delicious.  The grapes are only harvested after 3 consecutive nights at sub zero temperatures and they're crushed straight away to extract the sugars that make the wine so sweet... I obviously bought a bottle!

We arrived at Niagara and the first thing to hit you is the commercialisation... I expected it,  but not as bad as it was.  It literally is like Blackpool meets Vegas.  Tacky beyond belief, a real shame as the falls are beautiful but ruined by the high rise hotels and casinos.

We started the trip with the ride on the maid of the mist. Armed with our plastic ponchos we are ushered onto the boat,  not before, of course, being forced to stand in front of a green screen for the obligatory photo which they then try and flog you for $30

The boat ride was crazy,  it takes you close to the American falls.. Almost like a teaser before taking you close to horseshoe falls which are on the Canadian side.  The mist is intense,  I was drenched! I'm just pleased it was a nice day and I dried off quickly.

We had a few hours to kill then with the option of the helicopter ride for those interested.  I opted to hang around on the viewing areas as it wasn't as busy as I expected,  so set up my tripod and took a load of pictures for some more time lapse stuff.

Dinner was pretty good,  high up in one of the hotels it was an all you can eat buffet,  and I ate all I could!

As the sun set and it began to get dark,  the search lights came on.  15 in total and date from the second world war.  Each light is angled at either the American or the Canadian falls and is manually operated to cycle through different types colours, giving the falls a much different look.  My favourite was red as on my pictures it just looks like hot lava spewing over the edge.  Bang on 10pm, we were then treated to a quite spectacular firework display! A pretty good way all in all to enjoy the falls.

In summary,  yes they're cool to see but the OTT commercialisation really spoils the majesty of it all.  The falls in Brazil/Argentina at Iguassu are by far much more spectacular and less in your face with the tat! Glad I've seen them,  but won't be rushing back.

So,  there we go,  my trip is at and end and tomorrow afternoon I'll be making my way to the airport to come home :-(

It's been a great 2 weeks and flown by incredibly quick.  I hope you enjoyed my waffling and apologies for bad grammar and typos.  Typing all this on my tablet is much harder than I thought,  and grammar never was my strong point!

Signing off now,  but the next adventure is planned... Come back in January 2014 as I'm heading to South Africa to spend 2 weeks on a reserve helping to raise and care for lion cubs and other "cats"... I can't wait!

Adios!

Art!

Thursday 5th September

Well my last full day of exploring Toronto is drawing to an end!

I had a slower start to the day today to plan what I would do.   The sun was shining and it looked beautiful outside but was actually quite cool so I decided it would be a good day to visit the AGO (Art Gallery of Toronto)

It reminded me a lot of London Tate Modern from the contemporary aspect.  The museum is deceptively large,  although 2 floors were closed as they were preparing for a new exhibition,  I still felt like I was in a labyrinth.  The main exhibit that everyone is flocking to see at the moment is the Ai Wei Wei one.   A Chinese artist who was behind the design for the birds nest stadium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics,  but is also very outspoken against the Chinese government to the extent to that he is now under house arrest and has had his passport revoked.

It was quite moving to see the video introducing him and his background and the small introduction as to his beliefs.  It also went into detail about how he came to be in the position  he is now after setting up a citizens investigation into the true number of casualties following the 2008 earthquake in the Schezuan province.

I was feeling pretty walked out after the last 12 days of Vancouver and Toronto so decided to head back to the place I'm staying and put my feet up for a few hours before going out for dinner, as I set off though,  I got a text from Patrick,  my host,  inviting me out for dinner and drinks with some of his friends.   I underestimated how far I had walked and realised the feet up option was out the window if I were to get to the bar on time!

I found the bar and settled down with some more great Canadian beer and meet Patricks friends,  one of which had just returned from Scotland, performing in his own show at the Edinburgh festival.   It was a fun evening but Canadians don't really drink like the British.... I know some may be thinking how come after all I've posted on Facebook and Instagram have been photos of beer and Breweries but they don't! You can only buy alcohol from bottle shops,  they close early and are incredibly expensive!

Am back now, an early night for a change and having that chance now to put my feet up.   Tomorrow will be my last full day in Canada and to finish the trip I am going on a day trip to Niagara falls.   Really excited to see them... I know it will be commercialised tourist hell but after seeing iguassu last year,  I'm looking good forward to seeing how these compare.  The trip is also an evening trip so I get to see the falls light up after dark!

Then on Saturday... boo hoo... It's time to come home :-(

Discovering Toronto

Wednesday 4th September

Woke this morning to lovely clear blue skies and decided straight away that I would make the most of a clear day to go to the CN tower,  just in case it didn't last!

After breakfast, armed with my map and camera,  I set off.  I took a slightly detoured route passing through the University of Toronto.. The campus is massive and a real mix of old and new buildings.  What I forgot was this week is the start of term and today seemed to be the day when all the freshers were being 'recruited' into all the social clubs.. The grounds were packed with stalls from all the different societies getting sign ups.

I managed to work my way through them and headed for coffee.  Whilst Starbucks dominates,  there is one place which is a Canadian favourite,  Tim Hortons. Not only do locals love the coffee but they are also known for their donuts. I've got into the Canadian way and start my morning with a large double double. Basically filter coffee with double cream and double sugar.  Yup,  it's sweet but it's so good and really sets you up!

I walked for what felt like forever and eventually reached the CN Tower. It dominates the Toronto skyline and is the tallest free standing structure,  the 5th tallest building and also has the highest observatory. There are two levels.  The first is the main lookout that has a restaurant and all the usual stuff,  including a glass floor. Then even higher they have the sky pod. This is the highest observatory I mentioned and is some 446metres up.

They charge $32 to go up plus $12to go high up to the sky pod,  however,  if you have a reservation in the revolving restaurant, you don't have to pay the $32 and you jump all the queues. The restaurant had a 3 course pre fix menu for $55so I thought sod it and booked myself as table!

It was great,  food was good and as it was revolving you got the full 360view of Toronto! After eating a d looking about some more I headed down to the public ferries for a trip over to the Toronto Islands and the beaches. I docked at centre island and walked round to hanlan point... A good 4km walk.  I just made the last ferry back otherwise I would have had to walk the full 4km back to central island again!

Overall a long tiring day of walking.  Downtown Toronto is larger than Vancouver,  and has a very different feel to it.  It's much more a city here and fast paced. Whilst it's good,  I think I much preferred the more laid back Vancouver!

Air Canada

Tuesday 3rd September

Today was spent mostly travelling,  but if there is one thing to take from it,  avoid Air Canada unless you really have no choice..

OK ok... Maybe I'm being a little over dramatic...

I arrived at the airport for my 8am flight to Toronto. The Air Canada check in area seemed a bit chaotic. Firstly when you checked yourself in,  as well as a boarding pass,  you also got your luggage labels which has you had to attach yourself.  Cue lots of passengers without a clue.

I didn't print mine as I had an electronic boarding pass so skipped that and went straight to bag drop. Bag drop is really just a desk with,  in my case, a member of staff with no personality. My boarding pass wouldn't scan so she had to take my phone to someone else else. She returns with a boarding pass and luggage label, conversation goes like this.

Ac: Here's your boarding pass sir,  you've been moved onto a different flight as we've downgraded the aircraft and can't fit you on anymore...
Me: Excuse me what?
Ac: repeats herself,  followed by: thank you.... *shouts* next in line please
Me: stood staring with look of shock
Ac: oh,  are you not happy sir?
Me: would you be?
Ac: you need to go speak to that Asian lady over there if you want to complain.. *shouts again* next in line please

So yeah, it turns out that due to mechanical problems,  our aircraft has been used as a replacement and they've given our route two small aircraft.  One going at the original time with half the passengers,  the rest bumped off onto the other going an hour later.  No apologies, no compensation... Nothing.

I know 1 hour is nothing and I still get to Toronto but the customer service was appalling. I went through security and went to find the gate.  The new flight wasn't on any screen so I went to the airport info desk.  The guy couldn't find the flight and when I explained what happened he rolled his eyes and said 'They do this all the time... I don't think I need to say anymore' he pointed me towards the Air Canada desk for help...

What a joke... So I get on the plane,  and that's about the only nice thing,  it's clean and modern and decent leg room.  Inflight service was complimentary soft drinks but you had to pay for everything else and they only accepted credit card,  the stewards response being 'they don't trust us with cash'

Anyway, I made it and went out for a huge meal when I was settled as I was starving! Now looking forward to exploring this city!

Driving a tank

Monday 2nd September

My last full day in Vancouver... Time really is flying now and I don't want to leave...

Still,  all good things come to an end right? Today was no exception to 'good things'

One trip that I was determined to do was to visit Whistler.   It's about 90km north of Vancouver in the mountains and in the Winter is one of the most popular ski resorts in Canada. In the summer though,  it's just as busy with tourists visiting the mountains and also crazy people who zip down, what would be ski runs in the winter, on mountain bikes.

Organised trips are pricey and I felt like you never really got time to explore.   I mentioned this at the beginning of the week to Barry.  He also wanted to go,  so we decided to hire a car and drive there as a DIY trip.

I prebooked a car in the intermediate category - something like a Ford focus. When  I booked though,  I was teased with the option to upgrade to the next class for only $7.... Ooops... Yes I clicked it.  What we ended up with I can only describe as a tank.  A huge chrysler  300... It was amazing and sooooo nice to drive.  The road rules here though are odd. Firstly they are very strict on speeding. 80km/h just seemed so slow! Also,  at junctions you can still turn right through a red light if it's clear.

Two others joined us for the day,  Gerry,  Barrys housemate also from Ireland, and Kayleigh,  a friend of Gerrys from Liverpool. We had a great day with lots of laughs between us. Most of the jokes wouldn't make sense unless you were there though so trust me when I say we laughed... A lot!

The journey there took about 4 hours,  not because we got lost,  but we decided to stop at every 'point of interest' that we encountered, some of which were just lookout points giving breathtaking views as we drove along the 'sea to sky' highway.

We found Whistler bungee too and convinced Barry to do it.  Unfortunately for us, and quite possibly to Barrys relief, there was no one around despite all the signs saying it was open everyday of the year! The jump was off a bridge down into the canyon... Just walking across the bridge turned our stomachs!

We made it to Whistler Village and had some food before deciding what to do next. We chose to tackle the mountain! There was one very long cable car ride up Whistler mountain.  This was great, and quite tame.  All of us enclosed in a pod. The next bit took us to the 'top of the world' and right to the peak.  This was in a skilift! Feet hanging down,  open to the elements. By far the scariest ride of them all, even more so when it stopped and started swinging around.  The whole of this ride was over jagged rock and glaciers but WOW the view from the top was incredible. I'm not sure how high we were at this point but I could have just stayed there for hours taking in the view.

We then had to come back down the same skilift *gulp*  and then instead of taking the cable car down Whistler mountain, we crossed to Boscombe mountain.... Via the peak to peak cable car.  Yes... A cable car that spans across a ravine and is the world's longest free span between ropeway towers,  the distance being 3.03km (1.88 miles) and is also the highest point above ground for a gondola at 436 metres (1430 ft)

It looked terrifying, but was actually really good... As long as you didn't look down! Once across we then made our way down Boscombe mountain via two skilifts... Legs hanging out etc... in theory this should also have been white knuckle inducing but after the lift to the main peak,  this was quite enjoyable. We became more engrossed trying to spot bears in the woods... We didn't see any though :-(

Exhausted, we made our way back to Vancouver to drop of the car,  we said our goodbyes and it was time for me to pack my bags... Tomorrow I fly to Toronto!

The Bear and the Old Guy

Sunday 1st September

After quite a few hectic days,  today was going to be a little more relaxed...of sorts.  Dan came to pick me up and the plan for the day was to head out of downtown and go east,  out towards where he lived in a place called Coquitlam.

On the way out,  Dan drove me around some of the more unfavourable areas of downtown,  it was quite staggering to see the change within just a few blocks.  One minute it's nice clean and modern,  next it's run down and the streets are swarmed with down and outs,  crack heads and prostitutes. Quite sad really...

Our first stop was Buntzen Lake. It's 4.8 km in length and is fed from Coquitlam Lake which is higher up in the mountains. The area is beautiful, settled in the rainforests. Dan had bought his dog with him so we took him for a walk around the lake,  roughly an 8km walk... So much for taking it easy ;-)

It turned out to be a really nice hike,  a bit hilly at times but enjoyable none the less.  Dans dog,  Cooper, is a 2 year old springer, with bounds of energy and adorably cute! I think he wanted to go round twice but Dan and I were exhausted so we went to his house where I got to meet his wife Ebony,  and their 3 month old daughter,  Evie.  They kindly treated me to Dim sum at a local restaurant ... It was delicious and the first time I have seen them bring the food out on trollies outside of Hong Kong! (and yes, we ate more squid)

After lunch we dropped Ebony and Evie off and took 15 minutes to chill out before Dan and I headed out again with Dudley. An older springer that belongs to friends of Dans that they are dog sitting for.   Dudley has recently had a broken leg so he's not yet up for long walks so we took him out for a shorter walk at a different lake and just let him have a bit of a run about.

As we headed back Dan drove me around his neighbourhood and was pointing out some of the nice mansions.  There are some seriously nice houses in Coquitlam! As we passed one,  Dan suddenly stopped the car saying "Oh my god,  I've just seen a bear!"

It's not uncommon for bears to drift into residential areas, but for this one to come out this way it had drifted quite far and would have had to come across some pretty major roads.  Signs all over Canada say not to approach bears and to always keep at least 100ft away.  Dan drove the car close to the drive he'd seen it go down, and parked up...Just as the bear stuck his head out from behind a tree.  Dan managed to get a quick picture, but I was too late.  We were now on bear watch,  camera at the ready.  Neighbours started to come out and show an interest,  with a few asking who had a shotgun! Next thing we know this old Italian (or, as Dan thought, Russian) guy with a walking stick appears, saying he was off to find it.  He goes marching down the driveway,  shouting and banging his walking stick on anything that would make a noise.  He jumped back as he saw the bear move,  but then went in shouting louder.  Looking back it was hysterical but if the bear had attacked he wouldn't have stood a chance.

After a few minutes of this we were set to give up, when all of a sudden the old guy rushes past us shouting "There he is,  there he is" we look round to see the old guy waving his stick around,  running after this bear which suddenly darted up the nearest tree and cowered in the branches! Mental! We didn't hang around after that so we never did get to find out what happened but I did manage to get some photos!

Back to Dans and we rounded of the day with a sushi feast before Dan drove me back.  Such a great day out and it was also really good getting to catch up with Dan.  He's been here 3 years now and he sounds very settled and loves it.... I can see why, it really does feel like an easy place to live...(if you forget about bears!)

Mountains and suspension bridges

Saturday 31st August

I can't believe how quick the time is going,  but here we are,  one week into my trip and almost at the end of the Vancouver leg.

Today I was on an organised trip across to North Vancouver to see the Capilano suspension bridge and Grouse mountain.

I was picked up at a nearby hotel and it appeared that I was by far the youngest on the bus... Only a small group,  but made up of pensioners that had just docked in Vancouver from their Alaskan cruise! Still,  the tour guide was a younger guy and not too bad on the eye either...

Our first stop was the salmon hatchery,  here they rescue salmon as they're swimming back upstream to lay their eggs.  Many years ago,  changes to the river that included a new dam,  threatened the breeding run of the salmon so the hatchery was set up (and is run by volunteers) to ensure the survival of the fish.  As a result,  they're actually having a better survival rate of the new fish as many normally don't survive. August/September is the peak season for the salmon run upstream,  we were hoping to catch sight of them jumping up the river,  but alas it was a very quiet day.

Our next stop was the suspension bridge that spans the valley above the Capilano river. The original bridge was said to have been made from hemp and was built to allow the native people to cross over the valley to hunt.   Today the bridge is a little more secure and strong and reportedly could take the weight of quite a few elephants. Well I don't know how true that is but my god was it scary walking across. The bridge was very busy and the whole thing was just saying and buckling around... I held on tight the whole way across... Looking down was quite terrifying.

The area of rainforest around here is stunning and it took us maybe only 40 minutes to get there.  It's incredible that in such a short time you can leave the hustle and bustle of downtown and be in rainforests.  Vancouver has it all.. Downtown metropolis for shopping and eating,  the harbour,  beaches and a stones throw from rainforests and some of the best winter ski resorts.

After the bridge,  we went to our final stop,  Grouse mountain.  We took a gondola ride up the mountain... The views were fantastic, looking good right down onto downtown Vancouver in one direction and way north towards whistler in the other. At the top I took in the lumberjack show which was quite entertaining (and visual pleasing), and I also went up higher on a ski lift to the peak of the mountain for even more breathtaking views. I've never been skiing before so the whole process of using a ski lift was new and fun.  Just stand and wait for it to scoop you up and you're off,  up higher and higher with nothing but a flimsy metal pole to hold onto!

Our journey back should have been fairly quick but we had a slight brake malfunction on the coach. Fortunately we weren't going fast or down a mountain but our driver pulled over to check out the burning smell and called through for another coach to pick us up! As a result we got an extra bonus of being able to walk around a lake at Cleveland Dam and soak up a bit more sun.

That evening I decided to treat myself to a nice meal so I took myself off to the Gotham Steakhouse for some meat.  It was delicious, by far the best I've had outside of Argentina. Lovely wine complimented the meal and I waddled back to the apartment a very stuffed but content person.  Bed was calling and boy was I tired....

Sex and squid...

Friday 30th August

Friday was my last day of adventuring around downtown as I had plans for the last few days before heading to Toronto.  I was hoping to do the Stanley Park cycle but tagging it was a wet overcast day,  so after a lazy start I headed out towards the east end of downtown towards BC palace and Science World.

I spent a few hours walking around science world,  although it is very much geared up as an educational thing for kids,  I still found it interesting.  The sex exhibit was a little strange... Well... No... Not strange,  it was actually incredibly informative but it was pretty detailed... Covering everything from how a baby is made to puberty,  masturbation, sexuality and pretty much everything else you can imagine.  Even to the point of having two life sized,  naked mannequins with sensors covering the body,  your task was to touch the areas you thought were most sensual... Hmmm... However.,  lots of parents were taking their kids around and it was really interesting to witness them learning about it at a relatively young age. Embracing the subject rather than treating it as some kind of taboo thing.

The evening really brightened up and Dan came to pick me up and we went for a drive. I know Dan from my BBC days,  he's now been living here for almost 3 years,  is married and has a 3 month old daughter. He drove me around the coast to some of the other beaches... Kitsalano, jerhico, and wreck beach.  The later being the nudist beach.  We sat there chatting and catching up on the last 3 years whilst watching the sun set. It really was a stunning view, all we needed were some cold beers and it would have been perfect.

Our next stop was to Richmond and the night markets. Throughout summer the night markets are a big draw for the locals and Richmond has a high population of Asians, so the night markets are pretty much of that nature,  Predominantly serving food. We started with some delicious bbq squid and some bubble tea... Working our way round we tried quite a few different dishes,  we should have stopped after the Malaysian curry and roti,  but no, we decided we needed more squid.... To say it was a large portion was an understatement... We both just looked at it and thought 'what have we done?'

On the drive back we made plans for Sunday. Dan is planning to take me out of downtown towards where he lives, maybe take his dog out around the lakes and also to meet his family.

Crossing the border

Wednesday and Thursday  28th / 29th August

I decided for Wednesday and Thursday, I would cross the border and head down into the US and visit Seattle.  It's a cheap coach journey and takes about 4hours.

It was an early start with my bus leaving at 6.30 but a very smooth run,  arriving in Seattle ahead of schedule.

In hindsight I should have been a little more prepared. The bus dropped us off and I had no idea where I was or where I was going to go.  Luckily there was a coffee shop with free WiFi so I jumped online quickly to get my bearings.  That was kind of ok but I still didn't really know what I was going to do.

I headed first to Pike Place Market,  hoping I may find a tourist information centre and get some ideas.  The market is crazy.  Again,  just lots of produce being sold but the market itself is huge and multi levelled but is like a maze and really quite run down,  still bustling with atmosphere though.  I spent a good couple of hours here and found the gum wall... Some back alley by the market has walls literally coated in chewing gum.  The full reason for this I'm unsure but over the years it has become an attraction with more people constant adding to it... On one hand you walk down thinking 'oh it smells kind of minty fresh'  but then on the other you realise it's actually quite disgusting!

Pike Place is also where the very first Starbucks appeared (it dawned on me then why their filtered coffee is called Pike Place) I didn’t bother going in but took a photo anyway.  The queues of idiots... Sorry I mean tourists... Waiting I  line just to buy some coffee was ridiculous!

I walked some more and eventually found a tourist office and a map,  from there I walked more,  visited the space needle and found yet another craft brewery where I sampled more beer!

It was a short stay and there where things I didn't get to do that I wish I had,  but it was interesting to see somewhere different. Seattle is strange and I don't know quite how to describe it,  nor whether it was what I was expecting.  It seems like it's trying to be something but not quite getting there.  It has quite a history with the gold rush and there are some interesting underground tours which I guess would have helped me understand,  I just ran out of time.

I stayed overnight with a couch surfer,  and the headed home on the 10am coach.   This was supposed to have got me back to Vancouver at 2...wishful thinking.  An accident on the freeway set us back almost an hour and then customs took forever... Not helped by two people on our coach... One didn't have all his paperwork in order so had to redo it all,  and the other,  a young lad of maybe 18 or so, that was sat next to me got pulled aside and questioned.  Next thing we know they put him in cuffs and cart him away.  Our driver reckoned he had drugs on him. All I know is that he had spent a lot of the journey to that point talking to his mum on the phone and arrange going dinner reservations... Ooops!

Exhausted, I arrived back 2.5 hours later than planned.  I did very little that night!

Breweries and toy boats

Tuesday 27th August

Still catching up on almost a week of stuff,  so here goes Tuesday's adventures...

After a long day yesterday in Victoria, I had a slower start to the day,  during breakfast I studied the downtown maps and plotted. My original plan was to hire a bike and ride around Stanley Park, however it was a much cooler and overcast day,  so instead I headed to Granville Island.

The island itself is actually a small peninsula south of downtown separated by False Creek.  The island has a lot of history as an industrial island,  but is now quite a big draw for tourists (and locals) to the markets... Think London Borough market but open every day. The island is also home to Granville Island Brewing Co which I fully intend to pay a visit to!

To get across, you can take the long route by going across the bridges and looping back on yourself or you can jump on the false Creek ferries... Why they call them ferries I've no idea, these are teeny tiny boats that fit about 10 people on and they just pootle around transporting passengers.

The market was just like any other lots of fresh produce and lots of nice cakes! I treated myself to a cinnamon roll... They seem to be pretty popular out here... And went to sit on the dock to eat... I was instantly swamped with hungry looking birds,  seagulls and a rather evil looking crow.  I soon realised eating outside was not a great idea... Later that morning I saw few seagulls dive bomb a few unsuspecting tourists noodles!

The brewery tour was fun, very short but then it is a micro brewery... Which I learnt meant that they produce less than 10 million units a year. I really like theirs beers,  the maple cream o E being my favourite.

Throughout the summer, every Tuesday evening, there has been a free open air cinema event.  Today was the last of the season, and the film was Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. How could miss seeing such a classic! So Barry and I made our way,  found a spot and settled down... It was a real interactive experience with the audience cheering and booing at the relevant good/bad parts.  About half way into the movie though it started to get windy,  and I don't mean just a light breeze, this was full on force Gail... And then came the rain.  Needless to say we never saw the full movie and ran to shelter... In the nearest pub.  A fun night all the same!