Zara’s here & Exploring Toronto

I have arrived! Following a very long journey from deepest darkest Norfolk, I’m greeted at the airport with a huuuuge little brother cuddle, and a very excited family. We set off from Toronto and stay the night at our hosts in Georgetown ON just outside of the city.

Feeling more refreshed following a good sleep (I will get used to the bunk beds I’m sure) we get ready and head off on my first day of adventure with everyone! Eventually navigating the bus and train into Toronto - nothing is very well signposted I quickly learnt here - we plan our busy day sightseeing out. First on the list - poutine!! Unsurprisingly I love it and Em and I quickly demolish it for lunch.

Having had the poutine craving satisfied we head to the CN tower, an iconic part of the skyline, and what used to be the worlds tallest free-standing structure. A super speedy elevator takes us to the view point, and despite Dad being a bit of a scaredy cat, we are all blown away by the view. You really can see to what feels like the edge of the world up there, including miles across Lake Ontario, which Alex takes some convincing to believe isn’t an ocean! We enjoy a lovely gin while admiring the view before we head to our next stop.

Next we head to the steam whistle brewery, which is housed in an old steam train station/turntable. Alex enjoys scampering around the old trains there while the “adults” (I still don’t think I really am one hehe) try their beers - unfiltered was the determined winner!

Suitably refreshed we begin our long walk to the Royal Ontario Museum through the centre of Toronto. The ROM is filled with dinosaur bones and amazing fossils as well as other wonders for us to admire. We even spot some fossils from Yorkshire! Having had our fill of dinosaurs and information, we head back down to the harbour front ready for our evening cruise tour. A quick dinner stop on the harbour and we board the very busy very loud boat - someone clearly didn’t know how to turn the volume down! The tour takes us around Toronto harbour on the ginormous Lake Ontario, and we have a look at Toronto islands which seem bustling with water activities, and a very busy little airstrip too. While it was lovely looking at the views, we all found it a bit overcrowded and loud for our likings.

Prior to getting the train home we had one last stop which I was personally very excited for having seen them on the blog previously - Beaver Tails! Alex and I share a brownie one which promptly ends up all over both of us but my god it was good. Hyped up on sugar we head back to Wendy and promptly all fall asleep.

Toronto Day 2

We started the day with a well needed slow morning. Having breakfast on the porch we have a lovely chat with our hosts Mary-Lynn and Allan about plants and gardening and have a bond over autistic children too. They are both lovely and arty, and even invite me in to take a look at some handmade table end decor they made to give me inspiration for my new house! I’m a big fan of it, I can imagine filling it with plants, much to Lewis’ horror I can imagine.

Once we’re all ready we head off to Toronto zoo, the 3rd largest zoo in the world. We all absolutely loved this zoo, the animals were well looked after and it was beautifully landscaped too. Walking around the arctic tundra area we come across a chair-zipwire across the area, and bean being the little daredevil he is is eager to go on it. I am slightly embarrassed to say I was definitely more scared than him and had to squeeze his hand for comfort!

We then continue around the zoo and find what was undoubtedly all of our favourite of the day: the polar bears. It was amazing to see these majestic beasts, and even better to get up close through the underwater glass. We all watched him play in the water for quite a while, the bear was even playing peekaboo with the other children! I think we could have spent all day watching them, they were truly amazing.

We continue around the rest of the zoo and see some other favourites like the otters and tigers. Toronto zoo also have their own medical centre where you can actually watch procedures be done on the animals - unfortunately there was nothing going on but I was obviously super intrigued. We stay right until closing and even catch a glimpse of the CN tower on the drive back.

Following a lovely dinner on the porch we spend the evening painting stones and chatting with our hosts over a bottle of wine. It’s pretty apparent there’s a shared love of collecting things on travels and collecting rocks too!

Niagra

After getting up slightly later than intended, we say goodbye to our hosts and start the drive to Niagra. On our way we stop on recommendation at Grimsby beach, which is much much nicer than the UK version! They are famous for their ‘painted ladies’ which are houses in the town painted in all sorts of beautiful and wacky ways. While admiring the houses we run into a local who tells us that it all started during the 70s as a way to cheer people up during a slightly depressing time. Unfortunately they aren’t allowed to paint them anymore (boo government) so it was lovely to see them while they’re still there.

After a short lunch break and an intense search for parking we head into the city of Niagra falls to see the famous waterfall. Niagra itself is a bit of a let down - think Great Yarmouth or Blackpool vibes back home, but down by the falls is much nicer. We arrive at the gorge and are greeted by the spectacular view of the 3 waterfalls. Horseshoe falls is the biggest and most famous of the three, while the American falls and bridal veil are on the American side and not quite as impressive but still beautiful.

There is a lot of haze in the sky from the wildfires in Quebec (luckily not affecting us at the moment!) but we still get amazing views as we walk down the road to the falls. Having had our fill of picture taking and admiring the falls, we decide to head underground and check it out from behind the falls itself. The tunnels date back to 1903 and lead to 2 viewing platforms behind the biggest of the three falls. You can feel the power of the water rushing over the top through the concrete floor, and standing right next to the openings you feel like you’re right in the middle of it! It’s truly amazing to not only be able to see the falls but feel its immense power too. We get a little soggy but well worth it for the incredible views!

Coming out of the tunnels we dash up the road to catch our boat to do the Niagra cruise. All dressed as little pink minions we board the top of the boat which sails upriver right towards the horseshoe falls. The boat has to fight to stay in place but we are nearly in the middle of the falls!! We all get properly soaked by the sheer volume of water and spray coming off of it, but we’re mostly in awe of the immense power and beauty of them.

All feeling quite the buzz after being in the middle of the falls, we disembark the boat and have a drink admiring the view while watching little birds dance around us.

Having had our fill of falls for the day and with a plan to return tomorrow we head off to our stop for the night. After a quick dinner we are all clearly knackered and fall right asleep! We all wake up refreshed and ready to go back to Niagra for the last thing we wanted to do - the Whirlpool cable car. The cable car itself was initially built in the early 1900’s by a Spanish designer, which you can definitely tell by the style. It’s obviously been rebuilt since then but still retains its original style, and is very cool to see. We head across the gorge in the cable car, admiring the whirlpool a hundred metres below, the whirlpool actually changes direction during the day depending on the levels of water. The whirlpool was awesome to see and is quite mesmerising to watch! Our little journey across lasts about 20 minutes before we sadly have to leave the beauty of Niagra falls to carry on our journey.

We have a long drive next to our next destination but break it up with a lovely stop in Niagra-on-the-lake. It is a very cute little town (albeit filled with tourist buses!) and we enjoy wandering up and down the streets, especially the houses on Millionaires Row! The lake itself is still part of the huge Lake Ontario, but this time we are seeing it from the opposite side to Toronto. After walking around the lake side we head back into the town for some lunch - Dad and I have pancakes, yum! With full happy tummy’s we continue on our long drive to our next destination, with stops along the way to take in the amazing sunset which is bright red due to all the ash in the air! We have been very lucky that the fires here haven’t affected us at all yet other than the reduced air quality. The fires started up in Niagra just after we left so we were very lucky to avoid them and be able to enjoy Niagra as much as we did.

Early in the evening we arrive at our spot for the night which is a beautiful spot right next to a lake. But. It is like night of the living dead outside, there are swarms of mosquitoes everywhere!! I have genuinely never seen so many in my life and never want to see that many again. Dad and I deet ourselves up to avoid them as much as possible while levelling Wendy, but unfortunately we both still get eaten alive. Dashing back inside we have dinner while battling the mozzies that escaped inside and then head to bed. We are all hoping for a good nights sleep but it doesn’t come for us all - Em is awake all night battling the mozzies! Thank god for the electric tennis racquet. In the morning we get ready as quick as possible to get away from the mozzies! Hopefully tomorrow night we will get a better sleep….

Zara