A few days in Toronto

I found my perfect car!
















I realised that the CN tower is over three and a half times taller than the Skylon (photo taken from the 401)





















And sharing the road with streetcars is fun when you don't know the rules

Coober Pedy bound

How i wish i could have this to turn into a camper van. It would be lovely to tour Canada with it ala Priscilla Queen of the Desert style. Obviously a less gay version involving more beards than tiaras and more cock rock than ABBA but similar in every other way.

Walking on Water

I went for a short walk on Lake Ontario. The weather here has been been up and down lately. It has been raining hard for 2 days since this photo was taken and the temperature has been around +1-5 ℃. Its been chucking it down even more today and nearly all the snow has gone. It's supposed to go down to -18℃ tonight which means all the very large puddles will be turned into ice rinks for the morning.
I love Canada.
I'm of to T.O for a few days next week and I am looking forward to seeing some old friends.

Niagara

I spent a few days in Niagara Falls. It's such an odd place full of attractions you would expect at the British seaside. There are amusement arcades, fairground rides and too many haunted houses to count. It's kinda gaudy but has a charm that's hard to describe.
The falls are impressive at this time of year. I was suprised how much was frozen given the speed of the running water that cascades down to flow into the Niagara river. The pictures of the frozen ice were taken from the centre of the bridge between the US and Canada.


We had dinner in the revolving restaurant at the Skylon. I love the Skylon in all its concrete glory. It was built in 1965 and feels very "Jetsons" like in its utopian futurism. I wish more 60's concrete had survived to the present day.

Wheels!

The snow is all back and I now have a 4 wheel drive to play with.
I have missed having my own transport. You can't do a lot in Canada without it.
Inevitably this means i have no excuse for not going job hunting. I am looking forward to getting a job in Toronto and living in the city once again. Don't get me wrong I love the countryside but I need both extremes.

Mild weather

The weather had been quite mild for some time. The snow had nearly all melted and I could actually see what was around me.
The view from the back door with snow returning once again

Snowblower

I've been arsing about on this. I think it would come in handy in the UK right now.

Stay out of Tee Oh!

The Loaf and Ale pub in Napanee does the best Guinness I have had in a long time. No joke.
Cheryl the waitress spent 20 minutes trying to convince us not to move to Toronto. I like the banter you get in Canadian pubs, something that is sadly getting more rare in my native London UK.

Westport

A nice small town. Awful poutine

Superbowl

I watched the Superbowl last night for the first time ever. I quite enjoyed it even though I should hate it. I found out that if someone falls over due to a tackle then play stops. If it looks like anything good is going to happen, play stops. A touchdown does not actually mean touching the ball down on the ground, just bundling someone across the line will do. Being able to challenge decisions is a good idea. Having a pointless time out when its all going pear shaped is not.
All in all its a game designed for TV where 'timeouts' are obviously designed to have yet another commercial. I will say that the highlight was Bruce in the interval. Everything seemed rather dull after that.
At least i've just found out that i can get Setanta Canada so I can watch a real game of rugby or football (I refuse to call it soccer).

I love Canadian cafes. This one was in Harrowsmith.

Lake effect

Today it snowed a lot. Lake effect from lake Ontario apparently.
I have taken photos today but have had no time to upload them.
Here is where I am living taken on a much brighter day.
Today I made a toboggan run with the excess snow and a snow blower.

Snow day

Downtown Kingston around lunchtime.

Home fries and Malls

I think the name of this cafe is the Golden Rooster (can't quite remember). It's in a sad little plaza in Kingston.

I am still getting to grips with the fact that people will drive 50 yards to get to the next store instead of walking.

It felt warm today with a high of -4 and blue skies.

We finally made it!