So it’s been a long six weeks since i last updated this blog... and a lot has happened since then...
The last week of June and first week of July Dad and David were here visiting – and Dave is still here! It was great having them here, showing them where I’ve been living for the last year and a half. But when I first saw them both at the airport it was like I’d only just seen them the week before. After the energy of the first night and the unpacking of all the chocolate brought over for me (and there was heaps!), we spent the first three days touring around Toronto. Check out the pics for more detail, but we visited historic Fort York which helped in the 7 Year Battle to ward of an American invasion, the CN Tower – previously the tallest structure in the world until the Saudi’s out-built them by 300m, the Distillery District for a micro-brew beer and some Bison burgers, a stroll along Yonge street – the longest street in the world (they still hold at least one record!), Niagara Falls – the Canadian (better) side of course, and a Blue Jay’s baseball game after a feed at Eric’s favourite restaurant The Spaghetti Factory.
Those three packed days were followed by a trip to Elora to see the Gorge and watch Carolyn play in her Celtic band. David was whisked off to an Estonian festival with Matt and we didn’t see him for two days... Although we found out he managed to get kicked out of the quarry... There was also a visit to the St Jacob’s market to have a good sticky beak at the Mennonites and their hotted up buggy’s (see pics). Plus a day trip to a historic Indian settlement discovered in the last 20 years, but dating back to hundreds of years ago (I’ve forgotten the exact details...). They had replica long houses, and the lake nearby where they did carbon dating sampling from the bottom of the lake and discovered the settlement had farmed corn in the area. Amazing stuff...
After that we all headed to Colin and Carolyn’s cottage for a week of relaxation and waaay too much eating! Six days of early morning dips in the cold lake, bear spotting at the dump, an overnight canoe/camping trip, plenty of board games, knee boarding, water skiing, plus plenty of BBQing including a beer can chicken (funny photo) and lots of grog. Couldn’t get much better than that...
The two weeks flew by and before I knew it we were back at the airport saying good bye to Dad, but holding on to Dave (yay!).
Since then I’ve been kept busy during the week teaching a group of amazing young learners from Mexico and taking part in all their touristy activities. They were great students, from a bilingual school in the mountains in Mexico, with a great sense of humour and they were lots of fun. I didn’t want them to leave... I’m back teaching adults now. But my registration the Ontario teacher’s board has finally been approved!
Eric and I have been making the most of the good summer weather and went for a massive 30km bike ride two weekends ago. We rode from his cousins house to the downtown ferry terminal, took the ferry’s across to the Toronto Islands, from one side of the Islands to the other (with a picnic lunch in between), back on the ferry and home again. We were exhausted! Especially cos we had a head wind coming home... sooo exhausted! So now we’ve start spinning classes once a week to improve our endurance. Our next big ride is to The Beaches on the other side of the city.
Last weekend was a long weekend, so we headed up to Eric’s friend Jen’s cottage at Wasaga Beach, about an hour north of Toronto. Another great cottage weekend of over indulgence, swimming and lots of game, plus Drew’s famous rum punch (amazing!). We also saw Jack Johnson at Burls Creek, about 45mins from Wasaga in a big open paddock. We were spoilt with great weather but punished with a ridiculous 3 hour traffic jam after the concert (picture six people, 12 pm and stuck in line just to get out of the car park, needless to say we all slept in line with one person keeping watch if the line moved). But the concert was great! He played a lot of the old favourites and some new stuff, but his encore was the best. The weekend ended with a fast paced, hardcore game of Monopoly which saw the leaders crushed and the underdogs become top dogs. Unfortunately Eric and I were not the top dogs, and that’s all I’m going to say.
Dave is back in Toronto this week and we’re looking forward to another packed weekend of the Beer Fest (ideally located at historic Fort York), the Greek cultural festival ‘Taste of the Danforth’, and Drew and Jenn’s going away party...
Hope you are all having fun!
Kiles xxx
