We spent a day walking around Toronto taking in the atmosphere in the different neighbourhoods (including the wonderfully named Cabbagetown) before taking a day trip to Niagara Falls on Wed 28 October. Our morning started a little frenetically as I slept through my alarm meaning that we had 40 minutes to make it from our beds to the train. Fortunately a quick sprint through the rush hour packed streets of Toronto meant that we made it on time. Niagara exceeded my expectations by some distance. I had repeatedly been warned that it was a tourist trap and had imagined something like a north American equivalent of Blackpool (albeit with a big old waterfall). As we arrived in the area close to the Falls, it seemed that these preconceptions were going to prove true - the streets were lined with video game arcades and gaudy tourist attractions. However, once we approached the riverside, the tackiness faded away and was replaced by a pretty spectacular natural phenomenon as two separate falls (the American and Horseshoe falls) pound water down into the large river basin. We paid to enter the 'Journey Behind the Falls' attraction which was worthwhile as it allowed us to get close to the base of the falls and see the raw power of all that water.
For our final day in Toronto, we had a mission - Lisa and I had decided to buy ourselves a small laptop. Having been repeatedly frustrated by the limits of available internet terminals at libraries and hostels we reached the conclusion that our own little PC would make life considerably easier and so we took the plunge (on the Samsung N110 to anyone interested). After trips to several computer shops, a lengthy phone call, a train journey and a bus ride, we secured the little beauty. That evening we celebrated our purchase by tracking down a genuine fish and chip shop (like real Brits abroad) that demonstrated it authenticity by serving some outstanding mushy peas (although there was a distinct lack of battered sausages and Pukka pies).
The next day took us towards the next part of our adventure - and something quite different to our travels so far - our first experience of WWOOFing (see here for more details). During our time in Montreal, Lisa did some internet research into some alternative ways that we could spend some of our travelling time. She came up with the idea of volunteering as a worker on an organic farm in return for our room and board. We contacted several potential hosts and settled on spending three weeks at the Pretty River Valley Country Inn near the town of Collingwood, a couple of hours north of Toronto (you can see the website here). We figured this would give us some substantial time in one place and also provide an opportunity to get off the well trodden backpacker trail from one Canadian city to another.
We have now been at Pretty River for 6 days and are having a blast. Linda and Paul, our hosts, have been very welcoming and it's like Lisa and I are members of the family. Tasks that we've got involved with so far include:
- Feeding the animals (horses, reindeer, pigs and chickens);
- Picking apples in the orchard;
- Digging out overgrown plants and replacing them with new shrubs;
- Building fences and hanging gates as part of a new horse enclosure.
Last night we went for a group trip to the cinema with Linda and Emanuel (another WWOOF volunteer, from France) and tonight we are going to try to take control of the pub quiz in Collingwood. We'll see if we can make an impact...
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