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27/07/10
Today we got up early and made our way down to the Calgary Zoo to see all the exciting animals on show there. We managed to see lions, bears, cougars, hippo's, giraffe's, and lots of other interesting animals, however the one animal that really put a show on for us was the elephants. Sadly the show they put on was not one we would like to see again as the biggest elephant decided to turn his bottom towards us and do the biggest poo and pee we have ever seen. We then moved round the zoo some more and saw the dinosaur live show which was very cool as the baby T-rex looked as if it was alive. After being at the zoo for a while we decided to head out to the Olympic park which is where the 1988 winter Olympics where held. As it was summer the snow had melted but there were many other activities going on like mountain biking, hiking, zip sliding and Z-running (you get put inside a huge inflatable ball and rolled down a hill). We got to look at the massive ski jumps and get a sense of just how scary it must be to actually do it. We then headed back into town for some dinner and prepare for our journey to Toronto.
28/07/10
We spent the majority of our day travelling either from the hostel to the airport or on the flight. It's lucky we actually made it through security as we were getting the final security checks at the airport before boarding the plane and they were taking ages with chris's hand luggage. He then turned to Kirsty and said 'oh no I left the laptop in the bag!' so we got escorted to the side by the crazy looking security woman who started to swab chris's bag.......only to pull out a laptop....a pot of jam.....and a bottle of sun tan cream!!!! The security woman said to a very red faced chris (red face half because of embarrassment and half because of sunburn!!) 'eh do you know about the liquids rule??!', 'do you know you take your laptop out your bag for inspection?' She was clearly thinking 'what kind of muppet is this guy!!!' and all kirsty kept thinking was 'oh dear chris is such a tourist, don't walk through security with him again!!!!' In the end we eventually got through and headed for the departure lounge.
We arrived in Toronto at 6:30pm and a thunder storm had set in so it was battering the plane with rain and as I looked at Kirsty her little face said exactly what I was thinking "we did not sign up for this type of weather". Luckily by the time we had got our bags and found out where we needed to get the bus into town the storm had passed and the sun was yet again shining - result!! We then arrived at the 1st hostel after carrying our ruck sacks a considerable distance to be told they were fully booked and could not accommodate us but the kind gentleman did direct us to another hostel. Again lugging these ruck sacks we set of for the next hostel where upon arrival we got the same story . We then carried the bags to the next hostel and by that point I could hear some whimpering which I quickly realised was me because I did not want to carry this bag any further round the city. So we arrived at the 3rd hostel only to be greeted with the same story where upon I almost broke down but the helpful girl behind the desk said she could get us a room in another hostel. So after some hugging and kissing and an awkward look from the young girl behind the desk that I had been hugging and kissing, we had a place to stay woohoo !!! At this point we found out that there was a huge festival happening at the weekend called the Caribana and that was the reason all the other hostels were booked out. So after walking another distance we checked in, dumped our bags and went for a bite to eat before hitting bed for a well deserved sleep.
29/07/10
We decided to explore the city today so we walked through China town, Little Italy and along the water front where we saw some amazing boats. We also walked past Rodgers Centre which is the home of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team and noticed they were playing tomorrow so we decided to enquire about tickets and after a bit of discussion we had tickets for the game. We were both very excited as it was going to be our 1st baseball game since coming to Canada. We then proceeded on with our sightseeing round the city looking at the CN tower and other nice buildings before going for something to eat and having a chilled out relaxing night.
30/07/10
After waking up like two very excited kids as today was the day of the big game we decided we would go up the CN tower which until 1995 was the tallest building in the world. So after breakfast we walked down to the tower and went up in the lift at 15 miles per hour to the observation deck. Once up there we could see the full city of Toronto and beyond, 100 miles beyond to be exact which was very cool. We could also look down into the Rodgers Center where we would be later that day watching the game. The CN tower also has a glass floored section which it very weird because we were thousands of feet in the air looking straight down. We then went and got ready for the big game. The stadium was amazing and the entertainment before the game was great and after singing the national anthems we were ready to play. After a slow start the crowd began to come to life with some cheesy chants and cheers for the players. Therefore we decided to get Jerry Kay and Chico out to give their support and instantly we saw our 1st home run of the game, well done Jezza and Chico. After a few more innings the Blue Jays had the bases loaded and with an almighty hit the Blue Jays batter knocked one clean out of the park for a Grand Slam home run! The crowd went mental!! After some good entertaining play the Blue Jays came out victorious 8-1.
31/07/10
Today was the Caribana Parade which is a massive festival celebrating Caribbean Culture. We took a stroll down to watch the parade and listen to the music from the steel drum bands. The sight, sounds and colourful outfits were amazing (see pictures). There were many dance groups and organisations involved in the parade and there was also alot of booty shaking going on . We sat there for over 4 hours just watching all the exciting stuff going on and looking in amazement at the wonderful costumes they had on. We were then heading home when I hear somebody shouting my name I thought there can't be anybody shouting my name because I'm in Toronto and I know nobody here, however after another few shouts I turned round and there was one of my friends from school cycling past us. So after a bit of chat we decided to meet up later and have a good catch up. After getting ready we went and met my friend from school Gillian and she introduced us to some of her friends and we have a great night all together meeting different people and we even managed to get some free Shaggy concert tickets but sadly we had to give them away as we were not going to in Toronto when the concert was due to take place.
01/08/10
After our great night out with Gillian and her friends we had to get packed up as one of my friends from Garnock rugby team who moved out here just over 4 years ago was coming to pick us up and take us to his little slice of Canada. So after meeting up with Dave and Brooke we were heading to Rockwood to meet the rest of the family Karen his wife, his son Oscar and the lovable Cooper the dog. We spent the rest of the day catching up and taking about the old days when Dave and Karen lived in Scotland and also discussing their time in Canada. We had an amazing BBQ where we got to try some new and exciting ways to cook food. The BBQ cheese covered in cinnamon and wall nuts was fantastic - Yummy !!!!. We then sat round the fire in the back garden roasting marsh mallows and talking which was brilliant.
02/08/10
Today was spent relaxing (and recovering from a slight hangover!) Dave ad Karen took us into the next town for breakfast where we went to a restaurant called Eggcetera which served an unbelievable variety of dishes based around egg's surprisingly enough. We then went back to the house before heading round the park to through the Aerobe which is basically a frisbee on steriods cause it just flies forever. After spending some time there whilst Kirsty and Karen sunned themselves on the bleechers beside the park we went round to the spash pad (an outdoor water park) where Oscar had a great time playing in the water. We then went back to the house to play in the pool and relax for the rest of the day/evening before having another fantastic meal (Ribs mmmmm tasty).
03/08/10
Sadly today Dave and Karen had to work so Kirsty and I were left to our own devices. This meant we had to try and fill our day so after some running in the morning which almost killed me we had a nice chilled out relaxed day soaking up some sun. We then went and got Brooke and Oscar and took a walk into town to get some Ice-Cream and sweets from the little sweet shop. The Ice-Cream was amazing and all home made so it was delicious and the sweets were all handmade as well with Oscar getting a gobstopper the size of his head . Oscar and I played in the pool whilst the girls caught some sun on the deck talking about girlie stuff. Dave and Karen soon returned from work and we decided we should go out for a meal since it was their 1st Wedding Anniversary. We went to a lovely wee Italian and have a delicious meal, a bit of good chat and some drinks to celebrate.
04/08/10
This morning Dave and I went for a trail run through the woods and because of the humidity the trees and bushes were drooping down which made the run very interesting as we battled our way through them. After our run we were going to Niagara Falls which everybody was excited about. After arriving at the falls we took a stroll again the river looking at the America side of the falls which was pretty impressive and then we walked up to the Canadian side which was absolutely out of this world there was so much water flowing over the falls every second it was unbelievable. We stood there for a while throwing pennies in and making our wishes before we went to tackle the maid of the mist tour. This is a boat ride that takes you right up to the base of the falls. So we got on the boat with our very stylish blue ponchos on and the boat set off up the river. After a brief stop at the America side of the falls the boat continued on to the base of the Canadian Niagara Falls. It was amazing the spray from the water falling over the falls hitting the water below made it feel as if it was raining and everybody on board was getting soaked thank goodness for the poncho now lol. After coming off the Maid of The Mist we took a wee drive to the Whirlpool which is a naturally occurring Whirlpool where the Niagara river turns 90 degrees to the right creating a whirlpool. After this, it was time for home which was a good thing as everybody was tired, some even sleeping in the car on the way home. So we were all ready for a nice relaxing night.
05/08/10
Sadly today we had to say our goodbyes to Dave, Karen, Brooke, Oscar, and Cooper however Kirsty got a lovely chain and bracelet made by Brooke to wear whilst on the rest of her travels which was very nice of her and something that Kirsty loves. We travelled from Rockwood to Ottawa on the bus which took 8 and a half hours . When we arrived we spend the night in the Jail which was very strange for me since I've never been in jail but Kirsty said it was better than the last one she was in only joking.
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