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Our first mission on arriving in Toronto was to work out how to get from the airport into the city. The airport wasn't quite as user friendly as New York so it took us nearly an hour to collect our bags, find out there was an airport bus and be on our way. Once in the city we found our hotel quite easily and after checking in and dropping our bags to our room, we were off on a self guided Toronto City sightseeing tour.
Heading towards the waterfront we found the railway station where we were to board our west bound train, 'The Canadian', a few days later. The Canadian's daily scheduled departure is 2200hrs, however that day it was running late and not departing until 0130, it was fingers crossed it was going to be an on time departure for us.
We had 'skip the line' vouchers to the CN tower, so we made that our first port of call the following day. The CN Tower is a 553 metre high concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto. Its construction was completed in 1976, making it the world's tallest free-standing structure and world's tallest tower at the time. It held that record for 34 years but now takes third place. We took the high speed glass front lift to the observation deck, which travelling at 22 kmph took a whole 58 seconds to reach the top. It was a very clear day so the view was really impressive. Below the tower is a baseball stadium and it just happened the 'Toronto Blue Jays' were playing so the opening roof on the stadium was wide open giving us great views of the pitch and crowds below. One level below the main observation deck is another viewing deck with a glass floor, it took me a few minutes and some encouragement from Tony but I managed firstly to sit down for a photo, not looking down and shaking a little at this point, then walking out onto the glass and taking my own photo of the Toronto aquarium over 500 metres below. From the CN tower we headed to the Toronto Island ferry, it was a hot sunny Sunday afternoon and I think most of Toronto had the same idea as us. We waited in the baking sun for about 45 minutes before boarding the ferry for the short 15 minute trip across to the island. Toronto Island is situated on Lake Ontario, just offshore from the city centre and is a group of small islands connected by pathways and bridges. The islands are home to parkland, the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, a small residential community, several boat clubs, an amusement park and several sandy beaches. There were crowds of people out and about enjoying the beautiful summer weather and Centre Island was busy with groups having picnics, children playing in the in-ground paddling pools and frisbee and ball games being played in the large grassy areas. We headed straight across the island to hire bikes and managed to cover most of the island in two hours. The far ends of the island were much quieter with a few people venturing that far on foot, however there were numerous people like ourselves discovering the island by bike. We stayed on the island until dark and after a great meal in one of the only two restaurants on the island we sat with our camera lenses clicking and enjoyed the twinkling lights of Toronto City.
Our day trip to Niagara Falls was yet another wow moment on our great adventure. Arriving at the falls we headed to the boat and were all given plastic rain ponchos to wear. The driver on our bus had suggested we either tied a knot in the bottom of the poncho or tuck it between our knees when approaching the falls due to the updraft caused by the sheer force of the water. Crossing the river we headed first to the American falls, less spectacular than the Horseshoe falls but still amazing. With rain poncho both knotted and tucked between my knees first came the water spray then the wind, as the updraft lifted many rain ponchos near me I was thankful for the advice of our driver, that was until my hood flew off. It was like standing on the south coast in a Wellington southerly, with hair drenched and flying in all directions it then felt like a couple of cups of water were being poured inside my poncho from the top. The horseshoe falls were amazing, the powerful force of the water thundering over the horseshoe shaped curved cliffs above was quite incredible to see. Once again as squeals erupted from fellow boat passengers, rain ponchos flew above heads. After lunch in a restaurant overlooking the falls we had the opportunity to walk along the path that follows the river above the falls. There is an incredible volume of water channelling in from the wide river and the force of these very powerful falls made us both feel like we were almost being drawn in, heading over them in a barrel is not something I plan on doing in this life however. Heading back to Toronto we stopped at the very pretty town of Niagara on the Lake. It's quaint buildings and tree lined streets with hanging baskets in front of many of the shops made for some great photos.
Our last day in Toronto was spent meandering around the streets and shops and visiting the Toronto aquarium. The aquarium is huge and has some amazing tanks, pools and a huge underwater tunnel where you are gently moved around on the conveyor belt floor while giant rays, sharks and turtles swim above your heads. A bit like Kelly Tarlton's in Auckland, but on steroids. It's great to see even big aquariums taking on a marine conservation focus in an effort to educate the public to preserve marine life and look after our oceans.
Arriving at the railway station at 9pm it was a relief to see our train was scheduled to leave on time. We checked in our bags then took advantage of the free wifi to send a couple of last messages to Sarah and Kate before being wifi free for three days. Boarding our train 'The Canadian', we bid Toronto goodbye as the train pulled out of the station as scheduled on the dot of 10pm.
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