A little more Toronto, eh!

Squirrels of Toronto they know we are coming and they love nuts

There are those of you who might be wondering why I keep putting “eh” at the end of the heading.  Well, that would be because Canadians have this curious habit of putting it at the end of their sentences.  At first we found it amusing but have lately caught ourselves starting to say it.  We say things like “Lovely day today, eh”.  I think we have been here too long.

We did manage to get in a local Australian football game.  What a hoot!  We arrived at a magnificent oval tucked away in one of the University’s grounds just as the “ladies” had finished playing.  The men came out to play and ranged in ages from early twenties to rather mature men.  It was good to hear a smattering of Australian accents barracking for “Macca” and “Danger”.  There was no score- board, no boundary umpires and the goal umpires were a couple of local kids.  The skill level was not AFL standard but everyone had a good time.

 

One thing that has been hard to get used to is that tax is added on to items that you purchase.  In Australia, the price advertised includes GST, here they add the HST on after you have purchased so you never know exactly how much something is going to cost you.  The tax rate is 13%, so it is not an easy one to work out in your head and some items are tax exempt.  The result is you always hand over more money than needed and inevitably end up with a handful of change, which I guess is handy for all the homeless people.  They only got rid of the penny last month, which seems bizarre considering Australia withdrew one and two cent pieces 19 years ago (yes, it was really that long ago – 1994).

Good Old Collingwood Forever

We were invited last weekend to spend some time with friends in Collingwood, which is nestled in the Canadian countryside.

 

First we went to Kitchener where we hired a car.  This was my third trip to Kitchener.  On the first trip I looked out of our hotel wind to see that the wind was blowing so hard that the snow was blowing horizontally.  In fact, one huge gust actually blew open both sets of automatic doors.  A few months later Michael convinced me to travel to Kitchener again as he was sure that there would be no more snow.  It pelted rain the entire time and when it stopped raining it snowed.  This time it was just raining.

We drove out of Kitchener and travelled through Mennonite country.  The Mennonites are an Anabaptist group who broke away from the Amish.  They are easily identified by the simple clothes that they wear.  Men wear plain trousers and shirts and usually a broad-brimmed hat.  The women wear long dresses and bonnets.  They shun modern life as much as possible and drive horse and carriages.  We passed many of the horse and carriages as we drove along and I found myself thinking about the appeal of dropping out of the rat race and enjoying a more simple life.  That was until I looked out of the window and saw a Mennonite woman in the pouring rain hoeing the field.  I think I prefer the rat race.

 

The countryside became progressively more beautiful until we reached Collingwood.  There we met our friends and headed out for a magnificent Italian meal at one of their favourite restaurants. A good night was had by all, and we formalised our plans for the following day.

Durham Bridge

Friday morning I took a walk with Angie along one of the many walking tracks.  The countryside was quite beautiful with many wildflowers in bloom.  We saw Canadian Geese with their goslings, which were cute.  Big, but cute.  We also saw loons.

We met up with the men and after a lovely lunch they took us for a walk through the town of Collingwood.  The township was full of lovely old buildings that had been well cared for and the shops sold many interesting and varied goods. 

Tim then drove us through the forest until we came to the Scandinave Spa.  What a beautiful place.  It is a series of outdoor spas with thermal springs & waterfalls in the middle of a birch tree forest.  There are also cold plunge pools, a Finnish sauna and a Eucalyptus steam room.  We quickly changed into our swimming costumes and then spent the afternoon relaxing going from spa to plunge pool to sauna and back again.  Tim was so relaxed we found him asleep in the relaxation room!  We are told that it is absolutely wonderful to go there in the winter when you are surrounded by snow.  If we are lucky enough to be here next winter, then this will definitely be on our wish list.

We then went back to our hotel where Michael promptly fell asleep, so relaxed was he.  Then it was time to go to dinner at Angie & Tim’s home and to see their wonderful dog Tango.  Tango is a Labrador/Rottweiler cross and is a very smart boy indeed.  We spent the evening enjoying good food, good company and far too much good wine.  We then caught a taxi back to our hotel and by the time the journey ended, Michael had convinced the taxi driver to come to Australia!

On Saturday we met up for lunch at the Beaver & Bulldog (traditional English Pub Canadian style) where Angie & Tim both had a Caesar to drink.  A Caesar consists of vodka, clamato (tomato juice mixed with clam broth), hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  This is served with ice in a large celery-salt rimmed glass and garnished with a stalk of celery.  Michael and I had water!  After lunch Tim drove us up to the Blue Mountains.  This is a fabulous ski resort with many shops and restaurants at the base of the mountains.  We took the gondola to the top and then took a walk along one of the walking tracks.  The view was magnificent as you overlooked Collingwood and beyond and Georgian Bay.  We saw Canadian Geese flying in formation.  It was like something you would see on the National Geographic channel.

We finished the day off with another superb dinner and then went back to Tim and Angie’s to take Tango for a walk around their condo.  They live in a type of gated community with lovely gardens and a marina right on the bay.  We saw hares hopping about and they tell us that in winter a family of deer is often spotted there.  There are also large snapping turtles and coyotes.  It must be like living in a wildlife sanctuary.

Beautiful Joe

The next morning we said farewell after a lovely brunch and we took the scenic way back to Kitchener.  The countryside was beautiful and we stopped at various small towns along the way.  We stopped at Beautiful Joe park in Meaford which is a lovely park dedicated to the memory of a dog, Joe, whose ears and tail were cruelly cut off by a local baker.  A family rescued him and nursed him back to health. The park has a statue of Beautiful Joe as well as memorial plaques for the K9 Corp, Assistance Dogs and a Rescue dog, who died on 9/11.  Members of the public have also put up memorial plaques for their departed pets. It was such a peaceful park and a lovely idea to pay tribute to these very special animals.