Tuesday 4 September 2001 - Wednesday 5 September 2001

Over the border at Sarnia, where for the first time we didn't have to go through immigration - just showed our passports at the booth, answered a few questions and got waved through. We'd been given a six-month entry stamp when we went into British Columbia in June, so that probably saw us right.

Had lunch in a Chicago-themed restaurant just over the border with good burgers and where we heard more Chicago blues than during our whole time in Illinois. Drove on to Niagara, getting hopelessly lost on the way when Highway 20 just disappeared due to a bridge being down and the detour petered out in the middle of the countryside. Stopped for a couple of nights at Campark Resort, Niagara Falls, where there was a pretty sunset ...

It's good to be back where there's a decent radio station - CBC1. They do a lot of folk music, which is good, except that most male Canadian folk singers have high whiny voices, very much like Neil Young who is of course Canadian. They must take him as a role model.

Next day we took the bus tour of Niagara recommended at the campsite, driven and conducted by Valentino, a diminutive Italian / Spanish / Canadian who delivered amusing commentaries in an almost incomprehensible accent, although we started to catch more of it towards the end. We covered the whirlpool, the hydroelectric power plant, the floral clock which is completely replanted three times a year with different designs and which has hands in the shape of crutches, courtesy of its designer who was disabled ...

... the Catholic seminary, a couple of gift shops, a winery and of course the falls themselves. (An 'it's a small world' coincidence here: one of the other tourists on the bus was a pediatrician from Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, who knew and had treated many of the children Christine taught). I tried the Canadian sherry at the winery with no great expectations; it's remarkably good quality but far too sweet.

There are in fact two distinct falls separated by Goat Island: the American Falls (on the left seen from the Canadian side) and the Horseshoe or Canadian Falls, of which the latter is the most impressive. They're both pretty spectacular: not all that high, but very wide and of course you're standing virtually next to them ...

Interesting info #16: The falls were formed about 12,000 years ago when the glaciers retreated, but were originally several miles downriver of their current location. Because of the erosion caused by the volume of water hurtling over it, Horseshoe Falls is currently moving upstream at a rate of about five feet per year (although it used to be much faster until they diverted most of the water for the hydroelectric plant), and in 4,000 years will disappear completely. We only just made it in time.

The boat is the Maid of the Mist (or one of them - there are several), in which for an inflated price you can go up close to the falls, get tossed around and soaking wet, then come back again. We didn't bother, although we did go into the tunnels made in the rock behind the falls from which you can see a solid curtain of water and a somewhat unnecessary sign ...

Also within the tunnels is a series of informational posters, including this cheerful one ...

Had a bad, overpriced meal at the top of the Minolta Tower in the evening. The restaurant has a good view over the falls which are illuminated at night, but that didn't make up for it. Don't go there.

Thursday 6 September 2001 - Friday 7 September 2001

East to Toronto, or more accurately Milton Heights RV Park which is about 30 miles out but is as close as you can camp. Neither Christine nor I can remember a thing about this campground, despite being there for two nights just a couple of weeks ago - the first time this has happened - so it must be particularly dull.

Went into the city and drove around it during the afternoon. This is a pretty slow process: Toronto is about the most crowded city we've found so far in Canada. You'd think that the second biggest country in the world, with a population half that of the UK, would have plenty of room for people to spread out, but it was just like any other big city with traffic problems, especially around the Yonge Street / Chinatown area. We'd been told that Toronto is a wonderful city not to be missed, but to be honest it seemed fairly ordinary to us. Maybe we're getting a bit jaded by now. Took in the Art Museum which has some good Inuit art. On the way back to the campground we found a good Indian restaurant, and were able to ease our withdrawal symptoms.

Back into Toronto next day to walk around and take it in at a more leisurely pace. To be fair, there's an awful lot of rebuilding going on at the moment which makes it more congested and less picturesque than it deserves. Looked round the SkyDome, the sports stadium with a retractable roof and home of the Toronto Blue Jays. Went up the CN Tower ...

... the tallest man-made structure in the world.

Incidentally, the tallest building / man-made structure / dog kennel competition is getting a bit silly. The record is currently claimed by Chicago (for the Sears building), by Toronto (for the CN Tower), by Kuala Lumpur (for the Petronas Towers) and for all I know by dozens of other 'mine is bigger than yours' macho municipalities worldwide. Look, people, it really doesn't matter. In the gift shop and outside I took the latest in my series of 'Christine with an amusing animal' pictures ...

... which will shortly be appearing as a sumptuous overpriced coffee table book.

After lunch did the two hour open-topped bus tour of the city, spoilt yet again (see Chicago) by a dreadful PA system and a commentator with a strong Hispanic accent and little interest in her work. I think we've learnt our lesson now: great idea, but the implementation never lives up to it.

Saturday 8 September 2001 - Monday 10 September 2001

To Ottawa, and Nepean Municipal Tent and Trailer Park on the outskirts. Plenty of space, grass and trees, plus water, electricity and modem connection - Canadian town parks seem much better than the American ones. Lunch at Tim Horton's, Canada's own fast food chain who specialise in donuts and are a great improvement over the standard burger vendors.

Ottawa became Canada's capital in 1857, and was supposedly chosen because it was located on the border between Quebec and Ontario and was safe from American attack. However, there was a rumour that Queen Victoria had seen a picture of the area and thought it looked pretty, hence the choice. Probably a bit of both. For many years, until a proper police force was established, it was considered to be the most violent city in North America; there were rival English, Irish and French gangs who pretty much carved each other and the local populace up when and where they felt like it. As you can imagine, the politicians were not at all happy about being uprooted from their civilised homes in Quebec, Montreal, Toronto etc. and dumped in a small primitive town in the back end of nowhere.

... to see the Changing of the Guard which we had hoped to compare with the original. Imagine our shock and horror to find that over here it's just a summer ceremony which stops after Labour Day: outside the tourist season the government is completely unprotected, and any foreign power could just walk in and take over. Shocking. Instead, we had a guided tour of the building, which is pleasant enough: some nice carvings ...

... a beautiful library ...

... and lots of lists of names and paintings of dead politicians. The parliamentary system was modeled closely on the British one, based around a House of Commons and a Senate (House of Lords). We've seen some of the proceedings on TV and unfortunately the quality of debate, i.e. abuse, point scoring and name calling, is also very similar to ours.

We learnt from our guide that there are now 13 provinces in Canada rather than 12 as we'd thought. On April 1st 1999 Nunavut was created from about 2/3 of the North West Territories as a homeland for the Inuit as part of a settlement of long-standing aboriginal land claims, and is now the country's biggest province with a massive population of around 25,000 which gives them about 80 square miles each.

Lunch at the National Gallery of Canada, followed by their currently featured exhibition of Gustav Klimt (he did some very naughty pictures of ladies as well as his better known decorative art nouveau stuff) and the Inuit gallery. Inuit sculpture is very sophisticated and powerful, which is remarkable as it only really began there as a major art form in the 1950s when the Canadian government was trying to find them alternative employment to replace the hunting and trapping which was no longer viable.

Christine phoned John Dicker, one of her long-time correspondents about family history who lives just the other side of Ottawa from our campground but whom she'd never met, and got us invited for dinner the following night.

Back into Ottawa on Monday, but over the river this time into Quebec to see the Musée de Culture. Walked round several exhibits: photography, beadwork, clothing etc. etc. after which we felt more exhausted than cultured. Had lunch, then a half hour walk back to the Ontario side of the river for a guided walk and talk about the seedier side of Ottawa. It turned out that we were the only customers which made us fell a bit guilty about dragging the guide away from a comfy chair and cup of coffee. She was very gracious about it and gave us a good tour, including the site of the murder of a Mr. McGee, one of Canada's earliest politicians, by Jim Wayland who many think was framed because he was Irish and hence obviously guilty of something. We also saw the old prison, now a youth hostel, where he was incarcerated; the cells ...

... were as small as it was possible for them to be and still get a person inside. Note the sanitary facilities: a space on the floor for your bucket. Amazingly, it was still in use until the 1970s when the bleeding heart liberals finally persuaded the authorities that conditions were just the tiniest bit inhuman and they built a new one.

A pleasant evening with the Dickers, with plenty of food and booze. Tomorrow, Quebec.