ONTARIO, CANADA

I’ve just said goodbye to Jana and George at the hotel at Toronto Airport.   They are now on their journey back to St Jacobs and I hope they don’t have the same terrible traffic we had on the way down this afternoon.    My time in Ontario has been just absolutely wonderful and I can’t thank them both enough for all they have done.

On Sunday, in bright sunshine, we took a lovely long walk along the river bank of the Conestogo River, which runs right behind their back garden.   Most of the homes in Ontario seem to be unfenced, although some of the ones in newer developments have fences, often because they have small children, animals or a pool.    So you can walk straight down the garden and on to the path by the river.   We took this path and crossed a bridge and went by the Mill Race right along to where there is a weir (with fishermen!).    After lunch Jana and I explored some of the main street of St Jacobs, which is within easy walking distance from their home.    George also took us to the only covered bridge in Ontario (I think!).    This is called the Kissing Bridge and was very reminiscent of the ones in the famous movie The Bridges of Madison County.

St Jacobs is in the centre of a very strong Mennonite community and most of the farms in the immediate vicinity are owned by this group.    There is an extremely interesting museum in town which details the story of the Mennonites since their arrival in St Jacobs about 200 years ago.   Mennonites are a bit similar to the Amish, and a bit further from town there is also an Amish community.   In the morning we also drove past one of the Meeting Houses and it was fascinating to see all the old-fashioned buggies  “parked” in the field around the Meeting House.

St Jacobs is also famous for its patchwork items, most of those on sale having been done by Mennonite women on the farms, and are completely hand-done and also hand-quilted – and are all so perfect.   I’m glad none of them can see my poor efforts at patchworking!!

On Monday there was definitely the high point – we visited Niagara Falls.   I must admit I was a bit reluctant to go there (being highly allergic to crowds!) but Jana overcame my objections and off we set.   The weather was perfect, cloudless blue sky and warm temperatures in the mid-twenties.   The Falls are absolutely breathtaking and the Canadian falls are far far better than the ones in the USA (by the way, Americans have to come into Canada to view their falls at their best!).   We took the journey “Behind the Falls” and it was wonderful to see the water crashing down in front of you, and then to be standing out on a balcony so close to the actual falls.   We then had a bit of a luxury treat by lunching in the revolving restaurant, the Skylon, and the view from there was unbelievable.   The photos don’t do justice to the experience but I hope you will enjoy them.  

Tuesday proved to be another beautiful day so after a bit of shopping in the morning we drove to the theatre town of Stratford.   And yes, the river is called the Avon.   It is famous for its Festival theatre, which puts on lots of Shakespeare plays.    Not only are there lovely gardens around the theatre itself, but the walk along the banks of the river is beautiful, with lots of wonderful trees – and more ducks than I have ever seen in one spot before, anywhere!!   Perhaps they are all in the midst of their annual migration south and this was a “resting point” for them.    There is also an Elizabethan garden dedicated to Shakespeare which had masses of colourful flowerbeds.

In the evening we visited Jana and George’s son Andrew for a short while, and his two children, Nolan and Ainsley.   Unfortunately his wife was out for the evening so I didn’t get to meet her.     It was quite a change to drive into this residential neighbourhood full of young families and to see so many children playing outside, and a group of young boys playing hockey on the roadway, coached and supervised by one of the fathers.   How long is it in Melbourne since it has been possible for children to play out in the streets?

Yesterday (Wednesday) – another gorgeous day weather-wise – saw us heading north to towns on the shore of Lake Huron.   It is such a vast lake and seems just like the ocean, without the surf.   Owen Sound was our first port of call and we found a fisherman who had actually caught quite a decent sized salmon.    He was only too happy to hold it up for a photo opportunity.   Driving on we had lunch in the small town of Meaford which I really loved.    We then drove on to the seaport of Collingwood which had a fascinating history of shipbuilding, sadly now all discontinued.  

Before driving to Toronto later this afternoon, we visited the Farmers Market in St Jacobs in the morning.   This is the largest Farmers Market in Ontario, if not in all of Canada, and the produce on offer was amazing.   A highlight for me was the cattle auction!   Poor Jana even braved the bovine smells to have a look at the auction ring with me and then go on an elevated walkway to see the animals in their pens.   This afternoon I went on a horse & cart tour of one of the Mennonite farms in the area, which I found so very interesting.    Their main source of income is from the milk they sell from their 35 cows, but their second staple is Maple Syrup.   Did you know you have to collect 40 litres of sap to get one litre of the syrup???   This particular farm collects about 240,000 litres of sap each year. 

My time here is now over and Wisconsin is the next stage of my long trip.    After that it is the Canadian Prairies, the Rockies, Vancouver – and HOME!!!    Ontario is certainly a beautiful Province and parts of it remind me quite a bit of the area around Rochester in the days when irrigation was still in full force – endless expanses of sky, and fertile fields as far as the eye can see, scattered with farmhouses and barns.   Thank you Jana and George for giving me a visit which will live for long in my memory.