Niagara Falls

Well, after 3 hours driving we managed to arrive in Niagra falls. The roads were very busy, labour weekend and at least half of Canada driving down to New York State to shop. What a shock Niagra was; full of tourists and numerous tacky type of attractions to draw your dollars. Managed to find a park ($10 allday), when we returned at 3 pm it was $40 all day. Such is the market forces at play. Anyway got to sail on the Maid of the Mist into the falls area (very wet). We also took a behind the falls tour (nothing to write home about). We had to leave at 3- 4 pm so Karla could buy her cell phone. The drive home was qucker, but traffic was still heavy.

Tomorrow, we leave Karla and drive East towards Quebec.

The hotel we have been staying at in London has been very good. Great breakfasts etc.

Mall 101

Yesterday (Friday), I passed practical Mall 101 and 102. We spent the day driving Karla from Mall to Mall. First to open a bank account, then to look for an item of clothing for some law function, plus look for a suitable cell phone deal. You wouldn't believe the different options they offer re cell phones. We also walked through downtown. I sat in a big park and watched the squirrels while Karla and Lynley shopped.

In the evening we ate mexician (which was great).

Today (Saturday) we got out of London. Drove out to St Jacobs via Stratford. St. Jacobs is the centre on the menniote community. It was more like Greytown on a long weekend. Packed with sightseers (mainly middle aged). Left to drive across to Lahe Huron (less polluted with sandy beaches). While driving we passed a few menniotes in the horse drawn buggies, the women had brightly coloured bonnets on and very long dresses. The lanscape was flat, with large expanses of corn and beans. Also saw a few cows (outside) and sheep.

The roads were straight but the speed limit was only 80km's /hour so the drive to Goderich took far longer than expected. Once at the Goderich beach we spent an enjoyable few hours in the sun. Lynley and I watched a large bulk carrier being loaded with salt. Apparently below Lake Huron is a large deposit of salt, which is mined and transported by ship to other parts of Canada and US around the 5 great lakes. The afternoon was enjoyable. The town of Goderich looked to be a very laidback town. The centre is laid out as an octagen, with a oneway road system around it. Large park and court house in the centre (similar to Martinborough), but not as good at Dunedin's octagen (Karla's thought).

We arrived back in London around 6.30 pm and guess what we got yo practice our Mall 101 and 102. Karla was still tracking down a cell phone contract. Unfortunately the person who rights the contracts was a dinner. We were told to come back in around about 1/2 hour. When we did return the person had left work urgently (sick child), so we will do it again tomorrow. The cell phone and programme can only be purchased at Wal-Mart (which is open 10am to 11pm daily).

We drove back via Grand Bend, which also looked like a place you could spend some time in during the summer months.
Tomorrow we are off to Niagra Falls.

Freeway driving

Yesterday we drove from Toronto to London using the freeway. Typical of North American interstates. Crowded with big trucks, all going 120Km (against a posted 100KM/hour). The road in poor condition with numerous roadworks to slow traffic. Had to stop at the roadside resturants.....!!!!!

South western Ontario is green, lots of cornfields.

London is big, but stretched out. Malls North and South near the freeways. Downtown a little run down. Rained last night.

Today...who knows?

London

Yesterday we had a guided tour of Toronto Karla style. i.e. We spent the better part of the day at the Eaton Mall (which was enormous). In the afternoon managed to walk through China town and Kennsington area (all different ethnicities). Toronto is itself a melting pot of different nationalities.

Today, we picked up our rental car and hit the road to London. On arriving it was back to a mall to meet Karla's needs i.e. set up a bank account, pick up a cell phone and clothing(generally shopping).

London has a population of over 330,000 which makes it as big as Wellington. The weather this afternoon has been humid with rain ( the tail end of a tropical cyclone).

Tomorrow we will continue to assist Karla establish herself her in London.

Lynley finally got her bag back late yesterday afternoon, so she is now happy.

Toronto at last

What a day. After at least 30 hours travelling we arrived in Toronto. Our flight from O'hare to Toronto was 2 hours late, so we arrived at 2 am not 11.45pm. The flight was delayed because of no pilot. Once he'she was found we then had to wait while they added extra fuel to the aircraft. To make things interesting United lost Lynley's bag somewhere between SFO and Toronto. So we are now awaiting its arrival.

Overall the trip went well. Lynley was disappointed with the lack of personal TV screens on the aircraft. I was disappointed with the selection of movies.

Anyway have caught up with Karla. Hauled her out of bed around 3am to let us into the room.

Time for some real sleep.

Canada here we come!

Our Itinerary:
Over the next three weeks we will travel through Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Our journey will begin in Toronto. Where we will help our daughter set up in London. She will be attending Western Ontario for the fall semester. She is completing her law degree at Western, part of an exchange programme between Otago University (NZ) and Western. Karla is completing her LLB at Otago.
The flight will be very long; Wellington to Sydney, Sydney to San Francisco, San Fran to Chicago, then Chicago to Toronto.

We will meet up with Karla in Toronto, before travelling down to London.