After having our fun at the Calgary Stampede, we packed up our spurs and headed back to Toronto. The flight was delayed for 3 hours thanks to flash flooding that was taking place around Toronto during that time. Seems like Canada has been having a lot of terrible weather recently. Anyway, we made it to Toronto, finding the whole town blacked out. So we found our way to our cheap, darkened hotel and got some sleep before being picked up the next day by our old Canadian friends Pam & Rich, who we first met in Korea. They took us to their apartment an hour south in the town of Waterloo, where we stayed for the best part of the next two weeks. Apart from just catching up with Pam & Rich, and also catching up on sleep, we had a tonne of fun doing some crazy stuff with them. Here is a shortlist of some of the shenanigans that were had:* Karaoke night - no Korean reunion would be complete without some out of tune singalongs. A few of Pam's friends from the local area also came along, and everyone eventually got into the spirit of making fools of themselves.
* All-you-can-eat Ribs at Montana's Grill - I've never had ribs before visiting Canada, so getting stuck into an endless supply of the greasy little buggers was a treat worth mentioning. I think we each got through about a dozen ribs before raising the sauce-stained white flag in defeat. Great night, but not something I would do on a regular basis, since I plan to live past the age of 40.
* Canada's Wonderland - We spent a fast paced evening racing around this mammoth amusement park which was crammed full of seriously 5 star roller coasters. We booked early and managed to get some sort of 'express passes' which allowed us to bypass all the massive queues, and ride every single coaster in just 4 hours! Some of these things were beyond crazy, too. One of them strapped you in while standing up, so when you went upside down later down the track, your whole body left the platform you were standing on. Another one went a couple of hundred metres up before rocketing down at an 80 degree angle. Still another one had us lying down, face forward, as if in a tiny rocket, and flew around the rails while constantly spinning and turning us upside down. Madness. But easily the greatest rides I have ever been on, so I would definitely recommend the park to any rollercoaster fans.
* River walking - exactly what it sounds like, and at least four times as much fun as it sounds. We all went down to a local freshwater river, strapped on our sandals, and slowly trudged our way up the middle of the river, one gingerly placed step at a time. It was something I haven't really done much of before, and certainly not for hours at a time, but by the end of the day we were moving at almost a regular walking pace over the slippery rocks and rapids. Refreshing.
* Getting lost in a cornfield - A visit to Rich's parents' place was a breath of very, very fresh air, considering how far away they live from the rest of civilisation. Next door to their house was a massive cornfield, which is another thing I've never had a chance to see up close, so Kate and I got stuck into it, losing our way in amongst the plants, and playing a very creepy game of Marco Polo the rest of the time.
After our first week in Waterloo, we rented a little car and popped down to Niagra falls for a few days. I didn't realize that the falls were quite literally next to the main tourist part of the town. Next door to our cheap little motel there were big flashy casinos, restaurants, wax museums and arcade centers, and just past that were the viewing platforms for the falls. But let's forget about the town. It is a joke, and I couldn't get through it fast enough to see the falls.
The falls are the only reason that I could put up with the rest of the town for 3 days. They are simply amazing. The endless torrent of water rushing over the brink created a thick mist which left a beautiful rainbow painted across the whole scene for most of the day. Let's just say that taking epic photos at Niagra felt a bit too easy.
We took a short ride on a Maiden of the Mist, which is a boat that chugs all the way up to the misty base of the falls, where you can really start to appreciate the raw power of the falls. Lucky our little camera is waterproof!
As if we weren't wet enough by that stage, we went on the 'Behind The Falls' trip as well. That is where you descend to a series of man made passages which have been dug behind and into the very edge of the cliff faces making which form the falls. Seeing the rushing water from behind was a little more claustrophobic and not nearly as majestic as the open air experience, but standing under the falls did give us more of a feeling for the sheer height that all this water was tumbling from. Interesting.
Back in Waterloo we continued with the all the stuff listed earlier, as well as just catching up on sleep, and cleaning up the ever growing pile of photos that we have been taking. To date we have taken almost 40gb of photos. Not sure how many photos that is just yet, but I know there are plenty of duds that need to be deleted before we can add them properly to our permanent collection. And this trip isn't over just yet!
Anway, that's all I have to say for now about Waterloo and Niagra. Thanks to Pam and Rich for showing us around, and playing cards with us for a few weeks!
Tune in soon to read about our adventures in and around Montreal!
Till next time!
//Brendan
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