Oh Canada!

We are here in Toronto spending our last hour in a warm Internet cafe while it snows outside. Tonight we leave for London. We will arrive there by lunchtime (25th Jan)... for those of you who were asking.

We've done a lot of kicking back and relaxing while here in Toronto. Our first day saw us going to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner... we wanted to try something different... and an early night.

Sunday was our big day because we went to Niagara Falls. It took about 90 minutes to get there, and when you do it all seems a lot smaller than you expected it to be. Then you start considering just how much water is flowing here and it blows you away. We were also quite lucky to have sunshine, which meant that there was a constant rainbow in the mist off the waterfalls. It was just stunning.

Adie and I decided that due to this being a once in a lifetime kinda trip, we really should get in a helicopter and fly over and around the falls. Wow! How fantastic! This little helicopter, that kept flying sideways as it turned, took us over the whirlpool rapids, past the falls and then back around. We are so glad we did this because the views, not only of the falls, but also out over Lake Ontario to Toronto were just amazing.

This was such a good day's outing. Other things we did were:

1. Eat lunch from the penthouse of the Sheraton Niagara with perfect views of the Falls.
2. Watched an IMAX movie about the myths, history and daredevils who have all been involved with the area and the Falls.
3. Tasted ice wine, which we found a little too sweet. They wait until the grapes are frozen solid to squish them. It means that there's no water left. Chip and Dale tried some champagne with a drop or two of ice wine in it and that sounds like it would be yummy. On it's own it's like straight wine cordial! We did find a fantastic bottle of white and we'd love to bring it to dinner to share with our family in East Grinstead... nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
4. Saw the world's smallest chapel. It only holds 5 people!

When we got back to Toronto we met up with Chip and Dale and decided to go ice skating on a rink that is just opposite our hotel. Now, I've been ice skating before and am far too scared for my knee, so I became official photographer as the other three make their way around the rink. The first ten minutes were hilarious as none of them really knew what they were doing... and there were no handrails! Chip and Dale have had some experience roller-blading, so they eventually found a rythym. Adie has never, ever done anything like this and I was so proud. While his style was a bit wobbly and jagged, he did not fall over once. Well done I say.

So we ended up with a really busy Sunday and then two days of not much at all. We did go on a sight-seeing bus trip of Toronto yesterday, but there's not much here that we wanted to see. I guess we could have gone to the shoe museum or the ice hockey hall of fame, but we just couldn't find the motivation.

Today it's all about getting ready for phase II... London, where I might add all three Primary teachers already have work and I don't! I guess that just means I'll have to find ways to occupy my time. Theatre anyone?