After an early stopover at Detroit and at immigration we finally crossed the border into Canada, our final country of our journey around the World before returning home. Driving through Kitchener and London my first impressions of Canada were of a clean, prosperous country. Arriving at Toronto at 7am was a huge relief; it was the last time I would have to do a long overnight bus journey on the trip!
Toronto looked very peaceful (everywhere does that early in the morning) with its impressive and old-fashioned trams (the first I had seen since my time in Melbourne) I took to it immediately. The people were polite, friendly and helpful. The stereotypical and as it transpired, completely false impression we sometimes have of Canada as a rural place populated by morally upright Mounties, eccentric trappers and lumberjacks was laughable as I now discovered. Toronto, like the rest of the country, is very cosmopolitan and culturally and ethnically diverse, a true melting pot of people and ideas.
After finding (which was easy thanks to a grid system and a trusty map) and checking in to the hostel Ben and I cleaned up before venturing again into the city. Top of the agenda was seeing the Canadian National Tower, or the CN Tower as the Canadians referred to it. Once again there was the lofty (no pun intended) claim that it was ‘The highest structure in the World.’ I can confirm that at 1,800 feet it was pretty high up there! With a reinforced Perspex floor that offered stunning views of the World below it wasn’t hard to be very impressed and a little awe struck.
That evening Ben seemed a little tired and gloomy and he explained that he did not feel like going out for the evening. So I joined a group from the hostel that consisted of: Ryan and Lee (from New Zealand), Sara and Lisa (from Melbourne, Australia), Harry (from Austria), Wendy (from, er, Canada), Sean (a serious and reserved man from Donegal, Ireland) and Eric (an eccentric, gregarious and witty Frenchman).
Despite feeling a little tired myself from all the previous travel and a day in a bustling city I wanted to seize every last free moment available to me on this trip. It would not be long before I was heading home to responsibility and job hunting. As it transpired it was one of the best evenings of the trip, right up there with the ones in Australia and my time in San Antonio. The wine and beer flowed freely as did the conversation at ‘The Brass Tap’ a friendly and lively bar in the city.
Although we had only met that day the group got on like a house on fire and we swapped stories, tall tales and exchanged jokes into the wee hours. One classic story came from Ryan and Lee who told me that they were doing driveaways in America and one time in particular amused and exasperated them. As Lee explained:
‘We were checking in to this hostel in Texas and the lady running the reception desk said that we had unusual accents and asked where we came from. So we answered New Zealand and she honestly said ‘You guys drove from New Zealand?’’
That story had everyone doubled over with laughter and there were many more, but thanks to the alcohol that flowed that evening I can’t recall all of them. We all returned to the hostel in a very good mood.
The following day and Ben still seemed to be suffering from the blues and had withdrawn into himself. I explained that the Aussies and Kiwi’s had invited me to join them that day in the city but Ben said he was going to stay at the hostel. A little taken aback by this change in him I did not want to miss the opportunity to further explore Toronto so a few minutes later I was riding on a tram with Ryan, Lee, Sara and Lisa.
The five of us visited the impressive sports arena, the SkyDome. Inside it was mighty impressive, huge, cavernous and modern, clean and with a great atmosphere, everything a sports venue should be. We watched the Toronto Blue Jays play against the Cleveland Indians, my fourth, yes fourth game of baseball! I wasn’t even really a fan of the sport, but I did enjoy soaking up the atmosphere and witnessing the whole spectacle of it.
The rest of the day we travelled on the Toronto Metro, the subway system, visiting places all over the city. I don’t think there was a shop or building that we did not visit by the end of the day. It was great to go to music shops and listen to CD’s, have a coffee at a café and then start all over again. The Kiwi’s and the Aussies shared my dry sense of humour and we all got on really well. I vowed then and there that one day I would return to their countries.
Back at the hostel we were all very tired. Ryan and Lee explained they had to hit the road again the next day and deliver their driveaway car. Sara and Lisa were moving on too, so we all shook hands and embraced wishing each other good luck and safe journeys. It had been a great, fun time in a different city with new people.