Day Fifty-Seven: busy busy bee

 

Well I slept through the night! YAYS! I woke up nice and early at 7am though as I had a mid-term today … yes an exam on a Saturday, how suckish is that? I got dressed and read through my notes before heading over the canteen for breakfast. Forgetting that it doesn’t open until 9.30am on a weekend and had to come all the way back to my room (ok, it’s not that far) for some breakfast.

 

The exam was at 9am and was 120 multiple choice questions. It wasn’t too bad though … I’m happy about it, will just have to wait for my mark to see.

 

I then came back to my room and changed as I had a trip with the ISSO today. We were going for a private tour around Parliament, ooooo. Outside there’s this flame that is called the Eternal Flame, it’s said that it will only go out when Canada ceases to exist (or when there was a power outage in 2001 … that made me laugh).

 

 

 

The tour of Parliament was amazing. A lot of the stuff we were told was very similar to the system back home (o how those 9am Structure of Government lessons paid off …) just replace Senate with House of Lords and its pretty similar. They even have the mace following the Speaker tradition as well.

 

We started the tour in the foyer and then went to the House of Commons, the library and then the Senate before going up the Peace Tower and to the Memorial Room. So it was a very thorough trip … and all free!

 

 

According to the leaflets I picked up on the trip, the Queen was asked to choose a city to be the Capital in 1857 and although both Toronto and Montreal had the capacity and were already built up, she chose Ottawa, partly because it was a more secure distance from the American border.

 

Fire struck the Parliament buildings during WW1. In 1916, a fire started in the Commons Reading Room that spread fast as the building was mostly made of wood and had recently been lacquered. However, one part of the old buildings exist … the library, and that it because an employee closed the huge iron doors to protect all of Canada’s historical documents and irreplaceable books. The buildings were all rebuilt (excluding the Peace Tower, which was finished 5 years later) by 1922.

 

(me outside the Peace Tower)

 

(windows in the House of Commons)

 

(the AMAZING library)

 

The Peace Tower, which we all went up at the end of the tour, is 92.2 metres high and has a great view across the city, so I managed to get some nice pictures of the Chateau Laurier, Art Gallery, the river as well as across to Gatineau.

 

 

More information about Parliament can be found at:

www.parl.gc.ca/publications

But I won’t bore you with anymore information …

 

I have kayaking later this evening … well in about half an hour, where I’m going to be learning about rolling, so I’ll tell you about that tomorrow.

 

Byeeee

Day Fifty-Six: lock out

 

Well sleep didn’t occur so today I ran on the short sleep I did have, but felt surprisingly ok for it. The good thing about not being able to sleep was that I got to see the sunrise … well not precisely but I saw the sky changing colours, which looked very pretty. I had my physio at 11.20, where I had to use these balancing boards to stretch my ankle. She said that my ankle has shown a lot of improvement just between the two sessions so that’s good news! And then I got put on the machine to make it ache less again …

 

 

After physio I did a mix of revision and revision avoidance … I went for lunch at 1pm and it was only when I handed my card over that I realised I’d locked my key in my room … so on the way back from lunch I had to get a spare card activated to let me into my room. So I came back to my room, picked up my key and left the spare key on the desk. Katie and I then went down to the ISSO (International Student Services Office) to book onto the ski trip next week. I’m going to Calabogie Peaks in Ontario (and I decided to go as it was cheaper than skiing at Mount Tremblant and it’s covered on my UHIP (health) insurance too.

 

But then on the way back … my key wouldn’t let me in my room! I hadn’t been told that to activate a spare key, temporarily deactivates my key … so I’d essentially locked myself out … again! So I trotted over to Res Commons to get my key reactivated and they said to drop the spare one back later that evening (which I did on the way to the Baden-Powell dinner).

 

At that point the weather was nice. It had been raining all morning so by then it was warmer and although wet, it had stopped raining. But when I went out to the Scout Baden-Powell dinner just a few hours later there had been what is called a flash freeze. There had been some more rain and then the temperature dropped … so there is black ice everywhere! Walking up the slight hill to Res Commons was impossible … I had to go up on the grass just so that I had some grip.

 

The Scout meal was a really good event though. The walk there was cold as it had started snowing, so on top on sliding about on all the ice, I was also trying to hide from the snow too.

 

 

 

The meal was in aid of Baden-Powell’s, the founder of Scouts, birthday on Feb 22 (the Guides call it Thinking Day). There were Cubs, Beavers and Scouts as well as leaders and parents at the event and there was a really good turnout. We had a chicken dinner, followed by a cake (from Costco!) and then the entertainment. The beavers did a few skits (sketches that reminded me of Gang Show … so sad I miss it this year) and we had a speech from a leader who was in the Canadian Space Programme, so we learnt all about astronaut training … fascinating!

 

At the end of the night Brent gave me a lit back, but there was so much spare cake that we went via his house to cut it up (leaving it on my kitchen table it had more chance of being eaten up) and the three of us (including his son, Jonas) were chatting for ages about Scouting and ghosts (not together) before I got dropped back.

 

And I slept … night!

Day Fifty-Five: sleep? please?

 

What a bad night … I woke up at 1am and couldn’t get back to sleep until 5ish! So I slept through my revision lecture (not important anyway) and got u in time to get dressed and head to TV class … like a zombie.

 

TV was good though, we watched the news features we had all made (group 9 is blatantly the best) and then went to edit pre-prepared footage and to write a news story along with it. That was fun. I even did the voice over for it, as it meant I had m voice on some work without having to stand in front of a camera. That was fun! And the distraction actually woke me up for a little bit … a little bit.

 

Straight from class I went to dinner, a plate of meat and veg was in order, followed by a bowl of fruit! And then off to my late class (I hate having class at 6pm … and finishing at 9pm … that’s evil!). Anyways after class I realised there was no point trying to sleep while the others were all pre-drinking and getting ready to go out … so I sat in the kitchen with them, just playing on the DS. Apparently I looked really out of it (not surprising…) and eventually they left about 11.30 … which is when I went to bed.

 

Not for long … they all came back … noise and all at 3.30am and that’s me awake. It’s now 5am on Friday (so not technically the information to include in this blog, but ah well) and I dunno if I am gonna get back to sleep. I just want rest so badly, but it’s not working … however hard I try, sleep is not something my brain seems to want to give me at the moment … and it’s really starting to bug me.

 

Yays, some silence finally. I’m going to try and get my head down again … and see what happens. I have to sleep eventually … right?

Day Fifty-Four: all I need is sleep…

 

Just a day for study really … although I’m starting to wonder if I’m coming down with something. I’m always feeling so tired at the moment. Had Pilates today and then went straight to the edit suite from there (no time for diner … maybe that’s having an impact on my sleep?) Anyways, didn’t get back till 10ish and just went straight to bed … fun day.

Day Fifty-Three: zzzzzzz

 

Well all I wanted to do today was sleep … Katie had her music on loud again last night and I needed to be up early for lecture this morning … I woulda told her to turn I down, but my bed was sooo warm and the rest of the room sooo cold. So I ignored it and must have fallen to sleep at some point.

 

Anyways after lecture today all I did was my revision for the midterm on Saturday, so not a great deal of excitement there. Had Scouts this evening. We debriefed about Klondike and then started on the Scout Trucks. They look like so much fun! Tiina isn’t going to be there next week so it’s up to Stuart and I to start the Scouts off on their cuts. I’m actually looking forward to it.

 

I’m still shattered though so having an early night tonight … my body needs sleep! Night!

Day Fifty-Two: first physio

 

I woke up nice and early for my first physio on my ankle at 9am today, but when I arrived I was told I wasn’t booked in until 11am … so I went and did some food shopping instead, as I desperately needed some orange juice, butter and sandwich stuff. By the time I got back I had enough time to put the food away, put the bag away and then wander back over to the gym.

 

The physio was good, Kristen (the one checking out my ankle) asked me a few questions, then had a good look at the ankle (comparing it to the other) and then she tested for flexibility. The good news was that the natural flexibility in my left ankle is really good, meaning the chances of tearing anything are pretty slim. The bad news was that my right ankle (the bad one) wasn’t quite as flexible anymore, which happens after a sprain. The long tendon that runs around the bobbly bit on your ankle (so technical I know) is the part I stretched, but the muscles and tendons nearer the bone have tightened up to compensate this … causing me pain as my ankle is now cushioning my step anymore.

 

So I was given a list of exercises to do and told to come back on Friday for another look. After physio, I had plenty of time to get some serious revision started for my mid term on Saturday and then at 4.30 went over to Pilates. Our normal instructor has hurt her back, so it was a fairly easy class today, mainly correcting things and practicing certain positions. But I had to leave 10 minutes early to make sure I got back in time to change and go to Guides. Jen (one of the leaders) was picking me up around 5.50pm outside Residence Commons.

 

Guides was great fun! We had a team called Equal Voice come in to talk about elections and to promote the fact that more women should be elected into governmental positions. So we spent the evening designing posters and then cleaning up all the glitter (they call them sparkles) … there was a lot on the floor.

 

After Guides I was so tired, so I just crashed out and went to bed as I have an early class tomorrow and would like to go to the canteen for pancakes first. I heard Katie and Heather come in and put some music on, but I was so warm in my bed that I just ignored them and must have doze back off to sleep because I do not remember it going quiet. Night!

Day Fifty-One: recovery

 

Happy Thinking Day/Happy birthday to Lord Baden Powell.

 

After the long blogs of late this one is going to be surprisingly short … I woke up after a nice long 12 hour sleep feeling as though I had been standing in the middle of the road at Piccadilly Circus, I just ached so much.

 

My day then consisted of typing up my blog from my travels and doing some washing (I even used the tumble dryer as Emily isn’t back until tomorrow so I couldn’t borrow the airer.

 

Then for the evening I went over Brent’s to watch some more Firefly, that series is really good, it’s a shame we only have one more left to watch.

Day Fifty: klondike derby

 

Another long day today for the Klondike Derby and it was a great day! I got up at 5.30am to get my lunch and warm stuff prepared and then we met at the Scout Hall at 7am and … all the Scouts were on time too! I never see that at home, so it was great to see them all up early and eager to go. I met Jeff (the Scout leader that left just before I came here, so I kind of took his place) and he’s really fun. I was in his car with two of the Scouts going to the Derby and we were chatting bout all sorts, so it was a good journey.

 

Here’s some information I was emailed about the day:

 

Lac Beauchamp, Gatineau, Quebec
Saturday, February 21, 2009 – 8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.

 

“The Klondike Derby is a day-long winter competition for Scouts during which patrols will pull their Klondike sleds along a 5-6 km course in Lac Beauchamp. Along the way, they will be tested on Scouting skills at 20 stations. The day ends with a banquet and the awarding of trophies.

 

“On Klondike day, Scouts should arrive with their knapsacks packed including extra mitts and socks, lunch, snacks (trail mix) etc. Their uniform and indoor footwear don’t have to be carried on the trail but will be needed for the banquet. Scouts should be prepared to spend the entire day on the trail. The Klondike is physically challenging; after it, motivation for anything other than a bath and bed will be limited.”

 

 

I learnt all the Scouts names and got to know them quite well as I was walking around the trail with them … going through parts I kept falling into the snow and it came above my knees! Especially at the lunch stop where the snow wasn’t very compacted down. But it made it more fun and although it was tiring I had a great day.

 

A list of all the bases are on the picture below, but my favourite was the gully crossing … those Scouts are monkeys! Some of them flew across the rope as if they were walking down the road.

 

 

The banquet after the trail was just like camp, except we were all in uniform. My lightly coloured beige uniform top stood out from the rest and I was asked so many times where I was from. On the trail I got to know quite a few leaders and by the end they were recognising the Eagles (our team name) because they recognised me.

 

I didn’t get back to my room until about 9pm, and I was so shattered that I crashed out and slept straight through for 12 hours!

Day Forty-Nine: back to Ottawa

 

What a busy day I’ve had, I swear if journalism goes down the pan for me then trip planning could always be an alternative (especially if I get to test the trips first!) as I’ve loved my journey to Toronto.

 

Today I woke up at 8am so I could gather my gear together and return all the sheets to get my deposit back, all before pancakes at 9am, mmm, again they were tasty. I then started my packed full day to see all of Toronto before I go back to Ottawa. First stop, the CN Tower and I didn’t even need my map to find it. Like the BT Tower in London, it stuck up over the skyline to lead me to it. The CN Tower is 553m tall … woh.

 

 

After paying a pricey $28 (but it was all worth it in the end) I went up to the lookout. On a clear day you can see for 75miles and although I picked the clearest day out of the three I was here for, it was still cloudy. But the view was amazing! Next I went to check out the glass floor.

 

 

 

I must admit, it was daunting stepping onto a sheet of glass that far up in the air, but I got on and sat/stood there for quite a while looking down to the city below me … it was like I was flying … kind of. Lastly I went up to the highest observation deck and at 447m and 147 floors high, it’s the world’s highest observation deck. It was fun! The view was spectacular and well worth the trip.

 

 

Once I’d come all the way back down the tower, bought a thimble for my collection and left, I went down to the Harbour in Queen’s Quay West. Although it was cloudy, it was good to get to a coastal part and see all the boats. I love looking at all the boats on the Thames when I’m sat on the sea wall at the Wharf Pub at home, so it was a nice place to walk.

 

 

I then headed over to the subway station as I really really didn’t want to walk for ages today … I was on a tight schedule. I got a day pass on the subway, as I’d be doing about 4 trips in total and went from Union Station to St Andrews to see the PATH, Toronto’s underground walkway. I think I chose a bad place to look at the Path as there wasn’t much there. I popped above ground and saw the Roy Thompson Hall, but other than that I just jumped back on the subway and went up to St Patrick station. Here I got off and walked all the way along Baldwin Street to Kensington Market. It’s like a smaller Camden Market, but I enjoyed the stroll. I got a nice scarf and an unusual skirt that I love!

 

 

Next stop was to get back on the subway (I walked up to Queens Park as it was the same distance as it was back to St Patricks) and went up to Dupont. Here I went to look at Casa Loma, which according to Dave at the hostel was where the school in Xmen was filmed … anyways it looked beautiful. The subway is very different to London’s Underground. It’s smaller and weirder. The trains are silver and make a sound like an accordion when they pull in, but they get me from A to B so they’re good for me.

 

 

Lastly I sat on the subway all the way back down to Dundas Station where I grabbed a Thermos in Canadian Tire and some noodles to cook in hot water for Klondike at a place called Kitchen Table. I then went to the Toronto Coach Station to wait for the 2.30pm bus back to Ottawa. I was second in the queue 40 minutes before the coach was due to arrive.

 

The journey back was ok, I mainly slept except when we stopped off at that log cabin restaurant that isn’t log or a pretty restaurant. We got back to Ottawa at about 7.30pm, enough time for me to get a bus back to Carleton, grab my ordered food from the canteen and have a shower before going to bed … but Katie and Heather got back from skiing just as I put my head on my pillow, so what with their noise and Katie’s music as she got ready to go out, I didn’t get to sleep until late… and I needed to get up at 5.30am for Klondike! Fun…..

Day Forty-Eight: niagara falls

 

I have one word for Niagara Falls … actually I have three … wow, Wow, WOW!

 

 

I’ll start at the beginning of my day. I woke up at 8.30am, enough time to get changed, sort a bag for my trip to Niagara Falls and have a quick chat to Alex before a breakfast of pancakes were served at 9, mmmm. They were tasty! Then at 9.30am the coach arrived for my trip.

 

I took the Magic Bus Star Coach Tour to Niagara today for a discounted price of $45 (instead of $75) because I’m staying at Canadiana. We left promptly at 9.40 and all 12 of us (including the driver) set off on our mini adventure.

 

First stop was the Birchwood Estate Winery. A small shack in the middle of no where, but they sell wines and tasty wines too, they even win a lot of awards over in the US. We tasted (for free) a table white wine, a table red wine and an icewine. The table white was a Gewurztraminer/Riesling from 2007, it costs $18.75 per bottle and is about 1 on the sweetness scale (sweet wines are usually around 5 or 6). Next, the table red, it was a Cabernet Frave from 2003 and costs $8 per bottle. It’s sweetness is 0 on the scale … but it was nice. Lastly the icewine, not many places make this stuff because it is so sweet and uses so many grapes .The amount of grapes it takes to make one bottle of icewine could make 35 bottles of normal wine. The icewine I tried was called Vidal and measured 20 on the sweetness scale, with a pricey tag of $34.95.

 

 

Next stop … Niagara Falls. My Canada guidebook (WHSmiths with my Christmas vouchers at home) says that Niagara Falls tends to obscure the rest of the area, and I don’t blame them … they are amazing! I also met a lovely lady called Emily on the bus to Niagara, she’s staying at Canadiana too, but is going back home to South Africa tomorrow.

 

The falls occur where the Niagara River falls between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Apparently the rumble of the falls can be heard miles away but to be honest, I was so cold and my ears/finger/toes/most other parts were ready to drop off that I don’t actually remember the noise.

 

On the right of the falls are the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, the larger of the two falls at 675m wide and 56m high. They have powerful flow peaks of 900,000 cubic feet per second! Then the other side of Goat Island is the smaller American Falls at just 430m wide and 58m tall. These falls are actually two separate falls – the main or rainbow and the bridal veil. Between them they carry about a tenth of the total water volume of both falls and are separated by an island called Luna Island.

 

After our short break and with frozen limbs we went back to the bus and went up to the Skylon Tower (as the Maid in the Mist is closed until April). The tower has an observation deck for a birds eye view of the falls from 229m above them! It opened back in 1965.

 

Stepping out onto the observation deck was … COLD! The wind that high up was freezing, so it was out, take pictures and back in to defrost. But the views were stunning. We were told about a boy who went over the falls and lived. It was in 1960, Roger Woodward, then 7, was involved in an accident when his boat capsized above the falls. The driver went over and died, his sister was rescued just before going over and Roger was thrown over the falls in just a life jacket and was rescued by a member of the crew on the Maid on the Mist.

 

 

 

Between 1901 and 2003 there were 16 attempts made by people to go over the falls by 14 different people (as 2 people went over twice). Out of those 14 people 5 have lost their lives, most recently in 1995 when Rovert Overacker decided to go over on a jet ski.

 

After the falls we went to a small town, but on the way we stopped off at 2 “hotspots”. The first was a whirlpool, created where the river turns drastically. Apparently it’s so deep that whatever goes in takes several weeks to reemerge. It’s an amazing sight.

 

 

The second was called Quinton Heights next to a flat piece of rock where they believe the falls used to be … years and years and years ago. The falls used to erode by 3 feet a year, but since the dams opened (which I saw from the bus) the erosion rates have reduced to just 30cm every 10 years.

 

 

The small town we went to is called Niagara-on-the-lake. It’s a charming little place, very old fashioned and quaint. The town was built to support Fort George in the war of 1812 when Canada and America decided the border and secured trade rights. Niagare-on-the-lake (then called Newark) was destroyed by Americans in the war and the British returned afterwards to rebuild the town with a Georgian design. And it’s pretty much stayed the same ever since.

 

 

 

At 4pm we left this lovely little town and started the journey back, arriving in Toronto at about 5.30pm, ready to grab a pita for dinner and to sit down and write this. But that’s taking me quite a while to do as I was speaking to Alysia (from Russia, she commented that my name is Russian), Emily from the trip today and Dave who I met yesterday evening. Then when Alysia and Emily went off to bed the table filled up with other people, including Rob from Wales who was trying to make me go out to the club. But I’m shattered and as my room has an ensuite with a bath (only one in the hostel), I am going to relax in the tub. I miss baths … residence only has a shower, which is nice, but baths are so relaxing.

 

UPDATE: the hostel removed the plug because of flooding issues so I can only have a shower in the bath!