So you came back to Canada EH?!

So I managed to finally make my way back to Canada - Toronto to be exact - via a 10 hour bus ride with a layover in scary Detroit so definately glad to be back :) In Toronto I managed to catch up with Jonathan from camp in Japan 2 years ago! took a ferry ride across to the Toronto Islands and danced along the boardwalk by Lake Toronto (my 3rd great lake), went to St Lawrence market and found a New Zealand Shop?! went to Chinatown to buy 3 huge punnets of strawberries for $2, checked out the shops and graffiti at Kensington Market, the underground shopping mall at the Eaton Centre, Rogers Centre (baseball pitch with an opening/closing roof), and the CN Tower


But the most fun I had was at the hostel, I booked into Canadiana because they had a movie theatre with airplane seats and a free pancake breakfast - who can turn that down! - and ended up meeting some amazing people. Three Canadian guys (Adam, Skye, Kael) who were on their way to volunteer for 10 weeks in Costa Rica, a guy from the UK (Rich) on the last days of his one year world trip, two French guys (Aurelien and Laurent - both of which I can't pronounce!) and a couple of german guys (Christian and Yan) as well as a few other Aussies and Brits whose names I cant remember off the top of my head - had an awesome time at the pub with ya'll tho - yay for 50c beer!



So spent my couple of days in Toronto walking around with new friends, chilling and chatting at the hostel (they also had a quiz and we won a tee-shirt each!) and of course we hit the bars both nights (backpackers dont care what day it is!) - had a wicked time, thanks everyone was awesome to meet you!

Niagara Falls
Headed back into the US for a bit, enough time to eat Buffalo wings at the place they were invented - Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY - to check out my 4th of 5 Great Lakes (Lake Eire) and catch up with Shoko (my buddy from Japan) who had flown up from Denver, Colorado. Together we headed to Niagara Falls which was amazing and we got to cover both the American (more nature focussed because its a National Park) and Canadian side (more touristy coz the views are better)


Got to do the three main Niagara experiences, Cave of the Winds where you can walk right up to the Hurricane Deck and experience the full force of the Bridalveil Falls, the Maid of the Mist boat ride right up into the river below the falls and the Journey behind the falls where you're only 9m above river level and you get to actually walk behind the thundering Horseshoe Falls. We even got to wear these sexy ponchos - and you all know how much I love those!




Funniest thing was putting my wallet in my backpack (good idea because I got totally drenched) before going into Cave of the Winds, but locking your backpack with your keys inside requires a police officer with a huge set of bolt cutters to open it for you ^^ Despite that I had an absolutely amazing time, we walked across the bridge to the Canadian side and saw fireworks and the Falls lit up beautifully at night, its something that photos really cant describe (although check out my pics) and it was great to have somebody to share it with :)

Hope you guys are enjoying reading up about my trip so far :) If so leave me a comment :) Sorry the posts seem to be getting longer and longer ... but reading back through these Im amazed at how much Ive managed to do and how perfectly things have worked out in the States (and with very little planning beforehand!) Ive got less than a week left here (just DC, CT and NY to go) before heading over to England - wish me luck!!