September 2018

Tuesday 18th September

After breakfast in the shadow of the CN Tower we explored the original city centre of Toronto. Here is Union Station where transcontinental passengers could break their journey at the Royal York Hotel (The Fairmont today). Along Yonge Street brownstone towers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were towered over by more modern …

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Monday 17th September

We made a record today by being at the front of the line for the opening of the day’s tours of the CN Tower. Built in 1976 on the former railway lands that supported the industries of Toronto, the CN Tower is named after the railway company that built it. It is a legacy of …

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Sunday 16th September

Today we drove from Brockville to Toronto in our hire car and after leaving it in the Rental Lot walked around the corner to the Intercontinental Hotel. We have been very lucky as our room overlooks the lakeside and the CN Tower. We are literally at its foot.

Saturday 15th September

We had an exploration of Southern Ontario today. We concentrated upon the Rideau River and its canal system which links Ottawa and the Ottawa River with the St. Lawrence at Kingston. Today this is used by pleasure craft but was originally built to ensure that Canadian products could be exported during times of civil unrest, …

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Friday 14th September

Upper Canada Village was the focus of our explorations today. It is a reconstruction of a village in this area in the 1860s. Buildings from across the area have been rebuilt here and are ‘peopled’ by workers and everyday people acting as if they were in that time. Upon entry one steps back to the 1860s. …

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Thursday 13th September

Today by way of the first cruise boat we toured the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River where it exits Lake Ontario. The cruise of one hour took us past lots of the islands, many of them with houses on them. All of them are granite roche moutonnes (sheep rocks) which were sculptured by …

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Wednesday 12th September

Today we drove to Brockville, Ontario. It is a small town on the shore of the eastern end of Lake Ontario and where the navigable part of the St Lawrence River going downstream begins. There are a series of locks between here and Montreal where the Great Lakes – St Lawrence Seaway begins/ends. This massive …

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Sunday 9th September

After breakfast we were at 72° 08´ North, 74° 58´ West off the northeast coast of Baffin Island and Cape Jameson. We are approaching the South Arm Fjord and will sail in between snow-capped, granite mountains to the glaciers at its head. The island is named after the English explorer William Baffin but it is …

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Saturday 8th September

We are still in Lancaster Sound at 74° 18´ North, 82° 01´ West. We are surrounded by floes of sea ice and enveloped in sea fog. We have spent the night here and were woken by the bow thrusters turning the ship into the wind just before 08:00. We came here last evening after receiving …

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