St Jacobs, near Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario

Tuesday June 21st.
Gananoque is close to Kingston which was once the capital of Upper Canada. It has an old fort and is the site of the Canadian Military College and Queen's University. After the war of 1812, the settlers were very wary of the Americans and built the Rideau Canal in 1832. It links Kingston and Ottawa via lakes and streams along Indian canoe trails. It is 202 km long with 45 locks. It would have been much easier to defend than the St Lawrence River and although it was never needed militarily it encouraged settlement and today is used for recreational boating. We pottered about along it and stopped for a picnic at one of the lock stations which are all attractively landscaped. In between there are nice old villages with many substantial buildings.

Hand operated lock along the Rideau Canal

Wednesday we had a long drive much of it on motorways around Toronto. The system has core express lanes and collector or feeder lanes and the heavy traffic certainly seemed to flow very well.

As we arrived in Niagara early in the afternoon,we thought it a good opportunity to compare motels. I did get a bit disheartened, but persevered and found one which at $60/night offered cheaper rates for a better room than some of the well known chains.

It was walking distance to the Falls and they are just as spectacular as you would expect. The street I came back along was just like Blackpool and I guess in another month it will be heaving with people.

Two maid of the Mist boats in front of the American Falls

One sunburnt blue penguin.

A flock of blue penguins.

The Maid of the Mist in the thick of things at the foot of the Canadian or Horseshoe Falls.

Thursday morning was bright and sunny and we were at the dock early to do the classic Maid of the Mist boat ride - then another inspection of the Falls before we set off along the Niagara Parkway to Niagara-on-the-Lake - another very pretty town. After eventually finding a petrol station in Thorold and then our way out of town we went to the viewing platform at No 7 lock on the Welland Canal, but unusually there were no ships at all. The Welland Canal links Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and thus to the St Lawrence Seaway. There is a difference in height of 99 m (326 ft) between the two lakes and so there are 8 locks along its 28 mile length.

Friday we left Niagara and went back to the Welland canal and this time saw a sizeable ship (180 m) go through lock No. 3.

It only takes ten or fifteen minutes for a 180 m ship to negotiate a lock on the Welland Canal.

On then to St Jacobs (just north of Kitchener) where we were in buggy territory - the Old Order Mennonites. St Jacobs is a lovely village (I need more variety of adjectives!) and there are several quilt shops and a good fabric store. We stayed in the Olde Heidelberg Inn, whose restaurant served good hearty German style meals and whose WiFi had an incredibly long password, but didn't work anyway.

Saturday is market day in St Jacobs and we were there by 8 a.m. and the market was already very busy. It is an excellent market. Lots of fruit, flowers, vegetables, bread, pies (sweet ones), cheese, meat, fish, pickles, jams etc. and all sorts of other goods

 Boardwalk in the main street of St Jacobs

 Mennonite lady in her quilt shop in St Jacobs. She is a Pfaff fan, so we had plenty to chat about.

The 1880 West Montrose covered bridge near St Jacobs.

Buggies are surprisingly common around St Jacobs. There are even "Buggy Detour" road signs. I think the reason is buggies and roadworks don't mix.

It is just as well the buggies do display a fluorescent triangle - a modern safety precaution.

 Attractively displayed produce in the St Jacobs Farmers' Market.