I had hoped to catch up and finish the North American part of my blog over the Christmas break but ended up having no time at all! But here it is again finally.

The next stop after Detroit was Mississauga, Ontario (Canada), which is just south of Toronto. I would be staying with Bruno, Angela, and Luca. I was looking forward to spending some time with family, especially after having had such a great time with the Lillys in Detroit.

Detroit is right on the Canadian border it took seconds to get through customs, a welcome change after our hour longer wait to do the opposite crossing just two weeks earlier. The Canadian highways were nice and the traffic was light and I made good time towards Toronto. The countryside was gentle rolling hills with clumps of forest. There were quite a few wind turbines dotted alongside the highway.

The drive took around five hours including stops so it was late afternoon when I arrived in Mississauga. It was a hot day, with the colder weather that I'd had in Detroit being replace by temperatures in the early 30s. The air was wet and heavy and I was glad to be in the air conditioned car.

I had last seen Angela, Bruno, and Luca just over a year earlier back home in New Zealand when they had come to visit. Luca was just a baby then and I was surprised to see just how much he had grown since then. Within minutes of arriving he was showing me his toys and giving a golfing demonstration in the kitchen! It was nice to arrive and catch up and relax. It would have to be one of the easiest journeys of the trip with friends/family at each end.

My first day was spent trying to plan out the rest of my trip and beyond. I'm not the most decisive person so this ended up taking quite a while. I eventually settled on a plan: six nights in Mississauga, three nights in Montreal, three nights in Quebec City, and finally three nights in Boston to sell the car and any unnecessary belongings. From there I would be taking a one way flight to London. Those places are all stories for future blogs however, so back to Toronto!

The next day I decided to go in to Toronto on a train to explore the city. Watching the trains was one of Luca's favourite things to do so he came to see me off. I've always loved catching trains. Being able to sit comfortably and watch the world slide by never seems to get boring. The ride took about an hour and delivered me in to the heart of the city.

The first thing I noticed is that Toronto is absolutely huge. With a metro population of more than 5.5 million it is by far the biggest city in Canada, and is the fourth most populated in North America. It is also properly urban with an impressive skyline dominated by the CN Tower which, at 553.33m, was the worlds tallest tower until the Burj Khalifa was finished in 2010. The city has a large rail network, subway lines, and trams radiating out from the city centre.

University of Toronto

It was another muggy day and after an hour of wandering through downtown and the University of Toronto I needed to go indoors for a bit. I ended up at the Royal Ontario Museum which, as I discovered, has the most amazing collection of dinosaur fossils. The whole gang was there, from Stegosaurus to Allosaurus, Parasaurolophus to Ichthyosaurus, and most impressive of all, a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex towering over a Triceratops. I really was not expecting this and it was seriously impressive. I was obsessed with dinosaurs as a kid and I still remember most of the names. What I hadn't understood was just how huge some of these animals were. The entry price was worth it for the fossils alone and this was just one of the exhibits I saw.

Stegosaurus

T Rex!

After the museum I walked back toward the city centre down Yonge Street where I found a real treasure; an all you can eat Sushi restaurant! It probably sounds a bit dodgy but it was actually done really well. It was not a buffet so there wasn't an issue of eating old sushi. Instead I was given a menu that I could select small plates from. Any food that wasn't eaten was an extra charge so it wasn't the pigfest you're probably expecting.

The rest of the day was spent wandering and watching. In the end I must have walked about 12km and I was properly tired when I got on the train back home. Luca was there again to greet me when I got back to the station and we all waved goodbye to the train as it pulled away toward the next station.

Luca was full of energy

The next day started off much the same with another train ride in to Toronto. This time I was heading to Toronto Island; a large island just off shore in Lake Ontario. It's quite an amazing place with gardens, green space, and sandy beaches just a few minutes from the central city. The ferry ride to the island gave provided some amazing views of the skyline. Once on the island I headed straight to a beach for a swim. It was incredibly peaceful. There were only a few people within view on the beach and a thick fog above the lake made it seem very tranquil and remote. The lake water was nice and cool and I spent a few hours swimming and reading a book.

Skyline view from the ferry

My own private beach

After a while a particularly persistent fly forced me to move on. I explored the rest of the island for a bit and found the beach where most of the other people were. There were gardens and fountains, and a large amusement park for kids. I hung around until around mid afternoon before heading back home again. It was hard to stay out for the whole day in the heat.

One day we all visited Bruno's mother and I got to watch as she and Bruno did their annual bottling (jarring?) of tomato pasta sauce. There was a big metal cauldron which was heated by a small fire. The tomatoes (fresh from the garden) were cooked inside the cauldron. They were then run through a machine to mince them up and remove most of the seeds and skins. The final step was to put what was now a sauce into jars with some roasted capsicum and basil. Afterwards I was treated to a lunch of homemade pizza which was amazing. Luca was also a fan. I was also lucky enough to come back a few nights later for a family dinner featuring some of the pasta sauce. It was really nice to meet some of Bruno's family. Everyone was really nice and interesting to talk to.

We went for a walk by a river and found a frog

One of my favourite memories of the entire trip was having dinner with Belinda who had rescued me all the way back in Joshua Tree National Park when my car broke down, three months earlier. We had talked about our respective trips back then and I had mentioned my plan would eventually take me to Toronto which is where Belinda lives. We exchanged contact details and I said I would get in touch when I was closer. I very nearly lost those details however when my phone smashed at the Grand Canyon. Luckily though I was able to make use of the 10% of the screen that still worked and eventually made my way to the details and wrote them down.

Belinda had a really nice house in a lovely part of town. She cooked me a great dinner and we talked about our trips since meeting in Joshua Tree. Belinda had also been doing a road trip and had only arrived home about a week before my arrival in Toronto. I felt quite spoilt, especially after the huge favour she had already done for me! It made me think about how special the random twists of fate can be. Had I not broken down out in the desert we would never had met and I would not have this great story to tell. I think it's really cool that we could meet up again a few months later and have so much to talk about. Thank you Belinda for your help and hospitality!

I spent over a week in Mississauga/Toronto with Bruno, Angela, and Bruno and had a great time. It was really interesting to explore a huge city and at the same time experience a little bit of family life, not to mention catching up with a friend. I had managed to plan out the rest of my trip and booked a one way ticket to London. It was sad to say goodbye after being so comfortable and well looked after! Thank you for the generosity!

Up next is Montreal! Only three blogs left until a new continent and a new chapter in the story...