Three days is time enough for quiet contemplation

  Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Friday, May 4, 2007

Although there were a couple of stirrings, last night was a better sleep. I was woken by the dining staff announcing "Last call for breakfast!" in the corridor outside our room. Nothing is guaranteed to galvanized a Bush faster...

Points of interest for today - it is a fine skill to balance in a shower in a moving train and get the water temperature just right.
It is an even finer skill to gracefully drink a cup of tea or soup at 80km/hour.


Today I met Paul from Vancouver - a retiree travelling to visit his grandchildren on the east coast - and Hiro, a Japanese traveller. At first appearance, Hiro seemed to be a youngish tourist, maybe a backpacker since he was travelling in the 'bed in the corridor' section. (There was also the absolute rock bottom 'sit-up-for-3-days' class.) He was, in fact, an associate professor of geography from Fukuoka University on sabbatical leave! His first passion was towers and he had travelled the world researching and photographing the likes of the Rialto Tower. He then returned years later to document the spread of a metropolis as viewed from these towers. He had the laptop evidence to prove it!  


I spent some time trying to get shots of the full length of the train snaking around the many lakes of the region and a beaver lodge (the official name for a nest - see photo.) Many streams also had substantial beaver dams across them. Point of interest Number 3 - a beaver nest is called a 'lodge'.

Late in the afternoon, I met Brad the train engineer/driver who had driven overnight and was able to answer many of my train questions. (Yes, they do hit moose occasionally and  it tends to obliterate them.)


Arrival in Toronto at around 9pm thrust me into the wild chaos that was the Toronto Station taxi rank with Indian taxi drivers arguing and waving their arms as they competed for fares. Despite the return of regular police/fire/ambulance sirens outside, I was very glad to safely reach my room and reconnect with the electronic world again.