Boo at the Toronto Zoo coming soon

As Halloween approaches so to does the Toronto 'Boo at the Zoo' event happening on the last two weekends of October at the Toronto Zoo. Special rides on the BOOmobile will entertain with knowledge of the animals and you can also learn about some scary ghosts that haunt the zoo.

Mom and baby gorilla

Boo at the Zoo will bring kids in costumes to meet the many animals while taking in a ride on the zoomobile which has been made much scarier with the likes of the 'Zoo Kreeper'. It is a family friendly day at Canada's largest zoo. Children will also get to ride on the Conservation Carousel and meet 'Explorer Bear' the scare-bear. This might be one of the scariest animals at the zoo but never forget the worst animal at the zoo - the litterbug.

Our family just paid a visit to the Toronto Zoo on a damp Sunday in September and it was a great time to go as the crowds were down from the usual peak attendance during summer. Seats on the regular zoomobile were plentiful and the animal viewpoints weren't jammed to capacity, plus the animals weren't hiding from the hot sun. Keeping out of the rain was easier by taking more rides or waiting at the zoomobile stations.

Plenty of animals built of plastic highlight the amount of waste plastic found in the World's oceans

Georgetown Craft Beer Festival

Head for the Hills brings craft beer and cider to the Town of Halton Hills on September 14, 2019 from 11am to 6pm. You start off with an 8 oz glass sampling beer stein and four tokens - good for about two full mugs at the festival location in the Trafalgar Sports Park. Additional tokens were available (3 for $5) as well as beer swag on sale.

Beer Steins filled with 4 tokens await festival goers upon entry

This is the fifth year of the event which benefits local charities and runs for only one day and that day was extremely popular, I even overheard someone say that even the crappy beers (is that even possible) had gigantic lineups. Certainly everything had massive lineups as the beerfest was very successful.

Fiddlestix

The only game I found was an entertaining tournament of Dodge Ball going on, none of the other traditional games like cornhole and giant beer pong, although there were some great music from a variety of bands on the stage.

You could grab a free shuttle bus from a variety a number of locations including nearby towns Acton and Glen Williams.

Museum of the Moon installation

Tides around Toronto have been thrown out of whack by the installation of the Moon under the Gardiner Expressway at Bentway Park. From September 10-15, 2019 (6-11pm) you can visit the heavenly body during the free Museum of the Moon exhibition located right beside Historic Fort York.

The Moon is 7m in diameter, or approximately 1:500,000 scale, illuminated from within and is a touring sculptural piece by UK multidisciplinary artist Luke Jerram using NASA lunar imagery. From the Bentway’s website: “The installation allows visitors to experience the moon up-close and personal, reminding us of the moon’s influence on our daily lives despite urban barriers like light pollution and high-rise density. Visitors will be able to further reflect on the moon through moon gazing and moonlight meditation, turning The Bentway into an open air planetarium.”

Sunset in Toronto around this time of the year is just after 7:30pm so in a little while we shall see what the moon looks like at night.

Other nocturnal activities around the moon them will be meditation sessions, free astronomy talks and a soundtrack that features an astronaut playlist. With the actual full harvest moon occurring on September 14 the Bentway will begin a Moon Merge podcast hosted by Laurie Brown and Juno nominated composer Joshua Van Tassel. As well other activities include a silent disco and a sing-a-long with Toronto’s Choir! Choir!

Spiral Staircase on the Niagara Escarpment

You can wander the Bruce Trail in Spirit Rock Conservation Area and visit the abandoned ruins of an 1800's estate and take a spiral staircase that leads down to the waters of Colpoy's Bay in Georgian Bay from the heights of the Niagara Escarpment. Located at 92 Highway 6 north of Wiarton Ontario the 87-hectares park was once an estate owned by Alexander McNeill who was a Canadian Member of Parliament from 1881 till 1901.

Entering the Spirit Rock by a small gravel road, you come to a paid parking lot which costs $6 per day (2019) which you can pay by app, website or phone. There is a seasonal washroom (two-hole) on site and a large satellite map on site showing the trail and ruins, along with photos and a history of the grounds. They note that the 17-room mansion had the first electricity in the Bruce Peninsula. Later it was passed on and sold until it was left vacant in the 60's and vandalized. Finally in 1971 it was purchased by the Grey Sauble Conservation and fell to fire in 1976. 

The ruins of the Corran

Looking from the parking lot into the park, the ruins of a barn are almost straight ahead partially hidden by a growing forest and to the right side is the remaining walls and stairs of the Corran (which is Gaelic for land running into the sea), part of the McNeill Estate which was full of carvings, books and antiquities. The walls have been made safe and picnic tables are inside the careful ruins.

Inside the Corran

Some of the walls of the barn

If you keep following the trail which leads out in front of the Corran it will lead you to the top edge of the Niagara Escarpment which runs from Niagara Falls to Tobermory. Just minutes from the ruins you can find the red spiral staircase which you can use up to two people at a time. At the bottom you have to make a challenging hike down the steep slope at the base of the cliff, down to the waters which are part of the Great Lakes; Lake Huron. Be careful of poison ivy which is quite extensive in the area.

Flower Pot Island and glass bottom boats

End of season trips to tourist areas are a great way to enjoy great attractions with less hassle, you just have to hope that the weather holds up. Last year we couldn't do the glass bottom boat because the weather was just too rough for the tour boats. This year we struck gold and the weather was a perfect temperatures for hiking, traveling and boating around the end of the Niagara Escarpment. The large flower pot sits in the water in the panorama photo at top.

Blue Heron Cruises are the blue boats

We initially pushed in our kayaks at the lighthouse at Big Tub Harbour, just west of downtown Tobermory, and boated down to the wrecks at the end of the harbour - The Sweepstakes and the City of Grand Rapids lie just under the surface. In kayaks you can make out general shapes and features of the wrecks but can use under water cameras to capture some of the details.

Bruce Anchor Cruises are the yellow guys

Lucky people at the glass bottom

Later we went to the Bruce Anchor glass bottom tour boat and returned to the wrecks. First of all I was disappointed when we first got on the boat The Evolution because the glass bottom portion of the boat was pretty small compared to the area of the ship, however when they do their navigation turns at the wreck, it creates a flat portion of water which makes it look like the surface is a glass and you can see more of the wreckage. I did not have a chance to look through the glass bottom though because too many people gathered around and blocked out the views.

The ticket offices of Bruce Anchor Cruises are at dockside (61 Front Street) or at 10 Hay Bay Road just down the street. When you get your tickets you can park for free in their lot at 22 Legion Street where they have a free shuttle running back and forth to the dock. The evolution is the largest sightseeing vessel in Tobermory with room for 150 passengers with both an enclosed lower deck or on the exposed upper viewing deck. You can book online, we tried but gave up, otherwise you can visit the ticket booths in person or call and pay ahead of time. Just decide if you want to get off the boat or stay aboard, choose one of 4 boats, choose your departure and return time and book your tour. Cost was approximately $45 per adult.

Small flower pot (l) and large pot (r)

Small flower pot

After a look at Big Tub Harbour we then set out for the trip to Flower Pot Island which is within the Fathom Five National Marine Park. We paid for the drop off at the island and spent a couple hours visiting the pots along the shore, neglecting the other trails to the light station. Definitely fun to go along the trails and make your way to the beach to explore the famous flower pots, or sea stacks.

Gathering around the large flower pot

There are two large formations of rocks which remain after the surrounding areas have been eroded - they call one the large flower pot and the other is the small flower pot. Both look like they have been helped by man in restoring some of the ongoing erosion and also have erosion protection applied at the top of the stack. We can't have those babies falling over and ending the marine tourism business.

I definitely can recommend the tour and drop off option, it was a great day.

College Park urban oasis

In July Mayor John Tory and other VIPs officially opened College Park in downtown Toronto. It took a few years and now features a five-metre wide skate trail, warming stations and water fountain with sculptures. The public space was created with a partnership between the city and the Downtown Yonge BIA and others along with funding from Canderel Stoneridge. I love the elevated lily pads perched above the fountain.

The original bowl skating rink is gone and the concrete wasteland is gone, home now to a beautiful downtown park with multi-use spaces and next to a children's playground. "The College Park revitalization is an excellent example of the well-designed public spaces we can create when we work together with a focus on community and what we know our residents want." - Mayor John Tory.

From the City of Toronto; "Among the key elements of the new College Park is the ice rink redevelopment as a five-metre-wide trail, named after iconic Canadian figure skater Barbara Ann Scott. This skate trail, designed to be a walking loop in summer, is the first exterior rink in Ontario to incorporate state-of-the-art CO2 technology in its refrigeration system. Adjacent to the trail, a dynamic architectural construction of wood, glass and stainless steel has been designed as the new rink house/warming station/Zamboni station. Additional park features include a water fountain and accompanying sculptures."

2019 Toronto Dragon Festival

The second annual Dragon Festival was held in Nathan Phillips Square September 6-8, 2019 with over 80 booths and tens of thousands of visitors. Originally a Chinese community event, the city has joined in celebrating Chinese heritage and other cultures. "Welcoming all ages who love dragons, foods, arts, cultures, or just simply being a proud Canadian."

Performers include Indian Classical Odissi dancer Shreya Chakraborty, Polish-Canadian soprano Karoline Podolak, Quebec acrobat Dominic Lacasse and many more.

"Partially funded and supported by the Government of Canada, 2019 TDF is proudly hosted by the Canadian Association of Chinese Performing Arts (CACPA). Dazzling shows of Chinese traditional culture brought Canadians with all backgrounds together. The Festival has presented world-famous Sichuan Face Mask Changing and martial arts, not to mention many inspiring folk arts such as sugar paintings, paper-cutting, and more."

Photos and information from CISION News Network.

Centreville Amusement Park winding down for the season

Weekend fun continues at the Toronto Centre Island carnival and zoo until the last weekend of September. If you have a hankering to take a flume ride then you still have a bit of time to make it before it closes for the season.

Far Enough Farms

Labour Day Toronto Air Show

Heavy clouds rolled into the city as the noon start of the Canadian International Air Show helped to close out the 2019 edition of the CNE. Occasionally the blue sky peaked out of the clouds which impacted the Royal Red Arrow aerial jet team, they performed a rolling show. Love their coloured jet smoke they use in the show. The CF18 is pictured at top.

Snowbirds

Pitts Special

Expeditor

The planes on schedule for Monday's three hour show included the following performers:
Canadian Forces Snowbirds, MiG 15, USAF A-10, RCAF Griffon SAR, Gord Price - Yak 50, RCAF CH-148 Cyclone, Brent Handy - Pitts Special, RAF A400M, Expeditor, RCAF CF18 and The Royal Air Force Red Arrows.

See more planes after the jump.