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THE FESTIVAL OF NORTHERN LIGHTS

Every winter Owen Sound presents the Festival of Northern Lights. City Hall and local businesses sponsor the decoration of the Downtown area , the banks of the Sydenham River and Harrison Park with over 25 km of festive lights.

This event is a local tourist attraction drawing crowds and numerous tour buses which clog up the roads in the area after dark. Luckily we are within walking distance so with only a couple of nights left of our stay here in Owen Sound, we ventured out in the -7 degree temperatures to experience the phenomena of the Northern Lights.

CLEE FAREWELL +++

Phew, what a hectic weekend! We ventured down to Toronto on Friday afternoon for the CLEE (Canadian League for Educational Exchanges) farewell and Xmas party and to catch up with new and old friends. The festivities began as soon as Kate and Brett arrived in the hotel bar and progressed after quite a few drinks to the Foxes Den pub for dinner, more refreshments and games of pool. It was great to catch up with all their news as we hadn't seen them since before the summer break.
Saturday was pretty relaxed with shopping and a movie before heading out to the CLEE function on Saturday night. Brett bravely volunteered to drive in atrociously snowy and slippery conditions. After arriving safely we enjoyed a night of fun with all our new Aussie and Canadian friends. It was quite sad to say goodbye but we will see many of them again at proposed get-togethers at home.
After a fire alarm sent us down the fire escape to the hotel lobby at about 4 a.m ( it was a false alarm) we met Jo, Pat, JoAnne and Dan for brunch before heading to the Air Canada Centre to see our first live NBA game.
The atmosphere was fantastic but unfortunately the Toronto Raptors lost by a point to the Portland Trailblazers. The size and athleticism of these players is amazing and with the game, entertainment and a crowd that really got involved, we had a great time.

WINTER WONDERLAND.

Today we decided to go for a drive to Creemore, a pretty village we last visited a few weeks ago before the snow started. Today's trip was totally different after 4-5 days of consistent snowfall. The countryside is so beautiful, with fresh, trackless snow and trees that are heavily laden with fresh snow.

We met Jo and Pat, our friends from Orillia for lunch. After lunch Jo and Tracy headed for the gallery and homewares store while Pat and I headed for the local boutique brewery for a few frothies. All in all, a very pleasant Sunday, ahead of a week of dubious weather with rain, snow and a top temperature for the week of +2 degrees.

The first couple of pics are pics taken from our front and back doors during some snow flurries a few days ago and the last few from our drive today.

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE

This weekend we returned to the quaint village of Niagara-on-the-Lake but this time the famous falls weren't on our agenda. With our friends Judy and Rob, we were here to tour the wineries of Canada's #1 wine region. After a 4 hour drive south in shocking conditions we dropped our bags off and headed for the Old Angel Inn for dinner and a few drinks.

After a leisurely Saturday morning we toured 5 wineries during the day. The weather was absolutely dreadful (see pics) with temperatures of about zero, heavy rain, sleet and snow, but we had lots of fun and tasted many delicious wines. The specialty of the area is Ice Wine which has won numerous prizes world-wide. The grapes must be picked at lower than -8 degrees ( usually in the middle of the night) to ensure the water content is frozen. This results in an intensely flavoured, ultra sweet and expensive wine. We felt really sorry for the pickers. After several purchases at the wineries, a tour at Inniskillen and dinner at Zees restaurant we headed for bed.

Sunday's weather was a little better so Tracy and Judy hit the shops while Rob and I had a walk then found a paper and cosy cafe... Shopping done, we managed another 3 wineries before we headed to Sandy and Michael's ( friends of Judy and Rob) home for drinks. Then it was off to the Stonegrill for dinner and a few more drinks!!! During the night a dump of snow ensured our return to Owen Sound was a very pretty drive. All in all, a terrific weekend with great company and lots of fun.

A REMEDY FOR THE WINTER BLUES

Sunday was cold and windy with snow forecast as Tracy settled in to do reports and John searched for a DVD. Just as Tracy hit the first key on the keyboard, the phone rang. It was Judy our next door neighbour ( it was to cold to go out!) wondering if we'd like to join them on a drive to Creemore, a pretty town a little over an hour away. A nice lunch, a stroll around the town ( which is listed in Canada's top 10 prettiest towns we discovered when we got there) and a tour of the famous ( almost) Creemore Springs Brewery. After deliberating for a nanosecond we answered"YES!!"

We were soon on the road to Creemore with no thoughts of reports or DVDs in our minds. When we arrived, Creemore did prove to be a very pretty village nestled on the Mad River ( true - that's its name!). Unfortunately though, all the streets had been ripped up to renew drainage or suchlike, with slush and mud everywhere and construction machinery taking up all the parking spots. Undaunted we picked our way to a cosy cafe where lunch was taken, did a quick tour of the "quaint" shopping strip ( most shops were closed due to the works ), then headed to the Creemore Springs Brewhouse. Rob was in high excitement as Creemore is his favourite brew. After an informative brewery tour, several free samples and the obligatory photos we were very relaxed. Creemore is an all natural beer with no preservatives and is VERY tasty so we figured it fitted into our healthy diet quite nicely!

It was time too head home so off we headed through the bleak winter landscape. Though all the trees are now bear and the skies are grey, the countryside does have a sort of harsh beauty, especially when it snows. As we were driving home some snow flurries came in ahead of a snowstorm , which we just managed to beat home. We woke this morning to find everything covered in snow and it snowing quiet heavily - our first serious snow for the winter.

TRICK OR TREAT

Halloween is so huge over here, it rivals Christmas for excitement and hype! Even we got caught up in the ghoulish excitement. Over the past fortnight many local houses have been decorated in spooky style, last night was pumpkin carving time, today it was dress ups at school and even workers in shops and offices got into the spirit and dressed up. Then tonight it was "trick or treat" time. Luckily the weather was a balmy 8 degrees as hordes of kids visited any houses with their lights on and halloween signs and left with their bags bulging with candy. We finally turned our light off at about 9:30 happy to have experienced a real northern hemisphere Halloween.