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simonmtalbot

Day 5 - Coburg/Kingston/Ottawa (18 October ‘23)

Updated: Oct 23, 2023

It was our last morning in Toronto. The order of business was to get up, pack up, get downtown, get the car and get out of Toronto. Easy. We picked up a Ford Escape which will be our weapon of choice for our journey to Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and back to Montreal and anywhere we fancy in between.


Toronto has a reputation amongst Canadians for being full of difficult drivers and being a bit manic on the roads, so we approached it with some trepidation but actually it was all fine. All of our fellow drivers were pretty kind to the brits abroad navigating downtown Toronto driving on the wrong side of the road, in a car that is probably twice the size of the one back home. We headed to our Air BnB to pick up our luggage and off we went.


There are two main routes to Ottawa, one inland and one that runs alongside (but sadly not right next to) Lake Ontario. It was hard to tell that we were in Canada rather than the USA with quite a few American shops and fast food restaurants on the side of the road and the road signs and rules pretty much identical. One of the best things about the drive was that the trees lining the route were all turning the famous autumnal shade of red - our pictures don't quite do it justice but it was quite pretty.


The total journey to Ottawa was 4 hours 20, so we figured two stops along the way would be good. The first stop was Coburg. It is on the lake and has a few decent places to have lunch. The place with the best reviews 'Buttermilk Cafe' served traditional Canadian food and was on the main drag so we headed there. The place looked like a 1980s living room, but it was super busy and the food and service was incredible. We shared a blueberry pancake for afters and it was stunning. Not a bad little lunch.


Us finishing lunch coincided with my band (Wilderness States - check us out on Spotify!!) wanting to have a quick video call to discuss plans for our upcoming recording. I don't think they expected me to be free at that time, but it was perfect timing and so I did. Kirstie wanted to check out a local crafts shop so she headed there and I headed for the car.


It was now Kirstie's turn to drive, so she headed out of Coburg onto the main road while I finished up with the call.


Our next stop was Kingston. For a few years it was the first capital of Canada, but now it is home to the Canadian military training college and another University. It looked and felt like a typical English town with it's layout and being centred around a shopping high street. We arrived and parked up to hear what was a clearly a demonstration - it was people out in support of Palestine. They were chanting and marching around the City Hall. We wandered along the harbour front, up to city hall and then along the main central district of the town. We popped in to something called Martello Alley, which is an art gallery/shop with a funky courtyard outside. The people working in there (local artists) were super friendly and eager to talk about their work and then the owner, David, showed up and he was even more chatty and was filling us with advice of where to go and what to do in Canada. He was a really lovely chap. Quite eccentric and immensely enthusiastic about just about everything ever! I am not sure we actually looked at anything in the shop the whole time we were there.


We headed out of Kingston and got on the road to Ottawa. We stopped by a Walmart on the way to our place to pick up some bits - we didn't get sucked in quite as much as we have in the past and so we arrived at our Air BnB at a fairly reasonable time of 9pm! Up and out to Ottawa tomorrow!


Today's route!


The roads. Wide and clear!


This doesn't look hugely appetising. But it really was great!


Important band stuff to talk about! Introducing Wilderness States.


Here it is. Lovely!


Kingston City Hall


Palestine demo.


Kingston. Smalltownsville. Could easily be a British high street.


Martello Alley. Quirky.


🙌 Walmart 🙌 - great way to round off the day!



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