Toronto Island Boat Tour & Dundas Square

The ongoing saga of our Toronto/Muskoka trip!

I'm swamped with photos! I showed them to my respite client Tuesday, and I was happily reminded of the trip. A selfie, on the patio of Hard Rock Cafe. Very noisy spot, but great for people watching. The guy behind me was angry, yelling and cussing.

Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe

I forgot to mention that I had a manicure while in Toronto. Nails on Yonge, you just drop in. My manicurist was trained in Cambodia.
The woman beside me at the salon, was from England, and in Toronto for a family wedding.

We could see some men eating their dinner beside the Dundas Square park. One man sharing his dinner with the pigeons. There are soup kitchens in the area, thankfully.



Such fun!


You have to love people watching! The first woman was taking a selfie on her bike. The 2nd, he was actually flipping around a tape measure. I kid you not. Also, there were a lot of students about taking photos and videos. I expect they are from my alma mater, Ryerson University, in the Radio and Television Arts program. (I took ECE.)

Boat Tour

I suggested, on Friday, August 5th, that we do the Hop On Hop Off Toronto Bus Tour, and part of the tour includes a boat trip around the Toronto Islands. I lived in Toronto from 1956 - 1981. I loved this part of the tour, as I have fond memories of my family taking us to the island when we were kids.

Since hubby gives me the outside seat, I feel I need to share the photos for his sake!
We could see someone doing the air walk above the CN Tower. I have friends who have done it, but I could not!



The Toronto Police Marine division have a huge presence.


We stood in line 45 minutes, waiting to grab a spot on the boat. One of the smaller islands hold Billy Bishop Airport. He was a WW I flying ace, however there is some controversy around his exploits. After all William Bishop was alone in the air and there is no way to verify his aerial combat record.

Anyway, the boat takes a path right under the STOL landing path. It was quite impressive. I've flown in and out of this Toronto airport. You take the 27 second ferry boat to the land, or take the new tunnel.

We waited quite awhile and patiently people watched in the hot sun. We watched people traveling along the boardwalk. Love the bike. There is a ferry that goes to and from the island on a regular basis.


It looks as if there were 3 or more of these giant canoes, all taking kids in day camp to the island to play. I'm not sure I'd like a stranger taking me kids on the water, I've seen what kids can get up to, and camp counsellors aren't necessarily trained. But that's just me and my kids are all grown!



There is an old marina on the island, Harbour City Yacht Club. It was originally created by Jewish yachters, who couldn't get into the racist clubs in the area. Currently there are 80 members in this exclusive club, although there are 4 clubs on Toronto Islands!

The island has the Island Natural Science School on it. I attended this camp for a week, when I was in gr. 6. It was the week after it first opened and I had a blast. It was to have opened the week before, but it wasn't ready. We were the first! I was attending Cottingham P.S. at the time.

The islands have about 300 residents, although this is frozen, as the city wants to balance the needs of residents with the rights of citizens and tourists to visit the island for recreation.


Yes, a pirate ship. Sadly, I forgot about the boat cruise and didn't have my zoom lens with me! We saw ducks, mute swans, and cormorants.


You can see that the tourist were doing the tourist thing, jumping up in front of the camera. The seats were very crowded, and were not attached to the deck. The two British ladies in front of us tried to move theirs back and smashed into hubby's knees. Crowds irk me, but this was even worse. I took deep breaths! I remember someone elbowing me as I tried to look at the Mona Lisa in Paris in the Louvre. Tourists are just getting worse!