falls guide

On the second day of our recent trip to Toronto, we travelled to Niagara Falls, which was a breathtaking experience! We were driven there by Paula’s nephew Eugene, who grew up in Hong Kong but who now lives in Canada. And we were accompanied by Eugene’s younger brother Eric and their mother Christina, Paula’s sister, who had also travelled to Toronto for the wedding. This was my first sight of the falls:

Niagara Falls is actually two separate waterfalls, and the previous photo is a view of the American Falls, separated by Goat Island from the Canadian Falls, also known as the Horseshoe Falls because of their distinctive curved shape:

In fact, if you look closely at the first photo above, you will notice a small separate waterfall on the right. This is the Bridal Veil Falls, separated from the American Falls by Luna Island. Both Goat Island and Luna Island are part of the US state of New York, so effectively the Horseshoe Falls straddles the international border between the USA and Canada.

There is a promenade along the top of the gorge on the Canadian side of the river, which we walked along and then returned to where we started. This is a different view of the American Falls that I took as we walked back:

You will probably have noticed boats in each of the last three photos, and that would be our next objective. As we made our way slowly down to the water level I spotted a notice that read “Ponchos will be distributed after ticket verification”. My initial thought was that I wouldn’t bother, because there would only be some spray, but in the end I’m glad I ignored my first reaction to the notice:

In fact, there wasn’t much spray as we passed the American Falls, but it certainly got a lot wetter as we approached the Horseshoe Falls:

After taking the previous photo, I decided to put my phone away, because we were no longer dealing with spray. It was like torrential rain as we ventured within 15 metres of the base of the waterfall.

After our boat ride, Eugene planned to cross to the US side of the river with his mother and brother and spend the night there, so Paula and I would catch a bus back to Toronto. But first, we would venture into the city of Niagara Falls to see whether there was anything interesting to see. We immediately found ourselves in ‘Strange Street’. To understand why I gave this thoroughfare such a name, check out the next two photos:

We turned left where I took the second photo and immediately found ourselves walking past a small park filled with life-size models of dinosaurs. I identified a brontosaurus and a stegosaurus, and this terrifying rendition of Tyrannosaurus rex:

After passing the park, we cut back down towards the river, because we’d been told that the bus terminus was located just upstream from the Horseshoe Falls. Of course, I took a few more photos, including this one of the American Falls:

The final four photos are all closer views of the Horseshoe Falls, although the third photo also shows the American Falls in the distance and therefore provides some measure of the relative positions of the two waterfalls:

The last photo is a view from the top of the waterfall.

And that was our visit to Niagara Falls. My next report will describe the first of three days walking forest trails.

the magic roundabout

Paula and I have just returned from a memorable trip to Toronto. The reason for the trip had been to attend the wedding celebrations of Paula’s brother’s daughter, but we decided to extend our stay so that we could also fit in some sightseeing. Paula had mentioned visiting a tower in the city centre on our first day, but I didn’t really think about it, even when I heard Paula’s nephew Eugene booking a table for lunch in the tower’s restaurant.

However, as we approached the city centre, the penny finally dropped. The CN Tower is unmistakeable:

And it is obvious where the tower’s restaurant is located.

We were early, so we took a short walk around the immediate area. Directly across the street from the tower is what would once have been a railway locomotive depot in the form of a roundhouse, where spur lines radiate out in all directions from a central turntable. It now appears to be a kind of railway museum, and I took the next two photos here:

And then it was time for lunch. Although our table was next to the window, and I was sitting nearest to the window, it took me several minutes to notice that we were actually moving relative to the outside world. From that point, I stood up every five–ten minutes to take a photo of the ground below:

The water in the distance in the first two photos is Lake Ontario, one of North America’s five Great Lakes. Incidentally, one rotation of the restaurant took about 75 minutes.

After lunch, we took a ferry to Centre Island, the largest of a group of islands off the city’s waterfront that are known collectively as the Toronto Islands. Although ferries are frequent, they do appear to be always crowded. I took this photo from the ferry as we crossed to the island:

The terrain of Centre Island can best be described as parkland:

We saw quite a lot of wild geese on the island, including this small gaggle:

Smaller islands are connected to the main island by bridges:

I took the previous photo, and also the next photo, while waiting in the long queue for the ferry back to the city:

And that was our first day in Toronto. We went to Niagara Falls the following day.

flaming heck

Although I’m now back in the UK, I still have one post to compile that is related to my most recent sojourn in Hong Kong: the subject is flame trees, which originated in Madagascar but are now widely grown in Hong Kong as ornamental trees. They usually flower in June, when I’m not in Hong Kong, but thanks to the effects of the climate system El Niño, which has had a profound effect on the weather in Hong Kong during the past winter/spring, many of these trees started flowering at the beginning of May. Naturally, I wanted to take as many photos as possible, so I decided to postpone the posting of this collection until I could no longer add more photos. The order in which they appear here is the order in which they were taken.

My first photo was taken from our balcony on 2nd May:

Naturally, I wanted to take a closer look:

Whenever we go to Queen’s Hill for breakfast, we cross Sha Tau Kok Road via the only footbridge anywhere along this road. I took the next photo from the middle of the bridge, looking east:

This is one of several flame trees in the grounds of San Wai Barracks.

On the other side of the main road, there is a flame tree next to the start of the down ramp, so the next photo is effectively a close-up:

I took this photo from the down ramp, looking back west towards Fanling:

I’ve been a regular patient at the Fanling Clinic for the past few years, most recently to undergo acupuncture treatment for the ongoing problems with my hip joint. Following one such treatment session, I decided to walk back home along Jockey Club Road, the main north–south highway through Fanling. As I was walking along, I was suddenly confronted by an impressive flame tree in more or less full bloom:

Notice the cycle track. There is an extensive network of such tracks in Fanling, and in all the other towns in the New Territories. This is a close-up of the previous photo:

Once I’d crossed the side road, I turned to look back the way I’d just come:

I’d walked under a row of flame trees without noticing them!

This flame tree was on the other side of the main road:

I did notice several more flame trees around this area, none of which had started to flower. I never had time to go back to see whether this had changed.

I turned right at the next side road, intending to walk through Ignoble Hill (this is my name for a village that is located on the opposite side of Ma Sik Road to Noble Hill, an upmarket private housing estate, and is a sharp contrast to the latter). On the way, I stopped to take this photo:

The following day, I decided to walk along the section of Sha Tau Kok Road that separates Fanling’s industrial area from the residential area known as Luen Wo Hui, because I’d seen flame trees here in the past. I didn’t have much luck, but I did spot this tree on the residential side of the road (I was on the opposite side):

The building in the background is Luen Wo Hui’s wet market.

This is a closer view of the same tree, which is in a small park next to the main road:

While I was there, I spotted this tree on the industrial side of the main road:

I’d walked under it before crossing the road, again without noticing any flowers.

I decided to continue along Sha Tau Kok Road, out of Fanling, to see if I could spot any more trees. I took this photo from the south side of the road, shortly after passing the turn-off to the village where I live:

…and this one from the north side:

This tree is located in the southwest corner of San Wai Barracks:

On this occasion, I also took another photo of the tree that I could see from our balcony (see above):

The flowering had become more intense in just a couple of days.

I also took another photo from our balcony:

…because a second tree had started flowering.

A few days later, I walked further east along Sha Tau Kok Road, where I took the next three photos:

Here are two more flame trees growing in the grounds of San Wai Barracks:

On the opposite side of the road that skirts the barracks (and passes our house) is San Wai’s former school. Several flame trees grow in the grounds, including the first one I photographed (above), but access is not possible, except when the building is used as a polling station in local elections. I took this photo through a gap in the school’s wire-mesh gate:

For our last bike ride before heading off to the UK for the summer, Paula suggested Bride’s Pool Road, which is a tough ask, with a 2km hill at a steady gradient of about 10 percent. I stopped near the bottom of the downhill section to take this photo:

When we reached Sha Tau Kok Road, we had no option but to ride on the road. Fortunately, it was a public holiday (which explains the sheer number of sports cyclists on Bride’s Pool Road, and which I was not aware of), but once we drew closer to home, we turned off into familiar territory. I had intended to follow an unnamed road that leads to the village of San Uk Tsai, but there appeared to be some kind of construction ahead, so I turned towards the village of Leng Pei instead, intending to cycle along ‘country and eastern’. I’d never tried this path in this direction before, which was quite a challenge, but the hasty change of mind had a serendipitous result:

We would never have seen this tree had we continued along the unnamed road instead, because we would have turned off to tackle Hok Tau Country Trail #2 before reaching the tree.

Naturally, we stopped to take more photos, like this one:

Whenever we go to Queen’s Hill for breakfast, we continue up the hill afterwards. At the top of the hill is a path leading to Po Kak Tsai (‘poke in the eye’). Along this path, there is a flame tree that I hadn’t noticed until I spotted a few flowers on the ground. The next three photos feature this tree:

The high-rise buildings in the background are parts of Shan Lai Court, which adjoins Queen’s Hill Public Housing Estate and has buildings identical to those in the public area. It appears to be for first-time buyers, although that is just a guess.

I often stop in the San Uk Sitting-Out Area when coming back from Luen Wo Hui, which is why I spotted this tree:

This is the view from inside the village:

And that’s what I was able to record about flame trees last month. I wonder when, or if, I’ll see such sights again.