Wednesday, January 15, 2014

The Islands In Winter

The Toronto Islands are, of course, one of our city's most popular attractions. But not so much during the winter, when the cold and snow and ice and lack of ferry service tend to keep most people away. So, as the polar vortex loosened its grip last week, a friend and I decided to head out across the harbour for the first time in the winter. It was a pretty remarkable experience. In the fresh snow and ice, the Islands were absolutely gorgeous. And while the ferry folk did warn us that the boat might get stuck in the ice — the Ward's Island ferry is the only one in service during the off-season — we didn't run into any trouble. We even got a private tour of the barn at Far Enough Farm (next to the deserted Centreville) and had a close encounter with some remarkably friendly mallards. I've uploaded a gallery of my photos from our excursion, along with a few archival pics, to Facebook, which you can check out here (whether you have a Facebook account or not):

FULL GALLERY

I've also got a little video of those ducks, which you can watch here. And, as always, you can follow me on Instagram at @todreamsproject.

3 comments:

  1. Can I just ask... are the island's public washrooms unlocked in winter? I've been thinking of going over (next time it gets snowy again) so thanks for sharing your experience.

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    1. We didn't see any, but the website here...

      http://www.toronto.ca/311/knowledgebase/90/101000043590.html

      ...says there are three open all year. And the Rectory Cafe is open during the days on Ward's Island.

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