An Island Haven? (Toronto Island)

Member Name: cyberem78

Product:	Toronto Island
Date:	01/11/08 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Calm and quiet. Amusement park. Nice views.

Disadvantages: Underwhelming.

The Toronto Islands are a major tourist magnet and were listed as a top ten attraction in every guide book I read before and during my holiday in Canada. They are hailed as the place to go to get away from the bustle of the city: a haven in which to relax and chill out. My information sources suggested that I might need to spend a whole day on the islands to fully explore the area.

The Islands are located just off the Lake Ontario shoreline and off the Toronto harbourfront. They can be reached by passenger ferry, the terminal of which is located at Queens Quay on the harbour front. The ferrys dock and drop passengers at either Ward's Island, Hanlan's point or Centre Island, with the latter being the most popular destination. These islands are actually comprised of many smaller land areas with other islands such as Algonquin an Olympic comprising the whole. More information and detailed maps of the smaller, interlocked islands can be found on the City of Toronto website: http://www.toronto.ca

I took a ferry to Ward's island as I intended to walk from here to Centre Island or beyond. The ferrys leave the city approximately every 30 minutes. It took about 25 minutes to get there and the fare was very reasonable at $6.50 Canadian dollars. I travelled at about 10am on a week day morning and the ferry had about 30 people on board, so it was not very busy. It is a lovely, gentle trip into the lake and a brilliant chance to look back at the skyline and see for miles along the shoreline. It is the best photo opportunity to get views of the skyline, that's for sure.

My guidebook had advised taking a picnic so I had a little lunch set aside, although there are cafes and fast food boothes around the islands, should you need something else. There are also clean water drinking fountains to be found dotted around.

Ward's Island is a tiny circle of land dotted with the homes of artists who have moved to the quaint, quiet and carefree area to work and play. There is a little tree-lined pathway at the furthest end of the island which leads onto a long, wooden walkway which takes you all the way to Centre Island. On the other side there is a road. Although I had read that the islands were "car free" several vehicles passed me. Between these two paths there are trees, houses, a golf course and seating areas. As someone who lives in a rural area I found it amusing that a group of city kids, out on a school trip, were shouting that they were "lost forever in the jungle" and that there were "so many trees" when they were walking around Ward's island. To me, the trees were actually quite sparse!

I found a great spot with comfortable wooden benches where the entire skyline of the city was in full view. Here, swans and geese drifted back and forth very casually. There is an opportunity to see many other birds here: orioles and red winged black birds were most obvious to me.

I left the friend I was travelling with at a pub on Ward's Island which serves food and alcohol and I walked the wooden boardwalk to Centre Island. It is a very, VERY long trek and as it was a hot day there were lots of insects in big clouds. I would not suggest undertaking this walk if you are not used to taking regular exercise! Walking this way awards the opportunity to look out over Lake Ontario and see how vast it is. It is quite a beautiful vista.

On my approach to Centre Island I began to hear high pitched screaming. This is because there is an amusement park on the area - Coney Island style. To me, the gradual introduction of monorails and big plastic rides is a little tacky and I did not want to stay in the area for long. There were lots of kids in the area who were loving it though. It is quite a distinct change of atmosphere from Ward's Island though.

On Centre Island there is a shop were you can hire cycles and rides which can be very beneficial if you aren't used to walking much. There is a lovely, meditative area of gardens where there are sparkling fountains, pools and a screen of trees and vegetation. It is a lovely area to rest and snack.

Centre Island was much busier and there were many people, city dwellers on a day off, who were engaging in a pasttime, sailing or cycling or golf.

At the furthest end of the group of islands, Hanlan's Point has a small airport runway. This location was historically interesting to me. In the early twentieth century there was a baseball stadium here where Babe Ruth hit his first home run. According to my tourist audio podcast Ruth hit a ball into the waters of Lake Ontario and it lies there to this day!

Whilst I enjoyed my trip to the islands I found that they were a little underwhelming. As I am used to vast areas of forest and quiet spaces at home in the UK, I also find it a little sad that these islands are the best (nearest) place to experience nature for city dwellers and that the residents of the islands think that the amount of wildlife and plant life is rich and abundant. I don't deny that they are definately one of the calmest retreats for Torontoians to spend their leisure time though, although the charm is all man made and man managed. I suppose that compared with the concrete jungle of Toronto, this is a haven of nature, but to me it just wasn't wild or free enough.

Summary: A nice place to visit whilst holidaying in Toronto.