9.7.2012 – 9.7.2012  31 °C

We got up at the usual time this morning and had a nice lazy start to the day. Our morning began with a quick shopping expedition in downtown Waterloo (buying supplies for lunch) before Mac had us driving west of the town towards the countryside.

The surrounds of Waterloo are home to a Mennonite population. The Mennonites left Europe to escape religious persecution in the late 1600s. They are amongst some of the earliest settlers to Nth America. This particular community moved north out of  Pennsylvania not long after the American Revolution. The community were principally concerned that the new regime in America would force them to join the army in protecting the fledging nation. This goes against one of the fundamental statutes of Mennonites, peace. Therefore, at no time will they get involved in wars. The Old Mennonites (traditionalists) are similar to Amish peoples, in that they won’t drive cars and dress 1800s style. Apparently, they keep to the living practices of the 1800s because they wish to be in harmony with their surrounds. They believe that modern day life is too rushed and there is not enough time to enjoy nature. This is one of the key reasons they won’t drive a car (even though many of them can!), they believe that cars go too fast to really appreciate the beauty of the surrounds. There are also plenty of modern day Mennonites who live in our modern society (dress like us, use technology etc) but still prefer the teachings of their church as opposed to a more main stream church (Anglican, Catholic etc).

St Jacobs, is one of the towns that has a traditional Mennonite population and it was our first stop this morning. I was keen to get back into an Amish/ Mennonite area because I really like the old style patchwork quilts that they make and if possible I was keen to pick one up! Morning tea was a lovely cup of coffee and some delicious home made Mennonite pastries (thanks Mac). Following our delicious break we headed up the street to check out the small town. I was enthralled by the abilities of the quilt makers. I was very surprised to discover that the most beautiful quilts are all hand sewn! The stitches are so perfect I felt certain that they were made by a machine but I was assured that the Mennonite ladies on the surrounding farms spend their winters working on these beautiful designs. I couldn’t do as good a job on a sewing machine!! Just amazing… Sadly, the price was too much for me to afford one of the beautiful designs, but maybe one day I can make my very own quilt…. (Knowing me, that day may never come.. you never know though! 🙂 )

Further down the road we checked out a broom maker.. Harry Potter eat your heart out! This guy still hand makes wooden brooms using sticks of corn. The brooms he makes are just like the type that HP and witches use, as well as the more normal style that we would traditionally have at home. He must be one of the few commercial broom makers left.. If I had some space in my bag I may have even bought myself my very own wizard broom!!

Our last stop in this small but very cutesy town was to the old mill to see a small museum housing all sorts of old tools, everything from old carpentry tools to switchboards thru to old calculators. It gets a bit scary though when you walk thru a museum and you start to recognise a lot of the items… Must mean you are getting old… Hmmm

From St John we headed out to see the Kissing Bridge. We had to do a detour to Mac’s peanut shop, where I teased Mac that we are on the kind of tour that you have to stop at the local store so the tour guide can get his “kick back”. In this case, a bag of liquorice! So from this point on we were on board the “Down Under but local” tour! The Kissing Bridge is one of those gorgeous covered bridges that you see in so many of the New England travel brochures (usually they are pictured in Autumn with all of the leaves changing colour). It is one of the things that M desperately wanted to see so we were glad we could tick it off for her. Sadly, the covered bridges are becoming a thing of the past. Those that still remain will continue to be maintained but no new covered bridges are being built. 🙁

Our last stop for the day was in the town of Elora (also our lunch stop). Our first thing to do was to chow down on our tasty treats that we had purchased for our lunch, before we headed out for a walk around the town. Our first stop was to go for a wander along the banks of the Grand River before we headed into town to do some shopping. Lee found a great pair of shoes she has been looking for, and we did some window shopping. Elora is certainly a great place to come if your bank account is nice and full (and you no issues with carrying stuff home on the plane) as there are so many cutesy boutique stores and art galleries. My favourite bit of the day was found in this little side street where one whole wall is made up of old front doors that are all painted bright funky colours. What made the street so special was all of the beautiful flowers that were growing out the front.. Gorgeous!

After our drive back to Lee and Mac’s (thanks tour directors for a great day out) we were treated to more delicious cooking from Lee (almond crusted pork w veges!) and more great conversation that went well into the evening. The only anecdote from the evening was just before dinner. We started to hear this “knocking” sound and were encouraged to go and ‘check out the noise’ by Lee. M and I wandered around the corner to this public space behind the local church. Within this space these ladies were playing the most unusual game of Ten Pin Bowls that I’ve ever seen. It is ten pin but the bowling ball is suspended off a guide wire so that it acts like a pendulum. You swing the bowl at the pins rather than bowling it down an alley… Different! Definitely something I have never seen anywhere else in the world! I was lucky enough to be granted a go by the ladies and managed to somehow knock over 8 of the 10 pins.. I didn’t knock myself out so I achieved my goal with my throw!!! It was certainly a different way to end our time in Waterloo, Ontario! Off to Huntsville, Ontario tomorrow, gateway to the Algonquin State Park!

Song of the Day– Abba, Super Trouper  (thanks for a great touring experience Mac!)