Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

hey it was me who said racialist.

that was my joke!

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

I was referring to this comment.

No, that was my joke before you:
And then this and my link:
Here is Lord Vader trying to be funny (Ali G racialist): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRGC-5LjJ2M

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

Sure I take your point about accessibilty from Toronto, although I am really not that convinced that you would have much better access if you lived in London? It takes a long time to drive from London to get to some nice countryside. I guess it depends on where you live in London, but my estimate is >2 hrs travel from london to somewhere nice. And then wherever you went would be swarming with tourists. Surely you could get to the Kawarthas from Toronto in that time? London to the Lake distict 5+ hours. Toronto to Algonquin 4hrs. I know where I would rather be on a bank holiday weekend!

Anyway I thought we were talking about waterloo? Sure if you like the outdoors Toronto is not the best place in canada to choose to live.
Now you are on about Melacathon- well its not exactly far to head up to the Bruce from there right? Or how about the saugeen valleys?

I guess it depends what you wanna do in the countryside, but if its boating or fishing, your certainly better off in canada-right? You can fish anywhere in Ontario for 75 bucks a year! World class fishing- its ALL private in the UK. Costs a fortune. Where can you go boating from London without being super rich? You want to go walking- how about the bruce trail? Free camping?-crown land. I mean you cant even go wild camping in the UK. Its illegal in the UK.

Sure Canada doesnt have as good right to roam laws and footpaths as the UK. But they dont really need to cos there is so much land and crown land and outdoors stuff in Canada.

I dont follow your logic really. The national park entrance fees arent exactly exorbitant for a working man? Do you really need to buy a lake when you live next to the world largest freshwater ecosystem? Is it about beaches? I mean London isnt exactly surrounded with nice places to go for a swim? You could nip down to cornwall 5hrs+ (add another 3 hrs in the school holidays) and it would still probably be pissing it down when you got there.

Winter sports in the UK??????

"If you're a working person interested in enjoying the outdoors then you're better off in London than in Toronto."

the phrases 'cant see the wood for the trees' and 'grass is allways greener'

come to mind

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

Hampstead Heath, countryside only 4 miles from Charing Cross. You can swim there too, and fish, and lurk in the bushes. They have pubs too.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lTz0ia_O5M.../s400/Pond.JPG

Hyde Park is quite nice, horse riding, swimming

Epping Forest, ditto.

All on public transport too.

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

It's not far to the Bruce, no, a couple of hours, except on weekends. Like going to Brighton from London except that you're not starting in a place but in a field. But, what does it achieve to go up there? If you own a waterfront cottage, or have the use of one, then fine. Otherwise access to the lake is extremely limited, boat ramps, mainly. That's fine if you have a boat and want to launch it but you can do that on the Thames. A river from which people fish, without spending a fortune.

Today is the first time I've heard of there being Crown Land in Ontario, google suggests that it's up in the tundra and so not much use to some in Waterloo.

Winter sports in the ON?????? Cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, skating, nothing much involving hills. The people I know here who are keen on winter sports, skiing in particular, go to the US, that's simple enough but the same as going to Switzerland from London.

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

We went riding there last Christmas. The riding was tame (well, of course, it's a park full of people and before that you're on a horse on a road with very heavy traffic) but the experience was magical.

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

I saw some Crown Land signs for the first time last week. North of Highway 7 near Cordova Mines.

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

Sure England does have some nice quaint countryside and good pubs, its just that for outdoor stuff Canada IS better!

Swimming in Hyde park or Sauble beach (the worlds 2nd largest freshwater beach)- I know which one I would choose!

Fishing for filthy eels in the stinking Thames or fly fishing on the Grand (one of North America's top brown trout fisheries) or even fishing for supercharged muskies on the mighty Saugeen?

Boating on the thames or on the georgian bay fathom five national marine park? http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/amnc-nmca/on...ive/index.aspx

Ha!

'Brighton or the Bruce for outdoor stuff?' Sorry Im not really following your train of thought there.

I can only assume you guys are joking right?

"If you dont own a waterfront cottage on the bruce, what does it acheive to go up to their"???

"Boat ramps the only shorefront access"

Have you been up there? Here's a link to some beaches for you. http://www.thebrucepeninsula.com/beaches.html

or how about the bruce trail-(heres alittle map for your benefit http://www.brucetrail.org/places) it pretty much follows the georgian bay coastline for the entire peninsula! Accesss aplenty!

or for experiencing the outdoors in general and the wonderful natural history of the region how about the Bruce peninsula national park? http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/bruce/index.aspx

True- Crown land is a bit far to go from the Bruce in a day from waterloo, but not innaccesible for a long weekend or even better for a holiday. Basically it starts on the north shore of lake huron. Surely all outdoorsie people are keen to venture into the great northern wilderness, the boreal forest? If you do, you will find 39million hectares of crown land, roughly 45% of the entire Ontario province. Whats that about twice the size of Britain? and that doesnt even include the far north!!!!

heres a map for you outdoor lovers; http://crownlanduseatlas.mnr.gov.on.ca/

enjoy it!

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

Sure, we walked the dog the length of Sauble Beach and back a couple of weekends ago. It's not legal to do so but we enjoyed it anyway. During my phase of working at the Bruce Power Station I expored quite a lot of the penisula. I usually go that way to Killarney and had a phase of doing that a couple of times a summer when my daughter was working sailing cruises along the north shore. We'd meet at the chip shop on the dock there. I lived in Toronto so going up there was just like going to say the Dales or the Lake District from London.

To the one footpath, granted, but don't deviate from it, for miles it's signposted "No Trespassing" on either side.

The great northern wilderness is as much use to someone in Southern Ontario as the uninhabited centre of Greenland is to someone in Southern England. It's not accessible due to time and distance even if access is not limited by private ownership.

I don't say that one cannot go outdoors in Canada but for hiking and riding (horses), I say that Ontario is not as good as the UK, apart from the legal restrictions, the foul weather for half the year is a limitation. For sailing it's questionable, Superior is a big lake but it's not the sea and, anyway, it's way up there. If hunting is your thing, either for foxes on horseback, or bears or moose from trucks, then, yes, Ontario is way ahead.

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

I particularly agree with this. Altogether a very good post IMHO.

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

It is just one of the dynamics of this site. If someone posts anything positive about Canada others will jump in and say it isn't so, or is better in the UK. And to be fair, the same thing happens, with different people, if someone posts something negative about Canada.

Regardless, you will get informed, intelligent, often humorous posts on both sides of the discussion. You also get a complete load of BS.

When arguing opinion the only way to win is to keep arguing after everyone else has got bored and moved on to something else. Graciously accepting a "loss" is a way to go.

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

And therein lies the reason for posts above often being "jumped" on. It's the whole generic, Canada is better than the UK, or Visa Versa, aspect of the opinion that grates many.

A localised opinion, i dare say, wouldn't be fought over as much.

For example, "I love my new life in Vancouver. The proximity to the ocean, beaches and skiing is something i would not have had when i lived in London. For this reason, i love my new life and would not wish to be anywhere else right now."

As opposed to...

"I love Canada. It is much better than the UK by far. The people are much nicer and my children will have a better life away from drugs, binge drinking, violence, and the huge population density of which is full of intolerant racists that cover the entire island."

The latter often causes the issues as far as many posters are concerned. The former, i guess, wouldn't as much.

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

If I said that then someone, whose third cousin twice removed attended a business meeting in Vancouver one day in November '93 would say it was a **** place to live because it rained all the time. Three other people who have never been within a thousand miles of the place would chip in and agree.

Then we would get a bitter and twisted poster complaining about all things Vancouver because the employers here can't see how "special" they are.

We would end with a bit of veiled racism about ESL in schools or immigrants inability to drive or some other crap. Such is life on the internet.

Re: Waterloo, is it all that?
 

Oh i don't disagree. But as i said, the more accurate comment wouldn't get as much as the generalisation.

But you are right in that some idiot with a monkey avatar would make a stupid comment.