Tuesday July 11 – Tillsonburg and surrounds

This morning was very foggy and we couldn’t see much outside. Thankfully this eventually lifted. Jackie and Lorne took us to St Jacobs, where there was a farmers’ market. We wandered around this and had lunch here. Then we drove around the area sight-seeing. The whole area around about, including where Jackie and Lorne live, is home to various group of Amish/Mennonite people. These folk live a simple life as it had been 150 years ago – e.g. most don’t use electricity, women wear simple long dresses in single colours (no strong patterns) and bonnets (and some wear all black, with capes too), men have long beards and straw hats (or black hats depending on how strict they are), no salon-haircuts (so there were some interesting haircuts on the men!!). They drive carriages pulled by horses. Some Mennonites were selling their home-made maple syrup, jams and relishes, bakery items, and sewing and knitting. They are farmers, working the soil by hand (no machinery) and some men specialise in building. Their farm houses are white with green roofs, and have little stalls at the road-side selling things like eggs, vegetables and quilts (they make beautiful quilts!).

After lunch at the markets we drove to Alymer, and past a number of Mennonite farms. They are well-cared for, and very productive. We went in to a stadium to look at an ice-hockey rink. Ice hockey (or just ‘hockey’ as the Canadians call it) is really big in Canada, and most people know the major teams and players. Lorne used to play too. It’s a bigger pitch than I expected, but I guess it seems small when you watch it because they move so quickly!

Tonight we had a scrumptious BBQ dinner of pork cooked on a slab of cedar wood soaked in oil. It gave the meat a flavour we wouldn’t ordinarily associate with pork, and a nice smokey taste. This was served with salads and bread.

Canada is following the lead of Australia in introducing polymer bank notes (and nice ones at that!). The coins are confusing though – the ten cent coin (about the size of our 5 cent coin) is smaller than the five cent coin (about the size of our 10 cent coin), there is no 20 cent coin, but there is a 25 cent coin (a quarter). The $1 coin is similar to ours in colour and size, but is octagonal rather than round. The $2 coin is in two bits – a gold inside like our $2 coin with a silver outside making it about the size of our 5 cent coin. We have discovered that Canadian prices are misleading for folk like us who are used to the prices quoted being the end price. Here the basic price is quoted, but then they add on tax and gratuities (tipping), so you are never sure of the final price they want you to pay until you’ve paid it and look at the receipt!