"Begin again in the offshore colonies..."

[pyat]

commanderteddog and I just went on... an adventure. There were boats, and a maze, and animals, a giant head, a dragon, an abandoned town, and a nude beach!





We went to Centre Island, one of the Toronto Islands. I'd never been to any of them before, and honestly had no idea what to expect. I was surprised by how much is actually there to see.


The gateway to the Magical Ferry that takes you to the enchanted islands!


commanderteddog, waiting for her ship to come in. The barred waiting area, with its cement floor, reminded me of a sort of "Ellis Island" holding area, for refugees from the oppressive Canadian regime.


En route! Teddog seems to entranced by something in the water. Or possibly she's just eating her pork gyros.


A "house" in Centreville, looking very mossy and rustic and seasonal. It's actually a mini-golf course, though one of the neighbouring islands has a quiet residential community.


Centreville town square. commanderteddog once wanted to film a spoof of "The Prisoner" here.


One of the rides was open, and no workers were around, so we did a modest bit of "urban infiltration."


A big, giant, head.


A veritable army of geese crossed the bridge in single file, "to hide their numbers," as Teddog put it.


I know what you're thinking. But the name is merely an unfortunate coincidence. The beach was actually founded by Sir Fitzhenry Clothing, Earl of Optional.


I was disappointed not to find any cheese at the end of the maze.


Open water all the way to America.


"That way to Rochester, New York!"


"This way to Sir Clothing of Optional Memorial Beach!"

And then we went back to work!

Comments

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

Wow. You've never been to the islands.

One of my earliest memories is riding the head pony on a pony ride (with real ponies) on Centre Island.

[thebitterguy]

I'm stunned, but not surprised.

[anidada.livejournal.com]

I had never been until fairly recently. *shrug*

[pyat.livejournal.com]

The ponies were all hiberating for the season, but we saw a bunch of other animals - geese, horses, an enormous pig, some peacocks, etc.

[catsarah.livejournal.com]

That looked beautiful. I've never been either, though I did sail around it in one of my brother's friend's sailboat.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Maybe come an afternoon in November, and we can go for a ramble? The gardens are lovely, and as soon as you get off the ferry, it's hushed except for bird song.

[hannahmorgan.livejournal.com]

Site of my first summer job. I worked at Centreville, in..hm...(counts on her fingers) 1984? I made and served food at the various eateries for 5-something an hour. Ah, those were the days. Those ferry docks at 8 a.m. on an August morning had the most nauseating smell EVER.

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

They still do! I blame Captain John's.

[shadow-maze.livejournal.com]

The most nauseating smell EVER? Oh, I'm not sure about that, I had a summer job where I smelled so bad by the end of shift they didn't want to let me on public transit. My supervisor would cover his nose with his arm and yell instructions to us from a good 50' away to avoid the stench. Yep, those were the good old days!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

That was when you worked for StenchCo, yes? :)

[shadow-maze.livejournal.com]

It was down by the Bay and has a different name now, and I understand the new owners have cleaned the place up a bit, but it is a situation that lends itself to smells. They extract vegetable oil from beans. This particular summer, a long hot one, they were down for a couple of months for maintenance, and some extra workers were called in to help clean. I was working through a Temp agency and they sent two of us over the first day. The other guy wouldn't come back the next day so they sent me with someone else. That person also wouldn't come back. Of the 8 or 9 days that the Union rules allowed Temps to work there, I ended up alone the last 3 or 4 days because they stopped trying to get anyone else to endure the smell for more than one day.

The best part of the time was cleaning out a concrete pit, about 12 feet square and at least as deep, located in a small corrugated metal shed. Three huge silos with massive augers fed the leftover bean powder (after oil extraction) into a metal chute to the bottom of the pit, where a central mechanism pushed all the stuff up and out to waiting trucks. This mechanism leaked powder into the surrounding pit, apparently, and some weeks before my arrival had been partially filed with water. So you can imagine this situation, really hot summer, metal shed with no significant ventilation, a ton or so bean powder, plenty of water, and a few weeks to bake up really nice.

We arrived at the building with pails on ropes and those long handled spoon things they use to clear sewers. It had built up a several inch thick black and brown crust, that had to be broken through to get to the swirling brown sludgy goodness lurking underneath...

I will not continue with that description, but the days cleaning that pit are certainly one of life's little experiences I'd rather not have to ever repeat.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's making me hungry for baked beans. :)

When I was doing temp work one summer in university, they called me with a fabulous offer.... two weeks of assured employment at a dollar above minimum wage! All I had to do was clean inside of industrial sewage tanks, and then paint them with some kind of rust proofing stuff.

I hesitated for a bit, but then they started talking about how I'd have to squeeze to fit inside, and realized... um... okay, no, I'd rather work in the soap factory.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

It sounds fairly pleasant, aside from the smell!

[pwned-kisa.livejournal.com]

.........you said it was a nude beach, then didn't post pictures of naked people? I feel as if a small part of my soul has died.

[anidada.livejournal.com]

For naked people read: aging gay men. It's not a place to go and ogle, trust me.

[curtana.livejournal.com]

Hee, I've been there with some (very lovely) friends, but yes, the beach was definitely dominated by middle-aged gentlemen, some with quite interesting piercings :)

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I've heard similar reports!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

October in Canada... it probably wasn't very populated, in any case. :)

Nostalgia!

[melstra.livejournal.com]

Great pix! Hey, even *I* have been to Centre Island!! It was one of the first things Jeff and I ever did together in Toronto. Lessee....waaaay back in 2000 (ah, the simpler days, before 9/11) I went up to visit him in TO for the first time. It was August (for the "civic holiday") and we saw Casa Loma (and, coincidentally, went to X-Men the next day!), the CN tower, Centre Island and a few other things. I took our first pic together on a rock just to the left of the boat dock, looking off to the TO skyline. I remember being amused by all the Canada Geese...but a little annoyed by how you couldn't actually walk on the grass because it was covered in poop.

Good times!

Re: Nostalgia!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool. :)

I used to boast about having had cavier in Professor X's office. The magazine I worked for had a "do" at Casa Loma one year.

Re: Nostalgia!

[hannahmorgan.livejournal.com]

cavier what?

And really, what could be cavier than Professor X's office? You could practically go spelunking in there! Don't you remember our adventures?

Oh, sorry, wrong post.

Re: Nostalgia!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

*facepalm*

I need a spell checker.

[nottheterritory.livejournal.com]

I remember when i was a young teenager I used to ambling around there in the afternoons after school with my walkman. I remember the first time it occurred to me that Centreville would still be accessible, even if the amusement park wasn't functioning. It was even more surreal in deep February. The idea of a Centreville Prisoner parody is very cool.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

We almost went climbing up the drained log flume ride... but there was a guy on top of it, watching us.

I do definitely intend to return on some fine winter's day and explore Centreville.

[paka.livejournal.com]

Hey, do you know the way to Shell Beach?

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sure, I had my honeymoon there! First you take the... and then... um... left at...

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Ya know, I've been to Ward's Island at least 3 times, but I've never been to Centre Island.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

We stopped at the Ward's dock, but didn't get off.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

I was never attracted by the whole fun park bit about Centre Island, but was introduced to the peaceful splendours of Ward Island by a dear friend many years ago. It's a great little community peopled mostly by folk of independent spirit, including many an artist. Walking around just to see how each little cottage, tucked away into woods, has been individualized is a treat in itself, but a visit to Ward Island's lovely beach (usually fairly empty) is a must. It's hard to imagine such a peaceful retreat from the bustle of Toronto exists a mere 10 minutes ferry ride from downtown.

[aslowhite.livejournal.com]

Ya gotta love any excursion that includes a giant head.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

*L* It's a prerequisite for adventure.