We’ve been back in Canada for ELEVEN weeks, almost 3 months! What have we been up to? Well – reading, tv, web-surfing, and puzzles. Increasingly, lots of walks and hiking.
Our first month was spent in a condo in Toronto. In the 15 minutes we had between when we found out we could continue to Toronto from Vancouver, and boarding, we quickly booked an Airbnb for a month. At this point in time, things weren’t all closed down yet. Bron had a vision of hiking the Bruce trail (Canada’s oldest and longest continuous footpath, ~900km in length) from Niagara towards Tobermory after our 2 week quarantine period was finished.
Two weeks quarantine. We had our ups and downs. The first few days were an alright break from our fast paced travelling. Lots of time to read and watch the news…. Soon we discovered the frustrations of grocery delivery (ordered a 4L bag of milk, got 4 1L cartons for 4X the price!, ordered 2 sweet potatoes, got a bag of 6 organic ones for 5X the price! Fruit smashed under bag of rice!). Our Airbnb was quite dirty when we arrived (actually, it hadn’t been cleaned AT ALL, but the hosts responded very quickly and sent someone to at least flip the bedding, empty the moldy food from the fridge, etc) so we spend some of the first week cleaning. As we ran out of things to do it got harder. We’d been walking SO much, so it was a shock to sit around all day. Luckily we had a balcony and a view of many trains. Also a fun view of the line up at the grocery store to keep tabs on.
Luckily, we could order in and get Swiss Chalet – which we really missed while away from home. We discovered a few other eateries in Liberty Village which we could get delivery from.
Freedom after 14 days! Or… well… by this point Ontario was totally shutdown including the Bruce trail, and guidance was to avoid all non-essential travel. Our new found freedom meant: one of us could go to the grocery store once a week. And we could go for a local walk as long as there weren’t too many people out.
It was great to walk again. Our condo was very close to the Canadian National Exhibition grounds which were ideal for social distancing walks. It’s a very large area and there were rarely more than a few people there – very easy to keep away from others. Back to 10k steps a day – hurray! We slowly broadened our horizons and had some lovely walks along the Lake Ontario lakeshore (pro tip – early mornings and cold weather mean few people out) and to Humber River and High Park. For variety Chinatown, Trinity Bellwoods Park, University of Toronto, and Queens’ Park were also within walking distance. Other days we just felt grumpy about everything and stayed in the house eating chips.
The condo was not available beyond our original month long booking. And we weren’t loving it anyway (the kitchen was poorly equipped, the blinds were all missing/broken so it was never remotely dark in the bedroom, read – never-ending-electronic-daylight, etc.). We spent a lot of time pouring over listings and finally found somewhere that met our requirements and price range in West Grey (North of Guelph, West of Barrie). Key to our freedom were some wheels. We rented a car and made a dash to Sudbury to be reunited with our beloved car Morty, who was being cared for by Brent’s Mum and Dad. After a short-duration long-distanced outdoor visit and car key exchange we returned to Toronto to prepare for the move to Grey-Bruce.
Moving day was exciting – we got to go somewhere! Finally! We were greeted by surprise snow.
The new place was really refreshing. It’s on a farm with 3 horses and a friendly dog, who is very aptly named Moose. She does not know her size, and is quite frisky for a 150lb dog. We could walk the farm land and see absolutely no other people. The kitchen was well stocked and the hosts left it sparkling clean and with many thoughtful touches – quite a difference to our first place! The hot tub is a nice touch as well.
We brought 2 weeks of groceries with us so we weren’t putting a new community at risk and spent our time cooking and walking the farm or quiet country roads. Bron did some road walks of up to 17km. Great to be out, and very welcome after the busy sidewalks of Toronto, but pretty boring and dusty in the grand scheme of things.
There was lots of time to research trails which were open and closed. After some sleuthing, we found a few places nearby with open walks. The Grey Rail Trail was open for walking so Bron had a new project! She walked from Dundalk to Owen Sound over 4 (non-consecutive) days. 17km, 21.2km, 20.5km, and 13km to complete the 70km+ trail. Brent was the super fabulous trail chauffeur. In normal times, this wouldn’t be a very exciting walk (straight, flat, largely through farm land) but compared to road walking it was fantastic. No cars! Not in a ditch! It felt good to ‘accomplish something’. It also felt like expert level social distancing as over 70km about 4 other people were encountered total (until just outside Owen Sound).
May 9!!!!! What a surprise to wake up to
Mid May provincial parks reopened for hiking. Yes! This was very exciting. There were a few parks in roughly equal distance from us. We had a beautiful hike at Pretty River park, albeit a little muddy. And a stunning day at Duncan Escarpment Provincial park. Then a fun jaunt around Bayview Escarpment. Bron was finally on the Bruce Trail!
Pretty River 
Bayview Escarpment 
It was like our environment was slowly broadening outwards like ripples in a lake. The next week, many of the local conservation area sites opened. We now had several options for excellent hikes within 45 minutes of the house. Hogg’s Falls, Bognor Marsh, Skinner’s Bluff, Allan Park in Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority or Grey Sauble Conservation Authority parks.
We should note that it hasn’t all been rainbows and roses (or trilliums as the case may be). Many days we feel trapped. Our plans, which were years in the making and saving, completely unraveled. Our future is totally uncertain. Not having a home felt like freedom 6 months ago, but now we feel stuck. In our own home, we could do repairs, projects, garden, etc. – generally be productive. But in an Airbnb that doesn’t really work (we did do some weeding here one day! But there are millions of dandelions and it just seemed futile). We even looked at getting jobs to pass the time during all this (say, at a grocery store or something – they are all hiring), but without an address that doesn’t seem to work, and it wouldn’t be fair to them to work for only a month or 2 after being trained. It sounds silly, but also not having goals or a direction has been tough. The hikes are great, but piecemeal picking somewhere to go everyday, when it all seems very much similar, is wearing on us.
Brent And Bron Abroad 
We can totally relate. We have been homeless for 4 years and have never once regretted it, but an internationally nomadic lifestyle hasn’t been compatible with a global pandemic. We’ve been lucky in that we’ve had a purpose for the last 2 months, living with family and helping keep our grandson occupied so his parents could work. That comes to an end in a week when he goes back to day camps and we move on. But to where and to do what? Very glad you’ve been able to get out into parks and trails some. We’ll be interested to see where next for you
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Coral and Ken,
The next steps are still being figured out. Going west to British Columbia this summer, but no solid plans yet.
Hope all is well,
Br and Br
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