Summer Lovin'... Had Me a Blast...

Well, Summer is officially over and I was fortunate to be graced with the presence of my beautiful girlfriend, Soraya, all the way from Australia to see it out in style.

We kicked off our trip in Toronto, catching up with our amazing, talented friends Celeste and Matty, who both had to work but still managed to spend a lot of time wining and dining with us.
First stop after Toronto was a day and night in Ottawa, where Soraya and I mastered the art of the Bixi Bike (that's right - $5 for the entire day - oh yeah) and took in the sites and some of its impressive architecture.

Then it was onto Montreal where we were joined by Celeste for what can only be described as a girls weekend away. Shop, eat, drink, shop some more, eat some more, drink some more and get into a whole lot of mischief - oui! oui!

Escargots on the right - tasted like chicken - haha, not really!

After the city hopping we decided to get some fresh air and go camping at the Bruce Peninsula. On the way there we stopped in at Lifespring Farm to visit Ken and Anastasia and see how their adorable animals were getting along.

Then we stopped for a night at Marvellous Edibles Farm where they kindly loaded us up with some extra camping gear, some super tasty tomatoes and of course, my favourite pesto. Thank you Ayse and Jens (and Cengiz for making me feel guilty about not being there to help you pick tomatoes :)
Thank you Soraya for these photos of Marvellous Edibles Farm - they are awesome as always.

So then it was off to set up camp in the midst of a tornado warning. We were a bit worried at first but when we got there we thought we'll just set up the tent, open a bottle of wine and hope for the best. Turns out we had nothing to worry about.

The Bruce Peninsula was absolutely gorgeous. I don't think I've ever swum in such crystal clear fresh water in my life and we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. It is definitely going down as one of my all time favourite camping trips.

As we still had the hire car for one more day we headed down to Niagara Falls and Niagara on the Lake to sample some of the local wines and of course, the ice wine, which is especially good as a slushie.

Back in Toronto, Soraya and I spent the last few days of summer hanging out, eating, drinking, relaxing and even getting some more ink (well, Soraya did anyway).

It does look kind of gross but blue cheese on a burger is the only way to go...

Thank you Soraya for such a memorable holiday - I'm going to miss you heaps!!! Thank you too Celeste and Matty who always make me feel right at home whenever I stay in Toronto. I'm so lucky to have such amazing friends in my life - love you guys!!!