Hi everyone, it’s been a while since we’ve blogged. Life has been hectic. So we thought we would blog about our visit to the Toronto Islands on March 12, 2020. This is from a day that turned out to be the beginning of the lockdown in Ontario.

We began our journey with a view under the Gardener Expressway as we walked to the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal.

A bike was parked along Yonge street with a bouquet of flowers. People all over Toronto seemed very optimistic of an early spring.

A view of the statue of Jack Layton near the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal.

Aboard Ongiara looking back at Toronto’s skyline on route to Ward’s Island.

As we were travelling we were monitoring all the breaking news on the impact of COVID-19. Most notably, it was reported the Trudeau’s would be self-isolating because of symptoms related to COVID-19. The explosion of news included the Major League Soccer had suspended it’s season, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Toronto was cancelled, the Stock Market was crashing, the Juno Awards were cancelled and the entire Toronto Raptors team was going into self-isolation for 14 days. It’s worth noting that this photo was taken at 12:40pm.

It’s also worth noting that The National Basketball League suspended their season the night before.

Looking forward there is the view of the docking slip to Ward’s Island.

In view here is the haul of the RAPIDS QUEEN which has been permanently fixed in this position and being used as a breakwater.

More information on the RAPIDS QUEEN Click Here

Map of Toronto Island Park.

Looking down Willow Avenue on our way to Lakeshore Avenue.

Along our walk on Lakeshore avenue, we are met by a familiar friend.

We see this cat all the time when we visit Ward’s Island.

This is one of the best tour guides you will ever find anywhere.

Walking by a building we noticed these two smiles. On a day that was suppose to be sunny and warm, which turned out to be cloudy and cold this was nice to see.

Our tour guide always has a way of staying ahead of us.

On our journey through this wooded area, we came across the keeper of the forest.

Always one step ahead. As we walked through the wooded area our tour guide always found a way to be ahead of us will starting from behind.

Showing us the best vantage point for a picture.

Certainly an attention seeker and photogenic. To the Toronto Islanders ‘ this cat is known as “Six-Toes the cat”. We found the name on the Island Cafe’s Facebook page.

A view of the pier on Ward’s Island with the Toronto Skyline behind the fence.

From the pier we snapped this photo of a female Common Merganser.

The cat was waiting for us to follow.

A view of the Toronto skyline from First Street. As you can see, the clouds have moved in onto the mainland of Toronto.

The houses on The Toronto Island’s are very unique and are certainly colourful.

This is a photo of The Ward's Island Clubhouse which is responsible for all amateur sports activities on the Island. This structure is known as the ‘Big Clubhouse’ and was built in from 1937/1938. When not in use, it is available for rent by the general public.

Source: http://www.wardsislandclubhouse.com/

Along the east side of the Big Clubhouse is the Island Cafe.

The Island Cafe is operated by The Freeman-McIntyre family.

More information CLICK HERE

Here are a few photos of this interesting arrangement of bottles and their contents.

A few more of the areas around the Island Cafe.

“Looksee”

Staff Lounge

Next, we walk to the mooring area where the boats park during the boating season. The building on the left is the Queen City Yacht Club (QCYC). The bird flying by is a swan.

A closer look at the RAPIDS QUEEN brakewater and the Toronto skyline (aka the “Big Smoke) in the backdrop.

There are ducks in the mooring area, lots of ducks!

Having a quiet day.

This Male Mallard Duck was cleaning himself. Socially distanced from the other ducks.

Looking across the Harbour at a few boats that are in dry storage.

That’s a view of the Toronto Island SUP. The SUP stands for ‘Stand Up Paddle-boarding’. This is open during the summer months and people are able to rent paddle boards.

Some Islander residents walking along Cibola Avenue. On March 11th, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of The Coronavirus a pandemic. Top officials and healthcare professionals from around the world recommended physically distancing ourselves 6 apart to slow the spread of the virus.

Looking up at a Robin chirping in a tree above. Another sign of spring.

As we were walking down the street, we came by the sign for the Riviera - Ward’s Island Kitchen. It was closed. It is only open from Friday to Sunday at this time of the year.

We walked out to boardwalk on Lakeshore Ave. and sat for a few minutes. We were catching up on the events of the day and there were so many.

Such as:

Peter MacKey (Conservative Candidate) put his campaign on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NHL suspended play. Montreal cancelled their St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Dr. Eileen de Villa ( Medical Officer of Health for the City of Toronto ) advised Torontonians that if you’re leaving Canada to watch for symptoms of over the next 14 days and to stay home if you have any symptoms.

She also advised to Torontonians to avoid large crowds and elderly people.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, banned all gatherings of 500+ people.

The Governor for The State of New York had declared a State of Emergency on March 7th 2020.

The Health Minister Patty Hajdu advised all Canadians reconsider traveling for March Break and that they should stay home.

And there was more…..

The distance that these 2 people have between themselves would become the new reality over the next few weeks.

Empty, quiet streets would also become the new norm.

That’s an American Mink that’s about to take a dive into the water.

Two Female Mallard ducks taking a break together on a log.

A pair of Muskoka chairs waiting for their owners to return. They may have a longer than usual wait.

Mallard ducks flying off.

Snowdrops are always a welcome sight in March. They are usually the first plant that you will see starting to bloom.

A Canoe laying in wait of warmer weather.

A curious squirrel wondering if we may have some nuts for it to eat.

One of the homes that we walked by had this interesting looking ornament. It certainly will catch your attention.

Caught this Cardinal in the tree singing.

Along our walk of Algonquin Island, standing at the corner of Wyandot Avenue, and Seneca Avenue, is a great view of the CN Tower. in the foreground you can see a sand hill. At one point last summer this spot was under about a foot or more of water.

The water level was so high that those sand bags that you see are there to help fortify the shore line. There is a bench in there in between the sand mound and the sand bags.

It was certainly an interesting day for the weather as you can see by this close up on The CN Tower. There was a lot of cloud cover as we mentioned before.

A view of more sand bags along the shore line.

A view of The Ongiara on route to Ward’s Island.

A view of residential skyscrapers and the Jack Layton Ferry dock along the waterfront of Toronto.

We took a seat for a moment and caught up on what was happening in the world.

Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that it will delay the opening day. All schools in Ontario will be shut down for 2 weeks after the March Break to stop the spread of COVID-19. Both Toronto and New York stock Markets closed at historical lows. And there was more news but it’s tough to remember it all.

A view of the harbour as we walk back to the Ward’s Island Ferry Dock.

As we were leaving, the sun finally decided that it would come out.

As we were pulling into the ferry terminal, we snapped this photo of pier 27 on the starboard side of The Ongiara.

Looking out from the port side of the Ongiara is a view of a Bombardier Q400 turbo prop aircraft run by Porter Airlines.

A view of the 3 ferry boats that are inactive in the winter from Left to right, The William Inglis, The Sam Bcbride, The Thomas Rennie.

That’s our stop!

This was our last picture of the day. And little did we know, this would be the last time that we would take a picture of an actual rush hour scene in Toronto. The lock down would begin early next week.

This concludes our blog of the Toronto Islands. A day which was interrupted by the COVID19 outbreak in Toronto.

Stay tuned for our latest blog that will be posted next week.