HALIBURTON FOREST&WILDLIFE RESERVE LTD-CANADA

           One of the worth seeing places in Canada is Haliburton forest &wild Life  Reserve Centre. It is in Haliburton(KennisisLakeCountry Road7).Haliburton is inCentralOntario State of Canada.

             During our tour in Canada we visited this spot also.My son Sarathi,his B'-in-law Balaji,Balaji'wife Meera&my D'-in-law Sangeetha were very much interested in Trailing in the forest  while  myself,my husband L.R.G.K.,Nikethana, liked  watching & enjoying the MotherNatures' boon at its best. So we chose that place& it was compatible for the two groups.

            As decided ,on one Sunny morning of July'10,We started our trip in two cars. Me ,my husband&Balaji were in the car driven by Sarathi.Meera,Nikethana&my grandson Madhavojas were in another car driven by Sangeetha.We  had nice experience through out the journey. The roads are very broad & there is  no curve or bend for a long stretches of miles together.But as per road traffic rules, that motor vehicles should not exceed 20 to 40 miles per hour at  many places.So our cars moved slowly & it took long time for us to reach the destination.It was a pleasant  experience to view ,the rich greeneries on both sides of the roads. some times  it  led us in to the dense forest area.At some places we saw large sized farm lands on either side of the road.  We admired these land scapes as we passed  through them.
                 Our cars went through a long stretches of greeneries on both sides of the road .At some places there were farmlands on either side of the roads.Sometimes we crossed dense forests with tall trees like Pines,Eucalyptus etc.We enjoyed the nature,s gifts through out our journey.It took 5long hrs,to reach the destination.
                  The people who are interested in trailing& Nature enthusiasts are coming often &enjoying its resources.The Trails extends from ,Easy trails that is it consists of gravel led access roads with rolling but very scenic terrain. these routes are well signed at all intersections and mileage markers indicate the distance to the base camp.cyclists are allowed on the road traffic,but the should ride in single file on the right side of the road.
              Moderate Trails: These trails consist of old logging roads and are mostly hard packed with some muddy sections. Trail width varies from 3 to10feet.Some steep hills can be expected at some places.
          to Difficult to Extream trails; Trails consists of old logging roads.They are usually very rough,muddy rocky sections to negotiate.Rocks &forest litter make riding a challenge.Here trail width variesbetween3-6feet.There is a caution board indicating "do not ride these trails solo".

          There are many more activities available besides trailing. They are Walk in the clouds-Canopy board walk,The Haliburton Forest Wolf Centre&Fishing etc.Young ones in our group liked' The canopy board' walk adventure. The canopy board walk is the ultimate highlight of this outing.we can experience excitement of this  unique four -hour round trip departing from the base camp twice a day .Half a kilometer long,the canopy board walk  winds through the tree tops,some 20 meters above the forest level. From river basin to tree tops  ,we can view the fantastic sceneries of the entire atmosphere.
           We gathered these informations from the office in the base  camp. To our disappointment, the  entire passes for that day for that activity were sold out.Ironically, there was a room made of huge logs bearing a board saying "Enjoy,The Boiler room". in front of us .On seeing that i could not control my laughing.I have presented that photo here.

              But my son told "Don't worry. We all can go &see an equally interesting place here that isThe Wolf Centre and it would be opened through out the day for the public"So the next activity we visited was The Haliburton Forest Wolf Centre which was opened to the public inMay of 1996. The gray wolves are rearedhere in an enclosure of 15acres of forest area.This world -class research and education facility is home to a captive pack of grey wolves.It also houses, displays and artifacts related to wolf biology and study from around the world.
 On that spot itself L.R.G.K. started to grumble and said "What is here?Nothing but few wolves!It is sheer waste to come all ."the way wasting our time ,money & energy.Now I feel very hungry.come  We can have our lunch  in the lawn  " Now only we also felt our hungry &baby Madhav was also very tired &started to cry.

 After pacifying him we  had our lunch. We had Pulihorai,Coconut rice,curd rice,Chips etc for our lunch.As we were taking our food ,a staff from the wolf centre office  came .out shouting" come come Quickly &see,we are going to feed the wolves .Don't miss it as we would feed them once in a week only."So we all ran to see the wolves at their feeding time. The starving wolves with full vigour picked up the mutton thrown to them & ate. Some of them took the major share to their hiding place. One the staff said, that they would save them under the ground to eat for the next day.He said" This the breeding centre. From here wolf cubs are exported to other countries for research purposes &to some zoos" .Like that he told some interesting pieces of information about these grey wolves.,After enjoying these scenes we took some pictures also.I have published here. After taking rest for some time  we started our return journey.

         Still i was not satisfied with our adventures, as  I  had not visited the fishing spots . My son Sarathi is very much interested in fishing & he is a good angler.Fishing is a natural pursuit at Haliburton forest. With over50 lakes,hundreds of ponds and miles of streams &creeks.Haliburton forest is an angler's paradise. Due to time factor we had omitted it.
              On our back home journey also we saw  the fauna &flora of  that area.we saw many lakes ,ponds &other water sources as we travelled &  we halted by a lake to enjoy its surroundings . We spent sometime there &we took photos with its serene beauty as background.Again we started our return journey ,driving 3oomlies, reached Balaji's house,,at 11o' clock in the night. Thus we enjoyed fully our trip to Haliburton Forest.

                                                               

CN TOWER-TORONTO-CANADA

CN TOWER_CANADA

Though i had visited few states in North India, and most of the places in South India,i had the luck & Opportunity to visit some of the famous countries like Singapore,Thailand, USA&Canada.I have already shared my experiences i got in Singapore &Thailand in my previous blogs.Then I bookmarked about the Niagara Falls of Canada in the next blog.Now iam going to write about the amusing experiences i had &facts about the GREAT ICON-CN TOWER-Canada

During our stay in US,We had an opportunity to visit Canada-One of the biggest countries of the world,for a week.
Our son had planned for a short tour from 21st to 31st of July'10 to Canada, Though it was a short trip , We had covered some of the note- worthy,"land marks" in Canada such as NiagaraFalls,CNTower In Toronto City,Haliburton Forest Tour and a famous Wolf Centre etc,
Besides that, we visited some of our relatives houses also. Having finished our sight seeing in Niagara, we rode straight to Balaji's house in Toronto city at one o' clock at midnight of 26 th ofJuly'2010. Balaji is none other than my daughter-in -law, Sangeetha's brother. His house is located in a beautiful area. There is a vast play ground in front of his house, which includes a big school also . Nikethana, the daughter of Balaji &Meera is studying in the 3rd grade ,there. Next morning Me & my husband, roamed around the play ground, school & admired its vastness,greenery & harmony of that place. It is a boon for a child to study in such a school.. We sat at a bench & enjoyed the children playing in swings & gliders.Bigger ones played basketball &Tennis like that. some children were going out &some were going in to the school, like butterflies , flying in the sky. We forgot our time & space , we ourselves became children &started to play swing, glider etc. After some time we returerd home , had our lunch and a small nap after that.
In the evening of 27 th of July my son Sarathi took us to CN TOWER which is in the down town of Toronto,a famous land mark of Toronto city. CN Tower is in the heart of the city surrounded by lots of skyscrapers. But these skyscrapers when compared to the famous tower, look like' tiny doll' like structures. we entered in to the complex & purchased package passes from a counter, for different attractions.There are different levels in the Tower for different attractions to visit & enjoy its grandeur.Before entering inside the Tower, i would like to give some important facts, like where it is situated. wnen was it constructed .what for ,by whom & Structural values of the Great CN Tower.
The CN Tower is an awe inspiring architectural & engineering wonder of the world,that is a symbol of pride for Toronto residents,Ontario residents and Canadians as a whole.The Cn tower located in down town Toronto is a communication and Observatory Tower of 553.3 meters(1815Ft).
Structure of CN Tower ; Cn Tower was built by Canadian Railway and opened to public on June26,1976
At 181 stories553.33mts(1815.5in)the Cn tower holds the Guinness world record for the"World's Tallest Building". In 1995the CN Tower was classified as one of the seven wonders of the modern world by the American Society of Civil Engineers By challenging the limits of human achievement, these wonders at the Skypod level- you get a full 360 degree unobstructed view of the Toronto region,on a clear day light you can see as far as Niagara Falls,On and Rochester NY.celebrate the vision and effort of their builders and the community they serve.
The top of Cn Tower is2050ft.10 inc.above the see level. There are many attractions at different levals. Look out,glass floor,Skypod High speed Elevators,UltimatewaveTahiti3D&Night Lighting.Height above grounds:1.Glass floor:113stories(1122ft) 2.Lookout:114stories(1136ft),3.Skypod level:147stories(1465ft).At the look out level:the circumference is 358ft while at the base it is 684 ft.2in. Radius-109.2ft. diameter218ft. The total weight --1,30,000Tons-!!!.
Illumination:The Tower's new lighting system is designed to architecturally enhance the CNTower structure from bottom to top,providing elegant night time illumination honoring the legacy of the National Icon&Landmark.
Each night beginning at sunset the The CN Tower will feature a standard lighting programme in Red & White,to honour Canada with a short light show at the top of each hour.
An annual lighting schedule will honour National Holidays Seasons, certain Major National Events,in one of two ways. Effect at the top of each hour to commemorate the occasion being honoured or dedicated colour theme for the entire building
After gathering the entire facts ,we entered in to an elevator with high velocity speed which reached in a few mineuts to the Look out Stage.From here we could see the entire Toronto city in 360 degree angles, The whole city in the night lights appeared as a paradise in vision. The infra structures with borders of lights on both sides looked like.,the Brooks passing through the city. At one sight we saw a Blue circle pond like thing which was nothing but the top , may be 30or 35th floor of a huge building being lighted with blue neon lights,.near the CN Tower. we enjoyed & captured their beauties in our digital camera.
Then we went by elevator to Glass Floor stage of the CN Tower. A t sight we were frightened by its floor. ..Following some people who were yelling at the high pitch , we saw a glass surface of rectangle size.We can see the bottom of the the building, that is the road where it is situated . It is a challenging task to stand on this glass floor, to peep through it, to the bottom. First my husband has tried sitting slowly with some fear in heart,. The my son asked me to stand on it. I stood there with fear that i might fall if i move here & there. He took some photos of me in that place. Then my son Partha gave poses. sitting & standing on that glass floor which i caught them in my camera.I had enjoyed the whole show like a small girl.
From there we went with zeal to Sky pod level.This is still more higher level . Here we felt some giddiness. My husband in fear stuck up to the wall & did n;t even move a bit from that place. Me with my son went around the sky pod & witnessed the unique beauty of the night sky from such a high platform. Then we went to the outer circle of the sky pod where we had a thrilling experience., never had before. There the wind was blowing with high speed which we could not withstand. Every body was falling down as the wind was heavy . He took some snaps while i was going to &fro against the blowing wind . Then I tried to take photo of my son Sarathi who was standing steadily before that speedy wind. I could not even hold the camera straight to click it.After several attempts i clicked some poses, below to my satisfaction. My husband still sticking up to the wall never entered in to this event till the end. After that scene was over we picked him up and came out ,got in to the elevator and reached the ground floor .
Still we were not got to our own as we were enthralled by its grand interior structure. Still i did not close my camera. I wanted to take that long structure with full lighting . It was the last picture i took since the the entire lighting was put off . With heart brimmed enjoyment we came out of that complex & drove to Balaji,s house nearly in the middle of the night. This is one of the sweet memories in my lifetime.
Wait ! Wait! This will be an incomplete one if i haven't register this important factor .On September 2007 the CN Tower was surpassed in height by Burj Khalifa (formerly known as BurjDubai),it remains the tallest free standing structure in the western Hemisphere,the signature Icon of Toronto's skyline and a symbol of Canada,attracting more than 2million International visitors annually. though Burj Khalifa is the tallest free standing structure,the CN Tower remains the world's tallest tower according to the Guinness World Records2010.
BY JayaKrishnan--17-11-2010

Adventures of NiagaraFalls in Niagara City .,Ontario,Canada

Adventures Of Niagara Falls
23-9-2010-Thursday.

I had been to USA twice in the years 2003 & 2006 . But This trip to Us in March 2010 was a special one as we have been proceeding to see our new born Grand child Madhav Ojas. Me & my husband L.R.G.K. stayed with our son Sarathi,Daughter in law Sangeetha & Grand child madhav for six months. we enjoyed playing with the baby &taking care of the baby allthe time. Now & then our son would arrange for jolly trips to both nearby & long distance places . we all like travelling & go round &explore new palces.

One day Sarathi exclaimed that he had arranged a short trip to Canada for a week. we were very happy that we were going to visit a new country & we could add one more no.to the list of countries we had already seen. In the short period we had planned to visit as many places as we could .

As planned by Sarathi we had started our journey on 25th of July by road trip.He drove the car continuously from 6 p.m 7 for 7hrs.&reached aplace nearer to the Canada border. We all were tired ,decided to stay in ahotel named Sleep Inn-in Hamburg near the CanadaBorder for the night . Next morning we continued our journey at 10o,clock we crossed the Immigration after 2Hrs & entered in to NAYAGARA CITY in ONTARIO STATE .The grate Nayagara Falls is in this city only.We were very anscious to view the Falls from the Canadian side as we had already enjoyed its beauty from the US side

We parked our car in the parking slot nearby the Falls.Then my son had purchased
Adventure passes for four us for 4 events -are for Maid of the Mist,Journey behind the Falls,White waterwalk&NiagaraFury.NiagaraFalls Tourism is the officialTourism Board for theCity Of Niagara Falls.They are arranging small tourist buses to take the visitors to different Shows in different places. We have to wait at different points to aboard the vehicle.
The Geography & History of Niagara Falls;Niagarafallsare voluminous water falls over the river Niagara straddling the International border between the Canadian province Ontario& the US State of Newyork.The Falls are17 miles North & North west of Buffalo,Newyork,and75 milesSouth&Southeast ofToranto,Ontario.betweenthe twin cities ofNiagara falls Ontarioand Niagara falls Newyork.
It is composed oftwo major sections seperated by GoatIsland-Horse shoe Falls the majority of which two thirds lies on the Canadian side of the Border& americanfalls on the American side. The smaller Bridalveil falls are also located onthe americanside,seperated from the mainfalls by Luna Island. Though the falls arenot very high but the falls are very wide. more than6 millioncubic feet of water falls over the crestline in every minute in high flow almost 4 million cubic feet on an average.It is the powerful waterfall in North America.the Horse shoe Falls drops about 173 feet,the American falls varies between 70 to 100ft because of the prescence great boulders at the base. The larger Horse shoe Falls about2600ft wide while the american Falls over1060ft wide.
The Niagara falls are renowned both for their beuty and as a valuable sourse of Hydro Electric power. They are popular for recreation,commercial&indusrialuses, hasbeen a challenge for the Stewards of the Falls since 19th century.

First we went to view the NiagaraFury. We walked& entered in to a place which was so dark .Suddenly there came a heavy rain followed by heavy thunder storm & slashes of lightning.the sound of thunder was hitting our ears while the lightning affected our sight.The flood s of water was gushing& flowing towards us in the high speed.we people standing there were all screamed & elled in fear . small kids were frightened by the sudden happening.&started to cry in the high volume. we all felt that phenominon to the core of our mind & body & started shivering.we tried to run away from that place .Suddenly every thing came to an end & the atmospere became calm.The light was turned on. Then we all came to our ownself & realised that what we had experienced was nothing but a four(4) dimention film show, showing the fury of the Niagara river onits way through the forest . The show was being shown for 20 minutes We all had enjoyed the fearful beauty of nature .
After that there was a documentary film explaining the origin, the course of the river Niagara & from where it starts to falls ,like that. We have spent one hour there.

Then we came out & walked some distance to experience "The Journey Behind The Falls".
There are two portals from which you can explore the falls closely.At Journey Behind the Falls,you will experience the beautifulspectacle of one fifth of the world,s fresh watercrushing down in the basin below. In the Summer day light hours over2800cubicmeterof waterthunders over the brinkevery second,travelling65 kilometers per hour.
In the Summer & Spring Season ,we are provided with a free souvenir biodegradable raincoat as protection from the mist of the Falls.We went by Elevators that descend 150 feet through bedrock to tunnels that lead and to the cataract portal& the GrateFalls Portal which is one third of the way behind the massive sheet of water. We could feelthe sound of thunder over our head& spray of water when we stood at the brink of the Tunnel. we enjoyed & took photos of them.
White Water Walk: At white water walk we will ride an elevator down 70 meters.then walk along a tunnel that is73 mts.long. The board walk beside the rapids is305 mts.(1/4 miles) & stairs lead to two observation areas at the edge of the water. we walked through the long board walk at the very edge of the world,s wildest stretches of white water Marvel at therelentless power & beauty of nature and see how thedeep &narrow Great Gorge was created.
the White water photo gallery reviews the stunters& Daredevilsfrom years past that tried to conquer Niagara,s dangerous white water rapids. we got astonished & stunned about their brave deeds.
By that time we were very hungry & searched for a restaurent to fill up our stomacs & quench our thirst. We entered in to a restaurent & ordered for some Pizzas & cokes. My daughter in law fed her son Madhav while we had our food. It was Friday & we were told that night there willbe fireworks &Illumination Schedule which are arranged by NiagaraFallsTourism Board.
Every evening,begining at dusk the Falls are lit in the colours of Rainbow illumination of the Falls has been financed & operated by the Niagarafalls Illumination Board since1925. Fire work dispays happen every Friday,Sunday& on some particular Holidays. We stayed &roamed around till the evening &watched out the fantastic fire works displays & colourful illumination of the Falls in the rainbow hues during the night.Still now I cherish the Panoramic view of theFalls in my mind.
It was 11o,clock in the night . All the attraction centers were closed. we have decided to see other attractions for which we had passes, on the way back to US from Canada.

As per our schedule on our return journey again we entered into Niagara city to view the" Maid if the Mist"It was a thrilling & awe inspiring when our motorboat went close across the Falls .for nearly half an hour I never forget the beautiful experiences&the feelings at that moment in my life time.Now i give you some interesting news& truths about the MAID OF THE MIST.
A powerful diesl engined Boat takes usfrom Canadian docks past thr base of American Falls,then into the magnificent CANADIAN HORSESHOE FALLS operating from late April to October24 each year. The Maid departs at every 15 minutes. Two 600PASSENGER BOATS MAIDS 6 & 7 are each 80 FEET LONG& HAVE 30H.P.ENGINES that carry the vessels against powerful current. each one gets a recyclable souvenir rain coat with admisstion to help keep you dry.from the mist & spray. Still there are some more attractions to explore in the Niagara Falls like Butterfly Conservatory,WhirlpoolAero car,Old fort Erie,Sir AdamBeck2Generating Station-Where thepower o fNiagaraFalls is transformed into a non polluting power source etc.The time factor has prevented us from exploring these sights. If i have another chance in the future to visit Niagara ,I will definitely cover those places that i have not seen before.This time i have enjoyed this trip immensely. Bye Now!!!!.

our pleasure trip to theni

Dear Sarathi To day only i got the mood of recollecting the trip to Theni & other places andto put them in writing.
Friday the 25 th of jan we had boarded Guruvayur Express at 7.45 A.M & reached Dindugal at3p.m&by Mangammal State Transports bus we reached Theni at 5^.30 p.m,got down at Rathnam Nagar stop.There Sangeetha,s father came & picked up us to their house. they gave warm welcome .We took rest .on26.
Mainly we went there for attending the Grahapravesam of four houses including yours.One of isyour fatherinlaw,s,second your B,.in-law,3rd yours & 4th your B,in-laws"b.in-law. THe show was amazing indeed.
Your f-in-laws &b-in-laws Grprs were fixed on sunday 27th of Jan early morning.Before entering the house the Go(cow)puja was done. Main enterence was decorated with a beautiful garland&big colam was put infront of the house.There was abig gathering to attend the function.Then Ganapathi .Navagrha & Lakshmi homam swere performed by authented Vathiars.
Then we had tiffin & coffe. Then we gave gifts with lighted Thitupathi perumal photo to her father &Mahalakshmi photo to her br. Balaji.Rs.500along witha saree& dothi were given to Sang,s parents .we presented rs. 500 to Balaji famiy.
In turn mama presented a saree dothi shirt,&setof dressto Balu.they gave dresses to you & Sangeetha.Balaji seperately gaveus dresses to us,&asilver keychain to Sang. On the whole the function went onwell.
Afterthe function we took breakfast we&Sangeetha's periappa had planned to go to Kuchanur Sani Bhagvan temple &Anaicut Anjaneyar kovil.we had arranged a qualis car & went to Kuchanur & dhartioned Sani Baghvan . He has 3sets of eyes represnting Siva Vishnu &Brahmma & posseses the powers of the three. There we came across R.v. Rajan & Prabha(chitappa& chithi). They said they would come for the Grahapravesm next day. Then we returned to our house & took our lunch & again we had started to Anaicut Anjaneyar koil without taking rest. This koil isinbetween the two riversPeriyaru& vaigai river.It was said that it woudbe inknee levelof water in theraine season. Anjaneyar was very powerful &he was depicted like that oneeye seeing Ayodhya & anothre eye seeing the devote. We had nice dharshan & returned to Theni happly at 7,o,clock in the night .
Next morning on 28 th of Jan. we got ready for the Grahapravesam of our house.We did Go pooja & conducted Ganapathi & Navagraha homam 7 performed house warming ceremony. I maid milk boiling & made aradana to our deities. Sri vatsan,s grahapravesam also went on simultaneously at same time . Bothwere finished at 8o,clock . Then gifts were given receprocately.
Next morning i,s on 29 th we had our coffe & Proceeded to Palani by bus & reached there at 2 o. clock. We stayed there at Hotel Aryas which was nearer to the temple. We had our lunch &went to Palani Andavar temple at the hill by Winch Ticket wasRs. 20 perhead for to & fro.We had good dharshan of the Swami & we prayed for allour welbeing.Wesaw the samathi of sidhar Boghar who only made the Moolavar Palani Murugan Idol using Navapashanas(Nine poisounous materials.30 th morning we vacated hotel Aryas & caught the bus to Madurai & we reached therea t 1o clock & we took a room at Hotel Santhanam .We took rest for some time & we went to Meenakshi Amman temple at 4o clock by hand riksha. We had a good dharshan of Amma at 7 o clock. On the way to our room we had our dinner at Meenak shiBhavan.
Next day morning we went to our kula deivam koil at Gopalasami malai by Taxi. We worshiped the God at the top of the hill & returned back . Inspired by your advise we proceeded to Pillaiarpatti In Sivagangai distct which is one of the famous Vinayagar koil.We got dharshan a t 4,o,clock., then we went to Perumal temple at Thirukoztiyur from which only Acharya Ramanujar spread thethe divya manthram "OM NAMO NARAYANAYA" to allthe people.THe temple premises was very big & awe inspiring. Then we came back to our hotel in the evening. On Feb 1st we took rest at Madurai..We vacated hotel Santhanam at 3o.clock on 2nd of Feb to Madurai station to catch the Pandian Express at 8.30p.m.We reached chennai 6o.clock on 3rd of Feb safely. Thus ended our note worthy Theni Trip.
Nerrated by Amma Jaya 15-2-2006. But belated------ publishing on 13-9-2010. in the bLog.