Rogers Reservoir Conservation Area (East Gwillimbury)

If you've ever stumbled upon a beautiful place than you will know how I felt when I came here.  The Rogers Reservoir is located in East Gwillimbury (a very difficult town to pronounce when asking directions! Thank Heavens for GPS)

This is the Rogers Reservoir Conservation Area.  It is 96 hectares of breathtakingly beautiful landscape.  Located on the Holland River, this shallow reservoir and marsh area brings in all types of nesting birds and waterfowl.

The canal is home to one of the locks along the 'ghost canal system, which was apparently built somewhere around 1911 and never used.  The idea was to aid in water transport between Newmarket and Lake Simcoe.  You can see the remnants off of Green Lane to the 2nd Concession in East Gwillimbury of the canal, a lock and a swing bridge as well.

I didn't check out the hiking trail, but instead chose to walk along the shoreline to catch some pretty awesome views here.  Maybe back again for the first signs of Spring, but for now pretty happy with the memories I caught here in my camera.

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Sharon Temple

This elegant structure was another wonderful find, located in Sharon Ontario, known as the 'Sharon Temple'.  It was built by two master carpenters under the religious vision of David Willson between 1825-32.  Mr. Willson's plans were inspired by the biblical description of Solomon's Temple and the New Jerusalem.  The square design symbolized the egalitarian beliefs and cooperative principles of the sect called 'The Children of Peace'  

Once a month and on holidays there were celebrations of song and festivities in the temple.  Today there are still activities that continue including illumination of the Temple, art and music shows, fall lantern tours and Christmas time events.  

David Willson, the builder of the sect leader of the Children of Peace was born in New York city in 1773.  For some reason, he was disowned by the Society of Friends (known as the Quakers) so he set off to live hereabouts in East Gwillimbury.  His religious beliefs and principles had grown a small following which still maintained some of the code of ethics used by the Quakers, howeve
r there was much emphasis placed on music and education.

The Children of Peace were known as Davidites.  The sect of the Davidites subsided after the death of David Willson in 1866.  The last service performed in the Temple was twenty years later.  

The Temple and property were salvaged from demolition by the York Pioneer Historical Society in 1916.

Ontario Science Centre

It was a long time since I've been to the Ontario Science Centre, and since I never blogged it in the 'Things to Do Around Town' section of my blog, this cold and blustery fall afternoon seemed as good as a time as any.  As you enter the Science Centre you will be taken down a long hallway (known as 'The Bridge').  This was one of my favorite spots in

the Science Centre as a child because of the awesome views of nature out of the windows.

Today, the views are still there and just as awesome, as well as a long line of ancient rocks up to four billion years old (the actual rocks aren't that old, but tiny grains in them called zircons are.)  The earth is 4.5 billion years old.  You may wonder why the oldest rocks aren't that old too?  It turns out shortly after the Earth formed, in the violent early days of the solar system, it was hit by a Mars-sized planet and mostly liquified into lava again! The debris launched into space coalesced and became our Moon. It's mind-blowingly daunting and humbling that a human lifetime on this scale is a thousandth of a millimetre, much thinner than a coat of paint!

High Park Toronto

After three weeks of healing a broken foot it was really an amazing feeling to toss aside my aircast boot (my frankenboot) and to squeeze into a running shoe again to get back on to the trails. I actually opted for the air boot over a plaster cast for comfort and convenience. It's great when you need to take it off for sleeping or before bathing. It's been really difficult without having the agility to move around and explore the parks and trails I love so much, and my camera had to have the dust blown off it as well. But today was a great day to try an easier trail before all the fall colours were gone.


High Park is centrally located in Toronto has 338 acres of some of the most beautiful settings anywhere. It has such an unusual sense of wilderness in an urban setting as it combines the forests with watershed creeks and contains the largest pond in the City (Grenadier). It's also protected and has the only area of Black Oak Savannah trees within the city. Trails here are hard pressed and some are paved so its a good choice for a virgin outing without the cast.


 
As it turns out, I may have been a little too enthusiastic, so was unable to finish but still took a few pictures to add to my collection. A dose of Vitamin D from the sun didn't hurt either!

Here are a few of the shots I took today.