Toronto Gay Pride Parade 2004

This group of fellows were in fact completely naked, except for boots. The flow of traffic tended to slow around these guys as people walking by would stop to stare. They were having a lot of fun teasing and shocking everyone. :-D

There was a large group of shirtless men all wearing the same cowboy hat. *shrug* I am amused by the accidental background shot of The Toronto Hemp company... coz ya know, we Canadians are all about the marijuana! lol

This was probably my favourite... a giant colourful peacock. It was huge!

Up close peacock

I LOVED this float.... the giant drag queen-like lobster. This float was sponsored by a local grocery store (Dominion).

It's all about the bright colours on Pride Day!

Pretty colours and balloons

The front of this float said "HOLE" though I don't know why....

Fruit was the predominant theme in many of the floats this year. (get it? FRUIT? har har)

This float was (I guess) trying to raise awareness and support for a group that helps people out with all kinds of needs.

This float had scantily clad men dancing in an "ocean" scene. The waves in the background rocked back and forth (thanks to two guys sitting at the back pulling on ropes)

This pic shows a numbers of people who were climbing trees along the parade route in order to get a better view. The *really* lucky people have apartments or get on top of a roof. I'm pretty short, so my view was limited.

In case you can't read this it says "The Darker The Berry The Sweeter The Juice". heh. Interpret that how you will.

A trip to grandma's

A beautiful butterfly taking a drink from a flower

This is the dock where my grandma keeps her boats

I chased this butterfly around and took a number of shots in order to get just a few good ones

White flowers (daisies), yellow flowers and orange flowers all together

This is a wild flower that grows around the lake

I have no idea what kind of flower this is...it's in my grandma's garden

Here is a deer that came out of the woods to take a drink of water from the lake.

This is the view of the lakes and trees around my grandma's home

Every maple tree starts off small....this tiny one has only two leaves

Journey to Nova Scotia

Sunset view over Springfield Lake, Nova Scotia

This is me standing beside the strangest mural I have ever seen painted on a wall; it seems to show tourists standing in a cemetery. (???) I was trying to make like I was part of the tour group. ;-) Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

I was mezmerized by the clouds while we were flying..

I felt like a total idiot, but I couldn't help but take a ton of pictures from the plane window. Be happy I spared you and posted only 2.

Quite possibly my favourite picture of the trip. Taken on the shore of the Atlantic by Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

View of the shore from the tour boat in Halifax harbour

The famous lighthouse on Peggy's Cove. Nova Scotia is one of the foggiest places on earth, and so many lighthouses can be found along the seaboard, once used to guide ships in and warn of rocky shores

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

shoreline, Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia. A huge tourist attraction.

shore by the lighthouse on Peggy's Cove. Notice the person walking on the right hand side of the picture..it gives you an idea of scale and just how huge these rocks really are.

fishing village, Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

fishing village, Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

shore, Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

This is part of the carving that is found ina rockface in Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia. It depicts (as I recall) the tale of Peggy watching over the fisherman.

The full size of the stone carving in Peggy's Cove

This is a shopping district in Halifax. I loved it, it reminded me of the streets of Amsterdam

Another memorial in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia. There's a lot of history in Halifax, as it served as a stronghold in many wars.

I loved the rocky shore of Nova Scotia

This is St. John's Anglican church in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. I believe it's the oldest church in Canada, and recently under renovations to restore it after an arsonist had set it on fire.

St. John's Angelican church

Halifax harbour

This is a memorial in Lunenburg that has all the names of fisherman lost at sea. What was tragic was seeing that entire families would be lost, sometimes of decades.

Pier in Lunenburg harbour

Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. Home to some of the oldest churches in Canada

The tourist and fishing town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

This is the submarine Canada just bought from England. Lovely, isn't it? What you can't see very well is the sailor on top waving to all of us on the tour boat. We all waved back. :-)

One of Canada's only submarines (if not THE only...we're not exactly about military might up here, ya know?)

Halifax is the second largest port in the world (next to Sydney, Australia) and services all of North America. I was happy to see several containers on the dock from Israel (the shipping company is Zim).