Burlington, Ontario - first view of Lake Ontario

We are doing a house exchange with a family from Burlington, Ontario which is at the western end of Lake Ontario between Toronto and Niagra Falls.

Our exchange family, Margo, John and Alison making sure we get away. They came down the day before we left and we had a great conversation the night before at dinner.

The house exchange group we use is Home Link and we can recommend them.

Our drive took about 8 hours via Harrisburg, State College , I-80 and route 219 up to Buffalo. Then we joined the queue at the Peace Bridge for twenty minutes and after a  very short conversation with the Canadian Immigration officer, took the Queen Elisabeth Way round to Burlington. The drive from Harrisburg to just before we reached Buffalo was really pretty in the American summer with all the green trees. Traffic was pretty light most of the way. Unfortunately, the batteries on our cameras had run out, so no photos.

The house is in  a development and is relatively new. It is very comfortable here. Burlington is on a plain that gently slopes up from the lake to some hills a few miles north.

The back yard.

We drove down to the lake and it was interesting to see how the houses got older as you approached the lake. Obviously, the expansion towards the hill has been going on for some time. This is Lakeshore Drive and it is lined with expensive houses. This was probably the original road and those further away from the lake are much wider to cope with the expansion in population.

The houses are right on the lake so although there are quite a few that go to the lakes edge, most finish up at a barrier and a fence.

This house on the lakefront was for sale. It seemed like there were a lot of houses for sale down near the lake. 

We eventually came across a park with a parking lot where quite a few people were enjoying the beautiful day. There was a lovely breeze.

Flowers do very well here and with the clear blue sky, the colours really stood out. The grass was very green.

Looking down into the lake. That's pretty clear compared to Chesapeake Bay.

We drove further around and came across a beach area that featured high voltage power lines.

There was a bicycle path and trees all along the lake front in this area.

Much to my surprise, there was a sandy beach.

What's more, there were people setting up for a day at the beach. The sand did not squeak as you walk on it like the beaches in Oz.

So I suppose this is as good as it gets for beaches in Burlington. At least they have made the area as attractive as possible despite the obvious eyesores. And if you are a kid, who cares about the pylons.