ON THE EDGE OF LAKE ONTARIO

The plane rumbled through the clouds over Toronto. Below, a network of glistening cars and highways intricately weaved its way between the unfamiliar buildings, sports fields and street lamps. On the horizon, the CN Tower and tall skyscrapers shot up against the background of a shimmering Lake Ontario. The plane wobbled and whirred and the wings shuddered through the white wisps of cumulus.

I've arrived then. Emmie drove us along the Expressway and into Toronto, zipping between station wagons and jeeps. It reminded me of one of those 80s computer games, like Outrun, where streetlamps flew past either side and the skyscrapers hovered above the vanishing point on the horizon.

So far, I've found Canada to be a great mixture of things - modern and quaint, friendly and yet guarded, but above all, sort of spacious and quiet. Nowhere so far, exemplifies this better than the edge of Lake Ontario. Armed with maple macchiatos from Starbucks, we strolled down to the beach as the afternoon sun hung low in the sky. The Lake is enormous - so enormous in fact, that you can't see the other side. Weirdly though, there are no waves. We sat on the rocks as the water gently lapped against the stones. I'm used to roaring waves seeping over pebbles and crashing with sea-spray, the smell of seaweed and the cry of seagulls. This of course, was no sea - and it was beautifully peaceful.

"The cloud base is higher here too," said Nick, gazing up at the sky. That must be what contributes to that feeling of spaciousness - that and the fact that there's nobody about. You really get the feeling that this is a country where not many people enjoy a lot of space, even in the city - and for someone who lives with sixty million people on a small island, that's really something.

I woke up this morning and rolled up the blackout blind across the roof-light window. Sunlight flooded in and I rubbed my eyes in the cold air. The sky is bluer than blue today and there is the sense of adventure in the air. Despite my body clock and the actual clock being completely out of sync, I'm actually feeling quite relaxed and peaceful today. I'm far away from home, a definite foreigner in a world of curious mixtures. This is a land where skyscrapers shadow grand old buildings, where the cold wind meets the warm sun and everything seems strange but somehow familiar.