Tag Archives: waterloo region

Woodside National Historic Site

Woodside National Historic Site

The house and the park located on 11.5 acre property covered with mature trees. The park offers perfect place for walks and picnincs, beautiful shaded lawns and paths during the summer. The house opens for visitors from October till Chrismas.

Woodside National Historic Site, Entrance
Woodside National Historic Site, Entrance

Mackenzie King House

The house dates back to Victorian period, was built by James Colquhoun. After his death in 1877 varuois tenants occupied the house. One of them was the Kings family. They lived in this house from 1886 till 1893. The house was a home for a boy who later became Canada’s tenth Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King. The family had four children, and while visiting the house we can see their rooms and well kept personal items. His father John King was  a lawyer, and he taught his kids English, French, math and science. There is a large collection of boks, many of them are rare originals…

Woodside National Historic SIte, house of William Lyon Mackenzie King
Woodside National Historic SIte, house of William Lyon Mackenzie King

The house has a spacious living room with piano. The room was filing up with various guests during many holidays…

Living room in William Lyon Mackenzie King House
Living room in William Lyon Mackenzie King House

Travel  at that time was a challenge, so the house has a nice guest bedroom with all the necessary items…

Guest bedroom in William Lyon Mackenzie King House, Kitchener
Guest bedroom in William Lyon Mackenzie King House, Kitchener

The sisters were sharing the bedroom, we can see some of the clothing and original furniture.

Girls' room in William Lyon Mackenzie King House, Kitchener

We had a chance to enter the room of William, quite small and with very modest furnishings. The bedrooms are all on the second floor and interestingly, there is no heating – only the first floor of the house is heated, so in the winter the heavy blanket and the hot water bottle did the job!

Woodside National Historic SIte, house of William Lyon Mackenzie KingWoodside National Historic SIte, house of William Lyon Mackenzie King

The most important item of the kitchen is the original wood-buning stove. It is fully operational and if you visit the place during Christmas Holidays you may be lucky to try fresh baked cookies or bread! They say tastes amazing!

Woodside National Historic SIte, house of William Lyon Mackenzie King
Woodside National Historic SIte, house of William Lyon Mackenzie King

The House is not just a museum, there are different events and workshops offered for students.

To learn more visit https://www.explorewaterlooregion.com/listing/woodside-national-historic-site-kitchener/     and      https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/on/woodside

Toyota Cambridge Assembly Plant Tour

Toyota Visitors Centre
Toyota Visitors Centre

Toyota Cambridge Assembly Plant Tour

It all started with the usual long, one-hour drive out of Toronto, but soon we were there. As we headed in to the visitor centre we discussed our first impressions. Inside the centre we found many exhibits of the Toyota history and models of the past and present. After a short safety video in the conference room we made our preparations to step in to the factory.

Toyota Plant Tours in Canada
Toyota Plant Tours in Canada

As we began the tour we immediately took note of the extreme cleanliness of the factory. Sadly though visitors and employees are not allowed to bring any of their beloved personal electronics into the factory (no selfies), we are not able to show you the amazing robots and technology that were within the factory. Shortly after we climbed in to the trams that would drive us around the plant. The first stop was the west stamping area where they would take massive sheets of steel and use a multi-ton weight to stamp them (these where not in action when we were there).

 

Informative Free Tours to Toyota Plant near Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
Informative Free Tours to Toyota Plant near Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

The stamper had to be supported by concrete to prevent a mini earthquake every time they where in action. After, we visited the main assembly where we saw cars hanging above us as they were coming fresh out of paint, soon we headed to the west weld where the 10 thousand pound “Godzilla” robot moved multi ton cars around. The welding section impressed us with 600 separate robots. After seeing the sparks fly, we headed down to the final assembly line where the cars are started up for the first time. This one-hour super informative trip felt too short as we headed through the final corridor and back to the visitor centre. We where impressed that the Toyoda family built up from being a automated sewing business.

You can arrange the Free tour only week in advance by visiting TMMC.ca webiste or by phone:(519) 653-1111 x 2270 Keep in mind no walk in tours. Printable map of TMMC

Downloadable Toyota Tours brochure