Pumpkin Infernos and Halloween

I'm finally back after having spent the past three weeks with a family near Bracebridge supporting them in their household chores. Unfortunately, they live so secluded that there was literally nowhere for me to go. The town of Bracebridge is 8-9 km away which I still consider within my walking distance, however, as this town doesn't really have anything to offer besides the usual fastfood chains, some supermarkets, a gas station and, I admit, a handful of clothing stores to shop at, the effort of walking (approx. 20 km) would have been disproportionate to the pleasure of spending time there. The family consisting of Dave, Melissa and four-year-old Heath were all very welcoming and warm-hearted, however, the gap between the socio-cultural differences was sometimes hard for me to bridge. 

In the meantime I've arrived in Sudbury to visit a friend of mine. Genevieve and her husband Darren are great hosts and all the activities they have planned totally make up for past weeks' idle leisure. Sudbury is a former mining town, thus not pretty and sometimes claimed to better be called "Sadbury", it still offers a lot of events and activities around the time of Halloween. 

Last night we visited the Tunnel of Terror, an abandoned mine which is now part of an exhibition centre featuring earth science and mining experiences. It was a creepy and really awesome walk 7 storeys underground (unfortunately taking pictures was not permitted). They had hired "actors" who were dressed up and face painted representing typical horror characters, and who stood hidden behind stage elements only to jump forward screaming at you to scare you once you approached. The whole tunnel was filled with fog so that you could barely see farther than a few steps ahead of you. It really chilled my blood ;-)

I'll upload more pictures displaying Halloween and pumpkin stuff in the days to come so check this out again!