Blogs from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, North America - page 2

The first week of October is usually the best time for viewing Autumn leaves, so on Thanksgiving weekend last year Margo and I took a bus excursion from Ottawa to Peterborough, to see one of the world’s unique sites, the hydraulic Lift Locks, and enjoy a short cruise on the waterway. This is the story of what we saw and how this unusual device operates. Located in the heart of Southern Ontario is the Trent-Severn Waterway, a series of rivers, canals and lakes that runs from Trenton on Lake Ontario’s north shore all the way to Georgian Bay, a distance of some 240 miles (386km). It has 45 locks, a short marine railway, 39 swing bridges and 160 dams and control devices. A National Historic Site of Canada, first explored by Champlain, it drains over 8,000 ... read more

Well airport shuttle will be here in 6 hours. I learned yesterday from a friend that works at Lufthansa that I have a weight restriction on my carry on! Yikes! This was not good news as I had loaded all my heavy stuff in the carry on. following the party, I went home and started emptying my luggage for yet another packing! 32 kg for checked and 8 kg for carry on. according to my "handy dandy scale, I am just under for both so my fingers are cross or I will be doing some fancy foot work at the airport......like adding to my existing wardrobe! I am officially checked in now at the airport via on line check on and my mind races to figure out what I have left behind. I changed my cell ... read more

I hope my Montreal piece got published, please let me know! Here's what happened next: I've been well taken care of by kind relatives in both outer Montreal and Peterborough, Ontario. Our grandfathers were brothers, those intrepid travellers who first set out for Canada in 1906, aged 18 & 20. They did logging and later moved to Saskatchewan where folks were offered land if they managed to "break" it, sounds awful, and incredibly hard work. Still they both settled there, married and had kids. Old photos show the houses they built from logs, plus horses, pigs, dogs etc, and deep snow in winter, hot sun in summer. They were later joined by the rest of the family including their parents, who were completely unused to the harsh conditions, My granny became really ill so she and ... read more

Biking in the Kawartha Lakes near Balsam Lake Provincial Park Location:Central Ontario, near Peterborough Type: On Road (not a rails to trails) Topography: mostly flat with a few non-threatening hills Distance: Two trails each 20-25 km Surface: mostly paved, some hard packed gravel Benches: None Toilets: One Water: None Signage: Road signs and directions below! This blog will be of interest if you live in Central or Southern Ontario. The Kawartha Lakes have many trails but most are meant for hiking, mountain bikes or snowmobiles. For many years we have used Balsam Lake Provincial Park as a base to bike along some beautiful and almost car free county roads. Balsam Lake Provincial Park is 7 km from Coboconk (or North of Lindsay and east of Orillia) Both circle tours begin at t... read more

The Canadians are amazing in their efforts to reduce garbage. At each provincial campground where we stayed, they had bins for glass, plastic, aluminum, compost (including most paper and cardboard, even dairy and meat), and whatever was left -- the garbage. Needless to say, there wasn't much garbage after all the other receptacles were used. Note photo. I'm also sending some photos of a couple of animals we've seen, some tableaus from the Algonquin Museum, and our other two travel companions, Becky and Jasmine. They're just wonderful travelers and fun to have around, except around 5:00 AM when they decide it's time to rise and play. Also, Becky, a plump kitty, sleeps in a cabinet about 3' over my head and, when she jumps down, she lands on me, which is both startling and sometimes knocks ... read more