On the way out east

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Where on earth has September gone? We cleaned out the van from head to toe (uhhh.. except somehow I forgot to clean the windows, something I have been swearing to do since, um, Vancouver!?), Brad attempted to re-attach the broken door handle to the door (did I explain that one? Nevermind , it promptly broke within minutes of leaving Phil’s), left middle and rear seats with Phil, packed and hit the road again.

First stop was the beautiful Kenisis Lake, near Haliburton Forest where cousin Dave and his wife Shelley live. Lovely! An afternoon swimming, then out on the boat, cocktail hour, family dinners, searching for beavers, long walks with Shelley.... We also visited the Wolf Centre at Haliburton Forest (privately owned – very interesting!), where we observed a wolf family of 4 adults and 4 cubs. As weird as it sounds, we were lucky enough to observe the wolves being fed, which had the effect of reducing appetite for a few hours (fresh beaver on the menu). At the same time it was so interesting and great way to see the pack behaviour, like the alpha male and female keeping the lower pack members in check.

Unfortunately the weather snapped cool (read Australian cold winter type weather) while we were at Kenisis; but not cold enough to deter us from using the outside shower at cousin Graham’s cottage... invigorating springs to mind! I was last up at the lake in 2004, just after Graham had bought the cottage and was gutting it - I helped scrape paint and re-paint window sills – it was lovely (and cozy with the fire roaring) to stay in the finished product. When the wind died down in the late afternoon of our final day we checked another vital ‘Canadian must-do’ off our list. Kayaking!

Armed with bug spray, warm clothes and plenty of food (thanks Shelley!), we were off to the famous Algonquin Park. Great interpretive forest hikes, beautiful lakes and scenery. Not so great with the cost of camping - $42 a night!

In Alimonte, just south of Ottawa, we stopped to visit with my dear, dear friend Robyn from Lake Louise days. Robyn was just 22 days out from her wedding to Bevan when we visited.... such an exciting time  She did the right thing and called in sick, then showed us all around town (all 15 or so boutique stores and a couple of cafes). Best of all she took us out to the farm she grew up on, showed us the old farm house, the dairy, the apple trees, poddy calves. We had a great time picking apples (my first ever time picking an apple off a tree), then peeling them on the front porch with Bevan and his friends (whilst throwing small apples for Robyn’s dog Coda), then cooking them into an apple pie. Bevan served us up great Venison steaks and sausages done on the BBQ! A lovely time indeed :-)

Brad and I spent a day in Ottawa seeing the sights, on a perfect sunny day: parliament buildings, government buildings, the Rideau Canal (we saw the locks being opened for a boat), the byward market, walking over the bridge to Hull and the huge Museum of Civilisation. A great day in the beautiful capital!

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