Friday - Time to get moving for a long drive again today. Leaving at 1130am, I drove for two hours but then struggled to
find somewhere scenic for lunch.
Eventually, we stopped by a native art/craft shop and trading post, where
we ate lunch and I grabbed a shower whilst the others went browsing.
The main bonus of stopping here was being able to top up with
the cheapest gas we’ve seen in Canada – under $1 a litre! (equivalent to about 60p a litre in the UK)
Si drove for another two hours. It became more scenic as we
reached fresh tarmac heading across the top of Algonquin Provincial Park and
along the Ottawa river which is the boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
We arrived at Driftwood Provincial Park about 530pm. We had been driving through lovely weather
but we had just missed a massive thunderstorm here that had knocked the
electric out, which in turn had stopped the flow of water as the pumps were not
working. This could be a problem as I
hadn’t bothered topping the water tank up this morning knowing that we would
have a water supply when we arrived at our next site! We’d had to pre-book a non-electric site having
been told that all those with electricity were booked this weekend. Upon
arrival, however, we found that there were 6 electric sites free so we went for
a recce and upgraded to an electric site up on a hill for our two-night stay…..
so, if the electric starts working again soon it will be worth it! This park is right on the Ottawa river so,
weather depending, in the morning we will consider our activity options for the
day. One thing’s for sure – the passing storm had woken up a fresh population
of mosquitoes. Luckily, we had invested
in even more preventative measures – smoke coils, spray, lotion and even an
electric ‘racket’ to despatch any that get close enough to be swatted! Nothing
was going to stop us playing cards outside again this evening.
As of 11pm, we had only managed to hook up to 15 amps of
power (instead of the usual 30) because, despite parking on a slant and into
the trees, we could only reach the electric hook-up by using our 15-amp adapter
lead. The water tap near us was still
not functioning so we had almost completely run out of water on the RV, meaning
tooth brushing had to be with bottled water and no one could have a shower! Fingers crossed for full power and water in
the morning.
 |
| This was the site we were due to be staying in |
Saturday – I felt the need to get some exercise but with the
amount of mossies around Simon wasn’t so sure, but Ray agreed to come for
a bike ride with me. Luckily, the seats on our bikes can be raised
or lowered really easily for others, so Ray could borrow Simon's bike. Our initial intention was to find a trail
that was bike-friendly but none of the trails here were good for cycling. As well as being bug-infested, the trails
were all very narrow with logs and rocks blocking the way at regular intervals. So, we explored the roads instead and cycled down to check
out the non-electric sites by the river’s edge.
There were some steep hills on the way so we felt like we’d exerted ourselves. We reported back to the
others that the trails were probably off limits due to the bugs which helped us
make the decision after lunch to hire one of the park’s kayaks for a couple of
hours in the hope that there would be fewer insects on the water. We could’ve
used our kayak, but no one fancied lugging it through the woods and up and
down the steep hill to the waters edge…
As Ray and I had already had a work out we let Simon and Ann
have first go, disappearing around the corner. Ray and I took the opportunity to read our
books on a picnic table nearby whilst they were gone. The boaters had to return for bug spray
re-enforcements due to some bothersome flies but they seemed to enjoy
themselves and the water was very calm this afternoon. We swapped over so that Ray and I could have
a paddle but the rain started creeping in so we retreated back to shore. The rain suddenly stopped again
which gave Ann and Ray a chance to share the boat, so we all made good use of
the rented kayak! |
| Simon and Ann had no fear about heading out into the beyond! |
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| Ann and Ray head out, spotting a Loon bird in their path.... |
The predicted bad weather showed up this evening so we were
confined to the RV for dinner followed by scrabble and some more cards. Happy to report that my luck here is improving though!
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