Arriving in Ottawa with the sun on Parliament Hill was also a buzz. Ottawa City has the 'Wow' factor. We docked above the staircase of locks, cruised the markets, caught the Sound and Light Show, marched to Parliament Hill with the Beefeaters for the Changing of the Guard and immersed ourselves in the treasures of the Ottawa Art Gallery.
The Rideau Canal runs from Ottawa City to Kingston. This World Heritage Site, built in 1832 has 47 locks over 202 kilometres. The Rideau was one of the things we came to see but as always with travel, as much as the places we see, it is the people we meet that make the trip special. There is one very important rule in canal boating and that relates to the observance of 'Cocktail Hour' and when you travel you know that it is always 5 o'clock somewhere. So we frequently enjoyed a glass of wine with friends from Second Star, Different, Bumble Bee II, Temeraire, Cher and Rangitira along the way.
We remember the hospitality of Burton and Jim Simpson who took us home for dinner with mum, Myrtle, and Peter de Lepper who drove us around the Ontario countryside so that we could get a sense of where we were.
Lovesick Lock
The Trent Severn Waterway is a National Historic Treasure. It has 45 locks over 386 kilometres of canals and rivers. Along this route we experienced conventional locks, the 20 metre lift of the Peterborough Lift Lock and the 18 metre lift of the Big Chute marine railway in which the boat travelled in a sling, suspended above the rail line. The water is so clear on the Trent Severn that you can see the lock walls several feet below the waterline. Summer cottages line this isolated and pristine waterway.
We were advised by 'Loopers', Norm and Barbara Hewton to spend a night at Lock 30 on Lovesick Island where there is a bear and a swimming hole. As soon as we arrived, Alice and Lloyd ran to ask the lockkeeper about the bear. "Oh, you don't want to see the bear" he said. The mother and her cub cross the dam every day in search of food. "Okay, so can you tell us how to get to the swimming hole?" "Yes, it's across the dam." The kids came back to the boat. They had gone off the idea of swimming. Together, we crossed the dam. We found two cuddly little baby racoons, no bears, and a lovely swimming hole at the edge of the woods. Our swims are often cut short when one of us sees a snake mooching about on the bottom just below us.
