Justin's Cottage - Day 3

Bonnechere Caves.

We didn't spend too much time at the cottage on our final day. After breakfast we cleaned up and packed then headed out. I went with Keith so he wouldn't have to drive alone. But, in doing so, left Justin to travel by himself.

The first leg of our trip wouldn't be too far. We were only traveling an hour south to the Bonnechere Caves, a bit east of Eganville.

We arrived at the caves around noon. It was a hot, sticky day. Luckily the caves, at around 13C, would provide a cool respite.

Admission is $17 for adults. You have to go on a guided tour of the caves. Ours was a lanky, shaggy haired teenager who sounded less than enthused at having to repeat his spiel yet again to another group of tourists.

He gave a bit of history of the fossils that were found in the area. And he spoke about the gentleman, Tom Woodward, who first explored the caves in 1955. The talk lasted about 20 minutes before we were taken into the actual caves.

The caves themselves are mostly long and narrow. Sometimes the ceiling is high, other times not so much. It never opens up into a large cavern or anything like that. Overall it's pretty tight inside. I wouldn't say it's very spectacular at all. But it was still kind of interesting seeing that it was the first cave system I've had the chance to explore.

We were finished our tour in little over an hour. Back on the road in search of late lunch/early dinner.

Keith was pretty sleepy on the next leg of the journey. He had a bit of trouble trying to keep awake. I know how he felt. I'm sure we've all felt like that a times. I tried to keep him alert by talking and playing games. I guess it worked somewhat. We're both still here.

We were thinking about grabbing a bite at The Spud Box. It's a burger and fish and chips joint in Kaladar at the intersection of Highway 7 and 41. But, like I mentioned before, it was really hot and humid outside and they didn't have any inside seating so we drove on.

Our next option was Kelly's, a family owned restaurant 20 minutes away, just north of Tweed. We went there for lunch last year on our way home from Justin's cottage. Unfortunately for us, this year they were closed. We continued on.

We ended up at Paulo's Italian Trattoria in Belleville. It was almost 5:00 by now and we hadn't eaten since the morning so we were all pretty hungry.

After ordering our food we inhaled it quickly before hitting the road again. Traffic back into the city along the 401 was pretty slow. It was the Labour Day long weekend after all. All the cottagers were returning home at the same time. As well we had to contend with stupid drivers who further clogged the arteries by running into one another. Booo!

I don't believe we got back into the city until after 10:00. A long day to say the least. Still it was nice to get away. It's just the drive out and back that I can do without.

Justin's Cottage - Day 2

Day two began with breakfast at the restaurant at Fort William. It's a 35 kilometre drive from Justin's cottage through Chapeau. Though, if you had a boat, you could take the direct route 10-12 kilometres up the Ottawa River door-to-door.

I don't remember what time we arrived last year, but this year we were a bit late. We made it in time for breakfast, but they ran out of home fries as a side so they substituted French fries for them. It just wasn't the same.

Also, like last year, we visited Parc Des Chutes Coulonge (52 kilometres straight east of the restaurant). Last year we just paid the $8 entrance fee and walked through the park. This year Peter wanted to try the zip-lining and "rock climbing".

Keith is deathly afraid of heights. He probably wouldn't even stand on top of a kid's wagon. I don't think Justin was that enthused about it either. In my case it was the $97 cost that scared me. That just left Emily, Ken and Peter to try it. They were joined by a mother and her teenage son.

Their first stop was the long zip-line over the Coulonge River. It took a while for everyone to cross. Justin and I were there with our DSLRs trying to get decent shots of them.

After they crossed the river we lost sight of them. Justin and I decided to head to the next point we thought they'd reappear (which would be the observation deck for one of the falls). Keith hung back. He was a bit too nervous of the height.

While we waited I set my camera on the wide deck railing and took a 1/4 second exposure of the falls there. It was overcast enough that I could take a fairly long exposure without a neutral density filter.

The overcast skies quickly turned into rainy skies. At first the rain was relatively light and I took shelter under a tree. But then it got heavier and didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon.

When it seemed to break, I ran for cover to of one of the buildings near the park entrance to wait it out. Emily, Ken and Peter weren't so lucky. They waited out the rain clinging to the side of a cliff for over half an hour.

Two hours after they started they were done. After returning their harnesses and helmets we drove the 52 kilometres back to Justin's cottage where they quickly changed out of their soaking wet clothes.

The sun had returned by then and we cooked some of our dinner over the campfire. Justin did the rest on his gas barbeque.

After eating Peter and I convinced Justin to come out to the beach to try some more star shots. We started earlier this time to avoid having the bright moon light up the skies.

Peter and I were out there just over an hour. Justin left about half way through. Just before he left we saw a bright shooting star over the north horizon. Just before it went out it broke in two. That was pretty incredible. I've never seen anything like that before.

Back inside the cabin we played Saboteur for a few hours before hitting the sack. For the second night in a row it was warm. Ken and Emily joined Peter and I outside in the tents. They had been bothered by a fly buzzing around inside while they slept. Imagine that... going outside to sleep to avoid insects.

Justin's Cottage - Day 1

Barron Canyon Trail, Algonquin Park.

Since we stayed up so late the night before, we got a late start on Saturday "morning". I'm not even sure what time we woke up.

Peter and Emily made breakfast. Peter bought yummy Japanese bread from J-Town in Markham for French toast. And Emily fried up the special bacon Justin got from the corner store in Chapeau. After adding fresh tomatoes, they made sandwiches with them.

Our plans for the day were hiking at Barron Canyon in Algonquin Park then grabbing dinner at the White Water Brewing Company in Foresters Falls (40 minutes east of Pembroke; 2 hours east of the park).

After driving 1-1/2 hours we arrived at the trailhead going through the northeast entrance of the park. It was already 5:00 by the time we started hiking. Luckily the trail was short, so it wasn't much of a problem to finish it.

The view from the top of the canyon was fine. But, compared to what we saw of the Rockies out west, the bar had been set extremely high.

We finished hiking and taking photos within an hour. By then it was around 6:00. Time to hit the road to seek out dinner. I hopped in Justin's convertible and the others loaded into Keith's car and we headed out.

Being a local and a much faster driver, Justin took the lead. Still he relied on his vehicle GPS to show him the fastest route.

Now I have to say, the quickest way might not necessarily be the best way. Because we ended up on what didn't amount to much more than a winding dirt path just outside the park. Justin thought it was fun, but Keith wasn't so enthused. It was the first time I've ever seen a speed limit sign nailed to a tree. Yes, really.

We arrived at the restaurant/brewery just after 7:30, but saw no sign of the pig roast Justin had called about earlier in the day. When we inquired about it the waitress told us there wasn't one. Puzzled we took a seat inside and ordered from the menu.

After ordering I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. When I returned our table was empty. Everyone had gone outside to the patio.

I later found out that they were told there was a pig roast, but it was canceled because of low interest. They brought the pig inside and if you wanted something from the roast like sausages or pulled pork you couldn't eat inside. That got the group fed up and Justin posted a nasty note on their Facebook page which they quickly deleted.

We drove back to the River Club Restaurant near the cottage and had dinner there instead.

After eating we relaxed around another campfire at the cottage. This time there were no games or star photography afterwards. We were too tired for that.

Justin's Cottage - Day 0.5

For the second year in a row, Justin invited a few of us up to his family cottage on L'Isle-aux-Allumettes in Quebec (opposite Pembroke, Ontario) for the Labour Day long weekend.

Last year I drove up with Peter and Fiona. We got a relatively late start because we had to wait for Fiona to get off work. Combine that with the long weekend rush hour traffic and the typical 5 hour drive there turns into something horrendous.

This year we tried to avoid it by leaving earlier. Each one of us either had the day off or had taken it off. We met at Justin's place at Yonge and Sheppard and by 1:30 had departed.

I went with Justin in his red, Lexus convertible. Emily and Ken joined Peter in his white M3. Keith would come later (much, much later) after he finished work.

Unlike last year when we traveled east along the 401, we took the 400 north and cut through Algonquin Park. According to Google Maps that route is an hour longer, so I'm not sure why Justin chose it. I suppose the traffic heading east along the 401 to cottage country is just that bad you should avoid it at all costs.

We stopped for lunch at A&W around the Huntsville area and then again in Pembroke to pick up pizza and chicken for dinner at Nick's in Pembroke. We didn't end up getting to Justin's cottage until it was dark at just after 9:00 p.m. So much for leaving early (to try to arrive early).

Since we hadn't eaten much during the day we dug into the food before doing anything else. After eating we set up our tents and the built a fire to sit around. That's what you do at a cottage; drink beer and relax by the fire.

It was after 10:30 by now and we hung out by the fire for about an hour before Peter and I decided to head over to the beach to take some night shots. The skies were pretty clear and you could see the Milky Way and quite a few stars. The only problem was the moon was rising over the horizon and it was quite bright.

Before 1:00 Justin came by to see how we were doing. Around the time he left to go back to the cottage we saw a large shooting star low in the north sky. It was brightest I've ever seen. And right before it faded it spectacularly split apart. How cool was that?

Back in the cottage we brought out Saboteur. Justin had the extended version, but since we hadn't played in awhile we decided to stick to the original game. It was quite late, but we were waiting for Keith to arrive, so we needed something to do to pass the time.

Keith came around 4:00 in the morning. We saved some pizza and chicken for him to eat. After hanging out briefly we all hit the sack. Peter and I went to our own tents out in the yard while the rest stayed inside. It was an unusually chilly night, but we brought enough gear to keep us warm.

Labour Day Weekend @ Justin's Cottage Pt. 3

Sunday started off with a late breakfast at The Fort at Hotel Pontiac, 35 kilometres from Justin's cottage. If you had a boat you could take a more direct route 10 kilometres west straight up the Ottawa River. By car it's about 45 minutes over the bridge through Chapeau.

The restaurant/hotel is located right on the beach. While we were there we saw a number of small boats pull right up onto the beach and people come right in (just as if they drove up by car).

We had a variety of things to eat. Some of us had 2 eggs with either bacon or sausage plus home fries and toast. Others had the pancakes or French toast with bacon. All the choices were really good.

After our meal we headed 52 kilometres straight east on Highway 148 to Chutes Coulonge Park. It's part historical park and part adventure park.

The historical part tells the story of the logging business in Quebec in the early to mid 1800s. The adventure part is part climbing, part zip lining. It's $8 to get in. More if you want to do the adventurous stuff.

We walked around checking out the historical part. The scenery was nice with the waterfalls. We even saw a neat, brown snake. I have no idea what kind it was, but it was the largest snake I've ever seen in the wild. Usually the ones I see (if I see any) are really small.

After the park we bought popsicles and ate them before returning to the cottage and going to the big beach. There we gathered some wood and lit a bonfire and sat around it relaxing before going in the water again to play Frisbee.

Dinner was meat, meat and more meat. Justin cooked pork chops on the barbecue outside while Peter worked his magic on the lamb and beef short ribs from the night before. We cooked up some yams and corn on the cob to round out the meal.

In the evening we drank beer and played board games. This time until around 4:00. Good times.

Labour Day Weekend @ Justin's Cottage Pt. 2

After staying up past 2:30 we were up relatively early the next day. Except for Peter, most of us were up by 10:00 a.m.

Gabe and I woke a bit early because he heard some rain falling on our tent. Not wanting to take any chances we decided to set up the my sister's tarp that I brought.

We tied some rope to the corners and tied the corners to the surrounding trees. After that the rain pretty much let up. But, since we were up, we stayed up.

I went around the grounds and took a few pictures before breakfast. Peter made some eggs. As well I believe he made some French toast too. Justin brewed some tasty coffee and we ate on the front deck of the cottage.

Following breakfast we just went over to the big beach (behind the cottage). We didn't want to go too far because we were waiting for Emily and Janice to arrive. Instead of leaving Friday night they decided to come on Saturday morning.

At the beach we threw Gabe's Frisbee around while standing in the shallow water. It was a bit cold at first, but it didn't take us long to get used to.

After we finished I took a quick dip in the water. There was a lot of seaweed (or some other sort of underwater vegetation) in the area I was in nearby the dock with the Seadoos on it. So I swam in from there and came ashore.

Emily and Janice arrived shortly after. I believe we ate something for lunch, but for the life of me, can't remember what.

Following lunch we went on a hike. I don't know where we went, we just followed Justin's car. He took us to a trail that had to have the most mosquitoes per square kilometre anywhere. It was crazy.

Right after getting out of the car they started coming around. And once you entered the trees it was "run for your life." (which is pretty much what I did).

I only took around 3 or 4 shots along the whole length of the trail (about 3.5 kilometres each way). If you were foolhardy enough to stop you would have been eaten alive.

The trail ended by a river (I believe). I ran around and took a bunch of shots there before packing my camera bag back up and running (as much as I could) back to the car.

My bug jacket was essentially useless. Since I had it pulled tight around my arms they bit through the mesh. Most of the others suffered multiple mosquito bites too, even though they had sprayed themselves liberally with repellant. These Quebec mosquitos are tough mothers it seems.

Thankfully the bites didn't affect me too much. After the initial swelling subsided I avoided scratching and hardly even noticed them. I was so happy about that.

We cooked a lot of meat for dinner. Peter brought marinated lamb and Emily had Kalbi (beef short ribs). I cut them into smaller pieces and Peter cooked them on the stove. We also had some carrots and one parsnip to balance out all the meat. Since it was raining outside we had dinner in the living room.

After we cleaned up Emily brought out some of her board games. The first one was a new one called Ca$h 'n Guns (second edition). Players have to try to accumulate cash and prizes while avoiding being shot by the others. If you're still standing by the end of the game you total your loot. The person with the most money wins.

Next we pulled out the expanded version of Saboteur. It's quite a bit more complicated than the original. Besides the saboteurs there are teams of gold miners as well as a number of other characters. There are new path and actions cards too. It's pretty complicated, but we figured it out.

Both games were fun. We played until at least 3:00 a.m.

Labour Day Weekend @ Justin's Cottage Pt. 1

Justin invited us to his cottage for the Labour Day long weekend. It's located on L'Isle-aux-Allumettes, Quebec, on the Ottawa River opposite Pembroke, Ontario.

On a good day it's about a 5-1/2 hour drive from Toronto. Since we were leaving on the Friday of a long weekend, we were prepared for a longer journey.

Gabe and Justin were able to leave early to avoid the traffic. They left at around 1:30, both having taken the day off work. I could have gone with them, but Gabe wasn't too keen on having to spend over 5 hours cramped in the back seat of Justin's convertible. So I was relegated to Peter's M3 with Fiona. She had to work until around 4:30, so we didn't leave until about 5:30.

Since we figured the 401 would be crawling with cottage-goers leaving town all at the same time we opted to head east along Steeles Avenue. While there was less traffic we did encounter more traffic lights.

As well there were other distractions like grocery stores with milk bread. We stopped at the T&T on Steeles at Middlefield for some. As well, we picked up some Vietnamese sandwiches at a nearby shop to munch on.

We took Steeles Avenue/Taunton Road all the way across through Whitby and Oshawa. At some point we eventually turned north to Highway 7 which we took east to Highway 41 (which goes north all the way up to Pembroke).

Since we didn't actually want to drive through Pembroke we detoured onto Highway 13 (Mountain Road) a bit north of Eganville and Lake Dore. From there we headed east over to Highway 17; north to Highway 40; north to Highway 148 (eastbound) which took us over the bridge into Quebec.

From there it was a 20 minute drive along Chemin Pembroke/de Desjardinsville/Front to Justin's cottage. All in the dark. I believe we drove the second half the trip in total darkness (except for a couple of spots on the road ahead illuminated by Peter's car's headlights).

When we arrived Justin and Gabe already had the campfire going. It was in a small pit by the cottage (and near the water by the small beach). We couldn't actually see the water because it was dark. But, we heard it.

Gabe had already set up the tent that I was going to share with him. We unloaded everything from Peter's car and set up his tent and Emily's (that Fiona was going to share with her, though she had it to herself this evening).

Next we retired to the chairs around the campfire and enjoyed a few beverages. Fiona made me a rum and Coke (which I think was heavy on the rum) because I was a bit dizzy afterwards. Though it could have been because I hadn't eaten much during the day. Who knows?

I believe we had some snacks around the fire too. Then Peter and I went to try and take a few night shots over the Ottawa River with Pembroke in the background. As well, we had fun light painting with our flashlights which I captured with my camera.

Cottaging in Bracebridge, ON

This past Friday and Saturday we went up to Bracebridge, Ontario. It's in the Muskokas a couple of hours north of Toronto. Cottage country.

We went up there because we were going to go Zip-lining at Eaglecrest Aerial Park in Bracebridge. Instead of just driving up there and back the same day, we decided to make a weekend out of it.

Thanks go out to Florianne who booked the cottage at Forest Rock Camp and Resort and Tom who prepared all the food. In general, I think everyone had a decent time out there. The weather wasn't great. It was cool and overcast for the most part. But, at least the rains stayed away. We also had to deal with the mosquitos. It could have been far worse. Everyone got a few bites, but that was about it.

On Saturday after the visit to the Aerial Park Virginia, Donny, Florianne and myself rented a couple of canoes for an hour to go canoeing on Three Mile Lake where the "resort" was located. It was fun. I like canoeing. Donny and Virginia had a bit of trouble making their way back from the half way point though. We had the wind on our backs on the way out. So, on the way back we had to, of course, go against it. Well, Donny had a bit of trouble with that. Their canoe kept getting pushed back to the far shoreline by the wind. After about 10 minutes of this repeatedly happening they finally got the boat pointed in the right direction and we eventually got back. I was a bit concerned we might be stuck out there all afternoon.

In the evenings after dinner we sat around the fire and chilled out. That was nice too.

Margaret's Cottage

I went up to my friend's friend's cottage this past weekend. Her name is Margaret and her family cottage is up on Pickerel River right off Highway 69 in between Parry Sound and Sudbury. You have to take Highway 400 most of the way up. North of Parry Sound it turns into Highway 69. It's at the northeast point of Georgian Bay, a bit north of Grundy Lake Provincial Park.

You have to take a boat to her cottage from Smith Marina. It's a fair trek. In the speed boat you can get there in about 20 minutes. If you take the pontoon boat it might take double the time.

The cottage is built on the rocks right off the Pickerel River. It's not too hard to locate because you pass under a railway bridge (just east of the cottage) before you reach it.

I believe the cottage used to be an old hunting lodge. The main cabin seems like it used to be an old store. Now it has a kitchen, dining room and living room area. Upstairs, I believe, are the bedrooms. I'm just guessing because I never went up there.

A few people stayed at the main cabin. Margaret's church friends and me stayed at another cabin nearby. It was very nice. They have full facilities with running water and electricity. The electricity is supplied by both solar power and a gas generator.

When Lawrence and I arrived at the marina the weather was pretty miserable. It was raining on and off the whole way up and the skies were overcast. I knew it would be like this before coming up, but I wanted to come anyway. I figured there would be nice breaks here and there.

Margaret was already there waiting for us when we arrived. We had talked with her on the phone prior to getting there so neither of us would have to wait too long.

We sat in Lawrence's car for a short time trying to wait the rain out, but, at one point, decided to make a run for it. Besides we got just as wet from the spray coming from the boat as we did from the rain above. So we weren't going to keep very dry either way.

Most of the people at the cottage came up the day before. They took Friday off and drove up that afternoon. Three people from their church group were already there - Ken and Elaine, and Josephine. Margaret's co-worker Enoch (I believe) and his family (wife and son and daughter) were there too. As well, Margaret's dad came along.

The weather didn't stay bad for long. The sun eventually came out and everyone went out to do different activities. Margaret showed Lawrence and I around a bit more in the motorboat. Some of the others took another boat out fishing. My favorite activity was canoeing. I took one of the canoes out quite a few times with different people. It's so nice and quiet in a canoe. Very relaxing.

It's also a great place to take pictures. The scenery is wonderful. I took a fair number of shots both on the water and around the cabins. I even have some hummingbird shots. There's a feeder on the porch of the main lodge. So I hung out there waiting for the birds to come by for a snack.

All-in-all I had a really enjoyable time. It was nice meeting a few new people. And it was great to get out of the city for a short time. To enjoy some "quiet time" and leave the hustle and bustle behind. Many thanks go out to Margaret and her father for opening their place up to us.