Wednesday, 20th September.
So - we collected the car last evening after hours. All seems fine. We tried to dine in la Conception (closed) and Le Cheminot (Labelle - also closed) so we picked up food in the IGA in Labelle and made happy with that.
Expedition today to exchange canoes.
So, up fairly early this morning; finished packing and then I went out
to sort out the Carbon Kevlar Moonlight. And in trying to manoeuvre it I found myself with it over my head, across the lawn and onto the car; just like that. This boat is ludicrously light.The
canoe is fine, really fine, but when we ordered it in March, we looked
at a Carbon/Carbon (C/C) version; very black, very "Moonlight". We then
went on to talk a little more about our wish to move (Wish, mind you!)
from purely flat water to a little more moving water with greater
opportunities for bumps and the suggestion moved to Carbon/Kevlar (C/K).
We didn't look at a c/k at that time.
When we picked up the
boat, our faces showed obvious surprise and / or disappointment. The
C/K has a definite yellow tinge through and is buttermilk / sour cream
inside. Ali in particular felt that she couldn't imagine paddling miles
in a sea of Kevlar colour. And I agreed. The boat of expectation -
wasn't.
The Swift rep picked up on this instantly and said "It's a
re-build". I protested; you can't possibly rebuild a boat at this
cost just because I don't like the colour!
But she insisted, said
that we should take the boat away there and then, use it (accepting the
wear that that would engender) and bring it back for a swap when the
new boat was ready. All that there would be to pay would be the
difference in the cost of the materials and the replacement
name decals.
The present boat is all that we could hope for;
fast out of the blocks, tracks well, light as a feather, just "ugly" to
our eyes.
We let Bryony and Mark use it when they were here, this boat is much stronger than
Burlesque. But we have used it a little since, Graham used it when he
was here. It really needs bow weight when used single handed. I have
used a 4 litre water bottle in the bow but it could do with 2 of these
at least. It has a relatively high freeboard unladen so tends to
weathercock when used single and unlade
So, down to Algonquin via Montebello and the Ottawa crossing at Portage du Fort. But not before a brief stop at Brebeuf to complete the walk from the take out at the end of the trip with Karen in 2016 to the beach put in this year.
We met up with the very nice lady who let us use her back garden last time; we reminded her of the story of our "journey" and she received a badge! She seemed touched! Here we are at the beach south of the falls.
On then, eventually, through an already autumnally splendid Algonquin to the Algonquin Lakeside Inn. Lovely view of the Oxtongue river, no restaurant - the chef had resigned - but a clean and tidy, albeit very spartan, room.
And so to a diner just across the river; home made butter chicken and samosas and freshly made pizza. They were a lovely couple, trying to make a go....
The fridge whirred all night, the microwave glowed brightly, but we were shattered from the long drive and slept after a fashion.
Thursday, 21st September.
Up promptly for breakfast - the Reception and dining room were locked. Warned by the on-line reviews, I had taken coffee and Ali had a Trail Bar. I ate the remaining Samosa. Thus fortified, to Swift (the Oxtongue Lake one, not the previous one) to be relieved of the Carbon-Kevlar boat and issued with a simply beautiful carbon-carbon boat. Oh my!
As good as their word, no arguments about the exchange or about the minor scrapes ("In fact, they help to sell a pre-used boat; people can justify a pre-used one when they might not justify a new purchase"!)
Two hours down to Buckhorn to meet up with Eunice and Jim, friends since we left the car in the church car park when we were paddling the Trent-Severn. It was just lovely to see them again. They had a rough lockdown; they lost their son. Never the same, eh?
A sort of criss-cross route once we'd decided to cross the Ottawa at Quyot, through the most lovely woodlands and wide fertile fields of this part of Ontario.
And then it was only half an hour further from landing to Pam and Noel's, to a great welcome and good food. Thank you!
Friday, 22nd September.
A lateish start - of course. But a good breakfast and much chat, hearing about Pam's excursions into photography. She's winning prizes!
Via Rona (Yay!) for longer screw-nails to try to secure the gutter; some mortar for the path and some new gutter-guards against the leaves. We took to the 50 from Boulevard des Allumetieres (named for the match-makers, mostly women, who were so much a part of local industry and who suffered (if my 3rd year Oral Pathology serves me right) from the most unattractively named "phossy jaw", osteonecrosis of the jaw bone from exposure to phosphorous in the days before safety matches - or "elf and safe-tee" for that matter.). Les allumetieres.
At Camping les Chutes de la Rouge, on the Ottawa, at the mouth of the Rouge, we made our walk to the bottom of Ch Kilmar - our previous stop. A quick peek at the river and then a speedy 2km each - 1/2 hour.
Then back to the rafting centre to walk from the buildings to the take-out at the bottom of "Sept soeurs" from our trip there some years ago. And lo and behold, the "School Bus" driver was from Stourport originally and yes, he would give us a lift back. Brilliant!
And there - on his first working day this year since he tore his shoulder - was "Turtle", Terry-Joe, the guide who took us down both of our Rouge runs in inflatables. It was so very good to see him and he seemed really pleased to see us. He's been a part of this Journey and insisted on having his photo taken with his patch. "I'll treasure that".
So that's five good friends met, the boats exchanged, some absolutely glorious scenery and all in clear blue sky weather.
But it was a looong way!
