Wow, October, how did that happen? Fall has well and truly arrived in Canada and the temperature has dropped quite a lot - from well above average for the time of year when we arrived 2 weeks ago, to now below average. According to the TV they had snow in Algonquin Park last night - I bet it looks amazing in snow!
We had a pretty easy day of it today, we intended to take a cruise round the 1000 islands but missed the one from Kingston (while we shopped for memory cards and more cream for my still-nasty mozzie bites), and then got to Gananoque to try for the 3.30, only to find it wasn't running today. We could have taken the 1hr cruise but we really wanted to do the 3hr one which covers a lot more ground (or indeed water, obviously) and includes views of Boldt castle, which looks amazing. So we booked a ticket for the 9.30 cruise tomorrow morning instead, which means we'll have to be very organised and all packed and checked out of the hotel nice and early.
With the rest of the afternoon free, we decided to follow part of the Rideau Canal Heritage Route, which we'd have done en route to Kingston if Parc Omega hadn't taken all our attention for the day :)
It took us on a nice drive around some of the lock stations on the Rideau canal and showed us some great autumnal views on the way. We also saw some nice wildlife; another deer by the roadside who quickly disappeared into the woods when it saw our car, a couple of nice blue jays and a bunch of HUGE buzzards or vultures or something gathered round a dead raccoon. Unfortunately there's a bit too much road kill around (rather like home) so we passed a dead skunk too :( Still no sign of the elusive moose, but I figure it's better that way if they are all hiding safely away from the roads. You'd certainly know about it if your car hit one.
The Rideau Canal is a World Heritage Site and played a very important part in Canada's history, connecting Ottawa in the north with Lake Ontario in the south. We stopped at Jones Falls and Davis Falls to see some of the canal's 47 locks (we visited some at the Ottawa end while we were there too). At Davis Locks we met the adorable Molly, a very friendly golden retriever whose owner ran the lock station and needed to give her a wash as she'd been rolling in dead fish! Despite her being a bit whiffy we gave Molly a lot of fuss and had a nice chat with her owner - Canadians (and their dogs) are lovely!
Stu was very tired so we've come back to the Peachtree for a chill out before dinner - hopefully at the place recommended by Molly's owner which is also mentioned in our Lonely Planet book. This hotel is the poorest of the whole trip - it seems to have been 4* all the way up to now. Not by design I assure you, in fact the Peachtree is more the kind of motel I'd had in mind, but Canada 4U seem to have found us some great places within our budget instead. I'd rather not know how much cheaper it might have been, but at least we've had the advantage of being in great central locations. Tonight's our last night in hotels for a while, and then we'll be spending five at Jenn's apartment in Toronto. Yippee!
Dx
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