| With the Ale over, we all took time off to relax and wander. One
of our Canadian hosts held a barbeque and the pool was well patronised. A
swimming pool is only for the extremely rich in the UK but in North America
even quite modest properties have a pool. It has to do with the weather
being so much warmer in summer. However they aren't all quite in this class! |  |
 |
Surprisingly, Toronto has beaches on the lakeside and we found these stone
sculptures as we walked along. This was Labour Day, the last major holiday
of the season and as the schools start back the day after it is generally
classed as the end of summer. |
| One of the Toronto Women's Sword team had a 'cottage' up at the
north end of the Algonquin National Park on Lake Restoule, about 250 miles
north of Toronto. So we loaded up the RV with people and headed up for a few
days. This 'cottage' sleeps 12 and was about the size of our house back
home. |  |
 | We went out
for walks around the many lakes in the area and spotted this beaver lodge on
the edge of one of the smaller ones. |
| I tried getting closer but despite waiting quite a while we saw
no sign of active beaver. But it is an indication of how much in the wild
this area is. Closer to Toronto is very much cabin country but here is
getting closer to wilderness. |  |
 | The mossy
banks are further signs of this. Although you can still get in and out in
winter, the flora are more adapted to the colder climate and poorer
conditions. This area is on the Canadian Shield and thus is mainly rock with
very little topsoil.. |
| It is however home to quite a range of fungi some of which look
most attractive, not that I would try eating any of them. |  |
 | Some of them
are quite large and really only short of a leprechaun or two.. |
| The lakes are very beautiful and with very little wind in the
more sheltered spots resulted in some excellent reflections. It is a pity
you just can't show the panoramic views... |  |
 | We found a
hunting lodge which was closed up for the winter but it did have this
homemade table on the decking. This was 50 miles from the nearest town (pop
2000). |
| Good friends enjoy good company and we all settled down to an
excellent evening meal ... |  |
 | ... followed
by a session round the camp fire. The outdoors life is very important in
North America, probably because the window of opportunity is so small. It is
not possible in winter because of the cold or in spring because of the
insects. Popping corn was the pastime of the evening! I'm still not sure I
see the attraction in popcorn... |
| But I could live up here for the lake. This is the view which
greets you each morning and you can watch the heron gathering breakfast with
no one else in sight. The view of the sky at night was also without par with
no extraneous glows such as we cannot escape in England. The Milky Way was
really clear and just beautiful. |  |
 | And your own
jetty and fishing boat. This could definitely be the life..... But back to
reality. |
|