Thursday 24th August 2017
We’d arrived late at Mike and Paula’s airbnb place last night so didn’t chat for long but this morning we had a really lovely long chat with Paula over breakfast. They were a young couple who had been chefs for a Toronto Basketball team but had given it all up to move into a beautiful 150 year old house in a small town. Upon Mike’s recommendation we headed to ‘The Bonnechere caves’ discovered by a guy called Tom Woodward who jumped into a sink hole full of water which he’d stumbled across one day.
After the tour we headed to Ottawa to find our next accommodation … tonight we sleep in JAIL!!
Our room is a four bunk dorm which we’re sharing with a mother and daughter from Australia. In the evening we headed for Major’s Hill Park overlooking the Ottawa River and Parliament Hill for tea-in-the-park. We took a mooch around town and looked at some of the historical sites plus a street event celebrating Canada’s 150 years before returning to jail for the night.
The jail was right in the centre of Ottawa. The hostel was originally the Carleton County Gaol. When the jail closed in 1972, Hostelling International purchased and converted the building, but left much of the structure intact, allowing guests to experience spending a night “in jail”. Apparently the jail is haunted by a man sent to the gallows for a crime he was innocent of. However, we both slept well and woke refreshed.
Friday 25th August 2017
After a breakfast of toast, eggs, cereal and fruit all supplied by the hostel we took a stroll along ‘The Rideau Canal’ to watch the boats passing through a staircase of around eight locks which takes boats from the Ottawa river up to the Rideau River.
We headed back to the jail as we had booked a ‘jail tour’ for 11am. Our guide took us around all areas of the hostel telling us about the building and the social stories connected to it. It was closed in 1972 following pressure from the Human Rights Movement. They cited inhumane living conditions – buckets for toilets, one meal per day, locked in a cell for 23 hours and 45 minutes every day – and acts of torture – tied to the floor in a cross shape, face down or flogged. This was metered out by the guards in order to keep some kind of control of the inmates who may have committed such petty crimes as stealing a hat, drunkenness, homelessness or insanity. On our tour we saw death row, the gallow and tiny cells which were only 1 X 3 meters in size.
After the tour we hired a couple of bikes from the hostel and took a beautiful 2 hour ride along the Rideau Canal before heading off out of Central Ottawa. We took a stop at Andrew Hayden Park, a gorgeous park with two lakes on the shore of the Ottawa River where we stopped for some R&R.
We stayed the night in airbnb accommodation and received a message from our host Ros. She was inviting us to spend the next day with her and her partner Pete at their cottage in Almonte a 20 minute drive away. Of course, the answer was yes – we don’t intend missing out on any experiences!
Saturday 26th August 2017
Upon our arrival Pete offered us the use of his canoe, together with an outboard rigger, for a trip on Taylor Lake – a fairly large lake at the bottom of the road the cottage was on. He drove us and the canoe to the lake, set it all up and off we went. We used the motor to travel around the circumference of the lake for 2.5 hours taking in the peace and tranquility of the lake and spotting a Loons – a black and white duck with an unusual call. The Loon is the provincial bird of Ontario and is depicted on the Canadian one-dollar coin which is affectionately known as the ‘Loonie’.
We sat in the garden and had a beer together and then Pete suggested we take a ride into the quaint town of Almonte to visit the waterfalls linked to the hydroelectric plant. The falls were spectacular and the town sleepy, but we did have time for a delicious ice cream before everything shut for the evening.
Upon returning we were treated to a delicious BBQ of marinated pork and chicken with salad and pickled vegetables and olives. Jacqui also enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine – well it would be rude to refuse such generosity.
The evening was topped off with a touch of ‘deer stalking’ at dusk. Julie drove Pete’s truck whilst he tried to spot deer for us to see and photograph – she really looked the part in her cowboy hat! We did spot a large herd of ‘white tailed deer’ running off into the distance as soon as we arrived over the horizon and a couple more in a field adjacent to the road so we were successful to a certain extent. What a great Saturday!
Sunday 27th August 2017
Today we travelled to our last stop in Canada. We travelled through Kingston and Brighton and on to our accommodation in Oshawa. We stopped at Macdonald park in Kingston for a walk along the shore of Lake Ontario.
Travelling on we then stopped at the harbour in Brighton where ‘Dragon Boats’ were tied up awaiting their crew who were supposed to be training that night. We were hoping to see them off and maybe even join them but to no avail – they didn’t show. We did, however, spend a peaceful hour listening to the waves roll onto the shore.
We will stay in Oshawa for the next four nights to allow us to explore Toronto, catch up on some admin and prepare to fly to Orlando.
Monday 28th August 2017
The morning was spent catching up on admin – doing the blog, sorting out the car rental and checking up on the mobile phone data situation. All essential but rather boring!
In the afternoon we headed to Lake View Park – a park and beach on the shore of lake Ontario. Black, Red and Grey squirrels appear to live in harmony throughout the park and they are just everywhere. The weather was not so good so we just took a long walk along the shore line – a very relaxing way to spend the afternoon.
Tuesday 29th August 2017
Today we decided to take the train into Toronto and then the ferry in order to explore Toronto Island Park. The train was huge and two stories high! Jacqui was very excited because she hasn’t been on a train for a month!! We wandered around ‘Centre Island’ and along the spit that was ‘Wards Island’ before exploring ‘Algonquin Island’. This is where most of the residents live. Only a few houses have survived destruction from the authorities and only a few people are allowed to stay. The island has suffered from extensive flooding recently and there was evidence of this all around us. However, it was a lovely day out.
We finish our exploring with a BBQ supper at the ‘Island Cafe’. As usual we shared one meal between us – the portion size is so big – and had a beer to wash it down. The beef brisket was so tender and beautifully cooked and the outlook stunning.
Wednesday 30th August 2017
We spent another morning preparing and making sure we were organised for tomorrow’s flight. The weather was gorgeous so we headed for ‘McLaughlin Bay Wildlife reserve’. The reserve was full of short walks that all merged into one. We ended up on the edge of Lake Ontario at a small beach area that was on a spit between McLaughlin Bay and Lake Ontario. We were completely alone and we sat on the beach, listening to the waves lapping the shoreline and watching the boats passing by. It was a glorious time but for the biting ants that kept crawling all over us. Ahh, you can’t have it all.
Feeling creative, we had a go at making a pebble ‘first nation’ sculpture just like the ones we see along the highway up on the high rocks. They were obviously so impressive that a Chinese man and his son asked to photograph them!
FLORIDA HERE WE COME!!
Two Judo Girls One Adventure 
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