Diving for Pearls

Farewell from Canada...

Well it's time to pack up and head for home. We've had such a great time in this wonderful country, but we're ready for our home comforts. We're longing for friends and family, radio without adverts, cranky but familiar English plumbing, the smell of wet dogs and the clatter of doggy nails on the tiles, the singing of the sparrows in the hedge outside our bedroom window, driving on the right (ie left) side of the road, roundabouts instead of 4 way stops.... and a really good cup of tea.

Thanks so much to all of you who follow my blog; it means so much to me to have your wonderfully thoughtful and caring comments. I promise to be in touch with all of you when I'm back home and I've caught up with my sleep!

Til then... au revoir xxx

Sunny glades...

and quiet rivers...

age worn slabs...

...make up this land.

This chair has made my holiday... worn to my fulsome contours.

Some will sit, and some will play air guitar with the paddles (that's our little hut in the background- 'rustic'. But still, better than a tent!)

and piggy back their older sister...

Later, the paddles lean decoratively on our deck.

Sophie drips.

Ollie...is just Ollie.

And we move on to Prince Edward County, a less rugged land with proper plumbing and cottage floors that don't lean and wobble. That's Lake Ontario there.

And beaches. I promised them beaches, and we got there eventually. The biggest sandbar in the world, apparently.

Waves and long walks, a sea with no tide and no salt.

But never the less, a beach. For doing all the things that beaches are made for.

Home in a few days, leaving the beach to the birds and the breeze.

 

Mosquitos, Moose and memory making...

When we came to the Algonquin Park we had a few things on our ticklist that we had to see/do. Here's how we're getting on.

Firstly; Moose- check. (There was a real one with antlers just behind her, but he was feeling shy).

By the way- how to spot a moose in Algonquin; drive vigilantly along Highway 60. Be alert for signs of fast braking vehicles pulling to over to the verge to see why other people are standing around with cameras and awestruck expressions.... it worked for us...

Secondly; Mosquitos.- check. We certainly expected them, and we weren't disappointed. They clearly expected us too as we walked a long trail into the backwoods. Now we understand why they sell the hilarious all in one mozzy suits at the camping store....

Only one way to escape the little blighters....

Here the kids, clearly irrevocably tormented by the whining and droning in their ears (we're still talking mozzies here...not their mother) decide they prefer the icy waters of the Lake to slapping and swatting dem damn bugs.

Where were we on our check list- oh yes, three. Fishing. Tick. Lots of that,

and as I keep reminding them, it's about the process not the end result. (i.e they haven't caught anything yet...)

Four. Time for reading. Sign of a truly relaxing break.

Five. Just sittin' on the dock of the bay.

Six. Trying six different types of boats in as many days.

Pedal power and paddle power, wind power and steam power, you name it, we've done it.

Seven. Bird watching.  Look closely at this one....

Eight. And finally. Just being, and making memories.

Happy holidays folks, wherever you are xxx

Island Life...

We 'adopted' one of the many many islands hereabouts- just big enough to swing a wildcat on, certainly big enough for a picnic and a paddle....

Here's the skipper navigating the rocky shoals amongst high seas and maelstroms, and his first mate risking all to bring the family ship safely into harbour...

OK so that was an exaggeration... but we did experience some disaster as the kids cut their feet to ribbons on the rocks (we were told aferwards that it was the infamous mussels- and no-one swims here without shoes on.... now they tell us...)

Oh, and they also told us that no-one lands on these tiny islands because of the rattlesnakes....

The next day we decided to upgrade our choice of vessel as the inkeeper invited us onto his motor yacht for a trip through the lakes in style...

Much more like it....

Plenty of opportunity for more property envy...

Shall we have this one?
Or this one?

Cheers from Canada for now. Off to the Algonquin next- no internet connection for a while!

xxx

Waterfalls and steamships...

OK, I'm only going to give you one Niagara picture. I'm not going to give you pictures of high rise hotels and casinos, tacky gift stores and waddling tourists in yellow plastic shrouds. You don't want to see that- I know we didn't! But seriously, the Falls themselves are quite stupendous.

We retreated to the calm and tasteful luxury of the Riverbend Inn at Niagara-on-the-Lake; surrounded by vineyards and peacefulness.

Then to Muskoka- land of lakes and steamships.

We took a steamer round the lakes, under dramatic skies and amongst inlets and islands that left us wanting to explore more...

... and also left us with a serious case of property envy. How about this for your holiday home, on your own private island...

Having the whole family trapped for two hours on a boat meant I stood a chance of a group photo or two....without me of course.... maybe one day!

And then the sun came out...

Toronto, tarantara!

What did the Hawes family need more than anything else? A change of scene, some family time, to put a little distance between us and the upswell of stress and strain that life's ocean has recently put in the path of our normally happy little ship.

The summer hols have arrived in the nick of time, for us, and today we have experienced the sights and sounds of a foreign city through the slightly surreal haze and numbed senses endowed by a longish plane flight and a five hour time difference.

We hopped on a yellow bus to tour the happy and vibrant city, stopping off at museums and eateries and tempting shops.

A perfect day but we're done with cities for now, having reached our 36 hour tolerance and we're off to brave the Torontian traffic tomorrow to see for ourselves if the Niagara Falls are all they're cracked up to be.