Last weekend, I joined the Lautens' group annual camping trip going to Algonquin Provincial Park northeast of Toronto. Our campsite was booked at Rock like, ca 48km inside the park. What I didn't expect that we could actually drive onto the campsite, so it was luxury camping (only we didn't quite bring that luxurious food than our neighbours). Due to organizational difficulties (the Canadians have a lot to learn!), it was all a bit chaotic. At least we got a mini-van for the us 6 german-french folks - or so we thought....I went to pick up the car at around noon on friday, and it wasn't there...Well, so we got two regular cars, and after some debate we did not pay more, but lost at least on hour of time. In the end, Clem and I missed the turn off to highway 400, got into traffic, were scared by the rest that the registration office closes at 7pm (it closed at 9, grrr), went over several speed limits to make it there by 7:15....At least putting up my new tent with two people took less 10 min, we got a fire started, BBQed sausages, peppers and onions, and enjoyed some beers at the campsite.
I can never sleep in when I am outside, so waking up at 7:30am was already late for my standards. I could still take some pictures at the empty and steamy beach.
Then, we spend the morning drinking lots of coffee and waiting for the rented canoes to be delivered by 10am. They arrived by 1pm, so we only had an afternoon canoeing. It was the best thing of the trip, getting away, stopping, swimming, canoeing, swimming, canoeing....it was beautiful! At the end, we all got a bit tired when the wind picked up. Then back on the camp site, Irina changed the tire of our care, it had an almost flat tire....and that meant driving with 50 km/h to Huntsville (95km) on the next day. This evening, we all cooked pasta, had more beers, and watched the stars at the beach. I actually tried sleeping at the beach, but it got so windy that I went back into the heat of the tent. Definitely, a 4-season tent and down sleeping bag is too warm....
The next morning, I got up early again, and went swimming at 7am. It was awesome! The water was surprisingly warm, just getting out again was hard. Then again drinking more and more coffee with Mathieu until the others woke - and we couldn't canoe any more as the canoes were picked up early... The drive to Huntsville was slow. And instead of thanking us, that we drove as much on the right side as we could, those Canadian SUV drivers honked at us while overtaking. As if we chose to have a flat tire....Luckily it all got fixed within 10min and for free at Canadian Tire! But it rained cats and dogs, so that we just had some all-day breakfast and drove towards Toronto. It took us 5 more hours for around 220km to arrive there. Guess everyone left cottage country due to rain at the same time. I have hardly ever been that tired, and was almost not capable of working the next day (actually, I fell asleep over the polymer chemistry book I was reading).
It was a weird weekend, kind of a disaster regarding driving, cars and organization, but beautiful for the canoeing (once we got them). Next time, one day longer, then traffic might be less bad....We didn't see wildlife at all (squirrels at the campsite don't count, I assume). That's what you get for car camping. I really would like to go backcountry camping, with the canoe from one camp site to the other. There are supposed to be lots of moose in the park.
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