Locks, docks & narrows (page 4)
THE FEW FAMILIES WITH KIDS we see along the waterway
are paddling canoes, but we have begun to encounter the same
boaters - mostly retired couples - also making their way to
Kingston. It is easy to strike up conversations in the locks, our wooden boat with its musical potty drawing curious looks
(and some encouraging applause for Samson’s fledgling efforts)
and generating comments among a fleet of expensive fibreglass.
We meet an American couple with a catamaran making
the Great Loop, a famous journey around the eastern half of
the continent that requires passage through the Rideau system.
At the dock of the Hotel Kenney, where we stay on night two,
we chat with a couple from Bath, just west of Kingston. Both in
their sixties, they have removed the mast from their sailboat,
Meander, and are heading home from Ottawa. “We just wander
all over the place,” they say, explaining how they investigate the
hidden spaces that boats racing through will miss. They tell us
to watch for a spectacular inlet as we head out for an evening
ride. They have heard it’s worth slowing down for.
We discover it as the sun is setting, sheltered from the water
trampolines and roaring engines of cottage country. We emerge
from a narrow, overgrown channel and a sweeping rock face
suddenly looms some 90 metres above our heads, as if a chunky
boulder had been plopped in the water with one side sheared
off. We have timed it well, our unexpected find. The sun,
flickering through trees on the opposite shore, makes glowing
stripes of light across the cluster of pine and spruce growing
stubbornly from rock crevices.
We drift, idling the Avalon’s engine. Our discovered cliff is
for sale, a crooked sign at its foot tells us, and there’s graffiti in the caves down the shoreline. But on the edge of a lake lined
with summer homes, along a river system carved out by men,
this quiet place still seems like a secret pit stop for the wandering
boater. Samson has fallen asleep in my arms, and Noah is
learning how to steer. This is a good place to pause.
Writer Erin Anderssen and photographer David Barbour are both
based in Ottawa.
TAKING THE WATER WAY
Getting there You can launch
a boat into the canal at various
points along the route or drive
along the Rideau Canal from
Ottawa to Kingston on scenic
Highway 15, a leisurely jaunt
that allows you to pop into
different villages and museums
on the way. Paddling and cycling
routes are available at
www.rideauheritageroute.ca.
Staying there A family-owned
business for more than 80 years,
The Opinicon Resort Hotel in
Chaffeys Locks near Elgin
boasts a rich history of hospitality
and a friendly environment.
For more information, go to
www.theopiniconresorthotel.com.
Hotel Kenney is older still, having
opened in 1877. Located in
Jones Falls, it is close to hiking
trails and sport fishing lakes.
Visit www.hotelkenney.com.
Playing there
From museums
and shops to golf courses and
canoeing, there’s plenty to see
and do in the cities and villages
along the Rideau Canal. Tour the
museums and galleries within
walking distance of the Ottawa
locks or Fort Henry, an 1800s
army-post-turned-museum, at
the canal’s southern extreme, in
Kingston. Ottawa’s newest festival
-the Rideau Canal Festival -
was designed with boaters,
cyclists and Rideau history lovers
in mind. If that’s you, check it
out on the August long weekend.
You’ll find a range of things to
do all along the canal route at
www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/on/rideau.
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