August 12, 2008 Fenelon Falls, Ontario

Today we did the Kawartha Lakes. It was interesting that we once again saw tiny islands with homes built on them, even though this area is not as famous as the 1000 Islands area. The cottages were wonderful little places only accessed by water, each with its own personality, but secluded and restful.

Even though it was cool and windy, we were delighted to have sunshine all day. We have discovered that there are lots of markers on our chart plotter that are not marked in the water and Tom joked that the seagull standing on the rock (inches out of the water) were the equivalent of Canadian channel markers.

We made it to Bobcaygeon by lunch time, and found the lock basin packed with ski boats and jet skis and the happy families at full picnic tables. The bright blue sky was dotted with puffy white clouds. We found a place to park for a short time (at a place reserved for a tour boat) and made a quick trip to the grocery store. There was Boyd Museum there (recognizing a local pioneer who started a saw mill here) which reminded us of the life of the lumber jack riding logs down the river. There was also Gordon Yacht Club with a sign claiming “99 years on the Trent”. It was fun going through the lock in the center of town – we really felt like we were on stage with people standing around eating ice cream cones and watching the process.

We made it to Fenelon Falls in the mid afternoon. We rode our bikes into town and toured the Maryborough Lodge, named after the owner’s hometown, Maryborough, Cork, Ireland. The two story house was completed in 1837 by James Wallis who also constructed a saw mill and a grist mill in this neighborhood. The old house was reminiscent of my grandmother’s home, and I enjoyed seeing the large rooms, the kitchen, with old black cast iron stove and the root cellar with stone walls. It felt good to get off the boat and stretch our legs a little.

Tonight we are tied up below the Fenelon Falls locks on a concrete pier next to a beautiful raging water fall; actually, it is the dam sleuce but the water shoots over a natural rock face so it is very pretty. We will enjoy hearing the roar over night. Across the way, there is a pretty park, which has green boxwoods trimmed to spell out the city name framed with flowers. This afternoon we saw some children playing in the water’s edge. It was fun to watch them and dream of my grandchildren to be.