Petroglyphs

 Rather than our morning, cottage road, walk, we headed off , about half an hour, to the Petroglyphs Provincial Park.

Parked in the "Seniors Parking" which was a little closer to the Visitors Centre than the main parking and walked to "The Learning Centre" which had a walk through area with lots of written material,

video and audio story telling and

graphics of the Indigenous symbolism. Although usually I love this, I wasn't in the mood, and walked through to follow the path to the Petroglyphs.

I was here in 1972 or 3, with a school orienteering class. We canoed, camped and walked to the Petroglyphs. I remember them as being open to the air and we were able to walk on the stone and examine the carvings, running our hands along the indentations and all that we knew was that they were Aboriginal and ancient. Now they are covered in an industrial looking building and you walk around the stone on a raised path. You are not allowed to take pictures so the ones included here are from the booklet provided.

I asked permission of the attendant and she said it was fine to take a picture of the plaque. The stone is referred to as "marble" but she indicated that it was "sandstone" and carvable using a harder stone to chip it away.

The building was erected in 1984 to prevent further deterioration of the carvings. Oral history of the Algonkian speaking people (Algonquin, Cree, Blackfoot, Mi'kmaq, Odawa and Ojibwe/Chippewa) indicates some are as old as 6000 years.

It is hard to see some of the images depicted on this map but some were enhanced by colouring them in with black wax crayon by an archeologist (without the local Indigenous communities permission!). Evening programs light the site from the side making some stand out better.

Photo taken from an Ontario Government Parks site.

We walked on the raised path around the stone, pointing out the animals, canoes, snakes and symbols we could not identify and had the opportunity to talk to the attendant again who said that when she was a child she was bought here, as it is a sacred place, and heard the trickling water below that stone that was believed to be messages from the spirit world and may have been why the carvings were done here.

The park also has hiking trails so we decided to take the Nanabush Trail, 5.5km

Clematis Virginia seed heads (native). It was a moderately easy trail:

with boardwalks

through marshy areas

and some rough up and downs over exposed tree roots.

Did some internet research and I think this tree is infested with Woolly Aphids.

I didn't realize that Silver Birch had such lovely red wood underneath the bark.

 We didn't complete the trail, probably did about 4km, as it was getting quite hot and muggy. My watch indicated 9,600 steps, that's enough for me on a hot day.

Back to Lovesick Lake to relax for the rest of the day.

Rick is loving these clear, warm, cloudless nights with very little light pollution for his astrophotography. So often the crystal clear nights occur in the winter. However it hasn't all gone smoothly. Fumbling around in the dark with sensitive equipment lit by a small red flashlight isn't easy. The first night he accidentally switched the camera to video and the second night he switched the tracker to the southern hemisphere. It can only improve.

Kawartha relaxation

 It didn't take long for our days to settle into a relaxing routine. Wake to the sunny view of the deck and the lake, 

first cup of coffee sitting on the couch looking out through the big picture window,

sometimes the second cup is out on the deck, with the lake reflecting like a mirror.

After breakfast. a walk up the cottage road where we saw a Grouse one morning

Having canoed the first day, we took the kayaks out the next day.

cruising past the cottages along the shore and through the islands on the lake.

Up to the Trent Severn channel markers

and to the entrance of Lock 28 at Burleigh Falls. There is no longer a lock 29 as two locks were replaced by one.

On the way back it became obvious that a large power boat that we had thought had anchored in the shallows, had actually run aground, and was waiting to be towed off. There are lots of barely submerged rocks, luckily the kayaks glide over them.

We kayaked for a couple of hours, too long for our first time out, and were quite sore. Very happy to see the cottage

and the neighbouring marsh.

Later, on our way to Lakefield for groceries, we stopped and

watched the lock in use.

Later, after the mandatory trip to the bakery,

we took a look at the falls that the Lock bypasses.

Kawartha Cottage

The last week of sailing was very windy and included, a collision (no damage done), us lodging a protest and being protested in return (we defended our maneuvers and were deemed in the right). Rick and I left the next day for his daughters cottage, north of Peterborough.

Dueling GPS systems, a stop for alcohol and another for groceries and we reached the cottage around 4pm. Greeted by a Heron

who was fishing in the marshy area next to the cottage.

Rick trying to figure out which way to point his camera for the best star pictures.

As cooking is not a favorite activity for either of us we are trying to keep it simple. First time I had ever cooked a "flattened chicken". We had it with roasted potatoes, there is enough for a chicken stir fry another night and the carcass for chicken soup.

Lovely view to wake up to. A little cool for coffee on the deck but before breakfast

We took a 2km walk up the cottage road and back.

Named because it is curvy and a bit rough.

A tiny red squirrel was so fast all I got was his tail.

After lunch we pulled the canoe off the rack and set off. I haven't canoed for about 12 years, Rick, over 20.

Through the gap and across some more water is Wolf Island which is a Provincial Park without road access.

with a small dam on one side and

another dam and Lock 30 on the Trent Severn Water System on the other side.

We were a little wobbly to start, both of us with worse balance than when we last canoed but the "dismount" left us both rolling on the ground and laughing. Not very elegant but we didn't get wet!

The rest of the afternoon was spent reading and/or napping on the deck

and playing with some camera settings.

It had been cloudy off and on all day, but warm. Just before supper the clouds moved off and we had a clear sunset.

Rick just sent me this photo that he took at 6am this morning. He is hoping to get star photos tonight, as it is clear, but the moon may interfere.

Victoria Harbour break

 Heather, Pam, Sue and I spent 3 nights at a rented cottage in Victoria Harbour, near Midland, on Georgian Bay.

It looked like an ordinary house but had a quirky layout. I suspect it is an old cottage that has been messed with many times and the renovations did not always flow together well. But we each had a bedroom, there were 2 bathrooms, outside areas in the shade or the sun

with a view of the water. Two kayaks and paddleboards came with the cottage but the water level was too low to get them in the water.

We took a trip in to Midland for the traditional day of shopping - thrift store, yarn shop, shoe store and lunch by the waterfront. Photo by Pam.

Photo by Pam.

The thrift store visit was to upgrade the coffee mugs at the cottage. We wanted larger ones and each found our signature mugs.

Heather and I walked in the neighbourhood and found some lovely homes,

a restaurant that we ate dinner at later and

a beach with a view across the Bay

Bird watching was good..... Kingfisher, Osprey, Bald Eagle,

Heron,

Mergansers and a variety of ducks.

Lots of different boats and a float plane.

We ate, drank and caught up with each other while Pam and Sue knitted

and Heather and I hooked.