Morning kayak from Rideau Acres Resort then onto Queen's University plus Ferry/Bikes onto Wolfe Island, Kingston

Rideau Acres Resort campsite

Our resort, Rideau Acres, is on the Colonel By Lake, which is part of the Rideau Canal system. This morning the lake is finally calm enough for us to launch the kayaks. 

Bird island

There is a little island right offshore that is filled with birds and we finally are able to get close. 

Swans cruising with us

Glass calm water

We head down the lake to the Kingston Mills locks 46-49 on the Rideau Canal. 

Boats waiting at the lock entrance

Rosborough 246 - For Sale

Chris spies the little trawler (middle boat above) and sees it has a For Sale sign on it. We head over and start talking to the owners and before we know it, we are on board having a look to see what a boat of this size would be like :) We exchange numbers and mull the idea of a boat out here. 

In the end we decide we have to let the boat idea go for now. We are in the middle of our x-Canada trip and buying a boat would just complicate things. 

After our kayak, we load the bikes and head into Kingston for one last explore. We head to the Queen's University district and unload the bikes as it's easier getting around. 

Ellis Hall at Queen's University

We search out Ellis Hall, which is the Civil Engineering faculty and also Victoria's old stomping grounds.

This is a very nice university campus filled with old limestone buildings.

Limestone campus buildings at Queen's University

Purple People 

Frosh week is in full swing so 100's and 100's of students are out and about dressed in all sorts of wild costumes and colors doing all sorts of crazy stuff. We find the group of purple people Victoria was a part of when she was here. It all looks like such a fun time for these young kids stepping out in their lives. 

Wolfe Island ferry unloading 

We bike over for the 2:00 pm Wolfe Island ferry. It's a 20 minute ride from downtown Kingston across the St. Lawrence river. 

Fort Henry

We pass Fort Henry, which we toured the other day. From the water it is easy to see how strategically it's placed on top of Point Henry.  

We unload onto Wolfe Island and then bike for 15 minutes or so into the small town of Marysville. 

Marysville church

 

Aptly nicknamed Windmill Island

In the town there are cute shops and quaint stores, but we continue through the town and head out on a road that follows along the water. Wolfe Island is nicknamed 'Windmill Island' due to the prominent wind farm featuring over 80 large wind turbines.

Tractor collection

We bike out to the Simcoe Island cable ferry before turning around and heading back to Marysville for a cold coke on a nice patio. 

Ferry just unloading as we arrive. 

We are busy chatting with a really nice young guy on a trip with his dad to a music festival happening on the island tonight, when we realize it's already 6:09 and we plan on catching the 6:30 ferry back to Kingston. It's a big push but we make it with a couple minutes to spare. 

Going into the wind and waves = spray

Kingston waterfront 

We ride the Kingston waterfront trail back to the Queen's university district where we parked the truck.

Words of wisdom from Gord Downie - wall painting

BBQ London Broil

It's late by the time we are back at the RV but we decide to BBQ the London Broils we bought yesterday in Westport. They hit the spot with a glass of red wine. 

Rock Dunder hike, Rideau Canal Jones Falls Lock, Town of Westport Plus Halloween at Rideau Acres Resort

View from top of Rock Dunder hike

Today is a touring, exploring day that starts with the Rock Dunder reserve hike, which was recommended to us by Victoria - our future daughter in law :) She went to Queens University in Kingston so she is familiar with the area. 

The hike is a nice climb up through trees and huge rocks. Feels like the Canadian Shield again. Great views at the top :)

Boots and legs - Chris photo :)

Arch stone dam from 1830

Next we head to the Jones Falls locks 39-42 on the Rideau Canal. We park and walk the loop to take in the entire engineering wonder. On the upstream end, there is a spectacular arch stone dam that was built to tame a mile long series of rapids and falls. Built in 1830, it is a tremendous engineering feat for the day and it still stands today for the most part exactly as originally built.

Upper lock

Jones Falls is considered one of the prettiest and highly photographed lock stations on the Rideau Canal. It is a flight of 3 lower locks, with a turning basin separating these from the upper lock. It's the highest lift of any lock station on the Rideau.

Rideau Canal history

There is a small museum on sight explaining the history of the Rideau Canal. Basically after the War of 1812,  Canada needed a secure water route within our own lands, in order to bypass the vulnerable St. Lawrence River during tense times with the USA. It served as a vital defense against American invasion at that time in history. 

It only took 6 years to build the entire Rideau Canal system, a huge effort at a time when Canada was under threat from the Americans. Currently Canada needs to come together again and get some big projects going in order to launch our country out of the economic coma it has been in for 10 years. Can we thwart the current American threat of trump on Canada?

Upper lock exit and turning basin

Start of the lower locks

Today the Rideau Canal is primarily used for recreational boating and it is lovely. 

Town of Westport

The narrow back roads through the countryside offer great views and soon we are at Westport, a happening little town on Upper Rideau Lake, which is all part of the Rideau Canal network. 

Boats on Westport Town docks

Looking out on Upper Rideau Lake

Westport mural

We explore the town streets for a bit, grab some groceries and sit on a patio with a view for local craft beer. Then it's back to the RV after a great day out and about. 

Halloween in August

Back at Rideau Acres it is full on Halloween. There are tons of costumes and decorations and people mulling about having fun. While at our Ottawa RV resort they celebrated Halloween last weekend. Is it an Ontario thing to celebrate Halloween in August? 

We walk about and chat with people here and there and then call it a night.  BOO

Concert in Joel Stone Park - Gananoque, Ontario

Our home and office away from home

It rained heavy overnight and it's still raining quite hard for most of the day. We use it as a day to get caught up on work and chores.

When in Gananoque the other day, we saw a poster for a,  Georgette Fry, concert in the Joel Stone park for Friday night at 7:30 so we finally leave the RV around 7pm. 

Georgette Fry and her Jazz and Blues band

It is still raining slightly when we get to Gananoque so the crowd sits under umbrellas as the concert gets going.

St. Lawrence River

Soon the skies clear and a rainbow appears over the St. Lawrence River. 

Covered stage at Joel Stone Park

 

The music is amazing. Georgette has a beautiful raspy toned voice and her partner's voice is like butter. Together with the saxophones, drums and keyboards we are treated to one amazing, free concert in the park. Well worth the 30 minute drive out this way. 

A wonderful evening of music completes our day :)

Fort Henry plus F1 Movie in Kingston, Ontario

It's supposed to really start to rain after lunch today so we head to Fort Henry for it's opening at 10am. We join the first tour of the day and learn some of it's history. In Saskatchewan and Manitoba we visited forts and battle grounds that pertained to First Nations and Metis, battles within Canada. Fort Henry is all about tensions between Canada and the USA.

Fortified entrance

Fort Henry is a 19th-century British military fortress originally built on Point Henry during the War of 1812 to protect the British Royal Naval Dockyards. 

Views of Kingston from Fort Henry

The initial structure was replaced by the present, larger limestone fortress between 1832 and 1837. It was then redesigned to defend the Rideau Canal system, which was built after the War of 1812 to create a secure route for British troops and supplies between Kingston and Ottawa. 

Canons atop the fort

Old tunnels and stairwells

Commanders living quarters

Original rifles found

Courtyard of Fort Henry

This courtyard would have been used for military training exercises back in the day, but today we see a canon and gun firing demonstration. It is also used today to hosts events like music concerts and both Blue Rodeo and The Tragically Hip both performed here. 

Window seat tea

The sun is still out so we head into Kingston and run a few errands. Chris gets a haircut and before long the clouds roll in and the rain begins to come down hard. We find a cute coffee shop and sit out the rain until it's close to movie time. 

The Screening Room

We knew the rain was coming this afternoon so we planned to see the new F-1 movie and stay dry. The Screening Room movie house is a quaint, artsy theater with comfy seats that works well for the 3;40 movie. 

Cool old fashion movie theater

It's a 2.5 hour movie on top of previews so it's close to 7 by the time we get back to the RV. Another day done gone.