1st – 11th August 2025
Jill’s cousins in Canada all seem to congregate in the
summer at their cottages on Lake Rideau in central Ontario. Each family has
their own property on various islands and shorelines close to the eastern shore
of the big largest lake. And they expressed a wish for us to join them for a
week. Micheal and Ginny invited us to stay with them for a few days and also offered
to pick us up from the nearest railway station. Although August tends to get a
little hot, it suited us to fly over for a week-long break in the first week of
the month.
Friday/Saturday 1st/2nd August Getting to Lake Rideau
Air Transat had a conveniently timed flight from Manchester
to Toronto on Friday lunchtime so we had lots of time for breakfast and
last-minute packing before our taxi arrived to take us to the airport. It was
our old friend the Gurkha Veteran who drove us, a bit more sedately this time. The
13.25 departure time was achieved with the minimum delay and we landed ahead of
schedule in Toronto in the late afternoon. With all the kerfuffle of baggage
reclaims, it was 5pm local time by the time we were heading for the UP-line
train to Union Station. A twenty- minute walk to Bob and Arlene’s apartment saw
us safely installed in our accommodation. We ate at the Market Steet Catch
restaurant just round the corner. Fried calamari, a lager and a bottle of rose
wine prepared us for a good night’s sleep.
An early start the next morning gave us time for a quick
breakfast on the walk back to Union Station and we were still in good time for
the 08.32 train to Kingston. This was, unusually we were informed, spot on time
and by 11.am we were greeting Michael. It was less than an hour’s drive north
to Portland and onto Michael’s boat at Bay View marina. He dropped us off at
John and Phyllis’ lakeside cottage where we stayed for two nights whilst
Michael and Ginny entertained their family. In the evening, we sailed over to
meet Christopher and Jonathon and their families and to have a meal with them.
It was here that I had my first Canadian real ale, Muskoka IPA from an Ontario-based
brewery.
On Sunday morning I was invited to join John and Phyllis on
their daily 2-mile walk through their local woods. Before we set off, a sticky
strip of tape was applied to the back of my Tilley hat to divert the expected
attacks of deer flies. John lent me his walking poles and then strode off down
the overgrown path with barely a pause or backward glance. 52 minutes later and
we were home and examining
the deer flies stuck to my hat. Although this had
mitigated against the worst of insect bites, I was still bitten on both arms and
was scratching the itchy skin for the rest of the week. All this excitement
called for an afternoon of reading and siesta before we set out across the lake
to Bob and Arlene’s for a belated birthday meal and family gathering. I blessed
the fact there were no vegans in the family as I enjoyed the lovely meat and
some IPA from Perth brewery. The red wine was a limited edition called Lois
Rae, available to family and friends only.
Sunday 3rd – Saturday 9th August
2025 Life on the Lake; a Week with
Michael and Ginny
Michael sailed over early on Monday morning to rescue us
from the breakfast-free regime of the Rae family. We were given a choice of
accommodation and, rather than the rather remote ‘Bunky’ cottage, we picked a
lovely light bedroom in the main house with a fabulous view over the lake.
After lunch, Michael and I boated back to the marina and walked a section of
the Cataraqui Trail, an old railway track that ran parallel to the lakeside. We
enjoyed a lovely meal of salmon in the evening and I tried another beer from
Perth brewery, this time a stout.
Tuesday was our day in Perth for visits to the town hall,
visitors centre, waste recycling and of course the brewery. In the first of
these, a framed copy of a letter hung in the entrance hall on the occasion of
the 170th anniversary of the founding of the town. The letter had
been signed by cousin Bob during his term as Premier of Ontario in 1990. The
last of these visits took the most time. The person who welcomed us to the
brewery spoke with a north London accent and, when established as a Spurs
supporter, Michael and I were treated to a private tour of the brewery. We then
tried samples of four beers each. I had a Honey Lager at 4.5%, Calypso IPA at
4.8%, Budbuster IPA at 6.2% and an Oyster Stout. We joined the ladies at
Maximillian’s Restaurant for lunch, then had a quick walk around the riverside
parkland before taking in a supermarket and liquor store. A late siesta was
need on getting back to the cottage before an evening meal and the opening of
some of our Perth Brewery beers. Hopside IPA proved my favourite but I also
enjoyed Lug-Tread from Beau’s Brewery.
A visit to Jones Falls proved a great success on Wednesday.
A short walk from the car park brought us out into a lovely open area of lake
and locks as a staircase of three locks led boats down from the Big Lake.
Whilst watching some small craft pass through the system of locks, we were led
to expect the approach of a bigger cruiser. A half hour wait proved fruitful as
a goodly sized boat appeared in the top lock and we followed, mesmerised, its
passage through the middle lock. On the drive home, we called in at the Recess
café just outside Portland for a sizeable sandwich and coffee. Another quiet
afternoon beckoned before the pizza oven was fired up.
Michael had some work commitments to fulfil on Thursday
morning so we had a restful few hours of conversation and reading. By lunchtime
we were in a supermarket in Elgin, buying meat and supplies for the evening
meal. It was too late for the Recess café, so we drove right up to the marina
in Portland and popped into the Portside restaurant for a very late lunch. I
had a gorgeous snack of battered brie and fig jam accompanied by a pint of
Bubble Stash IPA from the Hop Valley Brewery. This was my number one ale of the
entire trip. The afternoon was spent getting involved with the tennis from
Montreal, the final between the young Canadian Vicky Mboko and the Japanese
American, Osaka. The pause button was pressed to enjoy an evening meal of
salmon, eaten with a drink of Hopside IPA, before watching the conclusion in
which Mboko became the first home winner in six years.
Visitors dropped in for breakfast on the Friday morning.
Jennifer and Shirley, Bob and Arlene sailed over for a much-needed family chat.
It was too late and too hot to hit the mainland so we spend the day reading and
resting. The wood oven was called into use yet again to grill some beautiful
meat for dinner. The supply of Hopside IPA was brought into the endangered species
category.
Saturday/Sunday 9th/10th August 2025 The Coda
We packed our bags early on Saturday morning. Michael and Ginny
were returning to Toronto and attending a family birthday this weekend. We
could have returned with them and spend our last two days in the provincial
capital but we chose to take up John and
Phyllis’ kind invitation of another night with them and a meal with the
Rae clan. So once more we were carried across the water where we said our
goodbyes to Michael and Ginny. They had given us a wonderful week. A quiet
afternoon ended with the arrival of the deputation of Bob and Arlene, Jennifer
and Shirley. Phyllis and John cooked a fabulous meal and we had much wine and
chat . I had rescued two cans of Perth Beer from Michaels fridge so enjoyed my
last Hopside IPA and a Mokka Stout. Early to bed.
I had arranged to walk with Phyllis at 9am on Sunday morning
but the house remained silent until after 9.30am. Eventually we repeated our 2
mile round of woodland around the cottage and got bitten to pieces by flies and
mosquitos. By lunchtime, John had organised a taxi to take us to Kingston to
catch our pre-booked train to Toronto. He sailed us across to the nearest
roadhead and drove us to Highway 15 to rendezvous with our driver. Early at the
station, the train came in on time but was 45 mins late getting into Union
Station. A short walk to Joey’s restaurant in King Steet provided us with an
relaxing meal before we travelled on to the airport. I had wild cod in curry
source washed down with a pint of Muskoka Detour IPA. The UP-line took us out
to the airport and we quickly got through security and boarded the 11.50pm Air
Transat flight to Manchester. Home early and quickly out to the taxi rank and a
drive back to Macclesfield. The weather was just as good as Toronto but a full
night’s sleep was hard to come by for a few days. It had been a short and
interesting trip, much more enjoyable than I had expected, in many ways due to
the wonderful week that Michael and Ginny had prepared for us.
