Travel // Beautiful Nature

"This never happened before."

25th of September

B A R R Y ' S  B A Y

After we had a warm welcome at H.'s Uncle and his wife, we went to shop for groceries (yes, we did that again). This time, we went to the Walmart in Pembroke and even though I was at first taken back by the size of the store, I was even more amazed by their Halloween section. Now we don't have Halloween in Germany like the Canadians have here. It is a huge deal and almost all of the kids are going out on the 31th of October to dress up as their favorite hero or monster, go door to door and try to fill up their empty pillow case with as much candy as possible.
If I'm jealous you might ask? Yes. Yes I am.

We also promised H.'s Family here to help them in the house and the garden, so that was what we did. Because the winters are very cold with much snow, it is important to heat the house with Wood. So H.'s uncle had two loads of Wood, that needed to be piled for the winter, so that was, what we did. In Addition to that, we also helped mowing the lawn, cutting the plants, vacuum cleaning the house and ranking the front lawn.

26th of September

The next day, H. and I took the opportunity we have at his uncle's house and went on to the lake. They own a beautiful house at the Golden Lake and along with it, a Kayak, a canoe and a paddle boat. It was still very warm and the sun was out. We carried the canoe to the water and off we went. Now I never said I was a sports person...and I'm really not, but still, after I was able to convince H. that he should slow down a bit, we were actually able to canoe for some time. The feeling of being surrounded by water and to see the shoreline filled with trees was amazing and something I'll never forget. I would highly recommend it, if you ever have the Chance.

27th of September

On this day, we were invited to have a boat tour with the neighbors of H.'s uncle. The lake we explored the day before was to be visited again.

With to other couples, we had a lovely boat tour on the very same lake, but were able to get further down its paths. 

The boat was slowly making its way, so I was feeling like I was in Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile" only that we weren't on the Nile and I wasn't about to entcounter a murder...or so I thought...No, I'm only kidding...

After that, we also had a barbeque with the very same couples and H.'s uncle and his wife. We made some pretty good vegetarian burgers and had a lovely evening with lots of Chats and laughter. Another good thing that came out of that evening was me discovering Pumpkin Pie. It is a common or rather traditional dessert in the autumn time of Canada. I didn't know, that something so delicious was waiting for me and since autumn is my favorite time of the year, it was probably my destiny to encounter and love  Pumpkin Pie.

verybestbaking.com

28th of September

We went and had lunch with one of H.'s aunts and her husband, which was quite lovely. "The Ash Grove Inn" was the place called and it is a Restaurant/Hotel, where you can get many great sandwiches and other things.

H. is really happy to be able too meet with all his relatives and his Family and to catch up with them. 

29th of September

Algonquin Park. That is one of the sights that you certainly want to see while you're in southern Ontario. Luckily, H.'s relatives were taking us there. 

It is the biggest and oldest provincial park in Canada. You can go Camping in it or simply drive through the Highway that goes across it. If you want, you can even canoe through it, with the rivers that flow in the Park.

You might be confused about the introductory sentence, but I'll explain it now. Usually, many Tourist from all over the world come to Canada in the Fall, the "Indian Summer" they call it, and while we did see many Tourist, we didn't get to see what they were coming for...The colors of the forest.

The autumnal colors of the trees are very famous due to their intensity; burning reds, popping oranges and bright yellows, but this year, it is different.

Because of the changes in the climate (remember, it was suddenly very hot again) the colours wouldn't turn properly and we were still left with the summer greens. We also had the very first rainy day. And after it started, it really came pouring down.

Still, it was an amazing day and we got to learn about the logging that is a big part of Canadian history and the arts in two different Museums. Although everyone kept saying "this never happened before" and "you need to come back next year", it was great to see Algonquin Park and we're very grateful that someone showed it to us. And H. and I would definitely go again. Who knows, maybe next year...

Afterward, we went to a local Restaurant called "Wilno Tavern", which is a historic polish Pub. The atmosphere was really nice and cosy. the Food was great and in the end, we all had some dessert and guess what I picked. Right. Pumpkin Pie.

algonquinpark.on.ca

This is what it was supposed to look like. "Indian Summer"

Well, those were our first activities in the more nothern part of Canada. Maybe you get the urge to see it as well, I hope so, it really is beautiful.

With best regards,

Alice