First Ever Canadian Camping

For want of something better to do this weekend just past, we decided to pack up the canoe and head off for an over night trip.

We settled initially on Shingle Lake, 30km west of Bridgewater, however on arrival I had a change of heart and much to Cameron’s annoyance refused to even consider canoeing here. The reason: access to the lake was via a stream, involving an upstream paddle, landing (I’m not sure where), pulling the canoe over some rapids, re-entering the canoe, and continuing to paddle upstream until lake access was achieved. Sounds tricky huh (remember I’m just a beginner)? Anyway my flat out refusal ended in a domestic, tears and my refusal to go anywhere other than home.

After heading in the wrong direction (i.e. not towards home – Cameron was driving), my curiosity got the better of me, and we decided to call a truce and continue on with the camping adventure. Next port of call was The Christopher Lakes (near Caledonia) – a succession of lakes joined by various portages.

We loaded everything into the canoe and entered the water easily via a boat ramp. We paddled the full couple of km’s to where the camp site was marked on the map and stopped for lunch.

Lunch

We snacked on homemade cider, tuna sandwiches and cookies before jumping back in the canoe to explore some more. On the way up the lake we had bumped into a couple of other canoeist who had told us about a cabin where we could stay. The journey would involve carrying the canoe up one of the portages.

View

We eventually found the portage but decided it was too long a carry and also too dangerous to come back down the connecting stream as it was pretty rocky. We decided to look around the lake and see if we couldn’t find a good camping spot where we were

A Birthday Paddle

When asked what he would like to do for his birthday, Mr Queen, promptly chose heading to a lake for a paddle.

Dauphinee Mill Lake (known as Mill Lake to the locals) is quite close to Halifax and a popular place for the well heeled from the city to have a weekend or vacation cottage. A lot of the cottages can only be accessed by boat and hence a Thursday so early in summer was a perfect opportunity for us to canoe without getting swamped by too many motor boat wakes. We particularly liked this one little cottage, shrouded in trees on its own private island…

lake cottage

The lake is nearly divided in half with a lovely channel connecting the two…

Maiden Voyage at Seven Mile Lake

Although we had taken the canoe out a couple of times in Back Harbour at Lunenburg it had yet to have an official maiden voyage.

On Sunday we loaded it onto the car, packed a picnic and headed to Mush-a-Mush lake (I would just like to point out, especially for my Dad’s sake, that I was driving!!!!). However, when we got to Mush-a-Mush we realized that it wasn’t yet open for the season.

A quick check of the map, some serious cross country driving (Cameron had taken over, I was navigating) and we arrived at Seven Mile Lake – only to discover that there was no public access (as is the case with lots of the lakes in Nova Scotia). Just as we were turning around to head home a kindly gentleman stopped and offered us the use of his wharf and we gladly accepted.

We launched our canoe! Paddled a little and then successfully got stuck on some rocks. Cue lots of panic and shouting, not such a good idea when in a canoe. A little pause, a little discussion and a big push and we were free! We headed right for the middle of the lake… away from the shallow water and rocks.

After a little practice we managed to match our paddling (and stop going in circles) and headed out further in the lake. After forty minutes or so we spotted what we thought may be a small section of beach. We headed for it and sure enough it was a gorgeous little sandy area – perfect for our picnic.

Direction of travel

A tuna sandwich and a few Oreos later, it was time to jump back in the canoe and head back the way we’d come. It was a little harder this direction because of the wind. We succeeded without any glitches this time and returned with our canoe pretty much in one piece and sore arms for our efforts!

Canoe – Part 2

Step 6 – Paint it

Painting

Step 7 – allow to dry and then give it a second coat; allow to dry again

The finished article….

Canoe

Step 8 – get it on the car

Car

Step 9 – tie it down!

Safe and secure

Project Canoe – Part 1

Well I bet you’ve all been wondering what we did with the money you gave us for our wedding; 1)We went on honeymoon, 2)We moved to Canada and 3) We bought a canoe!

Since we arrived in Nova Scotia in October we’ve been looking out for a canoe. We’ve looked everywhere and quickly became depressed when we realized that a new canoe was a lot more expensive than we had anticipated. Time for Plan B – http://www.kijiji.ca, Canada’s answer to pretty much everything (second hand equipment and furnishings – boats – cars – house rentals – the list is endless). Still we had no luck! Plan C – go for a walk around your local town and look in people’s gardens.

We (well actually, Cameron’s parents) spotted a canoe in the garden of a gentleman that lives at the top of our road. It looked good but rather in need of some TLC. We simply asked him if he could consider selling it, he replied ‘make me an offer’, we did and the canoe was ours.

As mentioned before it was in need of some work, so we got to it. We carried the canoe home and placed it in our garden…

Original Canoe

Step one – a trip to the hardware store for some sand paper!

Step Two – sand it!

Half n Half - Sanded