2nd Week - Across Ontario

Hello everyone,

today we are checking in after our first two weeks.

The second week was a rollercoaster of emotions :D with very varied weather, flooded roads, closed national parks, the question of what are we doing here and what's next (-> resignation in eastern Canada), and much more, but let's get into it now.

Let's start where we left off with the last entry - the first day in Algonquin Provincial Park. The morning was full of excitement and motivation, which unfortunately was quickly taken away from us upon arrival at the park. Although the weather was absolutely perfect, 25°C with bright sunshine and clear sky, only about 25% of the park was open, as it is still 'Out of Season'. Disappointment was in the air.

Well, nevertheless, we set off. We couldn't do the three trails we had planned - unfortunately they were also closed. But we quickly found an alternative, which was supposed to be about 7.5 km long and take 3.5 hours. We were proven otherwise. Upon arrival at the start of the circuit, we already knew that 3.5 hours would be very ambitious. The paths were mostly covered with about at least 20 cm of snow, which was completely frozen. In addition, many parts of the hiking trail were quite flooded and we had to find our way without getting completely wet despite wearing hiking shoes :D It was supposed to be a moderate hiking trail, but due to the conditions mentioned, it was more like a very difficult one. We felt like we were the only crazy ones out there in these conditions. However, we should mention that we were hiking in shorts and t-shirts over snow and ice because it would have been too hot otherwise. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and varied. Particularly worth seeing were many small streams, a small waterfall - which was flowing like a raging river through the forest. We hiked over tree roots, rocks, and finally leaves. Of course, everything was constantly covered in snow and ice. In the end, we were on the trail for almost 5 hours and incredibly proud and happy when we reached the car. It was one of the most beautiful and varied hiking trails we have done so far.

Since we were not allowed to stay overnight in the park, we had to leave in the afternoon after the hike. Originally, we had planned another circuit trail for that day, but of course, no one could have predicted that everything would be covered in snow. So after the first hike, we were satisfied and arrived in a small town called Barry's Bay, where we found another great spot by the water to spend the night.

While cooking dinner (Rigatoni with tomato sauce), we checked the weather forecast for the coming days, and it looked very bad and was expected to be the same. During the night and also in the morning, we were already woken up by heavy showers, which completely changed our plan for the day. To come up with a new plan, we first went to a Tim Hortons (which is everywhere here and is a typical Canadian coffee chain) to use the WiFi for our research. After spending what felt like the whole morning there, we unfortunately abandoned our 'Algonquin experience' and drove to Round Lake in the hope of better weather and possibly open national parks, to hike in the small Bonnechere Provincial Park. Unfortunately, this plan backfired as well, as we set off but had to turn around after about a kilometer, as everything was flooded. The highlight was observing several woodpeckers enthusiastically hammering away on the trees. From there, we drove to the other side of the lake to find a supposedly open Foy Provincial Park, according to the internet, as it was reputed to have a very nice beach. Yes, you can already guess what happened. The beach had also been swallowed up by the water and the park was closed, of course. Well, our motivation was still high and we thought, we won't let this defeat us so quickly. When we arrived at Golden Lake, we wanted to spend the afternoon with a cozy coffee by the lake and end the day at a wonderful spot we had found, and stay there overnight. But when it rains, it pours. Unfortunately, it was very windy and therefore quite cold, which quickly cooled down the car and prompted us to make a spontaneous decision in the early evening that we couldn't spend the night in the car under these conditions. So we spontaneously drove to Pembroke to a motel, where we were lucky again with the accommodation. Disheartened and happy to have a warm room at the same time, we thought about how to proceed in the next days.

The next morning, the decision for the next few days was practically forced upon us. It made no sense to continue trying to visit national parks under these circumstances, as it was getting colder and the weather wasn't getting any better. Plus, most of the preferred parks were, according to the internet, closed. So Plan B was put into action, and we headed straight to Ottawa.

The journey through the rural areas of Ontario was really beautiful, but it was also a long and tedious car ride. When we arrived in Ottawa, our nerves were on edge, especially since the accommodation was just plain terrible compared to the previous ones. To go to sleep with a positive feeling after all the disappointments regarding the national parks, we took a walk through Ottawa Downtown, which offered really great perspectives for the following day.

Full of anticipation for our city day in Ottawa, we started as usual with fruit salad, muesli, and coffee. Then we were off. From Parliament Hill, via the 8 Locks of the Rideau Canal, to Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica, over to the Rideau Falls, we took a little coffee break in ByWard Market (Ottawa's market hall). After that, we concluded our city tour at the Canadian Museum of History. That was the highlight of the day. It was super interesting and highly recommended. We were able to see the complete history of the formation of Canada, from the indigenous peoples to the French invasion, the British invasion and the resulting Seven Years' War, to the present-day representation of Canada. It should be mentioned at this point that the majority of Canada is English-speaking, except for the province of Quebec, which is French-speaking. We noticed this upon arrival in Ottawa, as the city is located exactly on the border between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

In the afternoon, after the city tour, we continued to the small town of Gananoque, at the foot of the Thousand Islands National Park. We spent two wonderful days here, enjoying all the hiking trails and lookout points around Gananoque in the glorious and sunny weather, with pleasant temperatures of 12-20°C. As the grand finale before we left the small town, we took a boat tour of the Thousand Islands, with highlights such as the 1000 Islands International Bridge, Boldt Castle, and the Zavikon Islands, which are connected by a small bridge that represents the border between Canada and the USA.

Now we set off for Mont-Tremblant, likely to experience one of the biggest culture shocks of our lives :D The journey through rural Ontario was beautiful again and as expected - until we reached Hawkesbury. There, we crossed the provincial border. You might think that it's nothing spectacular, but in this case it was. When crossing into Quebec, we really had the feeling that we had left Canada. The landscape was still beautiful, but somewhat different compared to before. In addition, everything was in French. All road signs, the radio didn't know English anymore, the traffic lights were hanging horizontally instead of vertically, and even the people, similar to France, suddenly couldn't speak English anymore. It's truly incredible :D We wanted to use public toilets at a supermarket, as we had done before in a traditional way. Even that was no longer possible, as they didn't exist, as we had experienced so far. On a positive note, there are now public restrooms much more frequently, and some even have WiFi. Ontario did not have that.

When we arrived in Mont-Tremblant, we looked for a nice spot on Park4Night, which we found in Mont-Tremblant Village, to end the evening with a vegetable rice stir-fry and enjoy a beautiful sunset.

This morning, we set out to accomplish our original plans in the Mont-Tremblant area. Two hiking trails in Parc national du Mont-Tremblant, but our dry spell regarding national parks continues. We were greeted by heavy rain, which has been ongoing all day so far. Moreover, despite the national park being open, hiking was unfortunately not possible. The familiar obstacles of snow and flooding persisted. Even worse than before.

Now, we have reached the point where we are abandoning our plans to visit the national parks of Ontario and Quebec, because quite simply, we are tired of these disappointments. In addition, as you know, we want to travel a bit longer than usual. Therefore, the risk of injuries in these weather conditions is definitely too high.

After leaving Parc national du Mont-Tremblant in the morning, we came across a beautiful little picnic area, where we took our time to have coffee and breakfast. During breakfast, we then considered which direction to continue our journey. Directly, it is now Quebec and possibly beyond. Let's see, maybe we are even crazy enough to drive all the way to Prince Edward Island (PEI for the locals :D), but we'll see what the next few days bring.

That's all for now, and with these words, we say goodbye again :)

That's it for the second week :)

We hope you enjoyed reading and found it somewhat entertaining.

Until the next entry :)

Warm regards - Christina & Martin