Rideau Canal ~ Ottawa to Kingston

 

                                                                                            Photos by Barry Wallace and Pat Cromie

Aboard the Kawartha Voyager 

My friend Pat Cromie and I recently completed a five day riverboat cruise on the Rideau Canal from Ottawa down to Kingston.    Surprise number one was that our boat was too long and too high for some of the locks and bridges on the Rideau River.   No problem.   The bow of the boat folds up to make it fit into some of the shorter locks (see photo below) and the the cruise deck sun-roof lowers to get under some of the bridges.   

Pat Cromie of Aurora (pictured at right) is seen gathering some sunny rays on the deck of of the Kawartha Voyager heading down the Rideau Canal during a 5-day tour, heading to Kingston on Lake Ontario.   Pat and I are residents of the new Delmanor Retirement Residence on Yonge Street in southern Aurora.   Pat is a 25-year veteran of ship cruising to dozens of countries around the world, including four trips to Alaska.   Me, I am a veteran canoeist and explorer of many Ontario lakes and rivers of Ontario over the years, but my claim to fame is hitchhiking from Ontario to Vancouver Island when I was and 18-year-old with my high school buddy Dan Buddin.   Pat and I reduced to river boat cruises in southern Ontario now but vacationing in our eighties is a lot of fun.

Being a birdwatcher allowed me to watch and photograph a number of species along the cruise route, such as the Osprey (above) pictured in a riverside man-made nesting site, and below: adult and juvenile Trumpeter Swans, plus a Great Blue Heron.

Too much gear?   Time to reload the canoe?

 First mate of an all-women crew is all smiles.

Family pooches seem to show up on half of all the boats on the Rideau Canal...

Canal lock wall (above)

Ship's bell (below)

Above, two of the ubiquitous red deck chairs 

found by the thousands along the canal 

Sunset moment

More photos tomorrow...

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace