Last night brought some rain, but this morning was glorious and sunny, not a cloud in the sky! Thankfully, as this would be our longest distance paddling, about 26 km crossing Upper Rideau and Big Rideau Lakes. Our destination was to be a campsite in Murphy’s Point Provincial Park, just short of the locks at Rideau Ferry.

Dan and I both enjoyed a good night’s sleep in an air conditioned room, complete with an ensuite. In the morning we were treated to a lovely lodge breakfast. Dan opted for the “He man”!

Fed and coffeed up, we made our way down to the dock to begin our day’s journey. I can’t say enough about the people and accommodations at Stirling Lodge. As lunch was included in our rate, they even sent us of with a huge bag of food. Just amazing!

Just 5 minutes in the water, and it was time to get out again. We came to the Newboro Locks just as they were starting up. We even saw the morning flag raising!

A hop around the single lock and we were on our way through a narrow channel that soon opened up to Upper Rideau Lake, the highest point on the canal system.

The wind was from the north, and was unfortunately in our face the whole day! Between the waves from the wind (moderate) and the wash from the cabin cruisers (not so moderate) we bobbed and fought our way up the length of the lake.

At the end of this lake there is the “Narrows Lock”. Again, a single lock with only a 3 ft elevation change down to Big Rideau Lake.

The wind picked up again, and although we stayed pretty close to the west shore, we were pretty buffeted around between wind and boat wake. Because this lake is so large, the cruisers take it pretty fast stirring up huge waves.

After a couple of hours, we decided to pull off at the beginning of the Provincial Park to have a bite to eat. Oh my, what a feast! The lodge had packed a turkey sandwich for Dan, a big turkey topped salad for me, a couple of sides of potato salad, a fruit salad, a couple of bags of chips, a couple of bags of carrot sticks, a butter tart, and a couple of bottles of water! Like I said, I can’t say enough about Stirling Lodge in Newboro!!

Bellies filled, with leftovers packed away, we made way to our campsite for the night. When we got there, a parks staff person was walking through, and we asked if we could by firewood. She said, we could, but the store was quite a paddle away. But wait, she would radio in to see if they could drop a bag off at the boat launch just across the bay… she left, and we weren’t sure what the outcome would be so we continued to set up camp.

With our tent set up, and Dan and I looking to set up something comfy for r and r, what did we hear, but an approaching boat. Sure enough here was 3 of the park staff we had seen earlier delivering firewood to us, right to our front door so to speak! We have been blessed once again!!!

As I said, getting ready for r and r isn’t nearly as fun as doing it! And Dan is a pro!!!

With a little rest, we were finally awake enough to enjoy a glass of wine, and start thinking about dinner.

While dinner was cooking, Dan built the fire and we enjoyed a very pleasant evening listening to loons, the crackling fire and of course the odd fishing boat! Still, pretty idyllic all in all!

With neighbouring campfires echoing our evening, it’s time to say goodnight!