Day 105: Hastings to Peterborough, Ontario
Day 105: Friday, July 29th: Today dawned cool and clear - a perfectly gorgeous morning! We got underway about 9:15am for a cruise day of about 38 miles with only one lock for the day. Maha Rani slept in and would catch up to us later. The first part of the day was spent on Rice Lake, a pretty lake that is 18 miles long and about three miles wide at the widest point; it seemed to stretch forever:
We then turned north into the Otonabee River. This river is charming, narrow and pristine in most areas. Maha Rani joined in behind us here:
While it is a pretty color, this purple weed is very invasive and is choking much of the shallows in the area:
The riverbanks are occasionally dotted with nice homes:
This home was in a particularly pretty setting with nice landscaping:
Loons are very wary birds that are almost impossible to get close to. As you approach them, they usually dive. However, a mother Loon will protect her young rather than dive. Here is one with a lone baby. Not the best of pictures, but fun. You can make out the baby just behind the mother:
A home painted black and white, with a sort of interesting design:
It was fun to see this herd of cows; they were standing in the water as we rounded the bend and they came into view:
This treehouse was in better shape than the cottage it belonged to:
We finally arrived at Lock 19 and were lifted another nine feet. Leaving the lock we negotiated this railroad swing bridge. It is left open and seemed abandoned:
The city of Peterborough was a mile or so past the bridge. We moored in the very nice Peterborough Marina situated next to a big grassy park and very nicely landscaped:
We will be logging our experiences in the Peterborough Lift Lock in a few days. This tour boat, moored next to the marina, offers rides up through the lift lock and back. No thanks, it's like practicing bleeding for Bill:
This big band shell is in the park next to the marina and tomorrow night there will be a concert here. We plan to attend:
The Canada Geese arrived early for the concert and starting hunting a good place to sit:
There is a small bay called Little Lake where the marina is. In the bay is this huge fountain - made prettier by the rainbow colors. The water shoots about 100 feet into the air:
We wandered along the main road by the marina to do some shopping. This Packard car was parked in the Holiday Inn lot and Bill was fascinated:
There were five Great Loopers moored at the marina, Integrity, Maha Rani, CaySea (whom we had met in Deltaville, VA), Another One (we met in Trenton), and new friends aboard "Fire Escape". The owner is (duh!) a retired fireman. This cute wind vane is mounted on the stern of the boat:
Position tonight: N44 17.799 W078 19.093
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