Saturday. A spontaneous invitation from Fran and John to visit them for a barbecue. A real one. Burgers, potatoes and onions and other little bits and bobs were consumed by all of us, complete with a nice Australian Shiraz and lots of punch. Sitting on the decking, overlooking the huge back lawn, which adjoins next door, and another neighbour’s field that was being mowed by a huge tractor-thing.

Sam misbehaved again, as he usually does when visitors are about. Stopping occasionally for a rest, or to bound down the steps to say ‘hello’ to an elderly German Shepherd that frequently wanders through. Or to sit at the corner of the house looking over the other side of the street to look out for his other doggy friend Elmo.

The strawberries were sensational. This area is known as the strawberry capital of Canada, and the ones we had were picked up at one of the wooden stalls that dot the highways during a couple of weeks of each year. The “You Picks” are open too.

Here’s Sam, hypnotised by the promise of popcorn:

I also now know how to pronounce Emm Gryner’s surname properly.

This year’s visit to Montreal got postponed due to logistical issues. Next year: Niagara Falls and lots of wine tasting, but I have to make a list of where exactly I want to go.

Every road leads to Smith’s Falls, or so it appears. This town is the place to go if you want to see how Hershey’s chocolates and candies are made. And to buy some. My cousin Fran and my uncle both ambled through the ‘Chocolate Shoppe’, colliding with excited schoolies, and filling their baskets. Not me though.

Aside for some seemingly high quality chocolate near the entrance the rest looked evil. No idea as to the cocoa content. Mmmm.. main ingredients: sugar. And artificial flavouring. Even the chocolate has artificial flavouring. The Maple Creams don’t have any maple in them. This is Canada, remember, where genuine, real, maple syrup comes from.

Ugh.

Travel south from Ottawa for about 100 miles and you reach Gananoque. A cute little town near one end of Lake Ontario and a 20 minute drive from the 1000 Islands International Bridge that crosses the water, onto the islands and the United States.

We went on the three hour boat tour of the 1000 Islands. If there’s a rock, there’s a house on it. Literally. Half of the area of the islands is owned by Canada, the remainder by the United States, although Canada owns most of the islands. The tour crosses the international border twice on its tour around many of the islands, circling the much larger Hill Island and Wellesley Island.

Included on the tour is the smallest bridge that joins two countries across a waterway:

There’s plenty to see and hear. Besides houses, of course. Boldt Castle, built by one-time proprietor of the Waldorf Historia in New York, and landmarks reflecting the people who helped build this part of the world.

There are a lot of parks in Ottawa, built near the rivers or in the city itself. Both Andrew Haydon Park and Dick Bell Park are alongside the Ottawa River. No bicycles or dogs are allowed here.

Andrew Haydon Park has lots of wildlife. Canada Geese and various gulls wander around, oblivious to the human presence. The geese nibble at the grass. One chipmunk made a brief appearance at the main entrance to the park, but the star was a groundhog eating carrots from the hand of a friendly Canadian:

Following the river around brings you to some marshland, more geese and various other birds. This leads to Dick Bell Park and the Nepean Sailing Club: