A classic Canadian tradition is a trip to a summer lakeside cottage. Just as South Africans head to the beach over the summer and the Brits all fly to Spain, Canadians motor to lake country and spend some time at a cottage. Finding a lake in Ontario is not a difficult proposition, they are everywhere. Throw a stick far enough and you’re bound to hit one. As tourists, finding a nice group of people to go with is trickier. Luckily, Ella and I were invited by the nicest bunch to their beautiful lakeside cottage in the Kawartha Lakes area, about an hour and a half north of Toronto.
I’m not sure if this is representative of all cottages in Canada, but this one was kitted out. I quickly worked out that, while at the cottage, one can go as slow or as fast as they want to go – if you want to chill out, that’s great; if you want to get busy, there’s plenty to do. Given our time constraints, we opted to get busy. First up, a fishing trip.
The fish to catch was a pickerel – which Adi and the others reeled in with surprising efficiency. All I got was a lousy undersized throw-back sunfish, although it felt like a prize marlin for a few seconds. It was a beautiful evening on the lake, incredibly calm, and made me remember why I enjoy fishing.
Golf seems to have become another classic Canadian tradition, and the next morning we headed off to one of the many local courses for a round. The greens were in outstanding condition.
And for a final activity – water skiing. Interestingly, this lake (called Sturgeon) is part of a system of connected lakes and locks than can take you all the way to Lake Michigan, and supposedly via the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.
Between all of these activities, we ate delicious food, played all sorts of card games, and just had fun hanging out. We’d like to thank the hosting family for welcoming us with such generosity – a brilliant example of why Canadians have that well-deserved reputation for friendliness and kindness. We have seen ample evidence of this, with this cottage trip as the pinnacle. We reluctantly hopped in the car and headed south, back to the city.
