Day 54

This morning, we woke up and had a huge breakfast of crepes with frozen yoghurt and bananas, yoghurt, fruit, raisin bread, etc. It was amazing! His mom also prepared a massive lunch for us! Both his parents were so nice! We got everything packed up and then loaded our bikes and our gear into the van. Rather than cycling back around the lake, it was much quicker, and easier, and cooler, to row across, then cycle from the other side (Kirk's dad helps run the Pinawa rowing club). Kirk's mom rode the bikes to the other side in the minivan, while Kirk, his dad, Nicole, Michael and I rowed across. It was my first time in a scull. It was tons of fun, but I was really bad (Michael and Nicole said I was pretty good for a beginner, so I'd hate to imagine how frustrating it would be to run a learn to row program!). I'm glad we only did 4km though because I do not have the muscles required to row! It was tough! Good thing I was in a two man with Michael. He definitely did most of the rowing! But it was really fun to try something new and sculling is something I have always wanted to try! Nicole and Kirk's dad were in another double, and Kirk was in a single, but only rowed part way with us because he had to go back to work. When we got to Otter's Bay, we helped load the boats onto the van, and got all our gear together. Kirk's parents and Nicole saw us off as we hit the road! (and we realized how big the lunch was that Kirk's mom prepared for us! It was so generous of them! And it included home made cookies!!!). It's funny because Kirk's dad asked us how the bugs were, and so far we found that as long as we were moving, they didn't bother us. It was only when we stood still that they swarmed. How naïve! Today we found they were always bad! We were constantly surrounded by a cloud of horse flies! It was not pleasant at all and I got bit (which is rather painful!). There was no escaping them! It really made the ride unpleasant. Other than the bugs, it was a nice day (a little too hot, in all honesty), but really nice. And we cycled through Whiteshell Provincial Park, which was really scenic. We stopped off in West Hawk Lake (it was only there that the bugs stopped being so bad, and we weren't about to stop and be eaten alive any sooner!). Along the way we saw a few foxes and deer. For dinner we ate the rest of the lunch prepared for us, then continued to the Ontario border! We didn't want to stay on the roads too long because I was tired, and it's not safe to be on the roads around dusk, when all the wildlife is out. We ended up camping in the backyard of the Ontario info center (it's away from the highway traffic, well maintained lawns, and out of view. The info center said it would open tomorrow at 9am, so we would be out before anyone arrived. We hung our food in a tree, then went to bed! It's exciting being in Ontario because we're home! (Well, province-wise, we're home, but city-wise, we're not even close! We're actually closer to Calgary than Toronto!). But it feels very productive to be here already! We've crossed off B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Now we have thousands of kilometers before we're out of Ontario, but it feels nice to be here! And it's exciting to see parts of Ontario I've never seen before! I'm excited!