JONES FALLS IN THE RIDEAU LAKES DISTRICT

Travelers must be alert to serendipity on the road. It happened to me when our lunch plans failed in Gananoque on the St. Lawrence River in the heart of the Thousand Islands. The restaurant we had chosen was closed for a private function and the only alternative was pub food, which we'd eaten too much in previous days on our vacation.

Upper lock and turning basin
from Kenney's Hotel

Nothing for it but drive about 50 kms north to Jones Falls, a place I'd never been to on the Rideau Lakes. Parks Canada operates this long canal/river linking lakes and locks that was designated a "Canadian Heritage River" in 2000 and a UN Heritage site in 2007. (More info here.)

The waterway runs from Ottawa to Kingston and visitors can take a choice of cruises of several days to enjoy the whole waterway. I've been wanting to do this for a while, but this time had to visit by road. I'm now determined to book two or three cruises back to back next year.

Jones Falls's locks, a staircase of four, were built in 1830 during the canal's construction and soon a hotel was built close by. The locks proved to be one of the greatest challenges for the builders who had to deal with a drop of 60 feet in the river. They have the second highest lock gates in the world and are still operated manually. Beside them, sits an old storehouse of local stone (now an interpretive centre open in the summer) and the lockmaster's house and a smithy further up river. It is picturesque and considered one of the most beautiful in the system.


Hotel Kenney followed soon after the locks were completed and it was here we headed for lunch.  It first opened in 1849, burned down, was rebuilt in 1877, and added to in 1888. Today it hasn't changed much since the later date, except for A/C throughout and modern bathrooms. The floors slope a bit and the boards creak as you walk through the public rooms into the restaurant. The smell is one of old wood.

Sitting at a window table watching the pleasure craft and kayaks sailing in and out of the lowest lock, I could easily imagine the older, gentler time. Ladies in long summer dresses, big hats, and carrying parasols would walk the lawns on the river's edge and enjoy afternoon tea at tables under the trees. US presidents have stayed here and Princess Juliana used to visit when she was living in Ottawa during WW2. The bar looks original, all wood, and offers a good choice of ale.

The three-course, prix fixe lunch in Hotel Kenney's restaurant overlooking the locks was all home-cooked and delicious. The menu is not haute cuisine, but reminiscent of earlier country-style dishes. It's hearty, tasty, and very reasonably priced. I had a bowl of turkey stew and my husband, fish and chips with all the trimmings that he devoured. Breakfast and dinner are also available for hotel guests and visitors.

We walked across Long Bridge to the locks to shake down our meal as the sky was darkening and warning us of a stormy late afternoon. So we drove back to Ottawa to continue our visits with family, well satisfied with the exploration and our future plan to cruise the whole system with Ontario Waterway Cruises.

Looking downriver from the locks

ALL IMAGES: © Photos by Pharos 2013. All rights reserved

HIGH SUMMER ON GALIANO

After a delicious breakfast in Galiano Inn's resto on our last full day on Galiano, we headed out in the hot sunshine to find some interesting places and people to visit. Once again we took one of the inn's Smartcars and it was just as well we did. We travelled main roads (two lanes) and narrow, country lanes wide enough for a small, very small car.
We wanted to find a few spots that were less well known by tourists and a couple that are favourites.

Heading north, stopped at the glass studio, but it wasn't our cup of tea, and crossed the main road in search of a few galleries on the map that we never found or were closed.

© James S. Ferguson

Next stop was easy—Cable Bay Farm in mid-island. This is the home of Galiano's photographer, Henny Schnare, and her family. What a great place to stop on a Tuesday! Tuesdays are the farm's weekly open house and market day. Henny has a thing about basil and it grows in vast abundance—she gave us a huge bunch for the chef at Galiano Inn. But the small acreage grows all sorts of organic produce for purchase and for the restaurants, pubs, cafés, and B&Bs on the island.

Henny is the most welcoming and enthusiastic person I've ever met. Wildly fun too! She invited us into her farm kitchen as my husband wanted to buy an enlargement of an image of hers. We also met her daughter and husband, who is a retired master mariner. We had a great time and walked out with a huge signed photograph that is now framed and graces our kitchen. Her skills with a camera are legendary on Galiano and you see her images everywhere. They're gorgeous.

Henny directed us to drive across the main road at the end of their driveway and follow the lane to the sea. Soon we could go no further and found Retreat Cove, tucked away and sheltered, with a small island in the centre. There's a cave to explore if you go through a gate on the left at the road's end. Idyllic, does not do this spot justice, especially in high summer. And, there were only six tourists and a couple of locals who were fishing off a rock. Here, Henny and her husband Tom moor their boat.


We drove south to visit the provincial park just off the road to Montague
Harbour. This is a forested park with camping and RV spots that ends at White Shell Beach. When we were there in mid-August, the campground was nearly empty and the beach had only two kayaks pulled up to the high tide line while their paddlers enjoyed a picnic. Galiano's shores are a kayakers paradise, sheltered and calm on the western side away from the Georgia Strait. Visitors can rent kayaks and canoes at Montague Harbour where we planned to eat lunch.

This is the main "town" on Galiano and is really a marina packed with boats in the summer. Many are anchored in the bay and their owners row into the marina for supplies and showers. We joined many of them for a good lunch at the Sea Blush Café with a pint of pale ale. The food is plentiful and mostly seafood, but the view is amazing. We sat and admired it and the marine traffic for longer than we were welcome, given the number of hungry patrons who were waiting!

As the weather was perfection, we returned to Whaler Bay, which we had visited on an overcast morning to meet a local artist whose work we had admired in a gallery. I wanted to get some good images in sunshine. It was worth taking the time to go again.

Whaler Bay is big as the bays go on Galiano and has a government wharf. It sits on the east coast facing the Georgia Strait but is long and narrow so provides sheltered moorage and anchorages with Gossip Island guarding its entrance. Today it was quiet and beautiful.

Of course, many moons ago, this was a place from which small whalers operated and logs were dumped. Today it is clean and a haven for wildlife from land, sea, and air, as well as residents and sailors. Stand still awhile and you'll see osprey, waterfowl, raccoons and mink. The waters are home to fish again.

Our last stop was a left turn at Sturdies Bay on Active Pass and down a windy lane called Gulf Drive. We found three lovely coves here and for about fifteen minutes watched seals playing in a bay as the ferries to Victoria and the mainland sailed by with their sirens blaring.

I found it almost impossible to tear myself away from these tranquil spots so far from the madding crowd. Tourists were few and the locals were always happy to chat and give advice as where we should go next.

Sadly, it was late and we were leaving early the next morning. But first we enjoyed our last dinner on our patio watching the super moon for the third night in a row.

IMAGES: © Photos by Pharos 2013. All rights reserved.