Day 26 - Ottawa to Kingston via 1000 Island National Park

After another bad night sleeping I was feeling very weary this morning. Ran late with bag pull, straightening the hair, just moved slowly all morning.

Ivy Lea

It was sunny again which was a nice way to start the day. But I knew that it would be cold today because we going on a boat cruise so I rugged up. 

Ahh my soon to be home ... I hope I pray 

I missed breakfast because I was dragging my feet but there wasn’t a lot around the hotel but I did try to get the reception to send the fax about the missing money to the different number but no luck again and I had to get on the bus.

Waiting for our boat...

We were headed out to the thousand Island National Park which straddles the Canadian and US border. With Ontario on one side and New York State on the US side we were headed out to a very beautiful town called Ivy Lea. 

the very cute lawn chairs sitting by the lake..
How north american is that! 

The Thousand Islands National Park is fed by the St Laurence River and Lake Ontario which is part of the great lakes.  Christina gave us a easy way to remember the great lakes – Homes – H for Huron, O for Ontaria, M for Michigan, E for Erie and S for Superior.  

Looking across the Islands 

Within the Islands, there are a lot of homes in which people live on these tiny islands costing around $1million per island. The only thing we weren’t able to determine is which side the sales of these islands belong too.

The many homes on the islands 

It was pretty but yet raining…  after a few days of awesome weather…  the one day we need good weather for being on the water…  just like maligne lake… although not like it is here right now in Brisvegas… As soon it rains the humidity kicks in..  ewwwww but it was nice and chilly. I snoozed on the bus as we drove there. But my lovely bus buddies woke me up as we entered the picturesque area of 1000 islands.

The boat house 

I was STARVING… after missing dinner the night before I was soooo hungry… and didn’t realise it was going to take over a hour to the boat cruise. 

Boldt Castle

So by the time we got there and rugged up I was ready to chew on something… but they had literally sold out of food. The twainese or Japanese tourists ate them out of house and home! How rude!!!! This little aussie was starving… So I settled for a soft drink and even those were sold out!!! 

the Umm Boathouse... Yes you heard me right ... 

So to distract myself I went and took photos in the rain and waited impatiently for the boat which rumour has it had food.  Won’t do that one again when I miss dinner the night before… yeah ok maybe… 

Another section of Boldt Castle 

We got on the boat and had to patiently wait for the boat to depart for food service to begin…  So I plonked myself down right near the food service and then determined to be first in the queue

Another section of Boldt Castle 

Finally she arrived, my belly was full again and felt so much better.  Enjoyed some time with Christina just chatting and chilling because it was too wet, windy and cold to go outside. I went for a walk around the boat but it was too hard to take photos. 

the Bridge to America

We cruised past the beautiful islands with the gray sky hanging low and the massive houses. We also went under the massive bridge that separates the USA with Canada. 

Part of the Boldt Castle compound

We headed to Boldt Castle which was a amazing castle built many years ago on heart island. George Boldt who built it was the proprietor of the Waldorf Astoria and this was designed to be a summer home for his family. When his wife died during the building of the castle and it fell into disrepair.  It was brought by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority.

Part of the Boldt Castle compound

You all know the famous Thousand Island Dressing, well this national park is where it got its name. It was being served on a fish dish and then got handed onto someone by Mary Irwin and it became famous!  The little quirk for the day.

Part of the Boldt Castle compound 

Sat and chatted with Christina, Kim and Vicki and tried to convince her to buy a iphone in the Canada rather than the states because of the unlocking issue because all the phones in the states are locked to A T&T. I offered to take them so they got the right one. 

One of the main streets right near a Sipps 

We made it back and headed off to towards Kingston which was only about 30 mins away but I have to say that half of the bus fell asleep including me. Christina had mentioned that she had bad headache so the cruise affected us all … me and the rest bus tired and poor Christina had a shocker of a headache.  

Kingston - Ontairo

She woke us up as we headed into Kingston and we learnt that is where the St Laurence River flowed out to the Lake Ontario so it maintains a very strategic position.  

I like this one...  because I have been doing a whole lot of that 

It has 9 state prisons and remains an important military installation. It is also the half way point between Montreal and Toronto and a former capital of Canada.  Quirky little fact in that Kingston has the highest per captia PHD holders in Canada because of the location of Queens University. 

the very quaint "produce" store with LOTS of rogers chocolate

We pulled over for lunch and once again I went in search of Rogers and I found a decent amount this time.  

Boucher House which I think from memory is Court house 

Then I just wandered around town and saw all the beautiful old buildings which were largely created out of limestone which is quite common for the area. 

Canada Border Protection Agency  

I loved the area it was so pretty and with the lake right there. I wandered through the visitor centre and got to meet the town crier and had a much needed toilet break. 

City hall 

Saw the beautiful old steam engine with the trees growing out of it … Daddy would have loved it. It ended up being such a beautiful clear 1 hour because we got a rain shower as we arrived and then it disappeared so we got to enjoy the sunshine.

The beautiful old steam train with Trees growing out of the funnel

Ran into the rif raf and they gave me a couple of suggestions for lunch but I couldn’t find the bakery/lunch stop that they were talking about. I think there were 2 very similar and didn’t walk up fair enough.  So I ended up at subway the old faithful. 

The old steam train outside of the Information centre

Ran into the wonderful Sandra and Malcolm and had a chat with them in what I have been up too.  I think they think I am mad with the chocolate hunt but they are so nice and sweet to me all the time especially asking after how many photos I take. 

Kingston City hall

As we were lining up for the bus Vicki told me about the city hall so I went in for a look and it was so pretty. It had been fully restored so it had retained all the charm. 

Old Fire Station Kingston

I left a little present for Christina to help her feel better and headed back down the back of the bus.  Ready to go snooze again but for the life of me there was a reason why I stayed awake, I think we did a quiz or something has we headed out past the beautiful lake view homes. But sure enough within a short distance from the city I was asleep.