…and for my hundredth post on NwP: Last weekend we rounded up F&A and another friend, rented a couple canoes, and headed over to Gatineau Park. After only a few wrong turns en route we ended up at Lac la Peche.

(For the boat geeks out there: that’s a Mistral 17.5. The other one was a Quetico 17). As you might guess from the photo, it wasn’t a bad day for a paddle — despite downright atrocious weather just the day before. Sometimes it pays to trust the weatherman (never hurts though to pack rain gear). There was a chill to the air, sure, but that’s to be expected at this time of year. And I’d say that the fall colours make up for it:

There weren’t many other boaters sharing water that day; one left just as we arrived (this making for a tight squeeze on the narrow “road” in), and one arrived just as we left. You’d think we had it all planned out! But both had fishing tackle on board — I guess the Lac lives up to its name.

We noticed some nice stonework on the promontory where we stopped for lunch (lamb stew, tea from the hobo-rific Kelly Kettle):

Definitely a place to come back to, and one for the repertoire of go-to paddling spots for those occasional days off. Not that there have been ever so many of those lately; this one excursion has proved the season’s first and last for us. But such are the sad casualties of our respective toiling nowadays.

And what else is there to do but enjoy what you can, and look forward to bright days ahead? I guess you can always take certain precautions; note the use of PFD — safety first!

This afternoon I set out for a walk along the Thames Path, which — as you might guess – goes along the Thames River. The trail that leads there passes through a rather nice meadow (“Port Meadow”) just north of the Oxford train station:

You’ll have to pardon this photographer for favouring that distant horizon. It certainly does make a nice alternative to the usual view of late:

Anyhow, I picked up the trail just downstream of Bossoms Boatyard and the Medley Sailing Club. Not much activity there today, though I did notice some stirrings in the odd houseboat moored at the bank. There are many such boats along the river, and they seem to fall into two categories: you’ll see retirees quietly motoring down the river in their polished up vessels with cheerful (and forgettable) names, and you’ll see nondescript boats, more tarp than chrome, hunkered down along the bank.

The latter class may sport some flowerpots on the roof, and maybe a little pile of firewood (gathered from the nearby woods) stacked conveniently nearby. Or even a cow grazing in the field adjacent (see above, look closely). I guess the climate and facilities are such here that you could make a good go of living aboard year-round. Such an endeavour might be a little more difficult at home in Ottawa.

Pretty idyllic, I’d say! Further along I noticed this fellow (Grey Heron), just downstream of the Botley Road Bridge:

He caught up with me downstream, past the Osney Lock, on his way to a grassier hunting ground. I ended up leapfrogging with the green boat shown in the photo above (from the bridge) as well — I passed them as they were lock-bound, but they zipped by again just as I was heading north, into town again, and then on to home.