It’s a Tough Life
Mom often asks, “When are you going to take a normal holiday?” By that, I think she might mean go to a resort and lie on the beach. Well, that’s what we do. Kinda.
Usually, we’re out of bed at 5:30 or 6 a.m. to paddle our 15-25 daily kilometres and get off the water before the winds rise.
While KJ puts away the kitchen, arranges food for lunch and prepares breakfast (tea and bagels with cheese for her and PBJ and a cup of milk from powdered milk for me), I take down the tent, stuff the sleeping bag (we share a double) and compress the thermarest sleeping pads. Then, after a quick breakfast, we carry the gear and canoe down to the water, load the canoe and by 7 a.m., we’re paddling. By noon, or 1 p.m. at the latest, we’re at the new camp.
Then comes the resort part of the day. Nap, read, explore, sit on the beach, collect sea shells, look at intertidal life, go for a walk, rinse and repeat.
As the day comes to a close, we prepare dinner. Kitchens are interesting places.
BTW, we don’t do the dehydrated stuff. It’s not Downton Abbey, but it is fairly elaborate because we enjoy the process and the delight in eating good home-cooked food. We bring fresh frozen fish and bagged salad for the first night and for almost every dinner, we have sautéed vegetables and brown minute rice or quick cooking pasta or gnocchi with sauce. Other staples include fried tofu, canned salmon or tuna and even falafel. Dessert consists of a bar of dark chocolate or canned fruit.
The dining rooms are always splendid.
By 9:30 or 10 p.m., we’re in our cozy bed, in our comfy tent, ready for another day.
So, as you see, camping is just like being at a resort except there’s no room service.
