transportation

An Historic Summer Holiday
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An Historic Summer Holiday

Hail Brave Hearts

The memories of summer holidays filled with fun and sun, swimming and boating and  our great escape to the Canadian wild.  This is the life!  So full of warm summer waters and warm summer sun.  A life of frolicking on beaches, camping and cottages.  The great Canadian summer holiday.  A life style to fulfill.  There’s no life like it.

Grab your canoes and head to the water.  The footsteps of travellers in the past, mark routes of undeniable beauty.  Maps and compasses, campgrounds and hotels.  The small town oasis of civilization along a path of well travelled waterway.  The iconic Canadian water transportation routes of waterway highway.  A path of rivers and lakes joining one part of Canada to another.  The rivers, waterfalls, rapids and portages.  Pack you bags, fill your canoes,  join in the adventure of Canadian travel that has marked our history with holidays from coast to coast.

The Historic Trent/Severn Canal System.  Glorious!

Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site (canada.ca)

Grateful are we to have this grand opportunity to visit this historic waterway, in historic voyageur canoes.  A fun and fabulous holiday in the middle of the summer.  A canoe brigade.  The fortunate few who participated in this endeavour, which leads from Georgian Bay to  Lake Ontario.  following rivers, locks, canals and lakes.  A historic waterway of magnificent scenery, birds and wildlife, lily pads and rushes.  And the locks.

Up and down, up and down, it’s the easiest paddling ever! And the locks are a marvel of engineering.  Different styles of lifts picking us up the rapids and waterfalls to a new level of water.  Spectacular!

The Severn River to Lake Couchiching, to Simcoe, the Trent Canal to Balsam, Cameron and Kawartha Lakes, Otonabee River, the Trent River and on to Lake Ontario.    It’s an historic route for an historic paddling group, or for anyone with a boat and a licence to pursue this holiday adventure.

Canadian Voyageur Brigade Society | coordinate and support big canoe brigades

This 386 km of historic waterway was first started in 1833 and completed in 1922 with 45 locks connecting Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario.  This  ambitious idea was appointed by  Sir John Colborne of the the inland Water  Commision who constructed the first lock at Bobcaygeon.  Now a National Historic Site, this waterway is a path of boating delight.  In it’s early history, the canal was hoped to be a passage for steamships plying these waters with trade, but the canal had several setbacks, which delayed it’s progress.  By the time it was finished, the steamboats were too large for the locks.  Now this historic canal is used by thousands of tourists in pleasure craft from May to October each year.

The iconic canoe, a favourite of many family outings and wilderness adventure, is part of Canada’s  historic lifeline to survival.  The canoe has been with us for centuries, as a transportation vessel and a pleasure craft.  From it’s aboriginal routes to the fur trade, to modern day vehicle, the canoe has been a valuable and necessary part of Canada’s wilderness history  With this in the past and so much enjoyment today, the canoe is a classic pleasure craft.

 

written by Dr Louise Hayes

October 21, 2023

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The Horse Drawn Sleigh

Hail brave hearts

From long ago, in our glorious past, a sled was born, to slide the winter blues away.  No more trudging through the snow, the sleigh gave birth to a new kind of day.  Winter wonderland once more, the land was conquered by man and animal.  Teams of horses, teams of dogs, led the way across the snow.  The brilliant, glittery, fluffy stuff is part of our fun filled days.  Oh for a ride on a horse, but instead an open sleigh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sled

A team of powerful animals, groomed and trained in draft, quickly become our glorious present, from an inspiring past.  The sleigh will take you places that you always want to go.  Mostly over hill and dale and always through the snow.  This romantic lifestyle beacons to us, come to join the ride.  A wagon in the summer, in winter  a sleigh to rush and glide.  The winter is upon us, a favorite of seasons no doubt.  Along the windy, snowy path, the horses and the sled pull out.  The jingle of the bells, their harness is gleaming with polish.  We hear their music in the air and smile and run to the road.  A wave at the passing sleigh, filled with tourists delighting their day.  A pleasant reminder of days gone by, when horse and sleigh were the mode of transportation.   Now in the eve of wintertime, when the solstice quietly passes.  The winter is here already, get out and join the masses.

 

 

 written by Dr. Louise Hayes
December 22, 2017
A Man’s Best Friend
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A Man’s Best Friend

Hail brave hearts.

Your company is here!  Fast and furry, friendly and happy, this is your very best friend.  Your dog is your companion for life.  Easy to care for, easy to please, all they want is a warm home, to be fed, and to be included in all of your life.  We have nurtured the companionship of dogs for a long, long time.

A trainable friend, a fiercely loyal companion, a lovable pet, your dog is a strongly supportive part of your life and your family.  Train him to do whatever he can, fetch a ball, play with sticks, swim in the lake, take a walk, guard the premises, guard you, pull your sleigh, be your business, own the  company, take him wherever you can.  This is not just a pet, this is a big part of the family.  This is the pet that can be your eyes, alert you to danger, pull you to safety.  This is the pet that can be trained to be a working dog, taking care of the disabled, protecting the property, protecting the people.  This is the pet that lives for you, you are all of his life and it can be a wonderfully fulfilling time of mutual companionship.  Take the dog for a walk, to play in the park, to stroll down the street, to meet your friends.  This is an important part of his day.  A little fresh air, some exercise, the walk will do  both of you some good.

Dogs are with us in history, helping us to build a nation.  Sled dogs carrying people and supplies, opening trade and transportation routes, bringing people together in a sparsely populated country, where no roads had gone before.  Great explorers like David Thompson, used the sled dog to carry him across the country,  adventuring and exploring along the way.

 

 

Train the dog to be a part of a team, pulling the sled, running for joy.  Most dogs welcome the activity of a good run and the dog team is a companion sport, dogs and humans in the cold winter time, speeding across the countryside together in a sleigh.  It’s an age old sport of Canadian history.  Run the dog team to an adventure, to exploration, to connect to one another.  It’s an unusual and clever idea, to hitch a dog to the sleigh, run him over to the neighbors farm, over hill and over dale, running through the snow.  The fast, light dogs enjoy this too.  They can run for hours through the snow.  Winter coats and hats, boots and pants, pull on your warm attire.  The season of winter fun is here.

This is a sport that you might want to try, just to experience the historical culture of the nation.  Imagine being the master of a dog team, sliding along in the wintry chill, sled piled high with trading goods, to sell at your next stop.  How far will it be today?  20 kilometers only, or maybe an all day stint, rushing through the forest, sliding across the lake, the trade routes are open, come out all of you, to experience the skills  that a life like this  would take.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

December 17, 2017