Day 69. Sunday, 7th July. From just East of Marmora to Ottawa

It is a beautiful morning and I am writing as we drive along Highway 7 towards Ottawa. The horrible humidity of the last few days has disappeared and the sky is pure blue. It’s a good, smooth road and the traffic is light, so pleasant driving conditions.

Last night we had a lovely surprise. We had been sitting in the front of the Land Rover reading. As the light was fading and it was around 10 pm we decided it was bed time. Getting out of the Land Rover to go round to the Caranex tent at the back, we were greeted with twinkling lights in the long grass and flowers surrounding us. Fire flies. We stood and watched for a while. It was one of those magical moments.

It is now evening and we are camped just outside Ottawa.The ride today was far nicer than for the last 2 days. Open countryside, rather than urban sprawl. The scenery, mainly wetlands with acres of bull rushes and yellow and white water lilies on the many ponds and lakes.

We stopped at Perth for a coffee at Starbucks – and to use their wifi. The wifi was good, the coffee awful. I never normally frequent Starbucks, but there are few small, independent coffee shops in this part of the world. Beggars couldn’t be choosers. The scenery after Perth changed. More agriculture, but not on a huge scale. Some crops and barns with cows too.

Stopping again for lunch, just past Innisville, we decided we would go to the campsite we had found in a camping guide book and reserve a space there (hoping they had one). Then we would head in to downtown Ottawa for a look around. That was the plan. It didn’t  turn out that way though. 

We reached the road the campsite was located in, only to find it blocked off with large cones. Sneaking through the barriers, we tried to drive down it. Our path was soon blocked by men and machines. Apparently a sink hole had opened up. We needed to make a diversion. Trying to find another way round proved difficult. The Sat-Nav kept trying to take us back the same way.  We stopped at a stall selling strawberries to ask for directions – and bought a big punnet of very yummy strawberries too, of course. Receiving directions we set off again and eventually found the campsite.

I checked us in and got maps and instructions on how we could go to a park and ride site, leave the Landie and get a bus downtown, We decided first to go and have a look at the spot we had been allocated. It’s a very wooded area but with marshy patches with lying water. Mosquito heaven. A sign on the toilet door also tells us to be careful of ticks. Oh the joys of camping!

Dennis had been communicating with a Land Rover contact in Ottawa, Kevin. Wifi is only available close to the office on this site, so we went back to check if there was any communication from Kevin. There was a plan for us to meet but due to communication been so difficult, it failed to materialise.  So, we decided to stay at the campsite and sightsee in Ottawa in the morning. Hopefully we can meet up with Kevin then too.

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