Time for a little glamping, we have set aside the tent and sleeping bags for the next 16 nights and plan on camping at four Provincial parks in a manner which befits a person of my advanced age…(its my Birthday today)

The weather turned bad very quickly, and we drove through some of the heaviest rain I have ever encountered (poor trailer developed a few leaks I fear). Thankfully it had brightened up by the time we reached Driftwood Provincial park.

Karen and I have been spoilt by the seclusion and privacy of some of the more back country sites we often camp at. We were a little disappointed with the general state of neglect at Driftwood (Government cutbacks) Our site is on the banks of the Ottawa river, with spectacular views most notably at sunset, however the sites are quite close together and do not offer a lot of privacy. They are spacious and level.

We had planned on using this park as a base for exploring the region, two places in particular, Brent in Algonquin and the Dumoine river in Quebec. Driftwood itself is not an exciting Provincial park, it seems to be used primarily by families with boats (as most sites along the river allow you to beach your boats) The beaches (I shudder to use that word to describe what is here) are littered with…….driftwood (now we know where the name arose from) The main beach was in my estimate, dangerous to swim in because of the amount of driftwood washing up on to shore….But the sunsets are nice.

Day 2, we headed out to Brent in Algonquin park (a recce for a future trip – because as we all know so well…Time spent on recce is seldom wasted) On the way we stopped to refuel at an extremely fancy eatery, I was worried we may be underdressed!

We had a plate each of four samosas with fries, for $5 each….We ended up revisiting the next day, very yummy.

We stopped to admire the world famous Brent Crater, climbed the observation tower to witness a truly spectacular example of meteorite crater.

Ok so what we really saw was slightly less impressive….

Brent campground on Cedar lake, is a long drive on dirt roads, however it is both a great stepping off point for some interior canoe camping, and has what both Karen and I think is the best camp site (a pair) we have ever come across. (I hazard to mention this as great campsites are so hard to book)

Sites 24 and 25 share a huge beach and are completely secluded from the rest of the campground. This would be a perfect place for extended families to book both sites.

It was a successful recce, Karen and I will return here soon (hopefully on site 24 or 25! Once again poor Marcus had to endure another long bumpy ride back to Hwy 17, I don’t think he likes driving dirt roads.

Karen and Marcus had to endure another hour or so of me wandering around the shoreline trying to find the ever elusive great picture (fortunately for them this would be the last night for any decent sunsets)

The next day we headed on another long dirt road recce. This time to check out the rapids on the Demoine river, in particular those at the Grand Chute. We (and of course by we I mean me) are thinking of trying to canoe this river, I had watched a great video of a canoe trip down the Demoine river and felt it had our name written all over..We had to navigate the ZEC system they have in Quebec, paying entry fees into each sector. It was soon evident that none of the monies from the entrance fees were diverted to road maintenance, poor Marcus once again was tossed around inside the truck.

The trip to the river while only 25 Km, took well over an hour, once there we were met by an incredible site (I am amazed that people canoe through that! – We would portage around it)

We headed down the trail (the portage route around the rapids) and ran into a youth group camping on the trail. They had spent several days canoeing down these rapids.

Another successful recce, and one more thing added to my bucket list Karen? We headed back to Driftwood for our last night and for my Birthday supper of Cedar plank BBQ Salmon with brown sugar and maple syrup glaze, with a side of freshly made spaghetti carbonara…Hmm Happy Birthday to me. To wash this dish down we had a bottle of Taylor Fladgate 1983 Vintage port (a retirement gift from Karen)

We had a great dinner, I really need to slow down on the Carbonara, too much more of this and I will never run the rapids on the Demoine.

Off tomorrow on another adventure, overall we were pleased with our stay at Driftwood, unfortunately it was mostly because of our exploring the surrounding area…..until our next story.