We woke to rain today but the sky was clearing and we could see some brighter patches so happily set off after another huge breakfast (French toast, sausages, fried potato cakes, pumpkin bread) for our planned canoeing trip in the knowledge that we'd only get soaked if we capsized. Anthony and Nick took us out to Rock Lake and prepared the Canadian canoe for us. Equipped with a waterproof lunch box and warm waterproof clothing we set out to paddle down the lake and into the river that feeds the lake. The going down the lake was easy but we had to work hard against the current to make headway in the river. Early on in this stretch of our trip we were treated to a rare and wonderful bird sighting when a Golden Eagle flew low over our heads across the river towards the nearby trees.

The plan was to paddle to a point where the river opened out into a larger pool that we'd seen on a small map describing the lake at the landing stage. So battling our way upstream we agreed to go round 'just one bend further' several times until we realised that we would have to accept we couldn't paddle that far and get back in time for our agreed pick-up so we stopped for lunch and then turned round to paddle back downstream. Working our way down the river was much easier but still took a fair degree of effort and we were looking forward to the easy stretch once back in the lake. This wasn't to be as the wind had changed direction and got stronger which made even getting into the lake a challenge working our way through white horses around the sandbar that partially blocked the river entrance. Still we paddled valiantly on and reached the landing stage at exactly the allotted time and fortunately at exactly the point at which Jill's arms said she'd paddled quite enough! We'd enjoyed the outing, especially the peace and solitude of being alone together (is that right?!) on the lake, but apart from the eagle had seen very little wildlife. We also needed to stretch our legs so decided to walk up to a viewpoint above the lake - this was fascinating as we could see that canoeing up the river would never have led us to the wider area of water. This was linked by a tiny side channel to the river - good job we gave up! We didn't have any luck with the wildlife at the viewpoint either but did spot a white-tailed deer with two fawns on the drive back to the cabins.

The real success of the day (now this is sad) is that we gathered no new mosquito bites! This was achieved by wearing double layers of clothing and spraying any vulnerable areas with 100% Deet. Good to watch the little blighters hover around ankles and fly off.