Day 32 - 1000 Island Parkway

As mentioned previously we arrived late last night into Montreal from Fairbanks, staying at the Sheraton near the airport. However, we decided to head back to the airport early to collect the car and then return to collect our baggage. Whilst packing we could not find Vince's travel pillow. This meant going to baggage claim before picking up the car.

Some advice - don't look for help at Montreal Airport on a Sunday as it is non existent. There was no one at the information counter but we did manage to get someone to answer the phone that is set up on the counter. They sent us down the other end of the terminal. Unfortunately, the baggage claim here was for domestic flights. They sent us back up near the information desk to a bank of 3 phones that connect to the various international airlines. After about 5 minutes of unanswered calling, Vince walked back down to domestic baggage while Margaret continued to ring. Vine was sent upstairs to the airline counter where he had to wait for about half an hour only to be told they don't usually keep this type of article. L

At this point we had wasted about an hour of our time. We then headed over to the car rental area. Here we were told that the discount car rental was not located at the airport and we needed to catch the shuttle. It took another 20 minutes or so to discover where to catch the shuttle L. We then waited about 10 minutes for the shuttle.

We collected the car, a blue ford fiesta, and arrived back at the Sheraton two and half hours after leaving. Margaret waited with the car in the loading bay while Vince went upstairs to collect the bags. It was not a good start to the day.

Finally, on our way, we stopped at a shopping centre to get a bite to eat for a very late breakfast.

On the road at last we had been advised to take highway 2 instead of the major highway 401 as this was a more scenic drive along the St Lawrence. It is a very pretty drive. The 1,000 islands (actually 1,800 islands) begin around Brockville. Unfortunately, there were a number of places where we had to go back onto the major highway due to road works. So we weaved back and forward between highway 2 and highway 401. As the northern side of the river is Canada and the southern side being USA, there are several bridges that have immigration checkpoints along the way.

There are many lovely homes built on the mainland water's edge but also homes built on many of the islands. Some islands are about the size of normal house block that have this little house sitting on it in the middle of the river. A couple have a bridge between a couple of islands.

Driving along one section we came to the Long Sault Parkway. This is a reserve managed by the Ontario Parks where you can picnic and camp (in some sections). You need to have a pass if you wish to stop for a picnic or camp. As it was late in the season, Ontario Parks were closed. Basically they have built bridges between the islands. There is a lot of green grass, trees surrounded by fresh water. The parkway runs for some 10 kms. It was very pretty and well maintained.

We arrived in Kingston and the GPS took us to our Airbnb accommodation. A cosy sub-basement apartment. (this is very common over here). Once we had unpacked and put on a load of washing we headed out to the local grocery store to stock up on supplies. Tonight's dinner - mango chicken and rice.