The St Lawrence And The Thousand Islands
On Saturday, we decided to follow the St Lawrence seaway and to drive from Ottawa to Gananoque, one of the gateway to the Thousand Islands. The Thousand Islands is an archipelago around the U.S — Canada border, in the St Lawrence river. The total number of islands is said to be 1,793 but some of them are barely rocks above water, while some are home to castles and resorts.
Gananoque is a small Canadian town, with a population of about 5,000. A main street, a clock tower, a few churches and a nice little harbor is about all there is to see. The town was busy with a biker convention (?!) and we stayed away from the crowd (by crowd, I mean, 20 people max.) and hung out by the old locks and the shore.
 |
 |
 |
 |
The weather was pretty dark but it was hot and hazy. It made the shores look even more untamed…
 |
 |
We then drove to Rockport, a few miles away. A township located by the Thousand Islands bridge, it offers a great view of the islands. And yes, we almost got attacked by a family of hungry ducks.
 |
 |
We took the Thousand Island parkway and crossed the bridge to Hill Island, right by the international border with the USA. The island was very quiet and we took a small gravel road, deep into the forest. A few miles later, I spotted a deer in the wild. We stopped the car and I slowly walked towards it. We stared at each other (well, mostly I was staring, I guess he saw humans before… but I don’t see deers that often!) and I got a chance to take a picture before it escaped. Later on, we spotted something else on the road… yep, a big black snake. I got off the car and walked as close as I could (not afraid of snakes!). Funny enough, the road we were driving on was “the black snake” road, as the sign said!
 |
 |
Back to the entry on the island, I climbed the skydeck to get a better view. You can see the Thousand Islands Bridge below, as well as one of the many islands.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Related articles:
- Trang Islands
- A Drive To The Other Side
- Rapides-des-Joachims, Québec
- Images of Singapore
- Picture of the Week: Crazy frog
15 Comments »
2 Pingbacks »
-
[…] The St Lawrence And The Thousand Islands […]
-
[…] Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver. But all you need to do to experience how huge Canada is, is to drive outside the city. Chances are it will already take you a while to reach the furthest suburb… and a bit […]
Leave a comment!
@Ulquiorra — Thank you! It was a nice place.
@Seraphine — I like light dressing too… The Thousand Islands is actually one of my favorite, had it when I first came to Canada not knowing why such a name!
@Linguist-in-Waiting — Same here! Apparently, the name has various origins. Could refers to the multitude of small specks of pickle usually found in the dressing (10 000 islands…). It is also said the dressing was popularized by George Boldt, who had a famous castle on one of the islands.
@bluefish — I don<t mind snakes
@Annie — Thank you for visiting and reading, and even more for your nice words!
@Froggywoogie — I want to be paid in Euro though
@Celine — I think this one wasn’t too scared of us, because well first the car didn’t scare him nor me getting off to take a picture. But I kept my distances and once I got closer, it ran away.
@Liz — It had been raining for a while in Ontario, that explains the green. I know, weird for the bikers, isn’t it?
@barbara — Same here, I love exploring and going to small places. It’s relaxing and let’s face it, it’s a chance too considering I wouldn’t prob. live there full time — to much of a city girl!
@RennyBA — Let’s just say I’m not scared of snakes, but I know how quick they can be. And although a snake bite would be a great post and I’m pretty sure this is wasn’t venomous, I just don’t want to try!
wow, it looks beautiful and peaceful, I hope to start seeing all those things outside Toronto someday
Aiglees last great read…Toronto Zoo
Hey Zhu,
Gorgeous!! What a lovely place!!
I must say that I had never heard of St Lawrence and the Thousand Islands, so it was nice to read about it and see them pictures.
5,000 people…it sounds like a good place to raise a child: quiet, peaceful (unless those 5,000 are a bunch of lunatics lol, which I doubt)…and then when they reach the teenage take them back to the city LOL (otherwise they’ll go crazy lol)…nevermind me, I am just thinking out loud here!
I really loved the last set of pictures: so many trees, so much water…mystical!
Cheers
Max Coutinhos last great read…Manifesto against vulgarity
Eh Zhu! I haven’t stopped by for a while because I’ve been following from my reader. Looks like you’ve been doing some redecorating here. Looking good
Lis of the Norths last great read…All my pictures of you
These photos are so beautiful, they almost look fake! Wow! I love that deer and the pics of the lake. We don’t get to see anything like this living in South Florida! Thanks for sharing!
Scarlets last great read…a day to remember