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Wednesday, May 30, 2007
The Huntsville Triathlon is almost here! This is an amazing annual event that is a qualifier for the Ironman. Athletes from all over the world visit Huntsville and area to participate. We have had the priviledge of having some of these athletes stay with us in the past - it was great for them, because renting a cottage here allowed them quiet time with their families away from the hustle and bustle of Huntsville on race weekend.
For additional information on the Huntsville Triathlon/Duathlon being held in Huntsville, Ontario (Muskoka) - visit www.trisportcanada.com !
Here's the schedule:
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Sprint Triathlon
1 km Fun Run
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Long Course Triathlon
Long Course Duathlon
Location: Huntsville, ON. (Centennial Centre)
Distances:
Sprint Tri - Swim 750m, Bike 20km, Run 5km
Sprint Tri Relay - Swim 750m, Bike 20km, Run 5km
Long Course Triathlon - Swim 2km, Bike 55km,Run 15km
Long Course Duathlon - Run 3km, Bike 55km, Run 15km
Long Course Tri Relay - Swim 2km, Bike 55km, Run 15km
Kids Fun Run - 1km run
Good luck to all of the competitors!!!!!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Our housekeeping cottage resort is located within a 15 minute drive (or boat ride) of 6 golf courses!
Whispering Pines Golf Club, Huntsville - 9 holes, 35 par/2900 yardage - 705-789-4559
Huntsville Downs Golf & Country Club - 18 holes, 72 par/6270 yardage - 705-789-1000
Bigwin Island, Baysville - 18 holes, 72 par/7166 yardage - 705-635-3535
Deerhurst Lakeside, Huntsville - 18 holes, 65 par/4500 yardage - 800-461-4393
Deerhurst Highlands, Huntsville - 18 holes, 72 par/7300 yardage - 800-461-4393
Grandview Inn Golf Course, Huntsville - 9 holes, 31 par/2000 yardage - 877-472-6388
***Within a 1 hour drive radius there are 27 more golf courses!!!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
We're having a heat wave at the moment - 2 days in the low 30Cs plus humidex. Our children went swimming at the beach this afternoon to cool off after a hard day at school. Reports are that the water is warm enough for a quick dip, but the long swims will have to wait a few more weeks!
Monday, May 21, 2007
The Victoria Day holiday long weekend is over for another year. We had wonderful guests who were able to take advantage of some great hiking weather in Algonquin Park. With more guests coming and going daily now, the tourist season in Muskoka is fully underway.
Our canoes were out on the lake many times over the past 3 days. Our kayaks are not yet out because we feel that the water temperature is still too low and the risk of hypothermia is still too great if the kayak flips. We care about our guests' safety!!! By the way, our canoes and kayaks are free for use by our guests! We provide all of the safety equipment and gear - on a first come, first served basis. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago a young man of 19 years (staying at a private cottage in an adjacent bay from ours) died on our lake while canoeing - he made several terrible mistakes that cost him his life - not wearing a life jacket (PFD), canoeing after dark, consuming alcohol prior to getting in the canoe, and standing up in the canoe. All of this happened only 75 feet (approx. 25 meters) off shore - he was not able to swim that short distance - also as a result of hypothermia. Such a sad, terrible and unnecessary loss of life for someone so young... As I've mentioned before in our Blog, this happens almost every spring, and yet, the lesson is not learned. Hopefully, one day...
We have a great canoe trip for our guests - to Marsh's Falls! Starting at our Dwight Beach, paddle approximately 1 hour up a beautiful meandering river to the Falls. Along the way, there are usually painted turtles, deer, ducks, beaver (they like to slap their tales right beside the canoes to scare us), this is also where the loon's nest is located (near the river mouth). The paddle is so peaceful and calming!
Nature sightings this long weekend: so many moose!!!!!!, beaver, deer, snapping turtle, birds too many to mention.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The fire ban has now ended!! We've had enough rain over the past few days to soak the ground and make it once again safe to have small fires. This is very good news as the forest fire risk is now set at "moderate". Pack up your marshmallows for the weekend!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
We finally had a bit of rain overnight, but not enough to cancel the Muskoka fire ban... More showers are in our forecast for today and tomorrow.
The Victoria Day holiday long weekend (May 18, 19, 20, 21) is shaping up to be a beautiful, warm, sunny weekend!! The forecast is for sun every day with temperatures ranging from 17 - 22 Celcius. Good news for everyone trying to escape the cities for the unofficial kick-off to our Canadian summer!
Feedback on the renovations done to our "C" cottage have been amazing! Everyone loves the changes!!
We are now entering a very busy time of year at our family cottage resort. May and June are traditionally very popular with our European guests - many come for a couple of nights and end up staying 5 or 6 nights! We have a world map in our office where we ask guests to mark their home country - it's really quite fascinating to see the distances people travel just to visit Muskoka and be near Algonquin Park. The majority of our guests come from Ontario (of course), Eastern United States and all over Europe (with bigger numbers coming from Germany, The Netherlands, France, and England). Japan and China are also well represented on our map!
Nature sightings this week: owls, grouse, lots of moose and too many birds to name!! Of note, we just saw a male Indigo Bunting outside of our office in the garden - beautiful, small blue song bird! Click here for more info: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Indigo_Bunting.html .
Friday, May 11, 2007
Fishing is a very popular past-time on our Muskoka lakes. In Ontario, a fishing licence is required to keep any fish caught - men and women between the ages of 18 years and under 65 years require either a sport fishing or conservation fishing licence (the difference in types is the limits on how many fish can be kept, not to mention size requirements). Children under 18 years and seniors over 65 years do not require a fishing licence! To find out more about our fishing rules, especially for our out-of-country guests, click here: http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/fishing/oc.html .
What types of fish are there in our lake?: trout, large-mouth and small-mouth bass, ling (winter ice-fishing), perch, sunfish (great for children to catch-they're little fighters), pike, the odd catfish. We have an abundance of fish in our lake because is it very healthy ecologically and clean. Having said that, there is a lot of natural food available for our fish so it takes great fishing skill to catch "the really big one"! My fish of choice to eat are small-mouth bass and trout - great tasting and easy to clean.
We are asked all of the time to point out the hotspots for fishing... The best place to catch trout is the deeper section in the centre of our bay where the two rivers meet - in the summer the trout stay very low to remain in the cooler waters, so they are more difficult to catch in July and August. Bass can be caught right off of the town dock, located at the beach, or at the "fishing bridge", a short 5 minute walk down the road - this is a bridge crossing one of the rivers that enters our bay. We also have some guests who take out a resort canoe or kayak and fish in the early morning just off shore - very successfully, I might add!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Well, it has happened - as of today, we have a total fire ban due to lack of precipitation. Here's a link to find out about Muskoka's fire rating system: http://deplans.com/fire/ratings/ .
What does this mean from our resort's perspective? No fires in our fire pit, unfortunately - no marshmallow roasts. Even a carelessly thrown cigarette can begin a forest fire. Also, any of our guests using the propane barbeques are asked to be extremely careful in ensuring that no sparks are created and that the BBQs are not left unattended.
There's a forecast for showers possibly on Thursday...we'll keep our fingers crossed!
Monday, May 7, 2007
Another gorgeous day at our quiet, family cottage resort in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada!! Lots of sun and 22 Celcius. We are in desperate need of rain and only a forecast of 30% chance tomorrow.
While painting our garbage/recycling hut the other day, my husband noticed that there are fresh bear scratch marks on the side - right over the "No Bears" that he painted on the side a few summers ago. At that time, there were a mama bear and her cub visiting almost nightly trying to access the contents of our garbage hut. Black bears are incredibly strong (and dangerous if a cub is in tow). At one point, the hut was rebuilt 3 days in a row as the bear was able to use her size and strength to grasp different parts of the hut and tear at the walls and door. After that burst of activity, we did not see any sign of them again!
We've lived here for 5 years now and we've never actually seen any bears on our property or their droppings - although, as our cottage resort is near Algonquin Park, we do expect visits from nature on a regular basis. We do caution our guests (especially since there are many families with children) not to leave any food on their BBQs overnight or garbage around their cottages - bears are opportunists and will take advantage of human error especially at night... To learn more about the Black Bear of Algonquin Park - click here: http://www.sbaa.ca/projects.asp?cn=317 .
You might ask why the "No Bears" was painted on the hut...it was a joke after the 3rd time repairing and painting the hut in as many days. Believe it or not, we have been asked by several people if the bears can read the sign... (P.S. - the answer is no!)
Nature sightings: first hummingbird today!!!
Friday, May 4, 2007
What a spectacular day!! Sunny, warm at 18 celcius!! The weather forecast is for sun and increasing warm days straight through for the next 5 days! We have had very little rain so our forest fire risk rating is now at High for this region. In a perfect world, we would get some rain at night and sun in the day...however, if we don't get some rain soon, we will be in a total fire ban...not good.
Our new playground unit is complete - it is kind of like a club house with a slide and canopy on the upper level. Our children love it and I'm certain that our guests will too! It's great to watch the children's faces when a family arrives to check-in and they see the playground!!!
Final update on our "C" cottage renovations - the bathroom is finished!!!! Some last touches are being done - the new window trim, for example. The clean-up starts on Sunday and this cottage will be available for booking starting next Wednesday!
Nature sightings: moose!!! If you have never seen a moose or would like to know more about these incredibly large animals, click on this link: http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=93 . I've put out the hummingbird feeders today in hope that they have returned - no sightings yet. Again, here's a link for any of you who are not familiar with this tiny bird who winters in Mexico and summers in Canada: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird.
