Don’t know what to title this blog. It’s a real mixed bag of considerable catch-up and current events. I’ll start with the latest news first this time; I am writing this sitting in the hospital while Annie snoozes. She has just yesterday had both knees replaced! Most of you would be aware she had a partial replacement years ago and has been trying to postpone having full replacement(s) for as long as possible But this summer in Canada, after what should have been a very slight accident to her 'good leg' which has been carrying her all these years, it was game over for both knees. So rather than have two anaesthetics and two recovery periods, she has bravely decided to have both done; it will be harder and take longer, but not twice as bad (we hope). She rang her special
ist from Canada and saw him about 10 days after we got home, had surgery yesterday and will be in hospital a week or so. How’s that for hustling?! After that we don't know yet whether she'll transfer to a rehab hospital or be able 
to come home. The next few days will tell. For now she’s doing remarkably well, and with the spinal block still in place, is able to get stuck into exercising and trying to mobilize. 
So with that out of the way, I’ll start the catch-up back in April or so. We did get the house finished, and are quite pleased with it. We also got just enough done at the beachhouse to show good intentions, but it will 
have to wait a while now that we’re preoccupied with Anne’s knees. We also had a few ‘pretend birthdays’ to have for those whose birthdays we miss each year,-Alex, Brodie and now Aiden as well, as well as kids to visit for goodbyes and cuddles before we left. 
Then off to our ‘other home’ and other kids, both big and small. Got to spend time in Kitchener with Jamie and family, and with the extended family around Kingston. Sadly I got an ‘airplane cold’ AGAIN this year and was sick enough to delay going to the boat.When we finally got to the boat we found it in good shape, with no creatures, creature feature or damage, which is always a bit of a relief !!
We had the usual boat reassembly and reprovisioning to do; thank heavens for the trusty bike, our little work-horse/vehicle. We started this years journey in Bobcaygeon, which is a charming town we quite enjoyed last year. We stocked up on supplies , and caught up with various friends from the previous summer, including Deb and Rob from whom we’d bought the houseboat in the first place. For those of you unfamiliar with the waterways, the Trent-Severn system which we have been on, is 386 kilometres, with roughly 32 kilometres of man-made channels connecting natural rivers and lakes.There are 45 locks, including 36 conventional locks, two sets of flight locks, two hydraulic lift locks, and a marine railway which transports boats between
upper and lower sections.The system also includes 39 swing bridges and 160 dams, and joins two Great Lakes, -Lake Huron and Lake Ontario. So we had done the first third to half last year, and this year completed it, and now must decide where next?? The whole continent is interlaced with rivers and canals; you could spend a lifetime and not explore them all (especially at our pace!!)
Caroline and Linda joined us fairly early in the season. Linda had to go back to work, but Caroline was able to tour for a few days, including Stoney Lake, which is a bit of a side-trip
on the system, an appropriately named lake dotted with scenic islands and rocks with buildings perched o
n some, sometimes fairly precarious looking. 
We spent a lot of time just before and in Peterborough. To start with we lingered in the area as it was one of the few places we could hire a car to get to Kim’s memorial; we all gathered at the cottage to say our goodbyes in a
well-loved place. Then we had three lots of visitors in quick succession and the lift locks (huge big concrete ‘bathtubs’) are fascinating to ride and show visitors. Also we were 
having increasing mechanical problems and just couldn’t get past Peterborough for a while! Amongst other things we stalled coming into the lift-lock with the big tour-boat pictured here left!! Daunting, or what?! However it worked out well, as it gave John at Nassau Mills lock lots of 
time to fuss over us, spoil us rotten and pass the word down the line as to how well he wanted us treated!! As we 
went through locks and towns further on we heard ‘John says …….’,or ‘John wants…..’ quite regularly, followed by some special treatment or other. Thanks all, for making our trip even more special. Special thanks also to Kevin and Lucas at Glen Ross lock who gave John a real run for his money in the ‘spoil the Aussies’ stakes!! When we finally left Peterborough area, we had a long (64
km?) section with almost no suitable/congenial stopping places. That’s a gruelling 7 hours for us, so we left at dawn and broke it into two days of just motoring along. As soon as we 
were open for company again, Paul and Alex joined us for a couple of days of ‘living the dream’ as Paul calls it. We stopped at so many little towns and locks that some are starting to blur together already.We spent a weekend moored at a park in the middle of Campbellford’s annual water festival; our roof became the viewing platform for several adjacent boaters to watch the quite splendid fireworks over the water. Boating is such a social and friendly lifestyle! At various places we met people we’d met earlier in the season, last year or even three years ago when we were only in a small pontoon boat! We met ‘loopers’ from points all over Canada and the USA. The Great Circle Loop is a collection/connection of waterways that allows boaters to travel from the top of the Great Lakes in Canada, down the Mississippi (and various tributaries), across to Florida, up the eastern seaboard, past New York, and then a choice of routes back up into Canada and back to your starting point,- hence ‘loopers’. Some live full-time on their boats, moving with the seasons; some do a big trip for a year or two; some do a small section of a month or more, then go back to work/home, leaving their boat at that new point ready for the 
next season. We’ve met Loopers in giant cruisers worth more than the average house, in a 14 ft sailboat with oars, and
one in a kayak even!! Almost all friendly and sociable, wanting to visit back and forth, swap stories and exchange cards.We stopped for a couple of weeks at Glen Ross lock, ostensibly to finish the upstairs painting, –railings and floors- that I’d started way back at Nassau Mills, above Peterborough, but actually to allow Kevin and Lucas to compete with John in spoiling us, which they did, handsomely. Finally got the wrought iron railings
all done (cow of a job), some fibre glass repairs and most of the roof done before I ran out of the special paint which I could only source at very few places as we travelled! 
We finally exited the Trent Severn system and were technically in Lake Ontario, but sheltered behind a huge island/peninsula as we passed several towns heading east. We detoured up river to a town called Napanee, which we had passed hundreds of times by car and never looked through. Again we were moored right at the main park in the middle of town, with music festivals and an art show on weekends, and a lovely little town to 
explore. We managed to get the bike off which always helps our visits. Napanee is apparently one of very few places in the world with an inland fresh water river tide! Water levels change up to 16 inches every hour or so; the term is ‘seiche’ and it’s basically water 
sloshing in the Great Lake and sort of funnelling up the river! Neat! However in Napanee the mechanical problems we’d been having off and on since Peterborough finally came to a head and we had almost two weeks stranded while the carburettor was cleaned and rebuilt, amongst other things. It was a great place to be stranded; it was only a half hour drive from Kingston so we had several family visits, and even a special paint delivery-thanks Don- so I could finish up the roof. It looks a treat now!! We met and visited any number of congenial people from all over, including Lori and Vicki in their tugboat Hoot, and several of their friends, all from Picton, which wa
s to be our next stop. We also visited Geri’s 
sister, Mary and Jim who lived nearby in an extraordinary log home that they built from trees he felled himself out west and shipped to Ontario by train! Remarkable and such a lovely, comfortable home! While we were stranded, we hired a car again and did some local touring, to towns that, like Napanee, we had driven past on the highway but never visited. We took a B & B near Picton for our anniversary and really enjoyed exploring around there. 
Maureen joined us in doing various shops and wineries in the area;- it had been years since we’d visited there. Finally, after the mechanic pronounced us good to go, we moved out, down the Napanee River and along the Lake, but lasted about three hours before we broke down AGAIN! This time we dropped anchor and waited until we were rescued by new friends Vicki and Lori and their friend George, who rescued us, got us into Picton, and onto a mooring (all the marinas and walls were full, being a long weekend). They took us over entirely, 
organizing their mechanic and an eventual space in town. 
Their mechanic turned out to be a real artist and the boat now runs better than it has all season, perhaps even since we bought it? In the meantime, we had a wonderful time being stranded again! We were royally treated by the ladies and their friends, wined and dined, taken to cinema, breakfasted, toured and lunched;- you name it! Being stranded can be such fun! And that whole area 
is so vibrant, full of options and with such a rich lifestyle;- I had no idea! If we ever HAD to move to Canada, that would probably be our choice- but don’t hold your breath.Leaving the shelter of the peninsula and crossing two open sections of Lake Ontario to Kingston was a bit daunting in anticipation, but not difficult in fact. We left our ‘jump-off’ point at 6:20 am, with just barely light enough to see the
moorings in the bay where we’d overnighted. Anne had been saying all season that she was going to jump ship for that section and get someone from the family to crew for me, but by the time we’d been slowed by our breakdowns and 
changed plans several times, there was no one available on short notice. So she bravely stayed with me, and it was totally easy and not at all challenging for either of us; we had a dream run in fact. We stayed in Kingston, caught up with family again, celebrated Don’s birthday with him, had a couple
of visits from Tanya on her way back and forth to her new job in Ottawa, as well as visits from Eileen and Richard, American friends who summer on the Rideau system, and Pat and Bill, very dear 
family friends that I’ve known forever. So good to catch up! We’ve disassembled the boat now and tucked it up for winter in a marina near Gananoque, which has been a special place for us. We were able to get the bike off and do all the last minute stuff, like laundry, as well as a bit of touring and reminiscing. We haven’t as yet decided on next years adventure.The most likely route is the triangle down the St Lawrence River, up the Ottawa River from Montreal, then down the Rideau system back to the Tho
usand Islands where we are now. But just as we were leaving Lori and Vicki brought us some charts of very tempting alternatives down into the States and the Erie canal! We’ll see!? 
First things first! We came home Sept. 27th this year, and hit the decks running (in Anne’s case hobbling quickly), trying to get caught up and organized as quickly as possible before her 
surgery, knowing that we’d be kind of grounded for quite a while after. Fortunately we got no colds this trip, and have been absolutely paranoid about avoiding anyone who has. Anne had something like 8 or 9 appointments/xrays/dental work in 
just over two weeks, and even got most of the Christmas shopping and wrapping done before she went;- she’s amazing! We also did some fun things we wouldn’t be able to do for a while, like whale watching out off Rotto, high tea up in a revolving restaurant in Perth (thanks Maureen), meeting Meg and Clints new son, Casey, and Kyree’s bridal shower. All that in a month;-Howzat!! Anne’s now on Day 9, has been transferred to a rehab hospital and is using crutches already! It’s been painful and 
not fun, but she’s doing amazingly well and will be able to finally put it behind her. I’m on a pattern of alternate nights in town, staying at Gay’s, and then home a night. Allows me to visit her daily and still get some stuff done here. Speaking of getting stuff done, I’d better leave this for a while and get back to work. Nice chatting with you.
Love to All
Stay Well and Happy
The Happy Wanderers
Annie and Kathie
