Journey Day 2 - Hawkesbury to North Bay

Woke with a headache to a misty morning outside the window but feeling a lot more relaxed; now the holiday can begin.

By the time we had finished re-organizing the contents of our luggage for the drive and eating breakfast it was 10:30 when we drove off; only to stop 5 mins later at Walmart to buy a few bits for the car, crisps,a bottle of pop, some grapes and a 10l container of drinking water. Though cool today we will be dry and hot and need to stay hydrated. It was 11 by the time we got going properly.

I had loaded 'Beryl'*, our SatNav, with maps downloaded from OpenstreetMap which had failed to route yesterday and it appeared we were going to be on paper maps and direction signs as using mobile data for google maps would be too expensive. I have installed a GiffGaff PAYG SIM which is just 20p per MB so we could at least use it in towns. Anyway, last night I disabled the Euopean maps in case they were interfering and, as today went by, Beryl seemed to have worked it out and was guiding our way.
* Beryl, as in Beryl The Peril, a character in a childhood comic (Beezer or Topper?) due to the crazy roads she has directed us along in the Alps and Pyrenees.

We joined the Trans Canadian Highway 17/417 and headed West toward Ottawa, the capital of Canada. The morning was dull and temperature about 20C and this, added to the lush green of the landscape, felt almost like home. The ground around us was mostly wetlands with bodies of water, often only inches deep going by the vegetation connected by hidden streams among small bushes and tall weeds. That sounds unpleasant but it had its own beauty. The landscape did change all the time but water was the constant feature.

The TCH careered through Ottawa as a 100kph (62mph) dual carriageway so we saw nothing of the town itself but made excellent progress. This speed was the exception as the open road limit is normally 90kph (56mph) and so far, the vast majority stick to it running in cruise control sometimes in long lines like a land train. It is very easy driving on an excellent road surface with a happy variation between single and dual carriageway to help keep alert. The original Highway 17 seems to become 417 in sections which  have been upgraded. Nothing, other than the section through Ottawa city is of motorway standard and all traffic uses it.We have seen nothing of toll roads.

We stopped for a Subway around 13:00 near Arnprior and ate inside in the cool. Though still gray, the temperature was now around 24C.

Back on the Highway again and the land varied with some rolling hills, valleys with random agriculture in odd shaped fields separated by ditches and pools. Occasional small groups of cattle under a tree in the shade.

Canada has the same system as we have found in US States in that as you enter the Province there will be a tourist info' building who have free road maps. We had missed this yesterday entering Ontario as it was late and past closing but we dropped in at one and chatted to the pleasant couple who looked after it. Her parents were from Portsmouth (UK) and he was born Dutch. Map in hand, we again headed West.

We passed the home of Canada's early Nuclear research which apparently had a 60 floor deep complex and the site continues to monitor activity around the world. I say interesting but actually there was little to see of the massive surface building as the trees had grown since the viewing platform was placed; a common problem everywhere you go.

All day, the sky had been several shades of gray and we had encountered sections of road which had clearly been rained on heavily. Eventually, it was our turn; a few spots then an absolute deluge. I have never experience rain like it, not even in Florida. It probably didn't last more than 5 mins and we managed to continue with full speed wipers but only at walking pace. Then, as fast as it had begun, it stopped. A couple of spectacular lightning flashes and it was behind us. 

We arrived at the hotel around 6pm.  Even sitting on the limit with cruise control it was 7 hours since we set off and most of that had been driving. After a coffee from reception and a relax and change of clothes we drove 5 mins to an Italian restaurant and had a really nice meal with a welcome small beer. Driving down we had spotted a car park on the shore of Lake Nipissing and we stopped there on the way back to the hotel. The sky had cleared to the West and we were treated to a stunning slow sunset over the Lake; a lovely finish to a long day.

Statistics: Miles today: 286 ; Miles so far: 342 ; Fuel added so far: 0 litres, 0 gals; Provinces: Ontario; Time Zone: UTC-4 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)