Year 2 Day 103

Today is Sunday, July 8th and we are at Peterborough, Ontario.  Tomorrow we go through the Peterborough Lift Lock which has me a little intimidated.  This lock was completed in 1904 and was considered an engineering marvel at that time.  There are two pans, each weighing 1300 tons when filled.  One is up and the other is down and they balance each other.  When it's time to lower one pan and raise the other, one extra foot of water (130 tons) is allowed to enter the upper pan which pushes it down and raises the other.  I believe you're raised up about 5 stories.  I'll have more on this tomorrow as well as some photos.

While we were in Hastings, we  were parked on the upper side of the lock along the free wall.  Hastings is a small, quaint little town. 

Mike standing between 2 signs - one in French

and one in English warning not to swim or

fish in the small channel

We left Hastings and had a nice, uneventful cruise through Rice Lake, up the Otonabee River to a small community called Campbelltown where there is a small public dock provided.  When we arrived we noticed the dock was full of Vietnamese people fishing and they weren't too happy with us when we told them we were going to park there.  After tying off we took an assortment of drinks out to them (cokes, gingerale, water, beer) and then they were a little happier with us.

Vietnamese people from Toronto

Beautiful spot to stop for the night

Lock with containers of flowers



We left this morning for Peterborough and only had one lock to go through.  It had containers of flowers on the gates.  Most of the locks here in Canada are so pertty as they maintain the area around them so beautifully.   We had a short cruise today and arrived here at the Peterborough Marina early enough to ride bikes through the downtown area and go to a grocery store.  This is hard to believe but to get a cart you have to insert a Canadian quarter inside to unlock it.  When you return the cart, you get your quarter back.    Also you have to pay 6 cents for a plastic bag.  I noticed that in the Maryland area you have to pay 5 cents for a plastic bag.

Shopping carts locked together

You need to insert a quarter to release a cart

I forgot to mention earlier that all liquor here in Canada is controlled by the government.  To purchase wine or liquor you go to a LCBO store.  To purchase beer you go to a Beer Store.

The LCBO store we were parked by

in Hastings