Barron Canyon - light team route

Camping on Opalescent Lake on the Barron Canyon route did not disappoint. I was part of a light team of four who drove to the park on Saturday morning and put-in at Brigham Lake in order to maximise the chances of getting two of the best campsites on Opalescent Lake for Saturday night. After a short P200* from the parking lot, a short paddle down a really shallow section of the river to Brigham Lake, and a P730, we were at Opalescent Lake. As it turned out, we managed to take over the reputed "flintstones" campsite from the people who were just about to leave when we got there at about half past twelve, and secured the campsite opposite it on the north shore of the lake as well. This campsite is one of a kind, as some people a long time ago must have decided to build this unique kitchen/fireplace out of rock, complete with seats for eight.


It was a beautiful day for a little paddle around the lake, and a swim, before the main group who put-in at Grand Lake early that morning after camping Friday night at Achray arrived later in the afternoon.


And by the way, we met pirates as we arrived on Opalescent Lake. Honest! They were flying the Jolly Roger and even put up a sail (although I think the wind was going the wrong way so they were have having a tough time paddling forward). They were headed for Cork Lake, which was going to be out of character with its usual quietude that night judging from the amount of Captain Morgan's they had with them. You probably won't believe me until I post a picture, so wait till I get my hands on one.

On Sunday, we took the P730 back to Brigham Lake, followed by a P100 and a P440 in quick succession past rapids into the Barron Canyon. There is a good rock outcrop about 1 km into the canyon on the north bank of the river to have lunch and swim. It is near where the Barron Canyon Trail runs above. This is where we basked in the sun and looked up the face of the canyon walls. After lunch, we continued on a leisurely tailwind-assisted paddle through the rest of the canyon and the flats beyond to the take-out at Squirrel Rapids. We were out of the water by 4 pm. Only the car shuttle remained.

*P200 is a portage of 200 metres.

Some facts about parking in Toronto

Think it's alright to park in a private garage without paying and displaying the necessary ticket on your dashboard? Think again. Even in a private garage, you can get a city ticket that comes with a $30 fine for "unauthorized parking on private property" (which includes parking without the required payment). If you get towed, you are liable for towing charges of up to $80 (regulated by the city), and it's unlikely the towing service will charge any less. In fact, you may be charged a "reasonable" fee for storage of your vehicle (like up to $20 per day) on top of that. So be forewarned, Toronto is a fine city.

Toronto City Roots Festival

The growing presence of the Toronto City Roots Festival (which is in its second year) is starting to be felt with more artistes participating and the lineup improving. It is ultimately a very grassroots festival, with many new performers striving to make an impression. The well-known, recently reunited and revitalised Parachute Club headlined Saturday's show, drawing most of the crowd that evening to the main stage. The Sisters of Sheynville (a.k.a. "Yiddish swing chick band") who played a little earlier in the evening at a different stage were eclectically colorful with their blonde reinvention of the Barry Sisters. The all female group consisted of double base, clarinet, drums, keyboard, and of course 2 vocalists. The whole yiddish thing didn't help me (because I like to understand the lyrics) but I am almost ashamed to admit this since they they were so enthusiatic about it and I really did enjoy the music very much.

The historic distillery district where the festival was held is also growing into its new identity, and is noticeably more settled in terms of character since I was last there when it first opened in 2003. It's an interesting location for music as the GO train and some goods trains run right by, making for a discordant and yet strangely charming inner city Torontoresque experience, gentrified though it may be. The old fermenting room which housed the main stage was an acoustic nightmare, but did make it feel like an authentically underground gig. www.torontocityroots.com www.thedistillerydistrict.com

No TiVo in Canada - so a PVR it has to be

It really frustrates me at times that in Canada, we pay more for less consumer choice simply because the market structure is so much less competitive than it is south of the border. High speed internet, cable TV, phone services, online music, the list goes on. You don't even have TiVo here. So in my attempt to take control of my TV viewing, I have decided to get a PVR from my service provider. Well, at least now I can watch what I want when I like it, fast forward and rewind to my heart's content, and stick to what's worth watching. I'm almost tempted to get an unlicensed DirectTV dish and figure it out myself, but I probably won't bother.

Ottawa Folk Festival

Made it out to the Ottawa Folk Festival at last. It could not have been a better day (it did rain yesterday and Friday too). The Ottawa river was sparkling just off Brittania beach amidst a constant breeze. Best act for the day: The Arrogant Worms, a comedy band whose brand of poignantly observant though tongue-in-cheek humour is laughably musical. Some others worth tracking: Painting Daisies from Edmonton, and the Wailin' Jennys. www.ottawafolk.org www.arrogant-worms.com www.paintingdaisies.com www.thewailinjennys.com

Kia Sorrento vs. Hyundai Santa Fe

You would think that since Hyundai owns KIA, the Sorrento would be as crappy as the Santa Fe, but surprisingly that's not true. The Sorrento (another fabulous free rental upgrade this weekend) is a much more powerful, smoother, and well-finished mid-sized SUV than the Santa Fe. And unlike the Santa Fe, it does not make disconcerting noises as if something is about to fall off all the time. But then in terms of prices, the Sorrento basically takes off where the Santa Fe ends. It is decidedly higher-end.

Ottawa Greekfest

When your friend's greek, the place to to is Greekfest. Lamb, yummy. Spanakopita (this is one with spinach in it), yummy. Tiropita (this is the one with feta in it), yummy. Galaktobouriko (this is even better than Portuguese egg tarts), yummy. Milopita (this is the apple pie), yummy. You get the idea. I was there twice this weekend. www.ottawagreekfest.com

Greek Souvlaki House

The Greek Souvlaki House at the SW corner of Prince of Wales and Baseline is a great place to have brunch, lunch, dinner, or any meal of the day. Everyone I know who's been there has said that they can't believe the amount of food they put on the plate at their amazingly reasonable prices. I got to try it, finally, and was surprisingly impressed with quality of food in addition to the quantity, and liked the casual and relaxing atmosphere of the large split-level dining hall. It's not the best greek food in town, but certainly up to standard.

Reflections on a weekend in Toronto

Insanity is a trait common amongst the inhabitants of Toronto. You need some of it in order to cope with the multi-cultural, high-density, fast-paced environment that's constantly on overdrive. This weekend, an ex-Torontonian (that's me) decided to go with the flow...

Friday 10 pm, along the Don Valley Parkway: At least the Don Valley parking lot is smooth today. I am directed via cellular to head for the Firkin. I wasn't expecting to be at a pub directly on arrival, but it's a group I do want to meet.

Saturday 10 am, Warden Avenue near Aurora: I'm on my 49 km bike ride. Some of these guys training for the Niagara race have already done 80 km before we arrived!

Saturday 2 pm, Cafe de Macao at First Markham Place: There is something on the menu that translates to African Chicken that's really good here. Apparently this is a dish that does in fact exist in Macau. As to the source of the name, I would guess that the curry-like sauce is in fact of African origin.

Saturday 10.30 pm, in the kitchen: Movie night on the back rooftop. Cool! But I've had a long day and definitely feeling a little out of it. She refills the Brita pitcher with tap-water, hands it over to me. I put it back in the fridge. She is still thirsty after finishing her glass, asks me if I could pour her some more. I begin pouring and spill water all over the kitchen floor. Duh! The dim-witted me forgot that Brita pitchers take time to filter the water you put into it and do not pour until the process is complete. We sure make a great team.

Sunday 2 pm, High Park: The wasps at High Park seem more habituated to humans than the variety in Ottawa. They appear more adept at getting into your food and drink. Maybe mango juice wasn't such a good idea after all. We also had to queue for ice-cream. But it was a really nice day out nonetheless.

Sunday 9.30 pm, Jersey Giant on Front Street: Girl from Winnipeg, talkative, aspiring fashion designer, waitressing to pay the bills. Hopefully her Toronto dreams come true. Guy from Mississauga, went on boat cruise on Lake Huron with Barrie singles group. Looks like the unofficial GTA* is expanding to include both these places.

Monday 10 am: My friend is headed off to the beaches at Ashbridge's Bay. Sounds like a plan I will have to pass up as I'm leaving early this afternoon. I remember good sand and volleyball. But I wouldn't get into the water with the sewage plant next to it. I'll have Lac Philippe or Meech Lake anytime.

Monday 4 pm: The west-bound traffic on the 401 slows to a crawling pace as the residents of Toronto make their way back from their cottages. I'm glad I'm going the other way.

*Greater Toronto Area

2006 Volkswagen Jetta

I'm almost tempted to go right out and buy one for myself. This must be the most Audi Volkswagen yet. I've always felt that the previous Jetta did not offer enough value-for-money. After all, VW produces middle-classed automobiles, doesn't it? But the 2006 Jetta took so many pages out of Audi's playbook past and present that I'm beginning to be convinced otherwise.

The new Jetta handles impeccably and hugs the curves on the road better than any non-sports sedan I've driven. And I'm sure it can hold it's own against many of these. Preserving the character of the Jetta series, the clearance off the ground was decent, so it loves your cottage lane as much as the highway. This new incarnation resolved the main weaknesses of the old Jetta:

1) Power - The old non-turbo gasoline-driven Jetta offers only 115 horses, and despite the surprisingly smooth acceleration at any speed, lacks brute force. The new Jetta comes with a 5-cylinder, 20 valve, 150 hp 2.5 litre engine which helps a lot.

2) Fuel efficiency - I've always thought that the old Jetta was one of the least efficient 4-cylinder small cars around, and I suspect that could have been the tradeoff in order to maintain reasonable torque at all speeds with only 4 gears and limited power. Although the new 5-cylinder engine is spec'd to be a little less efficient than the old model, I actually think (having driven both) that it is in fact just a tad bit more fuel efficient, largely thanks to its more advanced 6-speed automatic transmission. [although I think you might be able to maximise fuel efficiency on the old Jetta by not exceeding 100 kph]

3) Lack of interior space - The legroom for backseat passengers used to be miserable. The new Jetta has noticably more room inside, and a much larger trunk as well.

There were a few other things about the 2006 Jetta that wowed me:

1) Transmission - The 6-speed automatic transmission meant that it (by definition) shifted more often than any 5-speed or 4-speed variant. Nevertheless, shifting was very smooth, though not indiscernable like in a Mercedes, but seriously I like to feel the gear change when I'm driving so that I know what gear I'm on. And in the event that I'm not sure, the display on the dashboard tells me exactly. It shifts down extremely readily when I jab down on the accelerator, and one can always manually shift the lever to the right (to enter tiptronic mode) and down to down-shift before accelerating if so desired. The 4-speed sport mode is fantastic. With peak torque rated at 3750 rpm, the sport mode looks like it can handle any road, and yes, this thing knows when not to shift up to a higher gear (which is the problem with most automatic transmissions on difficult roads). It's a pity I did not have the time to find a road challenging enough to test it to the limit.

2) Seats and stuff - Extremely comfortable. The velour fabric was nice. Not leather, but looks really tough. Comes heated of course, just like the Jetta of 2005. You can pay for leather of course, and for all sorts of fancy stuff like full power seat adjustments (the power incline adjustment comes standard), a multifunction trip computer (that tells you your fuel efficiency, compass, etc...), steering wheel audio controls, and others. Other standard features include rear air-conditioning vents, a driver's armrest (doubles as the cover of the between-seat storage) that can be adjusted for height, which is nice. And by the way, there is a 12V outlet in that between-seat storage so you can charge your toys and keep them hidden at the same time.

3) Flashing turn signals on the side rear-view mirrors. OK, I know this is no big deal but I've always had a fascination for these little blinking lights. And if you look close enough into the headlights, you will find that there are VW logos embedded in them.

Was there anything I didn't like about the vehicle? Well, it was kind of shaped like a Toyota Corolla. Despite the really large VW logos in the front and the back, a friend of mine actually asked me if it was a Corolla, but admittedly he approached it from the side. Then again, the Corolla is a really good car too, so that's fine. The other thing is that the new Jetta is based on a newly engineered platform, and I prefer to wait for some time to pass before making a commitment. I don't even buy the latest Pentiums from Intel.