The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday August 9, 2008 - 21 The beauty of camping T he last time we went camping the kids were young. Today, neither will see their 40th birthday again. I remember those days fondly. All these years later we wondered if we'd like to try it again, and with a twist. We kept hearing about wilderness camping, a great way to enjoy Ontario's provincial parks. We had no gear though, and what if we didn't like sleeping on the ground? Were we too long in the tooth? Could we manage portaging? Could we paddle a canoe for hours? Perhaps if we had to buy all the equipment, we wouldn't have even considered it, but the hassle and expense of buying all kinds of camping gear doesn't exist when Killarney Outfitters get involved. We were told to bring ourselves and our clothes. At the last minute, we packed chairs in a bag and our pillows, and quite by accident, a rope and a pulley. Included in the equipment the outfitters provided was a two-person tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, canoe pack, barrel pack, dry bags, a one-burner stove, pots, mess kit, water purifier, first-aid kit, a canoe, paddles and air mattresses. We were sent menu plans and the choices were so extensive we spent hours poring over them. It cost $80 per adult per day and that included food. Killarney Provincial Park is simply gorgeous, just a four- to five-hour drive from Toronto, and one of the few wilderness parks in Ontario. Its gleaming, quartzite mountains, clear topaz lakes, hardwood forests, challenging trails and abundant wildlife make Killarney Provincial Park a very special preserved wilderness. It is so stunningly beautiful, no wonder the Group of Seven named it a favourite sketching spot and lobbied the government to create the wilderness preserve. A.J. Casson painted White Pine from the white quartzite bluffs of Killarney. We decided we should spend the first night in the main campsite at the park. Good thing we did, after an hour, we hopped in the car and confessed to the outfitters that we needed help getting the tent up. We just couldn't figure it out, but when we did, even I could put it up in under five minutes. The water filtration gizmo was simple and so was the tiny oneburner stove. More difficult was trying to figure out how to cook everything on one burner. We managed and then slept surprisingly well. Early morning found us lugging our gear to the canoe, carefully stowing it, so the canoe was balanced. much to learn. Soap and water don't mix even with biodegradable soap, we learned. For dinner dishes, handwashing or toothbrushing, we dug a small hole back from the lake, added the soapy water and covered it up. To bathe, we got wet and lathered up and rinsed off using pots of lake water. Killarney has bears, but this summer they've mostly been spotted in the village, rather than roaming around camp sites. Knowing this, we read the first part of the instructions very carefully, and did as instructed. We placed all our food and garbage in airtight containers, hoisted it three metres off the ground and one away from the tree. We did this every night, and in the day, made sure the food was in airtight containers. We'd clean up after every meal and then go for a paddle. It wasn't until after we left that I finished reading the instructions and discovered we should have always kept the food and garbage up as bears sleep at night and look for food by day. It rained, but the torrential downpours of this summer didn't happen in our heaven. We determined to stay longer next time. For information, visit www.killarneyoutfitters.com or Ontario Provincial Parks at www.ontarioparks.com. -- Sam Ion can be reached at sion10@cogeco.ca. Then we were off to find a campsite. The park takes reservations in advance, but will reserve only the lake, not a particular site. Ours was simply beautiful, flat, fairly open, which meant fewer bugs and very private, with rock cliffs on one side and behind. We shared the bay with a pair of loons. If two canoes went by in an hour, we complained of the traffic. The silence was deafening. What a difference it makes, when no motorized boats are allowed. Day after day, we drank in the beauty of the area and as time went on we found ourselves simply gawking at our surroundings. We heard woodpeckers, saw hawks, cormorants and herons, enjoyed visits from a nosy raccoon and loud chipmunk. Who needs TV? Stress? What stress? No cellphones, no laptops, no doorbells to disturb us. Things have changed since we last camped, so we had BEAVER TRAILS TO GERMANY: Jan Lukas (left) and Robin Roth (right), both Oakville Beaver carriers, enjoy the summer with their grandparents, friends and relatives in Stuttgart, Germany. Take along a copy of The Oakville Beaver on your next vacation and send it in for publication to Beaver Trails, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4 or e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. SEADREAM YACHTING ON SALE SeaDream Yacht Club operates 2 small luxurious ships, SeaDream I and SeaDream II. Each ship accommodates only 55 couples with a crew of 95 and provides 5-Star Cuisine and is inclusive of all meals, wine with lunch and dinner, open bar with selected premium brands, gratuities plus use of water toys - off of the ship's fold-down marina astern. SeaDream Yacht Club has received numerous awards including "World's Best" for Service in the Travel and Leisure 2005, 2006 and 2007 Readers Surveys, Top Scoring Cruise Line in the Conde Nast Gold List 2007 and the "World's Best Small Passenger Shipping Line" by Conde Nast Reader's 2006. Right now you can take advantage of SeaDream's Caribbean Super Value Voyages with savings up to 56%. Sample savings include SeaDream I, Antigua to San Juan, 04DEC08, 8 nights USD2,799 plus USD496 taxes; San Juan to St. Thomas, 12DEC08, 9 nights USD2,999 plus USD558 taxes, or SeaDream II, San Juan to San Juan, 07DEC08, 7 nights USD2,699 plus USD434 taxes. Book by 15AUG08 and receive a $200 per stateroom Spa Voucher. Call us for details or visit online at www.seadreamyachtclub.com On SeaDream "it's yachting, not cruising". Follow the sunshine with DeNure Tours! You are Invited ... DeNure Tours Travel Show in Oakville August 19, 2008 at 1:00pm Holiday Inn Oakville Centre, 590 Argus Road Join us for a cup of coffee and a 1-hour presentation that features information about our "Sunshine Express" to Florida and Myrtle Beach, and our cruises to sunny climates. Special guests: Larry & Patsy Plemmons from Myrtle Beach! Seats are limited. Please RSVP to 1-800-668-6859 or email: info@denuretours.com CELESTE MOUNTAIN LODGE This winter, Air Canada Vacations Costa Rica eco-tour will feature the new Celeste Mountain Lodge, found next to one of Costa Rica's national parks. According to ACV's Alvaro Lopez de Haro, the property -founded by former Vancouver resident and Global Connections founder Joel Marchal ­ is "outstanding" and "is one of the most eco-friendly lodges anywhere". The unspoiled location provides a spectacular view of a volcano and an inner sense of peace with the environment. The lodge "recycles pretty much everything in ways that an average person would never have thought of." The Celeste Mountain Lodge will be featured in Air Canada Vacations' Liberia eco-tour ­ available with Thursday and Saturday nonstop flights from Toronto ­ as of 23DEC08. www.celestemountainlodge.com Visit McTavish At: www.mctavishtravel.com Voted Best Travel Agency Best Cruise Company Best Travel Agent Thanks Oakville! Hopedale Shopping Centre 1515 Rebecca Street, Oakville Relax... you're with us 221 Lakeshore Road E. (905) 827-1100 fax: (905) 827-4982 e-mail: travel@mctavish.com 905-337-2228 www.hookedoncruising.com To advertise here call 905-845-3824