01 Jul, 2012
A Canada Day bike ride down the Ottawa River
Posted by andrea tomkins in: - Ottawa for kids|Easy ways to make kids happy|Ottawa
I think it was Mark’s idea. We started at the apartment, biked past our house on the way to Westboro Beach, and pushed onward to Lemieux Island and back again, making a decent 15 km loop. Happily, it wasn’t all just huffin’ and puffin’. There were some lovely surprises along the way.
Like hundreds of geese and their goslings converging near the water:
… and of course the Inukshuks:
… and cool rocks too.
We pedalled all the way to Lemieux Island (did you know the area is open to the public?) where we crossed the pretty bridge and stumbled upon a very mysterious path:
If you cycle around you will come upon a dog park. I’m not sure if it’s officially sanctioned or not, but there were an awful lot of soaking wet/filthy/smiling dogs there.
We biked up a wee hill so we could get a better view of this:
And then we turned around and went homeward. Along the route we had a surprise bird sighting. A number of people stopped to see:
After taking a few minutes to watch him sneak around looking for prey we finally made it to Westboro Beach for a breather and a dip. (Note to self: when biking with kids always have a really appealing goal in mind, and save it for the very end.)
Someone decided to get an up close and personal view of a nearby tree (which was proclaimed to be “the best climbing tree ever”).
It was a great way to spend a few hours on Canada Day. In fact, I think we should make it a new tradition.
Looking for other fun activities and events in Ottawa? You might want to check out the ultimate Ottawa Bucket List!
