Day 7: Get Swept Away With Your Girlfriends. Literally!

The night was still and quiet. The light of the stars stuck like pins in the black cloak of night and the colossal pine tree tops pricked the edge of the dark sky. Standing in the middle of a Canadian vision I stared up at what resembled an IMAX representation of the night sky. I was mesmerized and at once felt at peace.
Not so earlier in the day.
I had been exploring the campground with my friend C. We wandered down gravel trails lined with tents and pint sized trailers. We sauntered past great motor homes set on hills looking out to the mighty St. Lawrence river. We made our way down a narrow tree lined path and found ourselves on a small out-of-the-way dock lined with jet ski's and boats. Here the river branched off into small channels and inlets dotted with just a few of the 1000 Islands. We faced a narrow channel, rocks on each side that slid down into the water like a 'v'. The middle of the waterway was a deep clean green-blue colour and we could see a current flowing out towards the greater part of the river.
Boys were doing laps. Swimming hard against the current, floating back to their starting point and swimming again. Groups of friends were sitting on noodles and on life jackets. They floated down the channel with the current, climbed out of the water, followed a trail back up to the far end of the water then repeated the journey with laughter and smiles. It was a natural 'lazy-river'.
My friend and I noticed some of the riders floating around the bottom point of an island and others coming around the top point of the same island.
We decided we should do the same.
The sun was shining and the air was muggy. It was a hot day. We raced back to our campsite and collected our friend N. We fairly flew to the tuck shop to purchase floaties and flutter boards. We headed to the beach to collect our friend R.

C. and I in our trusty floaties.

C. and I praised the paradise we had seen. We spoke eloquently of the 'idyllic lagoon' and the lazy-river just waiting beyond the hill. We worked ourselves into a frenzy of excitement as we led our un-suspecting selves and friends back to the water's edge.
Our friends ooohed and aawwwed over the sight. C. jumped in first and treaded water in wait. I was next and did the same. R. came splashing behind me and N. cautiously took her time climbing off the dock while we started panting with the exertion of resting against the current that one regular boater had described to us as being 'stronger than usual today'!

Our first indication that this adventure might not turn out as expected was N. losing a shoe. It fell to the depths of the river much to N's despair. By this time I was floating on. We agreed optimistically that the shoe would be recovered later and we allowed ourselves to merge with the current and begin the ride of a lifetime! Slowly we rounded the bottom of the 'Virgin' island. Looking up to the top wall of rock we discovered the island was named so due to a statue of the Virgin Mary overlooking the river...and again....optimistically, we thought, overlooking our journey.
Wrong.
A great current was flowing on the far side of the island. We swam towards it. Laughing, comparing ourselves to the turtles in Finding Nemo. We were going to ride the current just like them.
I reached the current first shouting, laughing 'Here we go! Get ready guys!'
All of a sudden I was travelling backwards. I was flowing fast, and far. Away from my friends and away from the watchful eyes of Mary. By then R. had joined me. Our eyes wide and our mouths full of water after dropping jaws emitted loads of laughter at our own expense. No worries! We decided to stay close to the island and follow the shallows. C. caught up with us towing N. behind as her laughter weakened her ability to fight the current. It was not to be. The slime covered rocks challenged our footing and the current reached in to the crevices and pools trying to pull us back out. C. climbed a knotty path to scout out a route over the island back to the original channel that would deposit us safely back to the dock from which we optimistically began our journey. Meanwhile N. had sliced her toe on a sharp rock and was wounded in spirit as well as physiologically. We faltered in resolve.

Repairing N.'s toe.

All of a sudden C. announced we had an audience. While we had been comparing ourselves to turtles the inhabitants of Mary's private island had been enjoying a quiet garden party. They ogled C. as though she was an alien species that had climbed out of the river.
We were informed that we were trespassing and ordered back into the river. Despite informing the *ahem* gentleman that our friend was bleeding and despite relaying our doubts in being able to swim against the current to return to our roots, the man blithely reminded us that we did have floaties and that we had no choice but to jump back in the river. Dismayed at his lack of grace (Mary was right there listening in on our conversation) we slid back into the current and let it carry us back around the bottom of the island. We clung to the forbidden rocks on the island side of the channel where the current had weakened until we were able to forge our way across to the dock.

                              The Story of St. Lawrence

The good news? We recovered N.'s shoe. Bad news?  Whew! Way too tired to write after that swim!Saints preserve us.