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Greater-Opportunities
What a Muskoka company is doing to get people outside easier
Getting outside for a paddling trip is getting harder to plan with busy schedules, young kids, and not having the know-how to do it. A company in Muskoka is making this easy for all types of people. As every industry is growing and changing, so is the paddling community. Greater Opportunities, or GO Paddling, not only offers overnight adventures but they also have hit a new trend in our forever-growing world. Adventure trip in a day. With all the hustle and bustle of life it’s getting harder for people to take those few days off to go up to one of Ontario’s Parks and get outside canoeing for a few days. What if you are a person that only gets the long weekends off in the summer? Maybe you have younger children and you’re not sure how they will be? Or maybe you want to try something new? Whatever the reason, it’s getting harder to get outside easily, especially if you don’t have the skills, and it takes time to plan.
The company Greater Opportunities provides a great mid-way point to an adventure canoe experience in a short window of time. Their paddle Muskoka trips make it easy to get outside and the only thing you have to plan is the date and meet up with them in the morning. So what exactly do they take care of for you? Well, you get all of your equipment there ready and waiting for you, a smiling guide that greets you, a paddling lesson to get you moving on the water, and oh yeah, a super scrumptious lunch is also packed in. While fair in price for such a high quality trip it’s hard not to jump in a boat and go paddling for the day.
A Typical Day Adventuring in Muskoka While all these trips are nicely planned out they also all have their own unique adventures. From 4-6 hours long, you could find yourself sitting having lunch beside a waterfall, paddling in a big open lake, or relaxing in your boat travelling down a river. A couple trips mix up the day with a hike, so you might find yourself walking over some of the earth’s oldest rocks, or finding a small path on a quiet trail abundant with wildlife. All trips start at 10 am or later, allowing a relaxing morning in many of the small towns located in the area, or allowing time to stop for a coffee on the drive up. The helpful guides will always have you back in time for supper, as well as helpful recommendations on great local food and beer! For a great paddling experience head over to greater-opportunities.com to check out the trips and reserve your spot for the 2016 paddling season! 11
Cabins at the Domain
Tranquility in Nature
This beautiful property, formerly the Domain of Killien, is under new ownership and is part of the Thurston Wildlife and Forest Reserve, a family owned venture dedicated to protecting the environment and nature. The Reserve includes rental cabins on Drag Lake with clear velvety water for swimming, canoeing and kayaking, as well as access to walking trails through some 4,500 acres of pristine forest, private lakes, rivers and streams, awe inspiring rock faces and sandy beaches. It is open from the May 24 weekend till Thanksgiving weekend. booking@cabinsatthedomain.com Make a reservation now 1-705-457-1242 (on site) 705-457-7510 (mobile)
Hello, future Stand Up Paddle Boarders!
The first thing you think about when you write something like this is, what do I write about? Well, the first thing I can think about is bacon, bacon, bacon, beer, beer, beer. Whew, repetition is good for the brain.
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You know, being in an area and watching a sport like Stand Up Paddle board (SUP) grow from infancy is pretty surreal. You never expect something like SUP to explode the way it has. Before I started SUP Yukon; I was paying attention to the "trend" as it was at that time. I couldn't believe or really understand what the draw to SUP was, until I tried it back in Thailand in 2011. My first experience of being on an SUP out on the ocean, alone, blew me away! With the serenity of being in the moment, the sense of accomplishment when I stepped off the board onto land, looking back at my own mini adventure was perfect and epic. I understood right away the draw to Stand Up Paddle.
After my adventure, really an awakening to paddle sports, I started researching this SUP trend and I quickly realized just how fast this new Stand Up Paddle sport was becoming the fastest growing sport in the world! Research became a realization that I wanted to be part of this SUP world. So Stand Up Paddle Yukon was started in 2012 with six boards, paddles, leashes, and a drive to see where SUP could go in the Yukon. Six boards turned to twelve in 2013, twelve to twenty -four in 2014, twenty-four to forty in 2015 and forty to – well, you get the idea. The sport is blowing up. SUP Fitness, SUP Yoga, racing, white water, touring, surfing, expeditions big and small, and fishing; yeah you can do that too! Oh yeah, once you start SUP’ing, one SUP board can do all of the above. Did I also mention that after a brief intro about the basics, you’re on the water? You get to experience your own adventure. Just like a rush from a roller coaster ride, but at a level of excitement you wish it to be at. Then, you’re back out on the water again, because you have acquired a hunger to be a better paddler on an SUP.
SUP Yukon has grown from a cabana on the beach with a couple boards, to "how can we offer you the best SUP experience?" with the best equipment, the highest qualified instructors and guides. SUP Yukon has grown to be an adventure SUP company. I, and the people who are in the family of SUP Yukon, love to SUP in all its forms. We really love to SUP expedition style, where you’re solely dependent on the equipment you carry with you on your SUP, no extra support, just you and your SUP and us as your guides. As a lifelong Yukoner and traveler of the world, the Yukon has everything to offer for your SUP needs and more. Want to paddle on a world renowned river with a group of adventurers like yourself? We are your number one SUP destination tour/expedition company. With adventures in the Yukon and up and coming tours in Alaska, we are looking forward to seeing you with us on your next adventure. After all: “It’s the great, big, broad land ’way up yonder, It’s the forests where silence has lease; It’s the beauty that thrills me with wonder, It’s the stillness that fills me with peace.” – Robert Service (1907) Stuart Knaack Owner and adventurer of SUP Yukon.
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Why is it considered your community’s Signature Event? Chris Brown
Islendingadagurinn is almost as old as the first Icelandic settlement in Gimli dating from 1889, making it one of the oldest continuous festivals in North America. Each August long-weekend 50,000 visitors make the trip to the RM of Gimli (pop: 5,845) to celebrate Icelandic Heritage and Culture. This part of the Interlake is home to the largest Icelandic settlement outside of Iceland in the world. Each year this volunteer driven festival delivers 4-days of festivities centered around the celebration of Culture (Cultural Pavilion), our food, and our history both as Icelanders and New Icelanders. Our most popular event is The Viking Village where 80-100 reenactors pitch massive white tents on a hilltop in the centre of town on the shore of Lake Winnipeg and live like Vikings circa: 900 AD, cooking over open fires, working leather, wool and iron dressed in authentic Viking dress. Thousands come to learn about how they lived, battled and emigrated to a new world. ‌. And every day at 3:00 PM they do battle as only Vikings can!
Our most important event is out traditional program on Monday afternoon. Here our Icelandic Delegation which in the recent past has included, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers of State, Heritage, Tourism, etc. are joined by their Canadian counterparts for talks, meetings, and to exchange greetings from Iceland and Canada while choirs for Iceland sing. Our Fjallkona (the embodiment of Iceland) is there to remind us of the elevated status women have long held in our culture. Icelandic poets, writers, musicians and visual artists create with their Canadian collaborators adding to our collective culture.
Our festival has always placed importance on athletic endeavors from our Family sports to our 10 mile run., from beach volleyball to Fris-Nok a game played with a flying disk and bottle on a post. Islendinga-dunk features two combatants on a greased pole boxing with padded poles, trying to send their opponent tumbling into the harbour. Fireworks, nightly concerts, a midway, Manitoba’s largest rural Parade, sandcastle building contest, craft, commercial and food vendors, Fine Art Show and pancake breakfast round out our offerings. Over 200 volunteers make the festival a reality each year with young people able to get valuable experience and adults able to network outside their traditional circles. The festival brings a sense of community to Gimli that reduces petty crime and introduces newcomers to their neighbors. This is why, in 2015, the festival was awarded the “STAR Celebration” designation for the Provincial Tourism Secretariat as the region’s signature event.
Photos: Evelyne Pollock, Mark Loberg, Michael Edwards, Kirsten Lorenz, Amanda Warren, CTC Mueller
THE TRUE NORTH FUN AND FREE
FO L LO W U S
The Upper Ottawa River Race
has quickly grown from a race to a full on paddling festival. We have quickly seen the paddling community come together at the event and truly enjoy what they do. We saw people between the ages of 6 to 75 race with almost 90 racers for our first year. We couldn’t have been more stoked! From the feedback, we have decided to do it all over again, but just BIGGER! This year we have our 13km, 4km and kids races, Friday night paddling film festival and our partnership
with Stand up for CHEO, which raises funds for the local children’s hospital. New this year we have added a Kayak Fishing Tournament and a Heritage Paddle with author Wally Schaber. It’s more than just a race, as paddlers come together and teach new potential paddlers techniques, a chance to try SUP yoga, Aerial Yoga, Hula, POI which is all free whether you’re a paddler or someone wanting to check out the event. We encourage people to see what all the craze of paddling is about and try it. This event gives them the chance and allows us to attract new paddlers and grow the paddling community. Evenings provide opportunities to relax by the bonfire on the beach and listen to great live music, go for a moon-lite paddle and a variety of other activities. We have racers from Ottawa, Toronto, New York and Montreal travelling to the Ottawa Valley and sharing paddler stories and paddling destinations around the bonfire or at their campsites located right at the finish line.
Want to see what we’re all about? Check out our facebook and website to get a glimpse into what the festival is all about! www.upperottawariverrace.ca OR https://www.facebook.com/UpperOttawa-River-Race-898183073549526/ 28
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