A good use of an AutoShare car
Getting ready at the start, along with 180 or so other paddlers
We chose to do a leisurely 6 km flatwater route. Reading about the event online yesterday, we discovered we'd be doing two laps on a little course between the QEW and Lake Shore Blvd, two of Ontario's busiest roads. This didn't exactly sound like a getaway in nature, but we're always surprised how you can find these little natural spaces even in the middle of hyperurbanity and multi-million dollar mansions. Once we got going, we sailed along reedy marshes, Ashifa spotted a deer, and Steve and I paddled right by some nesting swans. I'm sure the water was disgustingly polluted, but the wildlife was lovely! All the more reason to support conservation efforts!
Getting ready for the start
Queen Victoria blew the starting horn. Later, they had cake for her birthday.
Kayakers on the water
One of the goals of the day, besides the relaxing float along the river, was to do a little cleaning up. Each boat was given a trash bag and we got a raffle entry for each bag full of river crap that we brought back. Most people took a serious paddling lap and then spent the second lap collecting floating garbage.
Steve displaying our collection
As you might be able to guess, the two primary things that filled up our garbage bags were plastic bottles and styrofoam. But we also found a few interesting things - a shoe, two cans of spray paint, a football, three tennis balls, several wine corks, and.... two coconuts:
The event raised over $25,000 for the Conservation Youth Corps program! We had a lot of fun poking around this not-so-urban river and helping to do a little tidying up.
