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28-29 August, 2003 On our first visit to Portland, we met Peter and Kaye Lowe from Australia. Like us, they made the most of their trip to America, travelling round to see all sorts of places, one of which was the Thousand Islands region. Peter and Kaye were very enthusiastic about the natural beauty of the area, and ever since, it's been on our list of "must visit". This year, we finally made it. The 1000 Islands Region is an area of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River and there are, in fact, 1,864 islands ranging from the largest, Wellesley Island which has towns, roads and bridge access to both Canada and the United States, to Tom Thumb Island, which has the bare minimum in island qualifications - one tree and the ability to remain above water 365 days a year! We took one of Uncle Sam's Boat Tours around the islands on a tour lasting most of the morning and taking in some great scenery. I was really pleased to see an osprey at close range. The focal point of the region is the fairy tale Boldt Castle on Heart Island, but many of the other islands have great stories to be told about them. Like the guy whose wife couldn't find an island she liked, so he BUILT her one, built a house on it ... and she left him. Or the folk who decided to save on building costs, and built their home on the shore, waited for winter then dragged their house across the ice to their island! The owner of two of these islands has an international problem. One of his islands is officially American, the other Canadian. So he has the shortest international footbridge in the world between the two, and apparantly, if he has a row with his wife, he takes the dog, a six pack of beer and leaves the country for a while! Some islands are so small, there is BARELY enough room for a house, others are uninhabited except by the local wildlife. The tour finished with a complete circuit of Boldt Castle, to see all it's turrets, towers and gateways. The afternoon was spent keeping our boys happy in the motel pool!
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