Kingston

Since we were travelling without consulting the guidebook beforehand Kingston was originally intended only to be a short stop-over on the way between Quebec and Toronto.  However whilst driving along the shore of the St Lawrence River the area seemed to be worth more than a passing glance and we managed to extend our stay to one day.

Kingston, like so many of the little towns, was founded by the French (in 1673) before being taken by the British in 1758.  It became wealthy as a result of shipping, a fact well illustrated by the splendour of the buildings in the old town centre, and was even the capital of Canada for 3 years (1841-4).

We spent the morning wandering around the town, window shopping before a spot of lunch and ultimately reaching the harbour.  Seeing as it was another scorching day, we booked ourselves on a cruise of the 1000 islands which are scattered along in the river.  Strangely enough the area was home to the creator of the now famous 1000 islands dressing - who became very rich.

Very importantly the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment invented ice hockey in Kingston on Christmas day 1885 by playing field hockey on the frozen river.  Kingston was also the birthplace of Bryan Adams, for which they've apologised.