The Art of Innkeeping

For photos of grown adults hiding in tractors click here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=131396&id=510568119&l=e212965649

Once we had got the hang of the farm work, and demonstrated that we were safe to be around paying guests at a reputable hostelry, we were let loose on the Inn itself and given a crash course in housekeeping. As you can see from the pictures, and the Inn's website http://www.prettyriverinn.com/ this is a pretty luxurious place, and everything needed to be just right. And so it was that we learned how to make a bed (in a manner befitting a bed with complex cushion/sheet arrangements that people pay to sleep in, in case my mum thinks I'm questioning her parenting skills), clean a jacuzzi, fold towels in an attractive manner and make swans out of napkins. If anyone's planning a trip to Canada I'd highly recommend paying Pretty River a visit - it's a beautiful place, set amongst the wooded hills surrounding Georgian Bay, close to the famous Bruce Trail. All of the rooms are impressive, but the Suites have their own log fireplaces and indoor hot tubs, and the Crofts are like small luxury apartments. With Paul and Linda's hospitality on top you couldn't ask for a better relaxing getaway.

For me, the best part of working at Pretty River was looking after the animals. Linda and Paul have 14 beautiful horses; 10 Icelandics, 2 Percherons and 2 miniatures, and they all have their own distinct personalities. There was Noni the rockstar stallion (see photos - he stands out a mile); Rogge his current ladyfriend and Queen Bee of the horses; Pippin and Frodo the miniatures (though not so miniature in character, Frodo is a little maniac and gleefully charged me one day when I foolishly stood in the same field as him); Nokkur the slow, wise one; Imagine the beautiful one; Baldur the headstrong baby and my favourite Hylton, the largest of the horses who gets bullied so badly by the others he has to have his own special meals to make sure he gets his fair share of food.

Then, of course, there are the reindeer. Before arriving at Pretty River I was under the impression, nurtured by years of Christmas stories about Rudolph and co., that reindeer were cute, friendly creatures, kind to children etc etc. Apparently not. As you may be able to tell from the photos, reindeer are in fact quite intimidating beasties - particularly Gandalf the dominant male of the herd. He of the extremely large antlers was, we were warned, prone to pinning people against the fence at feeding time. and we soon learned that feeding the reindeer was something of a military operation. It took at least 2 people, long distance surveillance to establish when the coast was clear and a mad dash to get into the enclosure, grab the bowls and get out again before they realised what was going on. This was followed by a finely tuned pincer movement in which one of us distracted them by posting a couple of bowls through a gap in the corner of the fence while another scooted in behind them, dropped the other bowls in and then ran for dear life. Whilst we managed to avoid any unsavoury pinning incidents, one wily specimen did make a bid for freedom during a split second lapse of gate security. Never turn your back on a reindeer...

Finally, two of our best friends at the Inn were the dogs, Angus and Mac. Good old Angus was the wise old dog of the two - friendly and playful but at the same time the most laid back dog I've ever met. In contrast, Mac was the young upstart with (until a few days before we left) a crazy Oscar the Grouch style hairdo and a penchant for chasing and (unfortunately) taking out guinea fowl. As a result he now sports a fetching Hannibal Lecter muzzle whenever he goes outdoors.

All too soon it was time for us to hit the road again. Before we left, Linda and Paul treated us to an amazing day at a Scandinavian spa in Collingwood (http://www.scandinaveblue.com/) which was exactly what we needed after 3 weeks of hard work and several months of travelling behind us! We had a fantastic time at Pretty River, made some great friends and it was definitely the highlight of our trip so far. After a tearful farewell we headed for Alberta and our next stop the Canadian Rockies.