Swimming, swimming, at Geneva Park

Day One at Geneva Park – doesn’t that phrase just inspire you, send shivers of anticipation crackling down your spine? No? Well maybe I need to explain Geneva Park?

Geneva Park is a YMCA run conference and leadership centre and family camp located on 150 acres of a forested peninsula with three kilometers of shoreline on Lake Couchiching. Established 100 years ago, the cottage community is still going strong with third and fourth generations returning to the park: essentially the same families rent the same cottages the same weeks each summer. Family and friends reunite each year over pancake breakfasts, beach barbeques and cards nights.

So, as I said, Day One at GP. The first day of a ten at GP of endless opportunities – of days filled with swimming, reading, yoga, catching up with friends, watching the sun set and the moon rise. The real inspiration is that I may do all of those things, some of those things, none of them, or something completely different. The true joy of GP is having the freedom, the space to do just about anything your little heart desires.

GP means so many things to me, but my greatest pleasure is re-living or re-creating my childhood. Growing up in England, I didn’t have the opportunity to camp, canoe or hunt for bullfrogs (come to think of it, I don’t believe we even have bullfrogs in England!) Over the years (20 years this summer), I have slept under the stars at Fallen Rock, dressed up as a Star Trek (TNG) character at CampWide, gone on lunch canoe hikes to Sandy Bay (and been chased home by a thunderstorm!), learnt how to canoe, kayak, waterski and windsurf (all very poorly) and produced fantastic creations in the Craft Shop. I have eaten too much ice cream at the Tuck Shop (some would say there is no such thing as too much ice cream) and stayed up way past my bedtime. Geneva Park is a place to discovery and adventure, and I try to soak in every second of my time there. In fact, I rarely leave the park during my stay, even for a couple of hours.

When I look back at my memories of GP, I see a veritable moveable feast. There is a beach barbeque on Saturday evenings, and a pancake breakfast (usually on Wednesday mornings). Most evenings you will see groups of cottagers travelling along the cottage line carrying bowls of salad, plates of pies and bottles of wine on their way to a shared feast with friends and family. We often share at least one meal with the Frise family. This year we had two dinners with the Frise – both hosted at their cottage. I love Cottage 16 - its close proximity to the waters’ edge provides you with a constant soundtrack of waves crashing on the shore and the rustling of the trees. Dinners are simple and eclectic - a case of emptying the fridge to eat up leftovers – comprising of salads, chili, hot dogs and hamburgers, pies and cookies, and typically followed with multiple games of Mexican Trains.

This brings me to another favourite pastime at GP – playing games and cards in the evenings. It’s not the winning of games but the time spent together; multiple cottages joining forces against one another. This was the year of trains. Mexican Trains is a dominoes game played with double fifteens or double twelves (a normal dominoes set is played with double 6). A maximum of 8 people can play – and the more the merrier. The rules of the game are very similar to dominoes – play all your tiles on a train until they are gone. But it’s all about the table talk and trash talk. Seemingly mild mannered and polite humans turn into vicious backstabbing fiends whose only goal is to prevent everyone else at the table from playing! I love it!

My days this year were spent playing Cribbage or Canasta with my cousin in the mornings, napping and reading on the swim dock in the afternoons and dinner and trains in the evenings. The swim dock is located about a 5 minute walk from the cottage (we are the furthest cottage from the swim dock) and is the centre of activity most days. Swim lessons are conducted every morning and aquafit in the afternoons. The windsurfers put in just to the left of the dock, and you can easily wile away your afternoon watching everyone being active! And this is where you will find me - lying in the sun, reading, napping and watching!

I reveled this year in the luxury to read for extended periods of time. We had a thunderstorm most afternoons – perfect for curling up on the couch under a blanket and reading. In fact, the weather was very strange this year – thunderstorms and the sun vying for dominance of the heavens. The residual effects of the afternoon storms were chaotic evening skies producing beautiful and unique sunsets.

The natural beauty of the park leaves you breathless, and spending a week in the fresh air can tire you out. However, I always find I am up at the crack of dawn – well almost! On Sunday morning I was up at 7am and went down to the swim dock to do Pilates. I laid my mat out on the dock in the sunshine and drank in the clear air. An iPod was unnecessary – the birds and water were my music. A small boat with two early rising fishermen put-putted by and I noticed that they were intrigued by my exercises. They puttered off to my left, turned around, slowly drifted closer to the dock, and laid anchor. I think they were more interested in watching me than catching fish – at least I entertained them for half an hour! During the week I found different locations around the park to do Yoga and Pilates. It is very cleansing and calming to be able to do Yoga outside of a studio.

I always am loathed to return to the city at the end of my visit but I return with a renewed sense of my place in the universe. Spending a week in a cottage without running hot water (we do have running cold water), toilet or shower gives you a true appreciation of the convenience of our homes. Watching the procession of stars and planets across the night sky reminds you of how small and insignificant we are, but at the same time reveal our distinct and important place in the order of things.

Only 345 days to GP and counting!