My first real canoe trip was in Temagami when I was fifteen. For two weeks, we were pushed to our limits – persistent rain… never ending portages… so many bugs…

But the hardest part for me was the food.

The trip focused on building leadership and confidence, so part of our responsibility was to cook our own meals using ingredients selected by the camp.

Now, at fifteen, I’d never really cooked by own meals in a kitchen, let alone over a fire.

I remember standing over a pot of undercooked rice mixed with overcooked beans, madly throwing in spices in an attempt to resurrect this sorry attempt at a meal.

It was in that moment that I decided canoe tripping was not for me.

That wasn’t end of my canoeing career though. Two summers later I started working at the camp, leading canoe trips of my own.

Now I had some say into the food we ate on canoe trips. I’d also grown and had a better idea of how to cook.

Lasagna? Let’s do it. Chilli? Bring it on. Thai red curry? Let me grab my bay leaves.

I noticed my campers were loving the food too… and often cited it as one of their favourite parts of the trip.

I started to love canoe tripping again and have been leading trips for the last eight years. I absolutely love meal planning, cooking over a fire and experimenting with recipes!