The next morning, Nick, AJ, Justin and Lance headed over to the girls camp site, and had breakfast with them. It was a cold morning at Algonquin Park, everyone was dressed warmly in sweaters, long sleeved shirts, and pants.
"So what does everyone want to do today?" Lance asked everyone.
"I dont know, what is there to do when your camping?" Nick asked.
"Theres tons of stuff to do! Theres swimming (but the water is really REALLY cold), hiking, nature trails, bike trails, kayaking, sightseeing, animal searching, go into town, canoeing.." Tara said.
"Ive never been canoeing before" Justin said. "whats it like?"
"Its soo much fun!!!!" Tara and LeeAnna said.
"Well lets do that then!" Justin suggested. The girls liked the idea, so they rounded everyone up, climbed into Taras van, and headed towards the beach.
At noon time, the Canoe Rental Company arrived at the lake, and the group rented four canoes, two people per canoe.
Karine and AJ were fooling around with the paddles, having little wars trying to hit each other with them.
"Want to share a canoe with me?" Laura asked Tara. At that moment, Lance came up to Laura.
"I was wondering if you wanted to share one with me, Laura!" Lance asked. "But if you want to go with Tara, you can".
Laura looked at Tara, and Tara smiled.
"Go ahead, I dont mind!" Tara said.
Laura and Lance grabbed two lifejackets and paddles, and headed towards their canoe.
"Hey LeeAnna, have a partner yet?" Justin asked.
"Nope! Wanna share?" LeeAnna suggested.
"Thats just what i was going to ask!" Justin smiled, and then he passed a paddle to LeeAnna.
Across the sand, Nick and Tara were busy talking to one another, and joking around. Nick was holding Taras lifejacket above his head, making her try to jump up to get it. Tara, being only 5'3, couldnt reach! Tara fell down onto the sand, accidentally.
"Im soo sorry!! Are you ok? I didnt mean for you to fall! Did you hurt yourself?" Nick asked worriedly. He didnt want to see Tara hurt.
"Yeah im alright" Tara said, as she smiled up at Nick. Nick grabbed her hand and pulled her up, and then helped her put her lifejacket on.
The four canoes paddled out onto the lake, heading into the direction of the little island that is situated in the middle of the lake. While watching the beauty of Algonquins nature, AJ noticed a bear come out in one of the areas that is unsettled. He pointed the bear out to Karine, who was having a hard time trying to see it. AJ tried to stand up, to show Karine, when he moved his foot the wrong way, making the canoe tip, and Karine and AJ fell into the cold water.
"Need some help, there, buddy?" Justin asked AJ.
"Justin, I dont think thats a good idea... your going to make us.." LeeANna was starting to say, but Justin reached out his hand and AJ grabbed it, making Justins canoe tip also!
"TIP" LeeAnna finished her sentence, after coming up from the cold water, wiping the hair out of her face.
"Im soo sorry, LeeANna" Justin said, laughing a bit.
"Man this water is freezing!" Karine said coldly.
Nick and Tara paddled by the four floating bodies, laughing hysterically as the passed by. Justin, AJ, Karine and LeeAnna were forced to swim the rest of the way, with their canoes, out to the island.
When they reached the island, Tara, Nick, Laura and Lance were half done eating their lunch. Soaken wet AJ ran up to Nick, making him stand up.
"How come you didnt help us out there?!? Do you know how cold the water is??" AJ yelled at Nick.
"Why the hell didnt you TRY to help us out?" Aj continued.
"hey man! Its not my fault! If I were to help you guys, We would end up in the water too! There was nothing I could do!" Nick argued. AJ knew that Nick was right, but was still pissed anyways, trying to blame Nick.
"Your so selfish! All you care about is yourself, you dont care about others! Let us freeze out there why dont you" AJ said, and then he turned around and walked the other way, for a walk alone, to let off his madness.
"There was nothing I could do!" Nick said quietly to Tara, who was sitting beside him. "If i were to have helped, we would have tipped also".
"yeah, I know! You didnt do anything, Nick! Dont worry about it!" Tara said, trying to assure Nick.
"Thanks" Nick said, appreciating her trying to make him feel better. Nick and Tara continued eating their lunch together, talking, and getting to know eachother better. Karine stood up, and decided to go find AJ.
After a few minutes, she caught up with AJ at the other end of the island.
"Want some company?" Karine asked quietly.
"Sure" AJ said, upset.
"You know, Nick was right, he couldnt help us" Karine said.
"yeah, I know that. I guess Im just mad at myself, for making us tip" AJ said.
"Dont be mad at yourself Alex! This is your first time camping, you learn along the way! Just think, if you ever go camping again, you'll be laughing at this experience" Karine said, and she laughed a bit. Aj started to crack a smile on his face.
"You're right" He said to Karine. "It was kind of funny" AJ admitted. Karine and AJ walked around the island together, talking about life, and friendships, and started to make a good friendship of their own.
After leaving the island, the group paddled back to short, but decided to bring the canoes to their site, so they took the river that flows behind their site, and parked the canoes along shore there.
When the sun started to set, and night time started to come, the air became crisp and cold. Everyone changed into warm clothes, and had jackets on top. Being men that they are, the boys wanted to start a campfire for the girls. Tara, Karine, Laura and LeeAnna took a seat around the firepit, while Nick went hunting in the bushes, and AJ looked for some rocks. Lance and Justin went to go look for some paper and extra firewood.
"What are the guys doing?" Karine said.
"I have NOOO idea" Tara whispered.
AJ came back first with two big rocks. AJ sat near the fireplace, and started banging them together. The girls giggled, as they watched AJ bang rocks together.
"AJ, what exactly are you TRYING to do?" Karine asked inbetween laughs.
"What are you talking about? Im trying to make a fire! If you bang rocks together, it can cause sparks" AJ said. The girls started laughing even more, and AJ continued with his rock banging.
A few moments later, Nick came back with two sticks.
"Heres a kodak moment" Laura said, in reference to what Nick is about to do.
"What are you doin AJ?" Nick asked.
"Banging rocks, it can cause sparks" AJ said.
"good idea" Nick said, seriously.
Nick started to rub sticks together, which made the girls laugh even more! Tara fell out of her chair laughing, and so did the others.
After ten minutes of laughing, and still no fire, Nick was starting to get impatient.
"Why are you guys laughing?" Nick asked.
Tara stood up, went to her van, and came back with a bottle of zippo. Tara squirted the bottle onto the firepit, and lit a match. A bonfire was quickly created. Nick and AJ stood there, looking at the fire, and dropped their rocks and sticks.
"How come you girls didnt tell us you had that?" AJ said, embarassed.
"We were too busy watching you guys act like men, or shall i say, cavemen! LOL No one bangs rocks or rubs sticks for fire anymore" Karine said, still laughing.
"What can we say? We were....... trying to do things the old way" Nick said, covering up the truth. Truth is, they didnt know how to build the fire.