I just recently returned back home after a week away with my family. We rented a cottage in Minden like we do every year, always try a different place. This cottage was not however as they had described it to me.
The cottage was on Lake Kushog…. took us a while to finally find it. It had been advertised as Minden but in fact, it was not very close to Minden at all. It was about ten minutes south of Dorset which really was not that close to Minden, I think it was considered Algonquin Highlands.
Nonetheless, the cottage advertisement had said we had our very own private and secluded beach. Even with the picture they sent me of the beach, you could see a road in the background, which ended up being Highway 35. Our cottage was on top of a hill and in order to get to the beach and water, we had to walk down a rocky terrain back and forth to the beach. Mind you, I was hoping that would maybe make me lose some weight before the end of the week but that did not happen. 🙁
So, anyway, the beach we had was in the open, and beside the boat launch. We were beside the shop for the lodge there that was closed for renovations. Our beach was down below a hill and a main road that hosted some cabins and Lake Kushog Road. Our beach area was private in the sense that it was not shared with anyone else but definitely not secluded. The dogs that live on the property came to visit us often, which is normally not an issue, but the one dog peed on our lifejackets and in the bag of sand toys that we had brought for my children and niece and nephew to play with. When we saw the dog coming after the first day, we made sure we had our bags and lifejackets put up on a chair.
The cottage rental came with a canoe, paddleboat, and two kayaks. We had never used a kayak before but my 11 year old son got in there and it was like it was meant for him. He was such a natural. There was also a swimming raft that everyone swam to and did some jumping tricks off and into the water, this was quite a bit part of the cottage week itself.
The day we arrived, my dad and his girlfriend, as well as my sister and her two children came as well and stayed for two nights. All of the kids had a fantastic time playing in the water. Oh and I cannot leave out my dog Chase, he was in heaven. In and out of the water, barking at the kids because he wanted to go in the water, it was quite funny to see.
The cottage itself had 3 bedrooms, one with a double bed, single bed, and a bunkbed that had a single and a double as well and we had a pull out couch in the livingroom. It also came with a bunkie that had a queen bed and a separate portapottie was was not quite that nice at all. The washroom in the main cottage was a full washroom so this is what we all used. The cottage was cozy and had everything we could need. There was Bell Expressvu satellite which was nice for the children and adults to be able to watch on a rainy day or in the evenings.
So overall, I would say the cottage was alright. We paid a cheap amount for it and for the price, we could not have gone wrong. Other cottages we had rented before had washer and dryers and other amenities that this did not have but we had no complaints. You never realize just how lucky you are to have a dry towel, our towels were soaked all week. We will rent another cottage again next year or go on a trip farther away next time but I can say that we created a lot of family memories.
