For the Whebi family, the thought of camping is exciting, but also very scary. That changed on the weekend, though, when they took a road trip to Peterborough for the Learn to Camp program.
“My favorite part was the scary stories and sleeping in the tent, and the most delicious part is the smores” said seven-year-old Elias Whebi.
The Learn to Camp program is a partnership between Parks Canada and MEC to learn how to camp and boost your confidence in the outdoors.
“We don’t know how to camp,” said Emily Whebi. “We have 3 young children and the idea is terrifying to go out in the woods by ourselves with no experience, so we thought we would test this out and then we got here we learned how to build a tent, we had a campfire, it was really cool.”
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The overnight experience was held at Peterborough Lift Lock 21. This year, five families came out for the program, which was led by six instructors. The program costs $40.00 for adults, and $20.00 for children.
“My son met another boy that was exactly his age and they basically just ran around and had an amazing time,” said Emily Whebi.
In addition to learning the basics to camping, families were also taught how to be safe in a boat and paddled up the Peterborough Lift Lock.
“I think as much as we enjoyed the camping, just taking away the Peterborough Lift Lock, we would come back here for sure to do a tour,” Emily said. “Or we heard that there is skating in the winter, so I would love to come back.”
The next event held at the Peterborough Lift Lock will be Under Water Dining on Thursday, Aug. 16, where people can come and get a tour of the lock and eat inside with a six-course meal.