My girlfriends and I are sick of summer in the city. It’s so humid by the May long weekend already that we were dying to get out of town and spend some time by a lake, relaxing on a dock. None of us have a cottage or a car so we were feeling kinda bummed out, until we heard that Voyageur Quest has our perfect weekend basically already planned for us! It works out super well because none of us actually know what we’re doing when it comes to the wild, so its great to have experts take care of us. Before we knew it, the Friday of the May long weekend had arrived and the VQ shuttle was at my front door! Because I live in the GTA, I get door-to-door service! My girlfriends and I piled in and we were on our way. The shuttle picked up a group from Pickering at Yonge and Yorkmills and we had some good laughs with them on the ride up. Our driver even stopped in South River for us because I forgot my favourite snack. We got to the VQ base - Algonquin Canoe Trippers Outpost - by the afternoon and soon they had us set up in their bunkhouse by the lake - such a cool spot! A VQ guide taught us how to paddle a canoe - he made it so easy that soon we were paddling around by ourselves near the bunkhouse! The VQ staff set up an amazing campfire and cooked us dinner right over it. We already felt so relaxed and so far away from the stress of the city. Toasted marshmallows are awesome. Saturday morning we got up to see the sunrise and hear some loons! After our paddle over to the Broken Paddle Patio for breakfast we went for a paddle to some gorgeous islands in the middle of the lake. We lounged around on the rocks and managed to get a bit of a tan. Two of my super adventurous friends wanted to hire a guide to take them a short way into the park, while the rest of us headed back for a nap. That night there was an amazing BBQ party at the patio. Our friends from our shuttle ride were there, and we also met a couple that was starting a guided trip the next day. Definitely something to try next time, now that we have a bit more experience! The booze was flowing and the company was so fun, not to mention the beautiful stars above our heads. The next morning some of us went for a hike up Moose Mountain to make the most of our last few hours in the park. The rest of the group hung back and chilled in the relaxing floating sauna. We finished off the weekend with a fantastic lunch at the patio that ended with some highly addictive fudge brownies. That afternoon the shuttle took us all the way back to my house. We were so sorry to leave after such a fun weekend! After such a great introduction to Algonquin, we knew it wouldn't be our last time.