… learnt about Americans, especially in upstate New York is that they provide more entertainment for the tourists than Disney ever did

I’d stopped at this hydro-electric generator to look at the waterfall over the barrier and I have to say that I have never ever seen so many fishermen there. That astonished me because the speed that the water was coming over was incredible and I didn’t expect any fish to be hanging around there at all.

I talked to a couple of the fishermen to ask what they were fishing for. Salmon is the answer, but neither of them had caught anything that day (and it was now early evening). But just then this guy was dragged off downriver with something – and whatever it was must have been impressive) on the end of his line.

He was there for quite a while struggling with this fish (I assumed it was a fish and not a submarine or something) and after a while he was clearly getting the upper hand. But the fish put up one hell of a fight and it was by no means certain.

By now there were few people fishing and the crowd of spectators in the background were all transfixed on this little scene. Someone produced a fishing net and joined in the fun and as the fish started to tire, the fisherman began to reel it in.

It still wasn’t all over as the guy with the net needed a few grabs – the first time he missed it completely, to the accompaniment of loud guffaws from the crowd – but eventually he managed to get it into his net.

It’s quite a big fish too. Someone reckons that it was 30 pounds and someone else said about 25. But of course they both could be right. It might have been 30 pounds at the start and during the struggle it could have burnt off pounds of flesh that would have cut it down to size a little.

And so there’s one proud fisherman on his way back home. His wife can put the chicken back in the freezer and it’s fresh fish with the chips tonight.

But the funny thing about it all was that the fish had the last laugh. As the fisherman was taking the hook out of its mouth the fish bit him.

And serve him right!

Now I’m sure that you are all wondering where it took place. And as a matter of fact, so am I. And that’s because today we have had a calamity. My old hand-held tape dictaphone that I have had since 1993 and which has accompanied me on my travels everywhere has finally given up the ghost. I think that the drive belt has snapped.

I’m having to use the digital one that I bought to replace it and which I don’t like at all as it’s nothing like as spontaneous as the old one. I dunno what I’ll have to do now but I bet it won’t be cheap

After last night’s excitement, I’m pleased to report that I had a really good night’s sleep and I was ready for anything (except the dictaphone) this morning.

Even sweeping off a huge pile of leaves off the bonnet and roof of Casey (autumn is definitely here and no mistake) didn’t cause me any problems, and I was on the road pretty quickly.

While I was on my travels last night looking for food, I’d seen a sign for “Bear Creek”.

Carry on Cowboy is definitely one of the top three Carry On films ever made and the scene where Big Heap alias Charles Hawtrey dashes into the saloon and shouts “Gold Strike at Bear Creek” still has me in stitches even now.

Of course, that was a long time ago but no harm in going to see if there is anyone here.

Pultneyville is an interesting little town down along the shore of Lake Ontario.

First settled at the end of the 18th Century, it was the scene of a confrontation between local militia and a small British naval force in 1814. It was also a quite important port on the lake and even had its own railway line, but the opening of the Erie Canal led to its decline. Now, it’s mainly a seasonal resort town.

After spending an hour or so watching the antics at the dam, I took another deviation down to Cape Vincent.

Lake Ontario narrows spectacularly here and we are at the entrance to the St Lawrence Seaway. There’s obviously a need for the narrow to be illuminated and thus we have Tibbetts Point Lighthouse.

There have been several here since Captain Tibbetts donated the land for the lighthouse. This version dates from 1854 and, rarely, still has its original Fresnel lens.

Now how about this? After the SDI yesterday (was it yesterday?) I’ve now found myself a P6 Rover. And it’s a TC as well which means that it will most likely be a 2000 or a 2.2, not a V8 3.5-litre. Now how about that in the USA?

It’s been ages since I’ve seen an old car (SD1s excluded of course) and I was certainly not expecting o see a P6 anywhere like around here.

That’s Canada that, just over there. You can see how close I am to it here.

That’s the Thousand Islands Bridge going over the St Lawrence Seaway. It was built in 1937 and finished 10 weeks ahead of schedule, which goes to show that it wasn’t a Local Government project, and modernised in 1959.

It’s actually a series of bridges, not just one, that bridge the St Lawrence by using the islands as stepping stones. Its total length, including access roads, is about eight and a half miles.

And now it’s getting dark, and I’ve found a motel and a Walmart. I spent ages in Walmart copying my next batch of photos onto CD. It said “it will be done in minutes” – and fair enough, a hundred minutes is minutes so no dispute there.

I also found a Lowe’s  where I stocked up on electrical items – plugs and sockets and the like,including some colour-coded ones which will be useful.

And now I’m just a stone’s throw from the Canadian border and I’ll be there tomorrow.