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KENORA used to be known as Rat Portage until a flour company refused to build a mill here, arguing that the word "rat" on their sacks wouldn't do much for sales. Nowadays the permanent population of 9000 quadruples in the summer, when droves of Americans arrive with their fishing tackle - no wonder the town has a twelve-metre statue of a fish at its entrance. Rod or not, Kenora is a pleasant spot to break the long journey west (or east), especially in summer when there's a really laid-back feel to the place. From the foot of Main Street, the MS Kenora cruises the Lake of the Woods' islands and channels for two hours (mid-May to mid-Sept Mon-Sat 4 daily, Sun 1 daily; $15; tel 807/468-9124), offering an opportunity to see Devil's Gap Rock at the entrance to the town harbour. In 1884, the rock was painted to resemble a human face and it has been regularly repainted ever since. This is not, however, a gimmicky attraction: Devil's Gap is an Ojibwa spirit rock, to which food and tobacco offerings were once made to propitiate Windigo, the large and threatening personification of winter. Windigo's powers could only be controlled by powerful shamen, and when hunters disappeared in the bush they were thought to have been eaten by him. As an introduction to the Lake of the Woods , the boat trip does just fine, but the sheer vastness of the lake - and its 14,000 islands - is hard to grasp. One way of sampling much more is to hire a houseboat with Houseboat Adventures, at the Main Street wharf (tel 807/543-2911 or 1-800/253-6672, fax 807/543-3678, www.houseboatadventures.com ). Their boats have all modern conveniences - from toasters through to freezers - and the onboard fish-cleaning stations reveal the predilections of their customers, but it is still a wonderful way to experience the outback. Prices from $1575 to $3500 per week per boat for up to six people.
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