Since its premiere on HBO Max in the US last year, the Canadian ice hockey drama “Heated Rivalry” has become a “cultural phenomenon”, spawning trivia nights, costume contests and “no fewer than four parody musicals”, said Sarah Bahr in The New York Times. It catapulted its actors to stardom and created another, more unlikely star too – the glamorous lakeside house where the male lovers “cosy up”.
In Canada, such holiday homes, no matter how grand, are called “cottages”, and spending the summer in “cottage country” – the wilderness of forests and lakes beyond Canada’s cities – is a long-standing tradition. To sample it, I headed to Muskoka, a glorious region with more than 1,600 “sparkling” lakes, where the cottage featured in the TV show lies.
A two-hour drive north of Toronto, Lake Muskoka and its neighbours have been attracting the rich and famous for 150 years. Today, the likes of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have cottages in the area – but despite high property prices, a holiday here can be relatively affordable, as the best experiences – “water- skiing shows, stunning hikes, weep-worthy sunsets” – are often free.
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I stayed at a hotel in the small town of Gravenhurst, on Lake Muskoka itself, which has some decent restaurants and “charming” tea rooms, and is a good base for swimming, canoeing, sailing and hiking. I also stole a “distant glimpse” of the “Heated Rivalry” cottage, a “three-bedroom beauty with glass walls, floor-to-ceiling windows and a central granite fireplace” that was recently listed on Airbnb, starting at £1,625 per night.
I browsed farmers’ markets “brimming” with fresh local produce, and visited Bala – “Ontario’s cranberry capital” – where Muskoka Lakes Farm & Winery offers wine tastings and tours of its cranberry bog. I admired the “hulking” historic steamships that run sightseeing cruises from Gravenhurst. And I walked the Huckleberry Rock Lookout Trail – perhaps the region’s “prettiest” hike – up to a large “perch” of pink granite with sweeping views across the lake.
