Northern 101
Adventures to be had, memories to be made...we are committed to exploring and experiencing all that Northern Ontario has to offer us. Our plan is to immerse ourselves in the rugged beauty and vast vistas one step at time.
Where would you like to rest for eternity? For anyone who lives by the ocean, their death usually involves some sort of burial of body or scattering of ashes in, on or around the ocean. When you live by the Atlantic Ocean, it comes to define you in so many ways. It is such a big presence and its power and majesty are always on display. The cemetery in Bouctouche, New Brunswick fits the bill for many Maritimers. If you believe that your spirit lives on in some capacity or other, then the view of the ocean that is constantly changing and evolving, embracing seasons and squalls and peaceful waves lapping the shore would be a good location for your final resting place. Bouctouche is a charming east coast town with 2,361 residents, all sitting at the mouth of the Bouctouche River running into the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean defines the town. Winter is severe and replete with winter sports, including constant ice fishing and snowmobiling. In summer, the town comes alive with people seeking the sand and surf of the ocean. Living in the moment is common, given that the ocean drives the town life. We rented a car that was too smart for its own good. Artificial Intelligence postulates that cars will be able to drive themselves sometime soon. If so, I don't want to be a passenger. This car would start shimmering and shaking whenever we crossed a dotted line without signaling. It would turn off at every intersection. It decided on its own whether the speed control I had set was appropriate, and would arbitrarily slow down at will. The wipers turned on and off without any prompting from me. When someone was nearby, it would start beeping incessantly until I moved away. I wouldn't pay you $10 for it. With Artificial Intelligence, the theory is that we are supposed to be able to eventually live forever. Given my experience with the "smart" car, I figure I'll be content some day to be buried in a cemetery by the water while AI continues to irritate my children and my children's children.
0 Comments
The Atlantic Ocean has its own cadence. There is an incredible feeling when you arrive, like you are seeing something so powerful...so wonderful...so amazing. It is far bigger than any of the towns that front it. It must be the vastness and sheer force, but being by the ocean is good for the soul. It makes you marvel at the large world around you. It puts things into perspective. Shediac, New Brunswick, is a town of less than 7,000 people right on the Atlantic. Our first stop was Adorable Chocolate, the local chocolate shop. It boasted chocolate covered wafers, almonds, nut concoctions, and everything delicious. We ordered one of everything and ate them all en route to the beach, the wharf and the big lobster. Shediac's giant lobster, the world's largest, is one of the most photographed installations in New Brunswick. 34 years old and still looking stellar, it sits right on the Atlantic Ocean. You can climb on it and explore. It is realistic and was sculpted by a local, weighing 180,000 pounds and measuring 36 feet long. It is surrounded by row houses of varying colours and an attractive seascape. The Point du Chene Wharf is wonderful, stretching in a long line of colourful houses to the ocean. In winter, it is frozen and a somewhat bleak vista, but it is obvious how vibrant and enjoyable it must be from the May long weekend to Labour Day in the summer. There are restaurants and a lighthouse and local fisheries. There would be boats bobbing in the ocean and people selling food and admiring the water. Spa services, ice cream, coffee, and incredible sunsets are all on offer. Our final destination in Shediac was Parlee Beach. It was frozen when we were there, but in the summer it boasts sun and sand. You can watch the tides come in and out and play in the parks surrounding the beach. There is a large campground. The views of the ocean are marvelous. Shediac was a charming East Coast town with everything necessary for a wonderful day of exploring. Fueled by chocolate, the smell of salt water, and the ruggedness of the ocean coast, we left vowing to return in summer. Experiencing the Shediac shore in summer would leave one with a different perspective than in winter.
Killarney is a town of 500 people surrounded by a famous provincial park and is known as the oldest community on the north shore. It is the gateway to the famed North Channel and situated on the north side of Georgian Bay. In the Sudbury District, it is about an hour southwest of the town of Sudbury. The Killarney Mountain Lodge has one of the prettiest northern settings I have seen. Pink rock and quartz abound. Sitting right on the water, it evokes the wilderness beauty that surrounds it. The Lodge is closed from late Fall until early Spring, but its sister property, the Sportsman's Inn, is open year round and in the winter hosts snowmobilers and yesterday a number of people endured the Polar Bear Swim then celebrated in the pub thereafter. We came to hike the Lighthouse Trail. You follow the signs to Canada House on the grounds of the Killarney Mountain Lodge, then head into the woods. It is truly beautiful. Georgian Bay is on full display, along with an abundance of rocks, trees, flora, fauna, leaves, and multiple colours. The landscape is evocative of Canada, with its wilderness feel. The hike was fairly easy and very picturesque, with only a few spots a bit difficult to traverse. We went along the water and marveled at the sunset and the natural wonder all around. The lighthouse itself was modest, white with red accents, with a bright light atop. It was locked with a padlock and overlooked the lake. We had a wonderful five kilometer walk, heading through the woods to the lighthouse and then back along the road because the sun had set. Our dog loved all the smells and sounds, and the setting was lovely. After working up a healthy appetite, we retired to the Sportman's Inn for nachos, poutine, chicken fingers, burgers, chicken pot pie and toffee cake with ice cream. It was a most enjoyable day in a perfect Canadian setting. It is no wonder we Canadians identify with the outdoors and the vast wilderness that surrounds us...Killarney is a perfect example of that wondrous wilderness.
Muskoka is a fabled part of Canada. Novar is just north of Huntsville. It is the boundary between receiving a discount on your license because you live in the north and not. It is also just south of a beautiful place called Clear Lake. Clear Lake is spring fed hence a little cool, but clear and fresh and gorgeous. We spent a sunny, blue sky day fishing Clear Lake. While the kids fished, I swam off the boat. It was an idyllic experience. My friend Jim, with whom I am privileged to work, and his wife Elisa invited us to enjoy a day of fishing and tubing off their boat. It is a shiny 2019 pontoon boat. His 19-year-old son Alex is an acclaimed MMA fighter and expert fisherman, having fished over 20 lakes in Ontario with success. He was brilliant at finding the right spot, trolling for fish, setting everyone up for catching, and helping remove the fish from the lines when the hook caught in their gills. We caught small mouth bass and rainbow trout until my 10-year old daughter reeled in a Ling. Rare in this lake, with only one other that Alex knew about having been caught, it was ugly but apparently makes really good eating, tasting a bit like lobster. Part of the cod family, Ling is tall and slim with olive and brown colouring. The white flesh is incredibly tasty. Canadians have a short but gorgeous summer season and any sunny days spent on a boat are treasured. We took full advantage of the opportunity, with a few of the group tubing off the back of the sea doo and all of us enjoying the snacks Elisa brought on board. Novar and Emsdale are called the southern gateway to the beautiful Amalguin Highlands. Novar was founded in 1910 as a logging town. Emsdale is a bit north of Novar, and both communities highlight Brooks Falls as being worth the hike. We spent the day on Clear Lake, which is in between the two, so did not see the falls, but will explore when we are next in the area. Clear Lake Ling Fishing was wonderful, and the lake was the perfect place to spend a relaxing afternoon. There was no place I would have rather been.
Art is personal. Different people are attracted to different genres, styles and mediums. I love colour so French Impressionism is a favourite. My youngest daughter loves using pencils to draw facial features, having recently published a few videos on Youtube of her pencil drawings of eyes and thereby generating more than 4,000 views. Peter Camani loves making massive sculptures out of concrete. He owns a 310 acre property just north of Burk's Falls. In it, he has created a weirdly wonderful park full of massive art. It is fascinating and neat, strange and evocative. Some people find the erections creepy and reminiscent of black magic. Others find they bring to mind medieval designs. Unquestionably they are interesting, thought provoking and beautiful in a strange, somewhat unsettling way. The day we were there, a lovely August afternoon, there were at least 50 cars and all sorts of families with children and dogs exploring the park. There is a farmer's market set up beside the parking lot, and the artisans there sold us fridge magnets, shoulder bags and a mirror, all featuring the screaming heads. The park itself is a marvelous wander. You move from large metal scaffolds to screaming heads made from concrete to wooden bridges to serene waterways with lily pads. Everywhere there is something to see, something to ponder, something to inspect and about which to form an opinion. Your mind scrambles from one installation to the next, always roving and wondering what inspired such an unusual output. The acreage is where the artist lives and his house is apparently also unusual, although we did not see it. The same day we explored the Screaming Heads, we also toured the tiny town of Burk's Falls, a stone's throw away. There we found good food at the Burk's Falls Cafe and Grill. We ate a chicken Caesar wrap, club sandwich and homemade tomato rigatoni soup. It was bustling on a Monday afternoon, with about 50 people sitting inside and on the patio. We also explored the covered bridge at the Visitor's Centre. There are a few hikes you can take around Burk's Falls that show you the beauty of the surrounding countryside and the water from which the town takes its name. Incorporated in 1890, it has stayed relatively stable in population over the years, with just under 1,000 residents. Cottage country means in the summer that number swells with all the beautiful lakes surrounding the village. My daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring The Screaming Heads and the small village of Burk's Falls. We capped the day off with ice cream before heading home. It was yet another enjoyable northern adventure.
Friday afternoon of the long weekend, sunshine reflecting off the lake, wind rustling through the trees, old growth forest and rock, and spending time with friends. Where else would you rather be? One of this blog's readers recommended the trail to the Massasauga lighthouse as being quite beautiful, so that was our destination. Canada's railroad united the country. It permitted people to travel from west coast to east coast and from north to south. The Canadian Atlantic Railway was a North American railway located in Quebec, Vermont and Ontario. It has since been decommissioned and turned into a walking trail. In Parry Sound on Oastler Lake you can pick it up and wander for many kilometres. We walked seven kilometres through lake, old growth forest, moss-covered rocks, pretty open expanses and bridges spanning rivers. There were benches along the trail engraved in memory of various people and lots of natural beauty all around. My friends and my daughter's dog were good company as we explored. But no lighthouse... Parry Sound is known for being a cottage country community in northern Ontario with almost 7,000 permanent residents and at least double that during the warmer months. It has the deepest natural freshwater port. It is also the largest freshwater archipelago with 30,000 islands. With numerous lakes dotting the landscape in and around Parry Sound and three provincial parks, there is a lot to see and do. The downtown is simple and located on the water with the railroad in the background and the lake in front. We enjoyed Salty Dog ice cream after our walk while sitting looking at the Island Queen cruise boat that explores the islands. Still no lighthouse... We checked out Oastler Lake Provincial Park, which has a lovely beach...but no lighthouse. There is also Massasauga Provincial Park which is great for boating...but no lighthouse. Finally we checked Killbear Provincial Park. Jackpot! Killbear has a lighthouse. Parry Sound made for a relaxing and enjoyable day. The town is small and facilitates the enjoyment of summer. As for the elusive lighthouse, I now know it is in Killbear Provincial Park, not Massasauga, and will be back to see it someday soon.
Lake Panache looks like swiss cheese in the form of moose antlers and that is from where the name derives. It spans Sudbury, Sudbury District, Espanola and Lively and is fed by the Whitefish River system. 180 feet deep in the channel, it has an average depth of just under 50 feet. The channel can have very rough waters, when waves swell over 5 feet high. Navigating the lake often involves using the islands for shelter as you tack your way from one place to another. Greg Cholkan writes a fishing blog and the map above comes from it. We tried fishing off the island but only caught two fish in over an hour before finding a great spot just under the docks of the boathouses where we reeled in fish after fish, albeit smaller ones, in just under 30 minutes. Fishing is way more fun when you are actually catching fish. Through this blog, I connected with a former Killarney Park Ranger named John and his dog Simba. He was kind enough to tour us around the Panache Bay Marina, which he indicated is under great new ownership, and to show us the beauty of the lake and its surroundings. He also fed us spaghetti dinner in his unique log house that he built himself on the road to the marina. A really enjoyable afternoon. My favourite photo came from the fishing spot my son found. The sky was blue and full of clouds and the sun seemed to be shining down on his specific spot, where he netted some great fish hiding under the dock.
The town of Mindemoya boasts a population of 1,750 and is known as the hub of Manitoulin. It is centrally located at the cross section of two of Manitoulin Island's highways, and has more amenities than its neighbouring towns. Lake Mindemoya is the third largest interior lake on the island with an island in the middle called Treasure Island. The water is warm and clear with lots of boats, canoes, kayaks, paddle boards and swimmers. This is the first year that Splashtown has run an inflatable water park on the lake. We spent three gorgeous afternoons playing on the floaties in the water and soaking up the sunshine. All of us were brown as berries by week's end. The lake around the water park bustles with activity. The lake bottom is sandy and about 30 feet deep in most spots, although it boasts a shallow sandy entry along with a deeper cold water fishing hole where anglers wrestle whitefish into submission. On Canada Day weekend, there was a delicious ribfest from Thursday through Sunday. The ribs and chicken were so mouth wateringly good that we attended two days running. The mac and cheese, fresh lemonade, funnel cakes and deep fried Mars bars also rate a mention. The place had country music playing all day long and a local craft fair on Saturday with artisans from near and far. One of them, We Have The Wood, was offering custom made cutting boards with various Ontario lakes featured. I ordered one as a gift for my business partner and his wife. The weekend weather was perfect with nary a cloud in the sky, and Saturday the place was hopping with lots of locals and tourists alike. We had breakfast at Mum's Bakery one morning, enjoyed poutine at the GrillNChill, and grabbed delicious fresh sub sandwiches at Wilson's Corner Store a few afternoons. Wilson's is where we also filled up for gas, did our laundry, and bought tasty breakfast sausages. I visited the local library and City Hall and conducted a business meeting in the comfortable council chambers thanks to the kindness of the town staff. Mum's Bakery is not good for your waistline but is good for your taste buds, offering fresh pies, cookies and bars at the counter when you settle your bill. The local Foodland offers anything you need for groceries right at the four corners. I also had need of a tire change while on the island and Daniel Meneray from Meneray Towing and his colleagues Jayden and Barrie could not have been more helpful. The hub of Manitoulin Island was good to us, leaving us with memories of playing in the sun and surf, eating exceedingly well, and enjoying the friendly charm of the island. It was worth the trip.
In Providence Bay on Manitoulin Island, fireworks were permitted to celebrate Canada Day. Fired from a barge in Lake Huron after the sun set, they lasted about 10 minutes and were a fitting end to a most enjoyable day. We sat on the beach with about 1,000 others and waited for the wonder to begin. It was a gorgeous night and the island has very few mosquitoes, so it was comfortable, warm and relaxing. Providence Bay Beach is considered by many to be the best beach in Northern Ontario. It stretches around the bay in Lake Huron and is sandy and shallow with clear water and beautiful sunsets. The beach area has a small museum, an ice cream shop called Huron Island Time, a wonderful playground in the sand for the kids, a boardwalk, and an exercise area for adults. While wandering the small museum, I was shocked at the size of beavers - they can be as heavy as 110 pounds. While exploring, the children enjoyed Farquar's ice cream in bubble gum and cotton candy flavours. We stayed at Glenn and Judy Black's place at Black's Bay. A completely off grid cottage, the setting was immensely beautiful set in 113 acres of forest. We saw plenty of bunnies, butterflies and deer. There were very few mosquitoes but lots of moths. The view from the back deck was relaxing and the breeze off the water coupled with the sound of the water lapping the shore was easy to get used to. They have a canoe which we enjoyed, and a farm with free range chickens and a couple of dogs. They were kind, welcoming hosts. Being in Providence Bay on Canada Day weekend was glorious. The town gave away free lemonade along with a piece of chocolate or white cake from Mum's Bakery. There was a large yard sale, and everyone was happy and welcoming. We managed a meal at Mum's Bakery soon thereafter, and it was delicious as were the pies, brownies, cookies and bars that we bought after breakfast. We also made it over to Lake Huron Fish and Chips twice. Their fresh halibut and white fish with chips was mouth watering both times. It would be hard to imagine a more enjoyable Canada Day weekend than the one we spent in Providence Bay.
Gore Bay is located on Manitoulin Island at Lake Huron's North Channel, a fabled waterway. Incorporated as a town in 1890, it has vast vistas of sea and forest along with a charming harbour, a couple of nice restaurants and a chocolate factory. We spent two days enjoying its charms earlier this month. The people were helpful and welcoming and the water was inviting. Here you can rent boats at Canadian Yacht Charters to explore the North Channel, something on my TO-DO list albeit with a bit of trepidation. Here you can eat delicious pepperoni and cheese stuffed crust pizza at Buoy's Eatery looking out over the harbour. There is also a fish and chips restaurant at the pier along with a playground and water park on land and a bunch of fun floaties in the water operated by SplashnGo Adventure Parks. We spent a fun-filled afternoon in the water, bouncing around, pushing each other in and having a blast - kids and adults alike. Our final destination was the Finnia Chocolate Shop in town. It boasts homemade chocolates made on the island, "from bean to bar." It had numerous chocolate options including gluten free and vegan chocolate and the pairing of both dark and milk chocolate with peanut butter, mint, raspberry, maple syrup and buttermilk. All of us grabbed something to savour and enjoy upon departing Gore Bay. Gore Bay was such a delightful day trip for us that we did it two days in a row. Spending time in a lake town with so many enjoyable activities is never a bad idea. It was glorious.
|
Articles by TitleHigh in Parry Sound
Designs on Deerhurst A Hike with the Group of Seven Thunder Beach Blast French River Romp Catagories
All
“I urge you; go find buildings and mountains and oceans to swallow you whole. They will save you, in a way nothing else can.” Archives |