5th August 2017
Drove towards Long Point in search of accommodation. Stopped at Point Rowen to find the tourist information office closed. Found a B&B – it was full. It was then that we discovered that it was bank holiday weekend. Accommodation was going to be hard to come by. Somehow we stumbled across Sand Hill Park on Lake Erie that had two camping spots available – phew! Set up camp with our tiny little tent and meagre equipment in a wooded spot that backs up to the sand dunes.
We were informed about a BBQ that was in aid of Norfolk County Fire Service, so we headed there for supper. $10 bought us corn-on-cob [twice the size of those back home], pork in a bun, pickles, onions, smoked beans and a soda.
As it was a holiday weekend there was live music in the form of ‘slim pickins country music’ band, so we sat and watched the children play and dance along with the merriment that ensued.
6th August 2017
After a very cold, uncomfortable and fitful nights sleep we emerged none the worse and ready for another day. Visited Port Burwell which, as it transpired, had a ‘beachfest’ – live music, activities for the children and water sports. Port Burwell is a beach resort on Lake Erie. It’s hard to believe its a lake as it felt much like Weston-Super-Mare … even the water is brown! Although the weather was cloudy there was a very British attitude – we’ll sit on this beach, swim and enjoy the bank holiday regardless of the weather – in which we also indulged!
One thing to be said about Port Burwell – a beautiful sunset.
Monday 7th August 2017
With advice from a fellow camper who said that the coast along Lake Erie was similar to what we had already experienced, we decided to head North West to Lake Huron and visit Grand Bend. Desperate to recharge our gadgets and access wifi we stopped to experience our first ‘Tim Hortons’ – a fast food bakery. We spent two hours there and eventually managed to book airbnb in Goderich.
Grand Bend was totally different to Port Burwell – more the Med than WSM. Lake Huron has beautiful turquoise water and by the look of the boats, yachts and seadoos this is much more affluent area.
Sat and watched the world go by before heading towards Goderich for the evening.
We are now a little ahead of schedule having given Point Pelee National Park a miss.
On arrival at our accommodation [Colborne B&B – Goderich] we received the most friendliest welcome from Suzanne & John – our hosts. We were given a much appreciated glass of local beer which we drank in the beautiful cottage style back garden.
We’d been informed that it was Celtic Week and that there would be live folk music and dancing in the town square. So after a walk along the beach where we watched a group of people practicing yoga on paddle boards in the bay, we stopped to listen to the folk band and took part in some country dancing. Sadly no photo evidence of us dancing!!
Tuesday 8th August 2017
We decided to have breakfast along with all the other guests in the house and what a great decision this was. Sitting around a large dining table with six other guests we shared a breakfast of fruit, yoghurt and granola – waffles and bacon – scones and jam – and wonderful conversation.
In the morning we took a walk along the Menesetung Bridge/Tiger Dunlop Trail following the Maitland river to the tomb of William [Tiger] Dunlop – founder of Goderich. To cool down we took a dip in Lake Huron. The lake bed was very stony with a sharp drop-off so getting in was fun – it was all rather undignified!
On recommendation of our hosts we visited Huron Historic Gaol to see the reenactment of life ‘Behind the Bars’. As we were self-guided from room to room volunteer performers took on the roles of prisoners – lunatics, drunks, murderers, thieves vagrants and children – governors and doctors sharing stories of their experiences at a particular point in history and would answer any questions we had in character. It was a fantastic experience and the performers were exceptional.
We rounded off the evening with coffee, zucchini brownies and peanut cookies, sat around the dining table swapping stories with fellow guests. The perfect end to a perfect day.
Wednesday 9th August 2017
Today we leave Goderich. Thank you Suzanne and John for the best airbnb experience. The accommodation was great – the company even better.
![Suzanne [our host], Cathy, Julie, Jacqui and John [our host]](https://tjgoa.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/our-hosts-suzanne-john-with-cathy.jpg?w=720&h=944)
Our accommodation for the next couple of nights is ‘Beneath the willow’ a lovely house tucked within 25 acres of wooded land. It comes complete with a swimming pool, which we took advantage of upon arrival.
Thursday 10th August 2017
Today we hired bikes and rode ‘The Georgian Trail’ – a classic rail trail that follows the original Northern Railway along the southern shore of Georgian Bay. We stopped in Thornbury, a beautiful harbour town, for chips and coke before heading back travelling 30km in all.
Friday 11th August
Before we begin we would just like to mention that we are writing this blog sat around our campfire at ‘Gordons Park Camp Ground’ on a beautiful evening drinking organic punch! It’s Sunday evening.
Woke this morning [Friday 11th August] to find that we had no accommodation for the next leg of our journey. All the accommodation around the Bruce Peninsula and Tobermory was either too expensive for our budget or fully booked. What were we to do. Thankfully, the people we stayed with for the past couple of nights allowed us to move into their house and stay with them for another two nights. It seems that weekends are the most challenging for finding accommodation. Accommodation worries over we headed for Harrison Park on Owen Sound to walk part of the Bruce Trail up to Ingliss Falls. As has become the norm we got lost along the way there and found ourselves walking along the road. The journey back was a far more adventurous scramble through the woods following the waymarked paths.
On the way back thunder rumbled overhead and just 300m from the car the heavens opened. Between bouts of heavy rain we played crazy golf in Harrison Park – isn’t that what we British do – and visited Meaford Harbour.
Saturday 12th August 2017
What a thunderstorm we had last night – the rain was torrential – aren’t we glad we could not find a camp site! Spent the morning on the veranda enjoying the peace and tranquility of the garden before heading out for the afternoon. We took an impromptu stop at Northwinds Beach on Georgian Bay. There are so many beaches and coves to stop at on the lakes and they are opportunities not to be missed. Our next stop was Collingwood where we came across their Harbour Festival – not quite on the scale of Bristols but the paddle boat racing and water skiing was fun to watch. Our final stop was Wasaga Beach – the longest freshwater beach in the world at 14km in length. By this time the sun had made an appearance and a lovely evening ensued. We indulged in an ice-cream to remember – a donut chimney cone filled with marshmallow, strawberry preserve, dairy ice-cream and strawberry sauce – not for the feint hearted… we shared it!
Sitting on the veranda this evening watching the sun go down we heard our first Coyotes. According to our hosts they have been howling the past couple of nights but neither of us had heard them.
13th August 2017
Caught the 11.20am ferry from Tobermory to Manitoulin Island. It was a smooth, uneventful sail across the lake.
As we could not check into our camp ground until 2pm we explored the island a bit to find many dead-end road with nothing to show for our efforts – one road was meant to take us to ‘Michael’s Bay Lighthouse’… it took us to a house with a light! Failing to find any of our chosen landmarks we headed for Gordon’s Park Eco Camp Ground at Tehkummah. Once again we had landed on our feet. The plot was big enough for three of our tents plus a car, had a fire pit, picnic table and solar light. There was wifi and charging station, a swimming pool, decent wash rooms and showers, cooking facilities [stove, bbq, pots and utensils], hiking trails and many picnic areas. It was perfect. We set up camp, had a swim and lit a fire for an evening of updating our blog.
Monday 14th August 2017
After a cold night [especially where Julie was concerned], a breakfast of mint tea and a biscuit and a swim we headed out to find Kayak or canoe rentals in Sandford. When we arrived there was a locked shed and no one about. After a fruitless search we headed off for somewhere bigger… Kagawong – still no kayak rental. This was becoming common place for us. Down the road from the Kayak rental sign we stumbled across Bridal Veil Falls. We were able to walk up to falls and behind them – a stunning view. It was here that we saw our first snake!
We then walked to Mudge Bay where we discovered a tiny lighthouse and beautiful marina. We watched young people diving and jumping into the cold waters. Heading for downtown Kagawong we came across a giant board game playground so we couldn’t resist a game of draughts. Julie won!
As we headed back to camp we stopped at Gore Bay for Julie to carry out some construction work [see photo above] and to rest our weary bones. We didn’t stop for long, which was just as well as the heavens opened. We were in for a wet night. Thank goodness we bought the tarp [tarpaulin] as advised by our fellow campers at the last camp-ground. The facilities enabled us to cook tea and eat under shelter – phew! With a few adjustment to our sleeping arrangements it was a more comfortable and warmer nights sleep.
Tuesday 15th August 2017
Another travel day this time to Sudbury where we had booked in to stay in the basement room of a Peruvian family – it was cold and dark but perfectly adequate. We were invited to eat a Peruvian influenced supper with them which consisted of a spicy chicken dish with rice and olives followed by a tot of Pisco – a Peruvian liquor made with grapes and tasting much like German Schnaps. It was a lovely evening of eating, drinking and conversation.
Wednesday 16th August 2017
Spent the day in Bell Park which sits on Ramsey lake – it was a beautiful day of full sunshine. We did a lot of people watching and there was there was much activity on the lake – sailing, canoeing, paddle boarding, jet packing and water skiing – yet we could find no evidence of any rental facilities and have come to the conclusion that most people own their own kit, or the activities are organised as part of holiday clubs.
We took a picnic lunch, strolled around the park and took a refreshing swim in the lake. Supper was alfresco at Mallards Park , which was on the doorstep of our accommodation, where we dined with the bugs and Canada Geese and their goslings.
Thursday 17th August 2017
What a difference a day makes. Today has to be the most foul weather we have experienced so far. Torrential rain followed us all the way for nearly 4 hours as we drove the Trans Canada Highway from Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie on the tip of Lake Superior. We have booked an apartment for three nights for a bit of comfort and laundry. To break up the journey and the monotony of the rain we made a couple of stops at ‘Tim Hortons’ for coffee and hot chocolate where we met an elderly man called Jimbo. He’s from Florida and on a roadtrip to escape the heat. He had some interesting stories about playing in a rock band, bear tracking and trying to sail a boat, which kept us amused for an hour. We thought it would be interesting to stop at Bruce Mines Museum thinking it would involve a tour down a copper mine, but sadly not. The museum was a converted Presbyterian Church stuffed full of social artifacts and in fact had very little to illustrate their mining history. Still it passed a hour and it was out of the rain!
Friday 18th August 2017
Woke up to a dull, overcast morning and decided to hire bikes and save the beach for tomorrow when the forecast was more favourable. Picked up our bikes from Algoma Bike shop in downtown Sault Ste. Marie and hit the John Rowswell Hub Trail, a 24km route that took us through forests, parks and boardwalks. A detour took us along the canal and onto Whitefish island, Indian Reserve. We tried cycling the trail around the island but was stopped in our tracks by a burst river bank – we’ve had a lot of rain these past few days, including today.
Saturday 19th August
Woke to bluer skies and sunshine! This morning we drove to Hiawatha Highlands and walk the Crystal Creek Trail to Crystal Falls which was stunning. The water runs along pink granite bedrock and because of the rainfall the volume of water flowing down the creek was immense. The trail was a bit of a scramble but well worth it to be so close to the falls. Unlike the UK there were no safety barriers between you and the fast flowing creek which made it all the more exciting.
In the afternoon we headed to ‘Harmony Beach’ on Lake Superior. It’s a beach used by the locals but there was practically no-one there. The water isn’t as clear as Ramsey Lake in Sudbury and it was colder but we went for a swim anyway! We stayed until the sunset which was a real treat … like the cakes!!
Two Judo Girls One Adventure 
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