Category: Travel posts

Canada Day, July first was a recovery day from the slightly challenging bike ride……..but the 2nd …we decided to drive back over to Dyers Bay ( with lots of oooooo’s and aaaaaahhh’s at the “undulations” in the road along the way.)

We had spotted another couple of side trails off the Bruce trail….so the mission for the day was Juniper Flats. The variation in terrains from one section to the next is both fascinating, and quite exciting…….it might take a very long time to get bored of the various walks and hikes in this area.

Warning……there will be lots of pictures in this post…..both because of the encouragement I have been receiving with some very positive feedback (thank you..)..and how fantastically beautiful the landscape is.

Bruce leads onto the side trail. Another interesting aspect of these trails….aside from the challenging surface underfoot……is how winding the trail often is…..you cant see the next bit til you walk forward another 5 feet……and very often you stop and look up….momentarily convinced you have strayed from the path…..and see another ..very well placed blue or white flash ahead of you.

Bugs were not as bad today….either we figured out the frequency of re-application of the bug repellent….or it was just a bit windier today…!!

Yes….he found some sweet peas………!!!!

….and …of course….an abundance of juniper berries………

Finale to the day was another bit of a first with the airstream….

Just have to say….this is pretty cool……….just one more thing to love about our new home.

We thought it would fun (!!!) to ride the bikes from here at Cape Chin down to Dyers Bay…..where the public boat launch is. Google maps said the route was fairly flat……let me just say…..google maps lied. The overall result may have been that we finished at the approximate elevation we started at……but flat……..it was NOT…!!! (LOL)

At least my phone was impressed…ie multiple trophies….what ever that means !!!

Dyers Bay boat launch…its hard to really see how blue the water is….

I’m realising that we did not actually take any pictures along the route today……but take my word for it…….the undulation (!) of the road was …..well it was challenging……

We are planning a return trip ( in a motor vehicle next time to hit a couple of the side trails of the ruce from Dyers Bay……watch this space….

So the walk today was to the other side of the road. Otter Lake side trail promised a 6.5 km walk. It was quite a bit flatter than the other side (Bard side trail) and about half the walk is exposed…through meadow and marsh, while the other half is in cover through birch and cedar.

Beautiful……..but the past couple of days we have had some pretty heavy rain……and while it is not nearly as warm as southern Ontario….the humidity is definitely quite high.

The moisture in the air contributes to the North Bruce extreme weight loss program…!!!!1. You are walking….which is burning some calories……2. I am quite sure none of the exercise apps have a measurement for how many calories you burn as you constantly brush your arms and head, swat your legs and generally flail your arms around to combat the seemingly coordinated attacks of first the deerflies which attack in the open terrain….mercilessly…….second…as soon as you enter shade….the deerflies stop (probably fly over the trees to wait for you on the other side..!!!)..and their best mates…the helicopter sized mosquitos take their turn….

The third part of the weight loss being the chunks of flesh and blood the aforementioned beasties butcher out of your arms, head, neck….or heck…they just plain bite you through your jeans…..

I was astonished there were not a million little holes incised out of the fabric of our clothing when we got back…!!!

These little electric blue dragonflies were everywhere…….apparently they prey on deerflies….I knew I loved these things…!!!

I had seen these on the websites as I was trying to identify the hedgehog mushrooms that we found on the Bard side trail…….it looked just like someone had peeled a clementine and left it sitting on the log….

Next post will be biking to Dyers Bay

Thursday 24th was a loooooong day. It was our second vax day (yay..we are both now fully vaccinated..!!) which meant a return to civilisation……for a day…!!!

After our foray onto the Georgian Bluffs last week , one of the necessary side trips in Brantford was to Al’s Shoes to purchase proper hiking boots…(Many thanks Al’s Shoes….good job well done…we are both super happy with our new footwear).

Friday was the next move…….

The new set up at Cape Chin.

I discovered that we are not actually a half mile from the Bruce trail….we are actually right on the Bruce trail.

About a 200 meter walk down the road gives us the option of a couple of side trail also. One is the Bard trail and the other is the Otter Lake side trail.

Another box ticked today when Scott came across this little buddy…

It (he/she/they) is a Massasauga rattlesnake, Ontario’s only venomous snake and an endangered species so we were very lucky to see one.

No coiling up or threatening to strike….but lots of impressive rattling…!!!

We find ourselves here , still in North Bruce , having uncovered a camping hazard I’m quite sure I have never heard anyone mention before….

The discovery at the end of Scotts shoe after finding a very “gummy” sock at the end of the day…

It would appear…that after one has left their shoes tucked under the edge of the trailer for a couple of days unattended…….it would be a good idea to tap them out and make sure no opportunistic locals have made themselves at home…!!!

Yup…they should add it to the tourist warnings…..slugs in your shoes….its a thing….!!!!

Apologies for the false start on this post…….newbie that I am I published before all of the pictures properly uploaded….so I’ll try again.

Saturday 12th saw our first weekend in North Bruce…so we popped over to the Lionshead farmers market..

Paris Brew/Tagwerk

We came over to help out our friends from the Paris Brew/Tagwerk from the Wincey Mills in Paris and Cape Chin farm here in North Bruce.

The beer (which is exceptional..!!) is brewed at the Wincey Mills in Paris in collaboration with the masterbrewer who lives up here in North Bruce.

Also at this market (as well as many other vendors.)..Crepetown…organic buckwheat crepes………delicious….

This turned in to a marvelous breakfast…cant wait for my next one next Saturday…..yum

This is me one Tuesday night trying to find a strong enough connection to upload pictures from Saturday….freezing my butt off sitting at the very edge of the water on Huron….it looks (and is) beautiful……but you cant see the wind…..or the crashing waves splashing my feet..

Ill try and do the next one from Starbucks I think……

Trip to Tobermory….just to see what we could find…….found the end of the Bruce trail…!!!

And drove along Big Tub road…….how could anyone resist such a road name….to the lighthouse at the end and stopped for lunch………it was surprisingly….freezingly cold with the wind off the lake…..hence the stolen cat blanket…!!!

You can see the ferry docked to the left of my head……huge big thing it is too…..

Big find for the day was the Lindsay Tract trails………got out on the bikes for a bit…..

Very reminiscent of the Mabe forest close to my home town……tho not so many bears and rattlesnakes in Scotland….!!!

We did see a black bear out on the trail….no pix cos we stopped at a respectable distance…..and by the time we had decided whether to continue or turn around, he was gone (she? he?)

Not too many photo ops…as we were quickly being pursued by marauding ginormous ‘squitos……disctretion being the better part of valour and sans bug repellent…..we rushed back to the truck to safety….!!!LOL….

First real voyage yesterday. All hitched up on Monday night.

Many many thanks to our hosts J and M on the outskirts of Paris, their generosity kindness and patience has been a privilege we have very much enjoyed, and a wonderful start to our journey.

Tuesday morning saw us pull out for our first real travel trailer experience. The trailer pulls like a feather , many thanks to Can Am RV for their excellence and experience in setting up the hitch.

3 and a half hours north to Lake Huron and a magnificent spot on the west side of North Bruce…just above Pikes bay…..

This is the view from the bench at the end of the property….where I have to sit to get enough signal to connect to the internet (yes….poor me…!!)

me backing the trailer down the drive…

All 385 feet of the driveway…….never thought I would do something like that….never thought I could do something like that..!!! I guess you never know ’til you try….

all tucked in……..nice level spot…….time for supper…!!!