Wasaga Beach

Since we have been going through Northern Ontario it seems that we are seeing a lot of signs of economic slow-down.   As we roll into a small community the first thing to greet us are dusty motels with overgrown parking lots, boarded up windows and faded for-sale signs twisting in the wind.  The streets of these towns seem deserted and depressed with empty shops and few people.   What is happening here?   There is a feeling of the dirty thirties – all we need is a dust storm or two.  Where is everyone?

We found them!

 When we crossed from Manitoulin Island to Tobermory on the tip of the Bruce Peninsula it felt like a surprise party.   It was like everyone jumped out at once and yelled, “Here we are!”  What a contrast!   Tobermory is very much a boater’s haven.   There are hundreds of very expensive boats, very well heeled people and gallons of booze.  The shops in Tobermory were hopping.   Going from extreme under-stimulation to extreme over-stimulation overwhelmed Telen and me.   Is there not a happy medium? 

We stayed overnight in Tobermory at a very nice B&B and then headed into town to do the much overdo laundry.   We felt a little out of place showing up at a posh B&B covered with smudges and smelling strongly of suntan lotion, mosquito repellant, perspiration, and a number of days of sketchy showers.  Although the owner of the B&B was very nice she kept her distance and covered her nose and mouth with a cloth that she kept spraying with Febreze.

Our next stop was a place called Sauble Beach.  When we rolled into town we both looked at each other and thought that we had travelled way too far south.   What was 11 km of sandy beach and warm water doing in Ontario?  The main street was filled with shops selling beach paraphernalia (all selling the same beach paraphernalia…), ice cream, snacks and food.  The sidewalks were crowded with people walking about dressed in shorts and bathing suits.  Culture shock!

I did not know such a place existed in the middle of the continent.  Lake Huron was frozen as far as the eye could see a few months ago and will be again in a few months.  Why is the water warm?  I am so confused!  However, judging from the huge crowds here the secret has only been kept from us.  11 km of beach that is packed from one end to the other!  

So, we stayed an extra day.

We rented a funny little cabin just up from the beach.   It had all the comforts of home squeezed into the size of a Volkswagen set up on blocks.  The shower and the sink drained out just under the cabin.   If you looked directly down into the shower drain you could see the weeds under the floor.   I did not want to ask about the toilet.

Today we travelled to Wasaga beach, which is on the Georgian Bay side of the Bruce Peninsula.  Apparently it is the longest fresh-water beach in the world.   Another one of these superlatives that we seem so fond of.  Before we went to our accommodation we decided to go into the tourist area on the main beach.  It was like Puerto Vallarta without the charm and restraint.   Loud music, frantic activity, hundred of little shops selling complete junk and incredible crowds.  The atmosphere was different from Sauble beach in that the crowds were mostly young women in Victoria Secret bikinis giggling and shrieking at each other in order to attract the attention of the young boys strutting around trying to show off their muscles and lack of cognitive function.  The overheard conversations were so vacuous that they were sucking up all the sand off the beach.  We decided that we would only spend the night and head off again in the morning.   This was not our scene.   When we got to our rented cabin we changed our mind.   It is a nice little place with a picnic table and barbecue out front, separate bedroom and about 5 minutes walk from a different part of the beach. 

So, we are staying an extra day.  Imagine, two beach days in Ontario.  Call Ripley’s Believe it or Not!

Sauble Beach, Ontario

Tobermory, Ontario

Manitoulin Island was a mixed blessing.  The good part about it was the cycling.  We had decided to stay there for 2 days to do some R&R and do some cycling together.  The main roads had great shoulders and no trucks whereas the secondary roads were paved and almost no traffic.   We had great weather, albeit fairly warm.  So, for the first time in this entire journey we actually cycled together and really enjoyed it.  In spite of not cycling since we left Victoria Telen was still kickin’ butt on the hills.

The other side of the coin was where we elected to stay.   Overpriced for what you got and what you got was not much.   The “cabin” was really a wood frame shed with some bunk beds built in.  They did not supply linen so we used our sleeping bags and set up our own kitchen outside the front door.  We probably would have been better off in our tent.  The toilets were privies (for those of you unfamiliar with a privy – it is a euphemism for “outhouse”) and the showers were large plastic bags that you hoisted up on a pulley system and gradually released the water onto yourself out of a nozzle the size of a quarter.  They had a pool, but it was tiny and they charged extra to use it.  A big sign on the door of the office said “ No refund for early departure”.  Perhaps an ominous portent.

One thing I did learn, however, was a clue about Telen’s possible ancestry.  The place where we stayed had a wolf-howl nature walk (cost extra…) that we partook of to try to enhance our stay there.   Their naturalist (whose qualifications were that he was willing to howl on command) took us out on a nature walk to tell us about wolves and to try to get us all to howl like wolves to elicit a response from the wolves in the area.  There were about 15 people on this walk and I am sure, from the noise we made, that any wolf in the area left hurriedly to avoid the clamor.  We stopped a few times along the way and did some group howls with various types of harmony and listened intently for the wolves to howl back.   Our accent was probably too thick or too offensive to the wolves because they did not answer.  Not really a surprise.  Once we got back to the camp we had a wolf-howling contest.  When it came to Telen’s turn she let out this blood-curdling, neck-hair raising, goose-bump raising howl that silenced everyone in the circle.  I was sitting beside her and in the stunned silence I said, “Wow!”  Telen looked at me, bared her fangs and snarled.  Good thing the next day was laundry day.  It certainly explains her fear of silver bullets.  Thank goodness it was only a half-moon.

I received the dubious award of “Elder Wolf”. Not Alpha, not Rogue – Elder.  And here I am travelling with someone who may have unleashed her inner werewolf.

On one of the rides we went down to a town called South Baymouth where the ferry to the mainland leaves.  We decided to have lunch and, since everyone seemed to make it, I had fish and chips.  We are very far from the ocean so I asked the waitress what the fish was. 

She said, “Whitefish”

I said, “Perch?”

“No sir,” she said, “It’s a fish – swims.”

“What’s it called?”

“We don’t call it, sir, it won’t come, we have to catch it”

“What type of fish is it?”

“White fish”

“What’s its name”?

“Who?”

“The white fish”

“That’s right”

“What’s right?”

“The white fish”

Etc. etc. etc.

We finally left Manitoulin Island today and took the Che-Chemaun ferry to Tobermory.  Manitoulin Island itself was very nice albeit every business and home seemed to be for sale.  The place we stayed left a bit of a bad taste in our mouths but the strange white fish seemed to help out a little.  It was nice to ride with Telen for a few days, however, with the full moon coming up, I am a little worried about her chasing me on the bike rather than riding on her bike with me. 

Telen Writes

I am so happy to feel clean again after 3 nights in the overpriced cabin.  Tonight we are staying at a B & B called Three Waters overlooking Lake Huron.  Just beautiful!  I was just as shocked as Rand and the other people in the wolf-howling group when this high pitched howl came out of my throat.  Perhaps I have some hidden talent as yet undiscovered, or perhaps this is a cry of shock after the camp charged us $15 per person to participate in this moonlight hike/wolf howling thing.