Blogs from Orillia, Ontario, Canada, North America
Big Chute Marine Railway, ON
Published: September 25th 2011North America » Canada » Ontario » Orillia
September 24th 2011
This was one of the coolest things we have seen so far. The boat lift was constructed to move vessels over land (a climb of about 60 vertical feet) from one lake to another, along the Trent-Severn waterway. The first was built in the early 1900's, but later rebuilt in 1979 to accommodate larger vessels and handle a busier schedule. Boats are loaded into a sort of cradle, moved up a train track, over a road which stops traffic just like a train, then down the other side to the next lake. We were able to watch several boats being moved - only took about 10 minutes for the one-way trip. Then reload to bring another boat back. Cool!... read more
April 13th 2010
STARTING LINE-UP: Ted, Davis, new signing Lennon the car PITCH CONDITION: Still clear and sunny but the chilly wind is still making its presence known. MATCH OVERVIEW: Our first away game delivered an encouraging start. PLAYER INFO: Lennon made a stunning debut even after getting injured before actually joining the team. HIGHLIGHTS: - New signing Lennon - named because he is compact and fast but carrying an injury. (For non-Premier League fans he is named after Aaron Lennon, Tottenham Hotspur winger) - Took AGES to actually get out of Toronto - it is a big city! With lots of traffic lights! We then struggled to actually find the on-ramp to the highway we needed...which makes us sound a bit thick but let's just say the signage we have encountered so far has been remarkably poor! - ... read more
August 9th 2009
Day 1 is done! 130km down, only a butt load to go. Left at 7:15 this morning and arrived at 2:45 for a total of 7.5 hours (stops included). Rained really hard at one point. I sat it out at a grocery store for a little over an hour. Now however it is very the sunny. Campsite sucks. Really wet. Just off the side of the highway, only tree cover I could spot for a while, so I took it. Out for now.... read more
Biking Orillia's Uthoff, Lightfoot & Ramara Trails
Published: February 7th 2009North America » Canada » Ontario » Orillia
May 6th 2008
Biking Orillia Ontario's Uthoff Trail, Lightfoot trail and Ramara trail (34 km). Basics: Last biked/updated: September 2011 Number of times biked: more than 15 Length: 34 kilometres (3 trails) Surface: crushed limestone and paved Width: varies Trail head: Coldwater, Orillia Parking: Couchiching Park and Tudhope Park in Orillia Signage: Lightfoot trail good, others not as good Bathrooms: Couchiching Park in Orillia Water: not on trail Benches: a few on Utfhoff trail To get to the RAMARA Trail, take Highway 12 from Orillia to Atherley, turn north onto Ramara Rd. (County Rd. 44) until Monck Rd. Turn east onto Monck Rd. until reaching trail in 175 metres. The trail starts in the south at the historic fish weirs that were built by the Mnjikaning First... read more
Beware the Milk Swamp in Muskoka
Published: September 4th 2007North America » Canada » Ontario » Orillia
September 4th 2007
Canadian cottagers dread the arrival of the Labour Day Long Weekend - the first weekend in September marks the end of summer. There's a great conversation on url=http://wondercafe.ca/discussion_view.php?loadedFrom=Index&type=discussion&tid=6021&recview=1&curpage=1&utm_source=swamp&utm_medium=sm&utm_term=none&utm_content=aug&utm_campaign=lci_wc/Wondercafe.ca about how religious service providers change the tone of the sermon this weekend. I believe it. Everyone with a cottage in Canada feels the sadness autumn brings, and my friends are no exception. On Sunday Sept 2nd 2007 six companions hiked the trails at Hardy Lake, in the heart of the Muskokas, on a desperate attempt to capture the last warm days of summer. Little did we know how easily summer could capture us... Hardy Lake is a provincial p... read more
HOME! This is the LAST oNe, for a while
Published: February 13th 2007North America » Canada » Ontario » Orillia
February 6th 2007
Well actually I've been home for like 3 weeks now. Just REally haven't wanted to sit down and write this. This is a sorta recap of the last 7 months. Well a blurry recap. So it started by smashing my guitar on my first flight. That ledto my new beater guitar that is basically my souvineer for the trip. Signed by all the lovely people I've met on this trip. Totally I could have kept travelling but man miss my friends. LOL. And a decent paycheck. So to everyone from Europe CHEERS. I mean there is no better way to go out and meet people than jump trains around europe in the summer. So many memories. The top spots were definetly Krakow, Greece, Barcellona, Amsterdam, adn of course Ibiza. The Pink Palace is mandatory for everyone ... read more
February 5th 2007
Well, we are only a couple of days away from taking off for Thailand now. I was hoping the snow would hold off until we took off, but that was wishful thinking. When we left from Sturgeon Falls this morning, the weather was -36 C with the windchill. That means we will be making a 60 plus degree change pretty soon. Woohoo! I think we'll go into shock though! ... read more
June 16th 2006
Ohhhhh man!!!!!!!!! There is no possible way I am sleeping! It's 10:30 and I"m bouncing off the walls. Anyways I fly @ 4:40pm tomorrow and arrive in Amsterdam @ 6am? or something. So pumped. Here is a rough outline of our gameplan: 4 Amsterdam, 3 Belguim (Antwerp, Brussells, Ypres), 2 Berlin, 4 Poland (Wroclaw, Krakow?), 2 Munich, 3 Austria, 3 Switzerland, 7 Italy (Florence, Rome, Pompei, Bari), 9 Greece & islands, 2 France (Nice, Marsielle), 3 Barcelona, 2 Ibiza island, 3 Portugal, 3 France (Paris, Diepe). The #'s are how many nights. Love it. Thats two months of ripping. My liver will be destroyed. Well I hope everyone keeps up me. Everybody have a great summer/fall/winter and be safe. Here's some pics of what I'll miss about home. Chex... read more
May 18th 2006
Hello there. Well 27 days til my trip starts. But it has already started, with the anual May 24 camping/fishing trip. This year we're going just south west of North Bay, On. Nice remote lake and we got a spot camping on a sweet island. Anyways this is my first entry so I guess I should expand on exactly where I"m going. I fly to amsterdam on June 16th and have a 2 month unlimited eurorail pass. The plan is Belgium, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, possibly Hungary/Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal. My buddy Jordan flies out of Paris on August 16th and I fly to Dublin. Spend around 3 weeks in Ireland, then over to England. I fly to Auckland NZ on sept 16th. Then over to Australia for 3 weeks. The last ... read more
