Row, Row, Row the Boat...

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We awake to the sounds of birds signaling the early morning, allowing us to get an early 5am start. We’re slowly starting to get used to the idea of planning our days around the sun - awake at sunrise, asleep at sunset. In order to catch the 8am ferry out of Tobermory to South Baymouth, we rush around the campsite folding blankets, and stuffing firewood into the nooks and crannies of the trunk until we’re ready to go, right on time, early even, at 6:30am. We’re quite proud of our ability to stay organized and to have made such an early departure possible. With time to spare, we plan on heading to the Visitor Center outside the town where rumor has it a cluster of Calypso Orchids have been spotted and positively identified. We’re all smiles.

“Ready to go?”

“Ready!”

Turn the engine—it struggles. Try again. Nothing.

The battery’s dead. The relatively empty campground and private setting which had been a blessing just yesterday suddenly becomes cause for concern. It’s still early, and no other campers are awake. Still optimistic, we head off in the direction of the ranger station, a good quarter mile away. Surely they can help us.

Naturally, they rangers are not in yet either. Okay. We flag down the only car that’s leaving the park at this early hour but they inform us they are “already late to meet a schoolbus” or something and that they can’t help us, sorry. Isn’t that nice! Lets try some problem solving. Thinking ahead, we renewed our AAA membership before we left, just in case something like this happened. The dial tone on the nearby payphone gives us hope as we dial the 1-800 number for the U.S. Even though we’re in another country, they are our last ditch effort to try to find some sort of assistance. The conversion goes something like this:

“AAA may I help you?”
“Um…yes. The battery to our car is dead”
“Okay and where are you located?”
“Cyprus Campground in Bruce Peninsula National Park. It’s in Ontario, Canada but we didn’t know who else to call”
“Okay is that near ”
“Uh…it’s about 6 miles south of Tobermory off of Route 6”
“And what road is it on?”
“Well there’s just a big sign off of Route 6 that says Cyprus Campground and then you go straight on that about 6 km. There’s a road a couple blocks up called Dorcas Bay, if that helps”
*lots and lots of typing*
“Is that near the Chi-Cheemaun Ferry?”
“Actually that’s the boat we’re trying to catch this morning”
“Oh my. And are you in the park?”
“Well we’re at the Ranger Station but our car is in campsite 236. It’s in the Tamarack loop”
“Is a Ranger there I can speak with?”
(Don’t think if there was we’d just have ‘them’ jump our car?)
“No one is here yet this morning”
*more typing*
“Okay well I think I found it. We do service that area. We’ll get someone to you in less than 45 minutes”
(naturally that’s quite a shock, but a pleasant surprise none the less)
“Okay well is there a number I can call you back at in case there we need to update you?”
“Um…this is a payphone and....there's no return number on it. See our cellphone just died….”
“Alright, well we’re sending someone to you at the entrance to Cyprus Lake Campground off of Route 6 south of Tobermory, and if there is an update we can’t call you back to let you know because
Deck Chairs on the Chi-Cheemaun
your phone is dead. Hang in there.”

So there we sit in the empty ranger station parking lot, swatting little black flies and mosquitoes away from us, wondering if we’ll get assistance in time to get to the ferry we have nonrefundable reservations for. Just when we’re about to give up, in screeches this pickup. He’s a friendly guy, knew right where to go, eh! Apparently our situation is not that uncommon out here. We hop in the front seat and direct him to our car, while he works his chrome snakehead gear shift over. In less than five minutes, we’re on our way. We pull out of the park and head north trying to find the perfect speed that gets us there the fastest, without getting us pulled over for speeding. We arrive at the ferry terminal about ten minutes later than our reservation required, but thankfully they still have room. As we line up at the dock, we can breathe a sigh of relief. We wanted adventure right?

The Chi-Cheemaun is the largest passenger and car ferry navigating the Great Lakes and was named with the Ojibwa word for “Big Canoe.” This 1.5 hour ferry ride between Tobermory and Manitoulin Island cuts nearly 300 miles off our route as it eliminates completely the need to drive around the Georgian Bay. The early morning mist rolls off the water and the warm breeze feels fresh against our faces as we stare out over the depths of Five Fathoms National Marine Park, home to the Flowerpot Islands, Cove Island Lighthouse and handfull of shipwrecks. The ferry chugs along diligently and eventually land disappears from sight and we settle in for the comfortable ride.

The drive to Pictured Rocks is longer than we expected. We stop in Espanola, ON (it’s more than great paper!) for some fuel and snacks and are greeted by the familiar smells of a pulp mill. The border crossing goes well (Citizens? Yes. Buy Anything? No. Okay, welcome back) and we are welcomed back to the US by the sight of golden arches and a Walmart. Though we both rolls our eyes at the time, we would have done well to stop in and buy the last few things we’d forgotten there as it proved nearly impossible to do so in the small towns we later drove through.

We arrive at the campsite after the visitors station has closed and without the proper cash needed to pay the ‘iron ranger.’ Tomorrow we’ll have to drive back into Grand Marais to get the requisite $12. For now, with the sand of Lake Superior between our toes, a can of chili on the fire and enough bug spray in the air to fumigate a small country, we’re settling in for the night. C’est la vie.

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Photos

Cove Island Lighthouse
As seen from the deck of the ferry. The lighthouse was constructed in 1855.

Comments

[Mia Taylor]

luv the lighthouse picture. =)