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Published: July 16th 2012
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We have made it past Toronto now and have enjoyed some great places along the way. It is getting ever more expensive to camp - we are now paying $30 to $40 excl GST for basic non powered and watered sites. It is a very enlightening experience travelling this way and we have decided that most of the time you don't get what you pay for. The sites are usually okay, but the faciilites of the majority of the campgrounds we visit are old, tired and in desperate need of an upgrade and some TLC. You learn to shower quickly and efficiently. If you are lucky the showers are free. These typically are of the timered persuasion, some lasting in 30 second bursts and some in 5 second bursts so it's push the button try to get wet, then repush the button. Generally you end up showering one handed. Other times, you can pay $1-$2 for a shower each and they can last anywhere from 2 minutes to 8 minutes. 8 minutes is a luxury shower! It has been mostly around 30 degrees everyday here and only dropping to around 22 degrees at night. Very hot and sticky. It should get
cooler as we go east (hopefully)!
Our first stop after Thunder Bay was Pukaskwa (Puck-as-ka) National Park. This area is set next to a First Nations area and as a result most of the staff were First Nations (Ojibway) and it was interesting to learn some of their history. As the NP is in their territory, they have first rights on the campground and could technically speaking live there free all year round, however they try to limit it to 2 weeks allotments as a courtesy. This park is in a beautiful setting on the edge of Lake Superior. There were a couple of short hikes around the coast which provided stunning views of the lake and also took you along the sandy white beaches found in the area. There was a huge amount of driftwood on these beaches. Lake Superior is the biggest fresh water lake in the world, holding 10% of the worlds fresh water. It's temperature is a chilly 4 degrees year round which means it is not a suitable swimming lake but is great for canoeing/kayaking etc. Due to its size it also generates it's own tidal and weather systems. We spent 3 nights in
this park just enjoying staying put for a couple of days. On our second day we did a big 18km hike up to a suspension bridge. We saw some grouse and lots of toads in the forest but no other wildlife. The day we did this walk had forecasted thunderstorms and the sound of thunder rumbled constantly behind us. The heavens finally opened when we were 2 kms from the end and it was a welcome relief as the weather was hot and humid. When we returned to camp we sat at the visitors centre on river/lake and soaked our feet until they went numb. We ran into a Swiss couple who did the same hike as us and they came round after dinner and we talked until the early hours. They are doing the same sort of thing as us so but have come from the east coast so it was nice to trade stories and future travelling ideas.
From here we headed to Manitoulin Island located on Lake Huron. This island is heavily First Nations (Ojibway and Ojibwe) and reminded me of the Pacific Islands in terms of housing/villages and the way the stores were in peoples
houses. We stayed at a very overpriced campground but it was right across the road from Lake Huron which provided a nice spot for our evening strolls. We stayed here two nights as we arrived late in the afternoon. On the second day we went and did the Cup and Saucer trails which are the most popular trails on the island. The main purpose of the trails is to climb up to look out over the island but they also had a free (unmonitored) adventure trail. This was a massive amount of fun and would never make it past OSH in New Zealand. We climbed down wooden ladders and hauled ourselves up by roots over rocks and through little caverns. At one point we climbed down into a dark cavern before climbing up out the other side. It was hot work and my muscles in my legs certainly complained about it the next day. The same afternoon we enjoyed the novelty of taking a swim in Lake Huron. It was surprisingly pleasant. From here we caught the car ferry across to Bruce Pensinula and headed down to a lovely little campsite about 100km away. This campsite is one of the
best we have stayed at and had the added bonus of a pool. The owners did a free tea and coffee in the evening and it was a nice way to meet some of the local residents.
Our next jump took us to Niagara Falls. This area was crazy busy with people everywhere. The drive in was a bit stressful as you head straight towards the USA border and need to ensure you are in the correct lane to avoid it but we made it to a parking lot without too many problems. The falls were impressive. You would think being so close to that volume of water it would cool the temperature a bit but the opposite was true. It was just way more humid. We spent about an hour or so checking out the falls before deciding to put some more distance behind us and so headed on towards Toronto. We spent the night in a campground in Toronto after navigating their freeways on a Sunday afternoon. The population of Toronto is 5.5 million and the amount of traffic on the roads was just astounding. There were 8 lanes of freeway going in each direction with on
and off ramps everywhere. The rain just made the drive more interesting! But we got through it with no issues and when we headed out today the traffic was much better being a Monday. We are glad to be away from Toronto as tomorrows weather forecast is for thunderstorms and a high of 37 degrees. Ugh! We are within 8 km of the USA border again tonight - staying at a campground on the 1000 Islands parkway. This is about 250km from Toronto. Tomorrow we will do another stint towards Montreal. To be honest it is too hot to do much and even just driving is a chore. We have no airconditioning (poor us) and it is quite windy on the freeways so the van gets pushed around a lot. We usually get to our destination all hot and bothered.
We are now pointing the van towards the east coast which is approx 2000km from Toronto so still a ways to go yet. Oh we also pass quite a bit of road kill - it is mostly raccoons at the moment but at one point we passed a skunk which was obviously not long dead and had released it
scent - they smell is terrible and gets everywhere including into your mouth. I'd hate to come across a live one!
Hope all is well at home - Kelly, hope you are not suffering too much morning sickness and that Rangi is taking good care of you. We miss you all! xxxx
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