Continuing the journey through the vast Pukaskwa area, meandering past Lake Superior, the road snakes through the wilderness, all the tiny lakes, untouched coniferous forests and the glimpses of Superior’s glistening waters through the dense trees, uninhabited in the main, no Tim Hortons for a wifi coffee, nothing. We arrived at Marathon, after what seemed like a marathon and a bike ride to, yes, another fab lakeside spot for a dip. Yes, I had a Superior Dip 😊
So we don’t bore you with more pictures of beautiful landscapes and waters, what have we noticed along the way? Even the smallest of towns have curling rinks, probably explains why they are pretty good at it (along with the Scots!) The coffee chain Tim Horton’s is everywhere (he was a famous NHL player and clearly had a degree in branding!). Think Starbucks, Costa and Nero, treble it and it probably reflects them here. Good for us, free wifi along with cheap and half decent coffee but their cakes are not good for us! The Canadians are law abiding drivers (some of you are probably going to disagree!) Reason we say that is, the road can be wide open with nothing coming but they won’t overtake until the road markings permit. It’s just an observation! The roads are long, many are straight, and the skies are big. There are lots of little stops off the main highway, easy to spot as we are driving slower than the trucks, we’re not in a rush! A good one was Aguasabon River Gorge.
After a boondock at Canyon County we headed to Thunder Bay, expecting bad weather obviously. Now in the Nipigon Bay area of Lake Superior. This area around the lake is very picturesque, spectacular cliffs, Ouimet Canyon was a great short walk. A gorge formed in ancient rock, the floor of it has a unique environment with arctic tundra plants as it’s so cold. Enjoying the gorgeous wild flowers, the birdsong echoing off the gorge walls we read the folklore legend about the Indian Head rock formation.
In Thunder Bay, the derelict silos dockside were interesting, reflecting changing trades in the area. It seems odd there being massive freight ships on the lake but in reality, they are trading routes for grain. At our Tim’s visit we nearly had to step in as the two elderly blokes at the next table were having a serious Trump argument! Best not eh?! We managed date night at The Red Lion!
Boondocking in Thunder Bay inevitably meant long chats with hosts and them showing you their ‘shop’… no not the retail type, their workshop. We will have serious ‘shop envy’ by the time we get back. This one was no exception as he was restoring a GMC motorhome. The design was fabulous and he’s sending pictures when he’s done. He plans to tow his MGB while he’s at it! So many people we are meeting have fabulous projects.
Another history lesson at Fort William Historical Park brought to life the early 1800’s fur trading at the HQ of The North West Company. It was here that they held their annual ‘Rendezvous’ setting up trade deals with First Nation hunters and Europeans. Some of the rooms reflected real colonialism. Interestingly, the standard unit in trade terms was a beaver fur, 1 pel. We really enjoyed the guided explore of the museum, set in 1815. It reflected the times, even though seeing so may furs wasn’t great, it was the European Capitalism of the day between French Canadian voyageurs, Scottish businessmen and the Indigenous people. These living museums maintain some of the skills of the time, so they were carving out canoes for example.
Passing the remains of dinosaurs in someone’s garden, along with Bugs Bunny and Donald Duck (you’ll have to look at the picture!) we arrived at Kaministiquia River Waterfalls. Sunlight glistened on the water and the sound was thunderous as the waters cascaded to calm shallows below. After the US took their Sault Ste Marie canal home with their toys, The North West Company re-opened this river route for trade between Fort William and the West. This whole area is known as The Great Lakes Transition Forest, between the South Ontario Forests and Great Lakes to the Boreal Forests further north. We can see the changes, the further north, the pines, maple and oak disappear for the more hardy spruces, aspen and birch.
Last stop before Winnipeg was Kenora on Lake of The Woods, and again, we realised how close we were to the US state of Minnesota and thus why Lake of The Woods was a major smuggling area during prohibition. Kenora was in New France until the 7 years war when they lost to the Brits (1763) Exploring on our bikes we enjoyed Kenora, loads of interesting houses as we cycled through the suburbs, past the graffiti and coffee shops of the small downtown. Then, we came across Huskie the Muskie, a 40ft fish. Not real, made of fibreglass. Thundering past and right through the heart of the town was a freight train, we’ve come to recognise the rumble and sound of them, they can’t be missed as having counted, there’s always over 150 containers on them. We endured a long wait at a crossing!
It’s rare that we turn back on a ride but we did here, what’s marked as mountain bike rideable would be a stretch even for our pro friend Tim. We went over half way so disappointment aside and glad we hadn’t taken any daft risks we headed back to town and got chatting with a couple who invited us for a beer on their deck by the lake.. neat! They put the cover over! Hearing how they live in the area when it’s -40 and how even a short summer is still great is fun to hear, and we’d never even thought of or considered ‘ice huts’. We’d imagined ice fishing to be a bloke on a fold up stool with a rod through a hole. Oh no, they are actually huts that are wheeled onto the ice, have log burners in them, the works (kettle, toaster etc) and ice hut parties are a regular thing, who knew? Not us, clearly! We were still taken aback by deer roaming the campsite!
Our second day there we decided to rent Kayaks and head out on the lake, paddling across to Coney Island where there was no amusement park… darn it, wrong place! Tiny empty beach though which was fun, until we turned around and saw the big black clouds and started to feel rain drops. We got caught, in Kayaks, on a lake, in a thunder storm. (it arrived 5 hours earlier than the weather forecast) We knew we’d get wet kayaking, it ended up just being a bit more wet. It was actually quite spectacular, the rain water bouncing off the lake as we paddled to a small island for a bit of cover. One of those occasions when it’s all down to fate, and we survived it, to dry off and head for the bright lights of Winnipeg for Canada Day.
The Curious Adventures of the Cat in the Camper Van 