SUMMER '06: Day 1: Off to the Bruce Peninsula! (Part 2)

It was around 3pm when we decided to continue on from Bruce Peninsula National Park, and up to the Town of Tobermory in order to get settled for the evening.

Our plan for the remainder of the day would be to visit the Bruce Peninsula/Fathom Five Visitors Centre, which just recently opened in June 2006.
The centre is located just on the outskirts of town, and features lovely displays of the local wildlife as well as local geology of the two local National Parks-Bruce Peninsula and Fathom Five Marine.

We were browsing some of the displays in the centre, when a gentleman came up to us to excuse himself as he needed to get into the spot we happened to be standing as they were about to install a new display with a Blue Heron in it. I immediately recognized the man, and upon walking away, I had mentioned to April that I had thought that it was Ethan Meleg, who is a famous nature photographer from the area. I mentioned to April that I had emailed Ethan a couple of years back for his advice on the type of equipment I should be using. Funny thing was, we were reading a couple of more displays just after this, and the man had come back to us to show us the Blue Heron that he was about to place up in a new display.
Turns out, he WAS Ethan Meleg! We ended up chatting for a bit, and I am proud to say that he actually remembered my email from years back, as well as he knew about my website. You can view his site by clicking on my links section www.wellerphotography.com/links.html or by simply going to www.ethanmeleg.com Here I was meeting my photography mentor..the photographer who has given me so much inspiration over the last 5 years. What a chance meeting!
And so, after an exciting visit to the inside of the centre, on the outside, we were treated to a 20-metre high tower that overlooks Tobermory and the Fathom Five Islands and Marine Park. Fortunately, the Chi-CheeMaun ferry was arriving as well--this all gave us an excellent view and excellent photo opportunities from a new feature on the Bruce Peninsula. What an excellent start to our vacation! This would be the ferry to take us over to Manitoulin Island the very next morning.

For more details on the new Bruce Peninsula/Fathom Five Visitor's Centre, go to:
http://www.thebrucepeninsula.com/park_centre.html


After conquering a few fears of heights on the tower, we drove back along Highway 6 to "Singing Sands Beach", located on Dorcas Bay Rd, and is part of Bruce Peninsula National Park. We stopped for just over an hour for a relaxing splash or two at pretty beach located on Lake Huron. The water is very shallow here and allowed us to walk quite far out into the water without it going too far above our knees. You will notice from the photograph, that in order to get out to the water, there is a bit of a lengthy walk along the beach. Bring a comfy chair or something else to sit on, the walk is well worth it!

After Singing Sands, we returned to Tobermory, and had a delightful meal of Fish and Chips at "The Fish & Chip" restaurant. I'm still working on finding a contact and website for this amazing restaurant. We then walked around the harbourfront of the little town, stopping in to a few boutique stores to have a look at the peninsula items that were for sale.

A loud horn sounded..this was the notification from the Chi-Cheemaun that it was departing for Manitoulin Island. 8pm is the last sailing, and it would return for midnight to sleep for the evening, in order to make it's first sailing at 7am the next morning. We had been informed by staff at the Ferry Terminal that we could speak to the "Dock Attendant" to see if we could check in after 8pm and park our car on the "docks" for the evening. The "docks" are actually a big parking lot with lanes, in which allow for the boarding and seperation of different types of vehicles that are carried across Lake Huron to Manitoulin on the Chi-Cheemaun ferry.
Sure enough, the attendant gave us our tickets for the next morning, and allowed us to park overnight on the "docks". This is a much easier way of guaranteeing an easy spot on the boat--despite the reservations we had made..it is also a more fun and adventurous way of vacationing. A motel would have been far more expensive..and most likely harder to get into.

And so there we were, parked in Lane 1, and we were Car #1. There wasn't much to do after this. Once we were parked, we couldn't drive anywhere..and so we decided to take another stroll around Tobermory for the evening. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the tip of the Bruce..

where the waters of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron meet. We then enjoyed an evening treat from "The Sweet Shop" http://www.sweetshop.ca/links.php

And this was Day One on our Roadtrip across Northern Ontario. The rest of our evening was spent relaxing in our car. We knew our sleep patterns would not be the greatest that evening, however the excitement of the day had worn us out a bit and we retired to our "beds"..or carseats for that matter..at an early hour. We actually missed the Chi-Cheemaun arriving at midnight--surprisingly we were fast asleep--awaiting our 7am sailing the next morning.

*Next!: Day Two-Crossing to Manitoulin Island, swimming at the Falls, evening on the boardwalks at Providence Bay