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Day 8, Visiting Tobermory and Flowerpot Island
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Tuesday, September 17, 2019
It was cold tonight. Fortunately there was an extra blanket in the room
and with the extra blanket it was comfortable and I had a good night
sleep.
We had breakfast at eight and after breakfast we walked to the Blue Heron
Cruises ticket office on Highway 6 and bought tickets for a cruise to
Flowerpot Island, a National Park ticket to get on the island and a ticket
for the returntrip.
We walked to the ticket office
The departure time was half past nine so we had enough time to walk to
the dock and be in time for boarding.
Our ship, the Blue Heron 8 was already there and the crew was doing some
last time preperations while we were waiting.
The Blue Heron 8
With everybody on board, we left the dock at Tobermory Harbour for our
trip to Flowerpot Island.
We left the dock
Firehouse at the entry of the harbour
Before we set course to Flowerpot Island, we sailed over some old
shipwrecks in the harbour, the 'Sweepstakes', a ship that went under in 1885
and the 'City of Grand Rapids' that sank in 1907.
The water is very clear so the shipwrecks can be seen from the surface but
the Blue Heron 8 has a glass bottom to see the remains of the sunken ships
even better.
Shipwreck on the bottom of the harbour
The Blue Heron 8 has a glass bottom
In the lake surrounding the peninsula are a lot of small islands and to go to
Flowerpot Island, we have to sail along a few of those islands.
Island
While Anneke was on the bow of the ship, I climbed the stairs to get next to
the bridge for a better view.
Anneke on the bow of the ship
Next to the bridge
We are going very fast. I asked one of the crew and he told me they are doing
fourty kilometers per hour.
Going fast
The cockpit
We were told that the waves on Lake Huron are so strong that is makes holes in
the rocks.
A hole in the rock, made by the strong waves
We are near Flowerpot Island. One of the buildings on the shore is the museum
that we will walk to later.
Buildings on the shore of Flowerpot Island
The name Flowerpot island comes from two rocks at the island that have the
shape of a flowerpot. One very big one and one a little bit smaller.
A big and a smaller 'flowerpot'
If you look at the big flowerpot rock, it looks like it has a face and the natives
say that it is a warrior, looking out over the lake.
A rock with a face of a warrior
Flowerpot island has a small harbour for tourist cruises like ours. It has a
restroom and some information boards and hiking routes over the island.
The small harbour of Flowerpot Island
We had two hours to explore the island. Anneke had her crutches with her so
we could walk a little longer then without. The museum on the shore was only
one and a half kilometer away so we decided to go there.
It was a nice walk in the forest and between rocks. It felt a little like
the hikes we did with our parents in Luxembourg.
Just like the hikes in Luxembourg
The big flowerpot
Finaly we made it to the museum, a nice building with a veranda with some
rocking chairs.
It used to be the lighthouse keeper's home
Rocking chairs on the porch
The museum had been the home of the lighthouse keeper and it was left (or
reconstructed, I don't know) like it was when he and his family lived here.
The lighthouse keeper in his livingroom
We did not want to miss our returntrip so after a short visit to the museum,
we walked back to the dock. On the way back, I took some more pictures of the
flowerpot rocks.
The big flowerpot
The smaller flowerpot
Ten or fifteen minutes after we returned to the dock, the Blue Heron 8 arrived
at the island to bring us back to Tobermory.
The Blue Heron 8 arrived
My ticket for the return trip
We saw a lot of people on Dinghy with outboard sailing around the island. They
came from a large cruise ship that was anchored near the island.
Large cruise ship
Then we left Flowerpot Island and very fast, we sailed to Tobermory again.
A fast ship
The glass floor of the Blue Heron 8
Very soon we were back in Tobermory and we left the ship to get some coffee.
The harbour of Tobermory
I did not want to carry my backpack with my leather jacket inside with me
all the time so while Anneke waited on a bench on the quay. I walked back
to the motel to leave my backpack and Anneke's jacket in my motelroom.
Back at Tobermory, we went to a coffee shop and both got a cappucino and a
bagel with cream cheese. The price was $ 27.50 !!
Coffee shop
Anneke wanted to do some shopping so she visited a few shop, like Marco Polo
and some other shops.
marco Polo in Tobermory
While Anneke was doing her shopping, I stayed outside and took some pictures.
A nice police car
Harbour view
It was interesting to see how they managed to get a rather large yacht on
a trailer.
Getting a yacht on a trailer
It was getting very warm so it was time for an icecream. There was an
ice cream shop nearby and we both enjoyed a nice big ice cream.
The prices in restaurants here are insane so we went to the foodmarket and
bought bread, yoghurt, noodles and raspberry cookies (and a motorcycle
magazine) and walked back to the motel.
Anneke wanted to rest and I wanted to read my motorcycle magazine and
walk to the viewing tower near the visitor center.
After I finished reading the magazine, I walked to the visitor center, a
fifteen minutes walk.
On my way to the visitor center
Before I went to the visitor center, I climbed the viewing tower near
the visitor center for a view over the peninsula.
The viewing tower
Inside the visitor center was a nice exhibition about the great lakes
and its history, wildlife and more.
Officialy, I needed the Entry pass that we bought at he Blue Heron
ticket office but I did not took it with me. Fortunately I was allowed
in without the pass because it was just half an hour before closing time.
The visitor center
Back in the motel, Anneke and I had a cup of coffee and the we prepared
our dinner, noodles, peanutbutter- and nutella bread buns and yoghurt.
Dinner
Tomorrow we will go to 'Gordon's Bobcaygeon' at 23 Front St E Bobcaygeon
in Ontario. It is near Kawartha Lakes and the day after tomorrow we want to
visit Kawartha Settlers’ Village.
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