GOOD FOOD TIMES IN CANADA - THE HORS D'OEUVRES.
Day 6 (cont'd) Sunday 14th September
It didn't take that long for us to leave the homely streets of St Catharines and to reach the rather more brutal concrete, steel and glass of Toronto.
We found the rental office easily and picked up the car after a short wait.
Now, we were on our own and we were getting out of town as fast as we could.
We had no deadlines to meet, so we took a more convoluted route than we needed to. We didn't have a particular destination to aim for, but we unwittingly ended up at the south end of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron.
This was our very large car - a Ford Explorer. Aptly named, I think.
We decided to stop here and have the picnic that Cindy had put together for us. Joyously, it included some left over butter tarts! There was even a bench, placed specially for us by the lake shore.
You could say it was our little bit of Paradise - and you would have been correct.
After our picnic in the sun, we pressed on to our destination, the Sherwood Inn, set in the trees on the shore of Lake Joseph.
We checked in, dumped the cases in our room and went to explore the grounds.
It took us next to no time to find our favourite spot - down on the dock.
There were fabulous views up and down the lake. These are Muskoka chairs, which are trickier than you think to get in and out of!
It was a beautiful spot and one we came to every morning.
After taking in the sun and the view for a while we felt we should investigate a bit further.
There were more Muskoka chairs strategically placed around the grounds to take advantage of the views and the seclusion.
There were even a few of them arranged around a firepit just outside the main hotel entrance.
All this walking about had made me thirsty. Luckily, there was a bar with beer.
It also had gin and tonic, so we got some and sat outside and watched the squirrels and chipmunks run about in and about the trees.
After a while, we had to go and do some unpacking, so that we might have something else to wear for dinner.
We decided dinner should be simple after some of the meals we had had lately. So, pizza it was, and it was excellent. So was the Valpolicella that we had with it.
For the record, Sharon had pesto, tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, olive oil and balsamic.
I had sun-dried tomato, spinach, mozzarella, feta, spicy chicken and basil, chilli oil.
Who could resist sitting by the firepit after dinner? Not us!
The photograph was kindly taken by one of the staff. He was on his way to the beach to take some photos of the night sky. We should join him, he suggested, so we did.
This is what we saw.
The Northern Lights.
I think we would have got much better pictures of them if we had only thought to use manual settings on the phone and prolonged the exposure.
Nonetheless, it was a fabulous way to end our first day in Muskoka.
Day 7 Monday 15th September
We had a fairly leisurely breakfast, and then drove to Parry Sound, where we were to meet James and Hope. It was another beautiful day.
Parry Sound sits on the shore of Georgian Bay and boasts the deepest freshwater harbour in the world. It is from here that boat tours of Georgian Bay set sail. The tour takes you round an area known as the 30000 Islands and these are said to make up the largest freshwater archipelago in the world.
We were going to be sailing around some of the archipelago on the aptly named Island Queen.
Firstly we walked out to the end of the quay and sat in the sun looking out over the lake.
Parry Sound was established near the Ojibwa village of Wasauksing, meaning "shining shore" It certainly lived up to its name when we were there.
It was also at this point that I realised I was going to melt if I didn't put some shorts on. I had to go to the nearby store to buy some!
Not long after I bought the only pair of stylish shorts available, Hope and James arrived and we were soon able to board our ship. It didn't take long for us to get underway.
Here we are in front of the Island Queen on my way to get some shorts.
We had to sail through the Rose Point swing bridge. This was built in the late 19th Century, to connect Parry Island to the mainland.
The Island Queen lets other vessels know it is approaching the bridge with a disconcertingly loud blast on its horn.
After the swing bridge, the cruise goes through some narrows between some of the many islands hereabouts. Some of these islands are very small and some, like Parry Island are very large indeed. What they nearly all have in common, is the presence of cottages, which are used as summer retreats. These cottages are worth many millions of dollars and they are retreats only for the very wealthy.
For instance, this one looks quite nice, but probably out of my price range.
Not only is the price of the (is)land extortionate, you have to sail all the materials, machinery and labour out to the island you have bought. Sometimes, whole buildings are floated out.
All this fresh air can make you hungry. Luckily, Hope had prepared a fine picnic for us to eat on board. The ship even provided some handy tables for us to use.
There was a rather good cold IPA on board the boat.
It went really well with the prawns and the tomato and horseradish dip.
After Hope's delightful lunch, it was back to island watching.
I don't think it is called the 30000 islands for nothing. They came in all shapes and sizes, but, if I recall correctly, they had to measure at least a square metre in size to count as an island.
Towards the end of the cruise, the Island Queen passes through the Hole in the Wall, a very narrow channel, flanked by 80 foot cliffs.
It is a bit snug, but I'm sure they will have done this before.
Soon enough we are back into harbour at Parry Sound after a really interesting and fun cruise in the sun.
James and Hope are staying at the Sherwood Inn for a couple of nights, so we drive back and arrange to meet for drinks before we have dinner.
Sharon had scallops to start, but I forgot to take a photo. Then she had a main of a kind of Caesar salad with Romaine, pancetta, Grana Padano, rosemary focaccia and a black garlic Caesar dressing.
I had a venison and mushroom ravioli to start, and I was very glad that I did..
For main, I had a perfect tenderloin of beef, with confit garlic, gnocchi and vegetables.
Once again, a very fine day brought to a fitting end by a plate of food.
Day 8 Tuesday 16th September
Today was very bright again, but a little cool first thing. We had a stroll down to the beach and the shore before breakfast. We also went to the dock, but took no photos as there was a man doing his yoga and it might have been a little intrusive. He had been there yesterday, hence no photos then either.
The water was very calm at the beach.
Sharon looking serene in the early morning.
As we walked back to our room, we passed a squirrel running down a tree.
Then there was another on the fence by our room as we came back from breakfast.
We had a bit of time to spare before we were leaving for another lake cruise, so we went for a walk with James on a short trail near the car park.
It was very quiet in the sun-dappled forest.
After that, it was time to leave for Gravenhurst to pick up our next ship. We had hoped to be on this ship, the Segwun, but she was a bit elderly and had broken down the week before.
The Segwun, or R.M.S Segwun to give her her Sunday name, is over 130 years old and is North America's oldest operating mail steamship. She was built in Glasgow in 1887 and assembled in Gravenhurst on Lake Muskoka. She was a Royal Mail Ship and carried passengers, mail and freight on the lake under the name of Nippising II, and at that time she was a side paddle wheel steamer. She came out of service in 1914, was eventually refurbished and fitted with new steam engines and was christened Segwun when she started sailing again in 1925. Segwun is an Ojibwa word meaning springtime.
She still carries the hallmarks of that age.
The dining room is very elegant.
The stern passenger deck has a real style to it.
She even has a Royal Mail post box on board.
As might be expected, parts to repair ships like this don't come off the shelf, so the Segwun was not sailing for the time being.
We were ready to go though, once we had a spot of lunch. Our original plan for lunch fell through when we found the restaurant closed. We had a sports bar experience, which got us through the day!
All we had to do then was wait for the Winonah II to come back from an earlier cruise and we would be off. She is a modern interpretation of the old steamships, being built in 2002, and here she is approaching the quay.
Both ships tied up side by side.
There is a long history of steamship navigation on the lake. This was initially for mail and freight, but as road and rail transport expanded, the steamships turned increasingly towards tourism. Tourism itself started here in the 1860's. The area had been settled for agriculture, but soils had proven poor for that and once tourists began to arrive in numbers, settlers met demand for accommodation on their small holdings. This took the form of a few hotels and some camps, but, gradually, the richer classes sought out places to build summer cottages. These cottagers spread across the mainland and onto islands in the lakes as personal water craft became more available. The invention of fibre glass boats was a particular driver. Now this cottager country is home to many spectacular and expensive "cottages". Most, even on the smallest of islands, have mains electricity and other services.
Some of the older cottages take up almost the whole island. This would not be permitted today, due to regulations relating to disposal of sewage. There simply isn't enough room.
All of the cottages have boathouses, many of which are very grand and reflect the design of the cottage itself.
Whilst the island may have been in the same family for generations, properties are refurbished or replaced over time and this is clearly not a cheap business. Islands and cottages change hands for millions of dollars.
It is easy to see why.
Some even come complete with their own moose.
There are some relics of the past to be seen as well, such as this quaint wooden lighthouse.
This is part of a now abandoned sanitorium.
Not everything was related to tourism. This is the remains of an old fire station. The tower on the left was used for training in firefighting as forest fires are a significant threat here. However, as airborne fire fighting became more common, this and others like it became redundant.
There was even a German POW camp here for officers captured in Europe during the Second World War. Up to 400 prisoners were billeted here in the old sanitorium from 1940 to 1946. The sanitorium had been converted from an hotel and so the prisoners had some very pleasant accommodation compared to elsewhere. They could even swim in the lake in the summer. The site is now empty of most traces of this use and is being developed with more houses and cottages.
Once back at Sherwood, we had a rest and a freshen up before we met in the hotel lounge where we had a simple fish and chips meal, which was good. You know what fish and chips looks like, so no photo.
Sharon and Hope spent a while talking about family matters, James and I set the world to rights around the fire with a Lagavulin and a Grand Marnier, which was a fine way to end the day.
Day 9 Wednesday 17th September
We didn't rush up in the morning, but we did have our customary walk around the grounds to take on a bit more of the serenity, before we were going to go our separate ways.
It was noticeably cooler this morning and mist was rising from the lake surface.
Time for a last photo of Sharon with the Inn in the background.
James and Hope were driving home and we were going in the opposite direction to Algonquin Provincial Park and Killarney Lodge.
Once we said our farewells we were on our way. The trees were beginning to change colour and this made for an attractive journey.
It was 84 miles until we were to get to the next course in our adventure.
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