Tobermory
We went on a short hiking vacation in Tobermory last week. Tobermory is on the very end of the Bruce Penninsula between Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. It is gorgeous and peaceful up there and we always say if the lottery hits and we buy a cottage, that's where we're going to buy it.
It was our fourth time travelling up to Tobermory, so we're getting to know the area well. We angled up from Richmond Hill and spent some time around Wiarton before continuing on the trip north.
First place we stopped was Bruce's Caves Conservation Area. We'd been there once before and the caves are pretty cool.
On our way back through Wiarton we stopped at the water-edge park dedicated to Wiarton Willie, Canada's Groundhog Day groundhog :). I even got a glimpse of him in his outdoor pen!
We then travelled along the pennisula until we got to Tobermory. Last two times we came to the Tobermory area we tented in the parks, but this time we chose to stay at a hotel which was right on the harbour in the town. You could see the boats coming and going from our balcony.
There's our hotel from across the harbour. You can see our balcony on the top floor there just below the solar panels.
Here's the view from our balcony:
Once we got settled in our room we started looking through tourist flyers and made a snap decision to take the Sunset Cruise offered by Blue Heron Cruises in Tobermory Harbour. Luckily, there were tickets left and at 7:30 we headed out into Georgian Bay.
We've taken other cruises from Tobermory before. Twice we've taken their glass-bottom boat tour that passes through a shipwreck region in Five Fathoms Marine Park, which also stops at Flowerpot Island, where you can go hiking and take in the gorgeous rock formations before the ship picks you up again. What I found exciting about taking the Sunset Cruise is that it travels along the coast of Bruce Penninsula National Park. Now, we have been to the -top- of the rock cliffs in Bruce Penninsula National Park, but we had never seen those cliffs from below or from the water!
Look at the colour of the water- just extraordinary shades of blue, green and turquoise. The cruise is timed perfectly so that it's still daylight as the ship cruises in very close to rocky shoreline.
And as the ship gets to Cave Point and turns around to start heading back to Tobermory we headed into a perfect sunset.
Turning the ship around. You can see Flowerpot Island in the distance.
Just gorgeous. I'm so glad we decided to do the cruise so spontaneously when we arrived because the next evening it rained and the Sunset Cruise didn't go out at all. Yay for good timing.
We got back to the dock at 9:30 and went in search of a late dinner and discovered for a touristy seaside town not too much is open at that time! We headed back to our hotel in the hopes of finding dinner and the lovely Greek family that runs the restaurant there insisted we come in and eat, even though it was fifteen minutes before closing time when we arrived. So nice!
More tomorrow.
It was our fourth time travelling up to Tobermory, so we're getting to know the area well. We angled up from Richmond Hill and spent some time around Wiarton before continuing on the trip north.
First place we stopped was Bruce's Caves Conservation Area. We'd been there once before and the caves are pretty cool.
On our way back through Wiarton we stopped at the water-edge park dedicated to Wiarton Willie, Canada's Groundhog Day groundhog :). I even got a glimpse of him in his outdoor pen!
We then travelled along the pennisula until we got to Tobermory. Last two times we came to the Tobermory area we tented in the parks, but this time we chose to stay at a hotel which was right on the harbour in the town. You could see the boats coming and going from our balcony.
There's our hotel from across the harbour. You can see our balcony on the top floor there just below the solar panels.
Here's the view from our balcony:
Once we got settled in our room we started looking through tourist flyers and made a snap decision to take the Sunset Cruise offered by Blue Heron Cruises in Tobermory Harbour. Luckily, there were tickets left and at 7:30 we headed out into Georgian Bay.
We've taken other cruises from Tobermory before. Twice we've taken their glass-bottom boat tour that passes through a shipwreck region in Five Fathoms Marine Park, which also stops at Flowerpot Island, where you can go hiking and take in the gorgeous rock formations before the ship picks you up again. What I found exciting about taking the Sunset Cruise is that it travels along the coast of Bruce Penninsula National Park. Now, we have been to the -top- of the rock cliffs in Bruce Penninsula National Park, but we had never seen those cliffs from below or from the water!
Look at the colour of the water- just extraordinary shades of blue, green and turquoise. The cruise is timed perfectly so that it's still daylight as the ship cruises in very close to rocky shoreline.
And as the ship gets to Cave Point and turns around to start heading back to Tobermory we headed into a perfect sunset.
Turning the ship around. You can see Flowerpot Island in the distance.
Just gorgeous. I'm so glad we decided to do the cruise so spontaneously when we arrived because the next evening it rained and the Sunset Cruise didn't go out at all. Yay for good timing.
We got back to the dock at 9:30 and went in search of a late dinner and discovered for a touristy seaside town not too much is open at that time! We headed back to our hotel in the hopes of finding dinner and the lovely Greek family that runs the restaurant there insisted we come in and eat, even though it was fifteen minutes before closing time when we arrived. So nice!
More tomorrow.