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An open-ended adventure by Hillis & Ellie Read more
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  • Crossing Canada
    122212114
    Day 1

    Day 1 - Bruce Peninsula

    May 2 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Hello hello to everyone near and far! Here's your one stop shop for everything Hillis and Ellie for the next four months. Here goes:

    We awoke to a lovely sunny Toronto bidding us farewell and with giddy and nervous energy we packed the rest of our things and headed up the 400 north. Our first stop ended up being Timmy's, which did not disappoint. As we began our drive up to Bruce Peninsula National Park, we popped in a CD we picked up from the Toronto Island Bridge Boutique called 'Q Magazine's Essential Drive'
    It turned out to be the perfect starting music: a cool collection of alternative rock that felt like the kind of music our dads would have played in the car when we were young.
    We made a couple stops along the way: -Walmart for a charger and groceries
    -a dodge dealer to check if they had a spare spare tire (ours is a little old, and we don't know if it will hold up if we have to use it)
    -a junkyard who said they had a spare in alright condition (turned out to be in even worse condition than ours)

    By 14:30 we arrived at the park and began setting up camp. We did it as fast as we could so we could fit in a walk around the lake and to the bay before dark. And we are so grateful we did: it was one of the most beautiful walks I've ever been on. We walked the perimeter of Cyprus lake which was through lovely woodland area literally right on the shore. Then on our way to the bay we saw some crazy rocks that had these really distinct holes in them (does anyone know what this is???). We arrived at the grotto during golden hour and holy cow, the water was soooo beautiful and transparent. Georgian bay really giving Greece a run for it's money! The naturally occuring overhang was also pretty amazing and we sat on the beach wishing it was hotter and we could jump into the water. We made our way back to our campsite and the water on Cyprus lake was like glass. We watched the sun go down and paint the sky a ray of reds.

    We chose beauty over practicality because then we had to make dinner (luckily it was just salad) and a fire in the dark (lesson learnt!). We ended the day feeling excited for manitoulin and grateful that something we had worked so hard for was finally a reality (and, a little cold!).

    -Hillis    Read more

  • Crossing Canada
    136
    Day 2–3

    Day 2- Manitoulin Island

    May 3 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Ok buckle up, because day 2 was a day of miracles. It started completely unassumimgly; we were up and packed in time for the 8:30 ferry to Manatoulin Island. We bought ourselves breakfast and got to chatting to the couple sitting next to us, Barb and Curtis ... 2 hour ferry ride later and theyve invited us to stay at their friends house during our time on the Island! After quite a cold and stiff night in the tent we didnt need much convincing and gratefully accepted.

    We spent the first few hours on the Island visiting the Ojibwe Cultural centre (shoutout Darlene for the tour and examples of Indigenous crafts!)- I dragged Hillis for a small walk in the rain and he stuck it out for as long as he could (10 minutues) before driving us to visit our home for the night.

    After seeing deer and porcupine crossing the road (!!) on our journey we arrived at Randy and Nancy's place to see the lovely side house they had made up for us. We spent the rest of the day getting to know our lovely hosts, hearing stories of their adventures in Canada and getting recommendations for our next day on the Island.

    We cant believe our luck at meeting such warm and generous people- biggest shoutout ever to our new friends Barb, Curtis, Nancy and Randy!!! (photos to follow tomorrow of the whole gang together)
    - Ellie    Read more

  • Crossing Canada
    121152
    Day 3

    Day 3 - Manitoulin Island

    May 4 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We started our day with a hearty breakfast with our new friends and ventured out into the island. Within minutes the fog cleared and it was like we had travelled to a different manitoulin! Our two hikes for the day were:
    - A short trail that led to a roaring waterfall called 'bridal veil falls' (we ended the hike with an almond mocha fudge root beer float that blew our minds!).
    - Next, the cup and saucer trail! It was a short 2 hour hike, but we made it an adventure by taking the the 'adventure trail' which was a lot of climbing through rocks and boy did it make the view all that much better. From the viewpoint we could see the north and east side of the island all the way to the mainland and we sat up there for as long as we could.

    Once we had soaked it all in we returned back to our lovely hosts who had prepared a delicious dinner of pulled pork, mashed potatoes and Caesar salad! Randy even treated us to a ride on his ATV which was a real thrill and something we never would have done if we hadn't met them. We even saw 2 groups of 3 deer (they didnt enjoy the sound of the ATV!) We ended the day watching the hockey which was a good game, but disappointing as the toronto maple leafs lost in overtime. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow 😊😊.    Read more

  • Crossing Canada
    1
    1111
    Day 4

    Day 4- Driving to Pancake Bay

    May 5 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    After yet another delicious meal we packed up and said goodbye to Barb, Curtis, Randy, Nancy and beautiful Manitoulin Island.
    We drove 4 and a half hours to the 'city' of Sault St Marie and the vibes were seriously off. Maybe because it was a Sunday, maybe because it wasnt pedestrian friendly as we were expecting, maybe its just a weird place but we stocked up on groceries and got the hell outta there.
    It was another hour to Pancake Bay where we had a campsite booked for the night. We squealed when we saw our first glimpse of Lake Superior- Ontario is GAWGUS you guys.
    We set up camp (I.e moved all our crap from the back seat to the front and laying out our foam thats about as thick as a tissue), Hillis made us some dinner and we spent the final moments of sunlight drinking local beers at Pancake Bay and reading Mary Oliver to each other.
    Campfire, cups of tea, then bed.

    -Ellie    Read more

  • Crossing Canada
    1111
    Day 5

    Day 5 - Driving to Thunder Bay

    May 6 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    After a distinctly cold and uncomfortable night in Donnie Dodges belly, we decided to take the morning easy: we did sun salutations towards the sun and had lunch on the beach, before re-packing Donnie and heading out to Thunder bay.

    Before heading out, we got in touch with Barb; a friend of a friend who could potentially house us in the area. She told us she'd be happy to, but she recommended we don't rush the drive because it is a beautiful one- and boy was she right! The next 7 hours were filled with winding roads that went uphill and downhill; cliffs towered to our right and Lake Superior dazzled to our left. We stopped to get a picture with the world's largest goose🦆 but mostly did the 480km drive in one fell swoop.

    Barb turned out to be a delight, and brought so much excited energy to our trip. We pulled out the maps and showed her our route, and ended the night watching an episode of 'Midsummer Murders' as we fell asleep on her comfy couches. Thanks Barb!!

    -Hillis    Read more

  • Crossing Canada
    1
    11
    Day 6

    Day 6- Goodbye Ontario, Hello Manitoba!

    May 7 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    We woke up in Thunder Bay and followed Barbra's advice and went to a sauna at the Finnish baths and had Finnish pancakes for breakfast! This was a perfect way to start the day and the sauna soothed the aches of camping for a week!

    Then we drove for maybe half an hour to Kakabeka Falls, a beautiful waterfall and landscape. We had a long drive ahead so couldnt hike around but we got the general idea.

    Then we said goodbye to beautiful Ontario that we have come to love and appreciate much, and crossed the border into a new province and time zone: we're Manitoba people now!

    A few hours of driving through very flat and sprawling prarie landscapes, we arrived at Roseisle Sauna (our first WWOOF) at around 8pm and gratefully collapsed into a bed that will be ours for the next 2 weeks.    Read more

  • Crossing Canada
    323131223
    Day 7–13

    Roseisle Sauna 8-13th May

    May 8 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Foreword: for the adventures at our Wwoof's we will be posting once every 3-4 days because our location isn't changing and we just aren't taking as many pictures.

    For the entirety of our first day we were tasked with harvesting and cleaning fiddleheads so we could have them as a side for dinner. We were guided in this task by Drew, one of Gerri's lovely sons, who taught us to cut 3/4 of the stalks and leave some so that the population can be sustained. Ellie also dug up burdock roots to make a broth that can be used to cook rice and in stews. Having our hands in the soil was a fantastic feeling and one we were about to get very used to. We ended the day with a lovely campfire with smores by the beach.

    The next day we harvested more fiddleheads and created a vegetable bed for squash and I made Briam and chicken for dinner! We also tried some lovely local beers that claimed to save a wolf every time you bought a beer.

    The following day we visited a cidery operated by one of their cousin's and boy do they make good cider. They had a rose variety and a lemon shandy cider which were my two favourites. We also caught the northern lights (pictures of which will follow in our next post)!

    Saturday we gave Donnie a big ol' clean and found a perfect piece of foam at the thrift store (is comfort a crime?) and had the whole day to ourselves as the family here had a gathering in Steinbeck. We made stuffed peppers when they returned with leftover Briam and rice which was yum.

    Sunday was sauna day, and I think I fed the fire a bit too much (Gerry said it was like an incinerator in there!). So after a lovely roast dinner made by Gerry we spent maybe 5-10 mins in there and then went for an ice bath in the nearby creek which was a real soup of sensations! All in all it was pretty fantastic and we have been really enjoying our stay here so far.    Read more

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