McCormick Lake

...that one day it might happen.

I guess that day's today.

Momma...I got me a friend.

...

Sitting outside the Royal Canadian Legion in Massey munchin' on my luncheon, when a bike tourer wheels by complete with "TIBET" number plate and flag. He didn't stop to chat but headed for a nearby coffee shop. The weirdly sociable Rick that's been germinating inside me decided to head over to say hello.

Sangyal's taken time out from protesting outside the Chinese embassy of Toronto to complete his second cross-Canada tour raising awareness for the Free Tibet campaign. Within minutes I had heard the campaign brief, had been given the leaflet, had read the t-shirt and...had a new cycling buddy - woohoo!

We headed on up to Blind River, since iOverlander (awesome community-driven app for hobo/nomad travellers) suggested there might be some free showers up there and a possible stealth camping site. The showers turned out to be not as free as reported, but after crossing the harbour master's palm with $3 we freshened up and mulled over camp spots while I offered to cook-up dinner.

After an hour of attempting to cook two full bowls of Jambalaya on a single Trangia by alternatingly each pan for 10mins (what I now know to be a terrible idea) Sangyal got bored of waiting and went for pizza. Knowing my own appetite after a day's cycling I understood.

Dinners done, and with prior warning from Captain Birdseye that security patrol the marina and so they'd be no camping there, we waited till dusk and headed hopeful towards the nearby municipal park.

Sangyal's interpretation of stealth camping differed somewhat to mine. As I whispered a goodnight call to Mart, fearful of alerting the neighbours to our presence, Sangyal had erected a 3 meter Dalai Lama banner, Canadian and Tibetan bunting, and traditional song was blaring from his phone. Suddenly I find I'm being streamed on Facebook Live, interviewed, and loudly cheering along with calls to "Free Tibet"!

There goes any possibility of a future Chinese visa.Read more