Tobermory/Bruce Pen./Flower Pot Island

This part of our adventure was just wonderful! We started it all off by saying sayanora to our resort and took the Chi-Cheemaun Ferry, across Lake Huron, to Tobermory. The ferry ride was such a great experience! We all enjoyed a nice, sunny day on the deck of the ship...even Charlie! Charlie wasn't so keen on the choppy water and big waves but he snuggled under the bench by our feet and was just fine. When we had reached Tobermory, we had a little bit of difficulty finding our vehicle inside the ferry...however with the process of elimination we found the good ole Pathfinder in the end.

Tobermory was a unique tourist-based town. Full of all sorts of fun shops, patios, tents etc. We were staying in a private campground called Harmony Acres. It was a beautiful, well-maintained campground which was a nice treat for us! There were trees, flowers, stone paths and cute/rustic decor all around. We had absolutely no complaints about our site - it was immaculate. After setting up camp we explored the town, grabbed some groceries and enjoyed some R & R.

The next day, we took a jet boat tour to the Flower Pot Islands. We were a little unsure about how Charlie would handle a jet boat but to our surprise he did wonderful! I think he even enjoyed it on the way back. The Flower Pot Islands are part of the Fathom Five Marine National Park and are know for their natural, geological formations (the flowerpots). The flowerpots are rock formations that have been eroded by the waves over years and years. They have since sprouted plants around the top, hence the name Flower Pot Islands. The jet boat tour included a tour of some sunken ship wrecks along the way - they were pretty interesting with a neat history behind them.

After docking on the island, we had around 3 hours before our return to Tobermory. We explored an old lighthouse, some great trails, a cave and even discovered a nice jumping rock. After seeing multiple people jump off the rock and come back up to the surface without being injured, we decided we needed to jump too. We climbed up to the top (which was only around 5m above water) and were immediately worried...right below the surface of the water you could clearly see all the rocks, which looked way too close to be safe. The thing about these waters is that they are so crystal clear that you can see right down to the bottom! What looked like rocks about 2 ft under the surface were really so far down we wouldn't come close to touching them. Mom was the bravest of the two of us...while I was still working up the courage, mom jumped right off with very little hesitation. She's fearless I tell ya. After that we knew it was safe and we had some fun jumping. On my last jump, I forgot I was wearing my brand new sunglasses and jumped off and of course they flew off my face and sunk to the bottom. Crazy enough, the water was so clear that I could actually see them! Turns out they had got stuck in a crack and thankfully hadn't sunk all the way to the bottom! I saw a snorkeler a little ways away and figured I could ask her for help...worst case scenario she says no. So I casually asked her (in joking/friendly yet also serious tone) how far down she could swim with her snorkel gear..the lady gave me a very confused look and I thought to myself...whoops definitely the wrong person to ask. Turns out she doesn't speak english but looked like she was willing to help! So...after trying my best to use my hands to sign "how far down can you swim with goggles. Sunglasses fell off" and after some help from her friend who spoke broken English, we all somewhat understood eachother and she kindly jumped off the cliff, sinking down as far as she could and managed to actually retrieve my sunglasses! Yay for kind strangers! After we had both done a few jumps, had some lunch, and saw everything there was to see, we headed back to the dock to catch our jet boat back to camp.

After an adventurous, hot day in the sun we were ready to relax around the fire and have an early night. The next afternoon we packed up and headed off to our next destination.Read more