Tobermory is a charming little town at the top of the Bruce Peninsula. Well, it was charming the second week of September. From all the tourist shops in town, I suspect it is a horror during the summer.
Since the ferry to Manitoulin Island didn’t leave until 1:30pm, Eliot and I did a little exploration on foot. There’s a tiny harbour where a host of tour boats leave to explore Georgian Bay. We found a little café with a sunny patio where I had a lovely cup of dark roast and a bran muffin. Back at the harbour we found this rather large vessel being manoeuvred onto what seemed a tiny trailer. They had attracted quite a few onlookers.
Then around 1pm the MS Chi-Cheemaun arrived from Manitoulin Island. (A local couple I talked to referred to it at ‘The Cheech’.)It’s about the same size as the Coho that travels between Victoria and Port Angeles, Washington. But it has an amazing feature. The bow lifts up giving access to a ramp that’s lowered to allow the vehicles to drive off the ferry.
It was a lovely, smooth crossing with an almost cloudless sky. Dogs are allowed on what they call the promenade deck. Eliot seemed quite blazé about being on the ferry unlike his reaction fretful reaction to travel on the Coho. And, of course, he made a few new friends in the course of the two hour crossing.
Once on Manitoulin Island we drove up to Highway 17 and made it as far as Spanish, Ontario where we set up camp at Mitchell’s which is really mostly a fisherman’s camp but was fine for an overnight. Good hot shower in the morning.
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