Storyline: Westward Ho!
(Our posts from the road may come in waves due to spotty cell coverage)
Home to Sault Ste. Marie
There is a comedy song “Canada is really big” by The Arrogant Worms. Although Ontario is not the biggest province by total area, driving through it westward feels like it must be. The vast majority of its population and urbanised areas is concentrated in Southern Ontario. Northern Ontario, although the biggest geographical region of Ontario has a very low population density. Manitoulin Island, Sudbury and North Bay in the southern tip of the region are a few hours drive from the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) where we live. Our first night was planned for boondocking in Parry Sound.
At the last moment a plan change brought us just an hour away from home to Sibbald Point Provincial Park (PP). Good for flushing the bugs out of Doranya (the campervan we’ll be living in for the next 3 months – we hope).
We had a little hiccup there, mentioned in the blurb for the video of day one. The weather was nice and warm so Alex put the Airvents in (these are inserted when parked in warm weather atop the partially opened driver and passenger windows to allow for rain- and bug-protected air circulation). There were swirls of little non-biting flies that were attracted to the van. It was and still is too cold for mosquitoes and black flies, although I am sure they’ll greet us at Kakabeka Falls the next few days.
We had a nice walk, took some photos and when time came to call it a night Alex went to remove the Airvents. Nights are still cold at this time of year.
To remove the Airvents one must lower the window, unclip the vent from the top and reclose the window. Easy five second job. Except for the fact that there were hundreds of the flies nestled between the louvres of the vents and their bug screens. Welcome to our van! Good job they didn’t bite and they all died during the night. We vacuumed them in the morning although I’d find and clean them up for a few days.
We were still flushing out the toilet bugs (not real bugs – A) at Sault Ste. Marie (“The Soo”), though. Last winter Alex left some toilet seal conditioner in the bowl and it eventually froze. He tried to free it and damaged the flush seal. Before we left, he fixed all this by replacing the whole flush mechanism and the pedestal. Or so he thought. Until we began moving, at which time it became clear that the bowl wasn’t properly secured to the pedestal.
Our second night was in the Carol Campground near Sudbury. Cold and wet. The toilet bowl started to shift. We’d try to fix it in The Soo. We inquired about hotels and prices at the tourist information centre. Recommendation was for Sleep Inn, near the water and the Bushplane Museum.
Parked Doranya conveniently for another repair attempt and moved into a nice room for two nights. After more investigation it was clear that we’ll need more tools and perhaps some help.
So the days in The Soo were to explore some of its known attractions. After two nights at the Inn, we moved to Glenview campground just a few kilometers north. We were close to a repair shop based on Mr. Google information.
We called the two mobile RV repairs mechanics we found. One of them never returned our call, the other called back, but it was the long weekend so he could not help us. Well, isn’t the long weekend when everyone jumps into their RV and drives somewhere? Isn’t it that the probability one needs a mobile repair is exactly when dealerships are closed? He answered Alex’s questions, though. Perhaps epoxy would help fill an apparently stripped screw-hole.
It wasn’t until we actually reached the Wawa campground, where we had a full-service site, when Alex managed to fix it (I hope! – A).
Back on the road. It was around 3 hrs driving time from Carol Campground near Sudbury to The Soo. We took 17A through Echo Bay and stopped by the Loon Dollar monument.
The loon dollar of 1987 (the coin that replaced Canada’s one-dollar bill, and is now commonly referred to as a “loonie”) was designed by Robert-Ralph Carmichael, a resident of the municipality. He was also the sculptor of monument.
Nice rest area with a restaurant on the site and a long boardwalk through Lake George Marsh.
Definitely worth the stop.
Day four of our trip (in The Soo for those trying to keep track – A) would be dry, although colder than January in Portugal.
That was for visiting the locks, a National Historic site. These locks, together with similar structures on the U.S. side of the St. Mary’s river, allow for freighters to navigate the rapids (the “sault” in the city’s name is from the French for rapids)
of this river that flows from the most northerly great lake (Superior) into Lake Huron on its way via Lakes Erie, Ontario and the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean. (The other great lake, Michigan is entirely in the USA, so it doesn’t count 😊 – A)
We crossed the locks to Whitefish Island and had a lovely walk past several beaver dams,
greeted by redwinged blackbirds in the bulrushes,
chickadees cheekily hopping ever closer in the small trees as they checked if we had seeds for them,
geese, ducks and many other birds.
The walk took us around the island and under the International Bridge. Winds blasting us in the unprotected areas.
Back in town the nearby shopping mall called us for a warm break and some shopping.
After lunch at the Peace restaurant, frozen and tired I headed to the hotel while Alex went to the Bushplane museum to finish the circle.
Bushplanes were and still are a feature of the north, often bearing floats or skis to take advantage of the terrain. much of which is otherwise unreachable except in summer by long, arduous canoe hops & portages between the myriad of lakes that dot the landscape and in winter by snowshoe trek.
The collection in this museum includes the tiny Cessna 172 and Bell two-person helicopter with a bubble cockpit, to the large Fokker Triplane among others. There are also exhibits specifically about forest fires and related firefighting equipment.
There is a fire watchtower inside the building that one can climb a set of stairs to reach. Inside it is set up as it would have been 50+ years ago. A short film details one of Ontario’s largest fires and the efforts to control it. The Pickle Lake fire consumed many square kilometres of forest and was finally brought under control by the weather. Air- and land-based firefighters did have a significant part to play but the fire was too large to control.
Elsewhere in the museum was a kid’s discovery area, some railway equipment, vintage cars and a 1940’s era firefighters’ camp with period equipment. As an added feature there is an insectarium which was fortunately closed the day I visited…because I barely had time to walk through the exhibits and climb aboard some of the accessible planes.
It was well worth the money and needs more than 90 minutes to fully appreciate.
The down town (or city centre) core of The Soo is not pretty.
But there is a nice boardwalk by the water. And what surprised us was the food scene. One enters a little hole, barely noticeable from the street and is overwhelmed by the variety of quality dishes they offer inside. Having stayed in the Delta Hotel Fredericton New Brunswick in 2010 we still have fond memories of their food.
So the first night we decided to try the nearby Delta restaurant named The View because of its location on the water. We were happy we did. We ordered two appetisers and a main to share. My appetiser was snails with mushrooms and kale and Alex had Caesar Salad. A glass of wine for me and a local beer for Alex topped things off. These by themselves were enough.
The seared tuna with grilled vegetables was another big surprise. In Toronto it would have been 4 slices of tuna on a big nicely decorated dish with some vinaigrette or wine reduction. Since we were sharing, the meal was served on two plates by the kitchen. Each portion was huge. The photo shown here was taken after Alex had eaten half of his. Absolutely delicious too. So yes, if you want a gourmet meal look for a restaurant at a Delta Hotel. Not cheap though.
Next day after walking around Whitefish Island (again highly recommended after visiting the locks) we walked into an unassuming door of a grey building on a drab street. The place was called Peace. Small, but their menu was huge.
I ordered a poke bowl with tuna, salmon and avocado and Alex has sashimi. All freshly made at the bar in front of you. The biggest surprise was yet to come. There was a pizza shack near our inn. For dinner we ordered a soup, a small vegan pizza (no cheese) and a Philly steak sandwich. When Alex went to pick it up in an unassuming black-painted square brick building, he observed a nice clean and friendly place. And all tasted fantastic.
As the saying goes, don’t judge the book by its cover. We’ll remember The Soo as a drab city (in spring that is) with a fantastic food scene.
Sault Ste Marie to Neys Provincial Park
Spread along the shores of Lake Superior, Neys Provincial Park is lovely. At least from our campsite facing the water.
The lake was very calm, almost flat, with occasional small ripples (although at times it is home to vicious and dangerous storms – A). And it is so quiet around. The advantage of an early start before the summer crowds flock in.
The park, known in the past as Neys 100, was one of the first POW (prisoners of the war) camps, housing German soldiers and other enemies during WWII. They were transported by ship from England in January 1941. The camp was barb-wired. It operated to about 1946.
One can find more information about the camp online, but in 1953 all the buildings were dismantled and materials reused in the nearby towns. The land was re-forested in the late 1950s, and in the early 60s became a picnicking and camping area. It was officially designated as a provincial park in 1965. There is a small sign on the beach acknowledging the fact that it had been a POW camp and one can walk to a cove named Prisoners Cove.
The campground is big with nice big lots. It has 4 camping areas and if one is away from the lakeshore the campsites are big and private. There are wheelchair accessible sites and a ramp leading to the lake in front of them.
Our first day in the park was the first warm and sunny day since we left home. It’s been a cold week on the road.
After Glenview Cottages and Campground north of The Soo we headed to Wawa. I had a reservation for Wawa RV Resort & Campground. We’ve driven through the Lake Superior Provincial Park many times. Years ago we camped at Pancake Bay, and Rabbit Blanket Lake; stayed at the Batchwana Bay motel and tried their fantastic Austrian owned restaurant. These don’t exist any more. Last time we were at the park was with our friend Milan in 2018. Then we stayed in Naturally Superior Adventures & Rock Island Lodge for a few days, which is by the Michipicoten River. This time Wawa was only a stop on the way north.
A place we haven’t stopped in the past was Chippewa Falls. So we did this time. The falls drop 13 meters in 2 stages.
There is a rest stop, popular among fly-fishermen to the side of the bridge. The reason this place is worth the stop is not really the falls but the fact that they are at the half-way point on the Trans-Canada highway between St. Johns, Newfoundland and Victoria, British Columbia.
The falls were also memorialized in the painting Stream Bed, Lake Superior Country by A.Y. Jackson, a Group of Seven artist. An installation of this work was placed in front of the falls where the painting was composed. There are many such installations around the Lake, highlighting what and where artists from the group of Seven painted between The Soo and Terrace Bay.
There is one in front of the visitor’s centre near our Neys campsite area facing the lake and the hill that it depicted. The installation It has 4 illustrations of paintings of the nearby scenes by different member-artists of the Group of Seven.
On Saturday we reached Wawa, where Alex managed to find the necessary tools and parts to fix the toilet. It was also a nice sunny day, although still quite cold. The campground as expected was almost empty when we arrived just before noon. After lunch he disassembled the toilet bowl and brought it out on the picnic table. This way it was easy for him to see and work on it. Finally, the toilet was fixed and we could now proceed with our plans not worrying. At least not about this one.
However there would be a slight rattle coming from the van under acceleration. This was a recurrence of a loosening exhaust system bracket which Alex fixed here at Neys PP.
For lunch and a walk, on our way to Neys, we stopped at White River. This town started as a railroad divisional point.
Here they used to cut large blocks of ice from the lakes in winter to refrigerate boxcars with perishables that were shipped across the northern route. White River is known for its Winnie-the-Pooh memorial.
During WWI Lt. Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian, who took care of the army’s horses en route by train to their embarkation point to Europe, arrived in White River on August 24th, 1914.
Here he found an orphaned black bear cub for sale on the platform. He bought the bear for $20 (in 1914! That’s an expensive bear). He never imagined the implication of his decision. It was named Winnie (from Winnipeg) and became the mascot for his regiment’s troops serving in England. Later it was donated to the London Zoo where author A.A. Milne would take his son, Christopher Robin, and later commemorate the bear in the Winnie-the-Pooh children’ books.
At the White River visitor’s centre they also had an RV station which we didn’t then need but found interesting. There was a waste water dump and fresh water to fill for those that needed it and knew about it.
And so to summarize our stops so far: Sibbald Point PP, Carol Campground near Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie (Sleep Inn and Glenview campground), Wawa and Neys PP.
We have another week in Northern Ontario before we cross the provincial border to Manitoba. See you in Kakabeka falls or/and Kenora.
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