Hello Bruce...

Please appreciate my Finding Nemo reference... Bruce is the best

I last left you having visited Awenda Provincial Park on Sunday 5th May... if you haven't read that post yet, you can check it out here.

I headed to the Bruce Peninsula, and the Bruce Peninsula National Park to spend a few days exploring the area. I stay with the most amazing Harvest Hosts here, who ran a nature reserve on their beautiful property. They have built everything from scratch on their land, are fully off-grid and self-sufficient and are a wonderful kind couple that made me feel right at home. I spent the next 3 days exploring the peninsula...here are some highlights:

• The Grotto hike - I swam in the Georgian Bay...honestly it was so cold that I couldn't feel my body for at least an hour afterward. But it was beautiful and well worth it. I have made a rule for myself that I have to swim in all bodies of water I come across on my travels. So far so good - I haven't chickened out yet haha

• The Nature Reserve I stayed at - what a gorgeous property, it had it's own trails and caves I explored and Tom & Dee (owners) are salt of the earth kind humans. I even had an indoor warm shower where I didn't have to constantly turn the water on and off! This is the height of luxury for me right now haha

• Tobermory Village - a quaint village right at the tip of the Peninsula, it's quiet, welcoming and utterly beautiful.

I departed the Peninsula on Friday morning, catching the car ferry across to Manitoulin Island. The ferry was great...very like the Sorrento-Queenscliff ferry (for those familiar) but larger. An entire road train transport truck was loaded on, much to my shock. Arriving on the island about 10:30am I spend the day driving around (it's relatively small) and exploring all the places it had to offer. Honestly - after the previous few days, it was a bit of a let down...but I think this is a pretty natural part of travel. Sometimes you have to go somewhere and realise it sucks when you get there. There was a beautiful waterfall, but that's the only thing to write home (or blog post) about. My Harvest Host for the night was a ranch and it was the best thing about the place. It was a set up accommodation (unlike many of my Hosts thus far, which have been private farms or businesses) so it had warm showers, flushing toilets, an outdoor kitchen, and a fire pit with a raging fire. I sat by the fire and knitted with a glass of wine and it was lovely to take a much needed pause and enjoy the space I was staying in. The owner was a lovely gentleman who had inherited the property from an uncle and was trying to get the business up and running. So here's my plug...if you happen to be in the area, it is well worth a stop.

Saturday morning I had a slow start - again enjoying my Harvest Host spot, and did the dreaded task I knew had to happen eventually... I emptied my van toilet. It was traumatic. To say the least. I consider myself a fairly "get on with it" type of gal, and not much bothers me. But oh my god. It wasn't difficult as such, but it was utterly revolting. Safe to say I skipped breakfast. After I had recovered from that unexpected morning trauma I hit the road, doing some van chores before finding one of the most notable hikes on the island - the Cup & Saucer. Ok... fine... Manitoulin isn't the worst. This hike saved it. It was pouring rain but I did it anyway, and it was entirely beautiful and well worth it. I dried off and then had a relatively short drive off the island to Clayton Farm - my Host for the evening.

Sunday was a slow day, I remained in the area and found a great spot to spend the day by a lake - I worked on my knitting project (yes - I am knitting... I'm in my Grandma Era, and I am attempting to make a very special someone a beanie... let's just say this first one will be a draft haha), reading, and just generally laying low, before returning to the same farm that evening...

Next up...Lake Superior (the most BEAUTIFUL place I have ever been).