Thursday, November 12, 2009

Toberymory and Flowerpot Island

Since most of our travel budget was spent this year on Europe, we took a few short trips here and there near home. Ontario (the province whose capital is Toronto) is a very scenic and beautiful province. Canadians love natural surroundings and Ontario offers a lot for the hikers, climbers, campers etc. On one day, on a whim, another couple and we decided to take a trip to Tobermory, which is about three and half hours drive away from Toronto.

Any day at Tobermory starts with the traditional Fish 'n Chips. Man, I feel sorry for the English and their food!

After roaming around the scenic town of Tobermory, we then decided to take a cruise to Flowerpot Island. The normal cruise is 2 hours long - they take you over the ruins of boats sunk long ago and past some beautiful islands. Another express cruise to Flowerpot Island only takes about 15 minutes.


It was a beautiful day, blue sunny skies with white puffs of picturesque clouds floating over the horizon. The area is called Bruce Peninsula and it's somewhere we would love to go back again.



There's a couple of trails on the Flowerpot Island that leads you to the "flowerpots". There's an easy walkway cut through the forest, and there's the harder, more adventurous one over rocks and the coast line. We chose the more adventurous route (but only because we didn't know about the easy one's existence!).


In the end, however, it was worth it. We walked beside the waves, climbed over many rock formations, had a blast dunking under waterfalls, and saw lots of wonderful (and sometimes creepy) creatures.

The "flowerpots":



There's tons more to do on Flowerpot Island. We explored a cave, went for walk about. Families who came early in the day had a full BBQ picnic set up, while a few more adventurous folk had set up tents to camp for the night.

We took the last boat out. We would have loved to have stayed the night, and next day explore Manitoulin Island and other nearby places, but unfortunately, there were no vacancies at Tobermory, so we drove back home. As they say here, "till next time". iA!

Pictures, courtesy of: S Islam

9 comments:

nadia said...

Must have been even greater if you could've stayed overnight and enjoyed the sunrise.

The place is stunning! It's something that gets printed on postcards and travel magazines.

mezba said...

@Nadia, it was really good. I was surprised to find a place this so "close" to home. Cottages near this area are worth millions.

Next year we plan to book early, iA.

'liya said...

It is beautiful, I remember taking trips like that with my family when we were younger - we'd just pack up, get in the car and go out for a weekend trip. Now the Volvo (same one) doesn't go too far lol. I like the pic of you standing over the edge of the water!

Ilham said...

Bruce Peninsula is a stunning place, although sadly I haven't visited yet; perhaps next summer!

Btw, if you do ever go to Blue Mountain in the summertime, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND, going to Le Scandinave Spa! Nothing quite like being in a hot pool under a waterfall in the middle of a quiet forest, with the Blue Mountains in the horizon...

cairo, lusaka, amsterdam said...

Wow, those photos are absolutely beautiful! And LOL at the English and their food...

Surviving Hijabi said...

I love flowerpot island soo beautiful.

mezba said...

@liya, I think next year iA we will take a lot of trips within Canada. We really do live in a beautiful country, mA.

The picture of me on that rock is my favourite too! And it was really high, we climbed up slowly without any equipment! (well the guys did, and the wives took the photos)

@Ilham, oh it is gorgous! And you should definitely visit Sauble Beach.

@CairoLA, oh the English! today went to a pub to meet some friends and the bangers/mash is the best they could do?! these English have to learn...

@Surviving Hijabi, it really is.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely beautiful pics and breathtaking scenic views! I can see myself drowning in them!

Any pics of creepy creatures you mentioned? :)
Lat

mezba said...

@Lat, oh I should mention here (I did credit in the post) that the pictures are by a friend's wife. It was easier to lift them off her facebook page than me hunting my camera down and uploading them!

Any pics of creepy creatures you mentioned? :)

Unfortunately, no! :-D

We were too busy scampering away!