Monday, August 29, 2022

Parry Sound and Sudbury - Day 1 - The Thirty Thousand Islands Cruise

Parry Sound is a town in Ontario, Canada, approximately 2 and half hours away. We had a weekend to ourselves, and decided to visit Parry Sound, and then the mining town of Sudbury.

Parry Sound is the birthplace of hockey legend Bobby Orr, the namesake of the local community centre and the town's own Bobby Orr Hall of Fame. It also sits on the glorious Georgian Bay, which is the northeastern arm of Lake Huron, in Ontario, and home to 30,000 islands. We booked a cruise that was similar to the Thousand Islands cruise in Kingston

Leaving Toronto early in the morning, we got to the cruise by around 1030 am, which was perfect weather. The cruise was departing in half an hour, so we had enough time to park, freshen up and then board the ship.

It was crisp summer weather. Blue skies, hint of clouds, and perfect hot temperature for a cruise. The town itself was buzzing, and it is easy to see why Parry Sound is so popular a destination for water sports. 



The Wasauksing Swing Bridge is a bridge that has vehicular traffic, but also swings open to allow passage of boats.


It was a three hour cruise that we booked. As I said, it is very similar to the Thousand Islands Cruise in Kingston. If I had to choose between the two, though - I would choose the Kingston cruise, as there is a little more variety, as well as the castle.



The audio narration on board was nice, and kept you suitably informed about various points of interest, such as this place where huge birds of prey would nest.



Overall, it was a lovely day for a cruise. Since it's three hours, remember to take some cards or games to keep yourself entertained after the half way mark, as things will get monotonous. And food! There is an onboard restaurant, but nothing beats a picnic on a boat.


The cruise also takes you past Killarney Provincial Park - a fantastic park home to beautiful campgrounds and beaches. We even saw some people dive off this "cliff" !



There is a small seaplane airport (seaport?) in the marina, so after your cruise is over, you can stay on the docks and watch the planes "land" or take off.


Overall it was a lovely day, and after a late lunch, it was on to Sudbury, another hour and half away.

Wednesday, August 03, 2022

Sunflower Farm, Markham

In a little farm in Markham, Ontario, just north of Toronto, we found a gem.


This is Sunflower Fields of Markham. Their website is https://sunflowerfieldsofmarkham.ca/ and contact number is (416) 859-6159 .


The farm's sunflower fields were massive. There were many rows of these tall flowers, and almost all of them in perfect health. 


It was the beginning of the season, I guess, so the flowers were perky and upright. We also visited around 2 pm, so the sun was nice and high, and the weather clear, with blue skies and some clouds to make it a great weather for taking pictures.


The farm had a few props such as a couple of swings, an old tractor, and a hoe (I am guessing it's a hoe - no, not that kind of hoe).


Even though we visited on a long weekend, I didn't find it quite crowded, and we were able to take pictures in peace. Usually in some of these farms, there's quite a few instagrammers, and you really get tired of waiting as they take thousands of shots to get the perfect one.


There were also quite a lot of haystacks placed here and there, so you can sit and take pictures. 

Overall, there are many sunflower farm in and around the GTA nowadays - with social media being what it is. This is one of the better ones, as it's close to the east end of the city, not too far, and not too crowded. They need to put a few wagons in there as props, and it will be perfect.