Tobermory -True Paradise

Hello again ,

This was the July 4th weekend, and a perfect weather for the most awaited trip to Bruce Peninsula, which is surrounded by Lake Huron and the gorgeous Georgian Bay. We started our journey  at around 10 am . We passed by the small towns of Caledon ,Orangeville , Sherburne ,Owen Sound .I am entrhralled by their cozy downtowns , the historic buildings, and the unique Mom and pop stores..I  wish to visit these towns sometime, when I have some leisure time to stroll down. And finally our destination was here, the beautiful town of Tobermory.

There were three places , that I was keen in visiting this time The FlowerPot Island, The Grotto, and the famous lighthouse. (I have always been fascinated about light houses, because that gets me to thinkng about so many accidents would have been saved just because of the help of these light houses--and also it reminds me of the secluded islands described in the "Famous Five" books by  Enid Blyton )

We reachedTobermory at about 1.30pm.reason being the highway 10 that connects Tobermory to Brampton is a one lane road. We directly went to the office of Blue Heron Cruises, and to our surprise the next 2-3 cruise were already full, So we thought of going for the Grotto first and then coming back for the cruises, and guess what we got to know, that the Bruce Peninsula Park is so full, that there is no place to park, and so we cant get in...

Hence we went for the 2.45 Jet Boat Cruise and a return Glass bottom Cruise at 4.25 and decided to see the Grotto later. That kinda worked in our favour,as we got some time to freshen up , and buck up for the adventure..

The Jet Boat is a pretty fast boat that takes us to the island in just 15 minutes...I enjoyed every moment of the breathtaking ride to the island. Enjoyed the fresh breeze ( tried to breath in as much Oxygen as possible) , the beautiful lansdcapse, watching seagulls , looking at the faraway ligth house...And the jumping along in the bumpy ride..

The Jeb Boat

They slackend the speed of the jet boat,as we were about to reach the isalnd, and hence we could capture the best views of the island. This island is around 6.5 km loong and is only accebile via the ferries from Tobermory The name of this island is derived from the natural sea stacks formed in the shape of namesake flowerpots.
( The Flowerpots are a type of sea stack, formed over many years as wind, rain, waves and ice hammered away at the cliff that once stood alongside the water’s edge, the softer rock eroded more quickly, leaving the harder rock remaining in the shape of Flowerpots)

Both the flowerpots captured together

Large Flowerpot

If you look through the bigger flowepot it looks like a face of a person.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

We reached the island at around 3.05 pm and hence had very less time to explore eveything on the island. They dropped us on the dock and there were few trails that would take us to these flowerpots, caves and the lighthouse. Since we were short of time, we decided to take the main trail that was around 1.5 km long, and tried to scurry through it, and take a break only when its really required. (That means less selfies ;) )

We hiked to the small flowerpot and then the large fowerpot, was amazed by looking at the age of these rocks,around 10000 years old . Its sucha a gradual process..And just wonder how it would be after another 10000 years... We then saw the caves .Many years ago this whole island and these caves were below sea level.And gruadually as the sea level decreased, the island was formed and we can see the hollow caves formed because of the tidal energy of the waves hitting the rocks... These kind of caves would be present below the sea level, and may be after another 5000 years, people would see those caves.. 

      

We wanted to go to the lighhouse, as I already mentioned my fascination about it, but we also didnt wanna make others wait becuase of us. and hence we dropped the idea, and instead enjoyed a bit on the shoreline watching the beautiful standing structures. and taking some selfies..

Our journey back wasnt as happenig as it was a huge glass bottom cruise boat .(We didnt really get any view from the glass bottom, we would have if we would have got this while going to the island, as they show ship wrecks

The glass bottom cruise

So, we got back to Tobermory and headed to The Bruce Peninsula National Park.  It is a 156 square kilomoeter park located on a part of Niagara Escapment(The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, that runs predominantly east/west from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois) and also a UNESCO-Biosphere Reserve.

Guess what the parkig was still full, because its one of the best camping sites and perfect place for a 1 day trip. You can expect such huge crowds in Ontario during summer weekends especially on a sunny day. They asked us to be back in 15 minutes..

We parked our car at the Cyprus Lake parking (P1), which is the closest to the Grotto, and took the Georgian Bay Trail to the Grotto and the Indian Head Cove.

Trail Map from Parking to The Grotto

The hike to the Grotto is a bit tiring as its uphill,especially after a long day, but its worth it.. We tried to be a bit adventurous and climbed down  the rock,

posing for a click :)-Indian head Cove

pose by hubby dearest, showing off his muscles

                       






                                                                                                                 

The Grotto

It was 8pm and the Sun was about to set, so we decided  to hike back to our car.On our way back I experienced something for the first time , well before I tell you, Let me remind you of the famous W.H Davies Poem(The Leisure--What is this life full of care we have  No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass )I had always loved this poem in my childhood, and so I  have a habit of stopping by and enjoying the beauties of nature.And so I think I have already seen squirrels eating their nuts , but I had never heard a squirrel squeeking so loud (btw its a bit dreadful, in the quiet night ) so thats how we ended our journey,  took all the memories back with us, and drove back to our sweet home.

Few References: 
http://www.blueheronco.com/
http://www.explorethebruce.com/tobermory/

 Au Revoir!!