we were supposed to leave around 9 am in the morning but farisa who was supposed to drive from toronto and meet us up in orangville had some trouble renting a car because she's under 25. yup if you're not old enough, you're not allowed to rent a car here in ontario. especially in areas such as toronto, they are pretty strict on this matter. but nasri was a bit lucky. the guy working at the car rental was a noob. he didn't even check nasri's passport. in the end, farisa and her sister and mother had to take the bus to hamilton and rent one here instead.
cows are abundant along the journey, sunbathing
so it took us about 4-5 hours jugak la to get to tobermory. we stayed in this motel called peacock villa. but i didn't see any peacock there.
the downtown is on the left side of the road
the opposite side of the road, also the tip of the peninsula. go down a bit further and you'll see rocks and lake huron
big rocks soaking in clear water
a different side of the town
after walking around the small town. we grilled some chicken legs and wings that we brought from hamilton. it was kind of late (around 11 pm) and we were pretty noisy. well, there were like eight of us, there must have been something wrong if we were just sitting and eating there quietly. then there was this old lady who got annoyed and she opened her door and told us that we were too noisy. hahah we said sorry and she closed the the door. yikes.
next day, i had to do my quiz which was due at 6pm. so i worked on it the whole morning and we went out in the afternoon that day. we headed to the national park by car and took the horse lake trail, which was recommended by the worker at the ticket sales counter. there are 3 trails that you could take to reach georgian bay. we took the longest one. just for fun. from geogian bay, we walked along bruce trail and headed to the indian head cove. the view there was super awesome. it was so freaking beautiful. the breeze was nice. the air was so clean and refreshing. lake huron is so wide and it has a nice tone of yellow, green and blue, bounded by the horizon. we also went to see the grotto which is a small cave that has a small lake in it. sounds so simple. a cave, with a lake in it. but it's one of the most beautiful place i've ever seen.
the horse lake trail
a short pathway for the moist ground
at the end of the trail, we saw white rocks with trees further up
we then looked to the right and everyone went nuts, look at that ^ picture!
making use of my cheap zoom lens
we walked along the famous rocky bruce trail
at the beginning of the next trail to the indian head cove, we split ways. the guys and i went up the more challenging trail and we climbed up some nasty surfaces
the water taken from a higher viewpoint
the bruce trail viewed from a higher spot
also taken from a higher ground
walked up a bit further, reunited with the girls. georgian bay.
georgian bay, gorgeous view
at indian head cove, there's the grotto. hm can't see the lake inside from here. and i didn't take any pictures of the lake because i didn't bring my bulky camera climbing down the rocks. sayang camera. hahah.
we went back and had a barbeque again, this time, earlier of course. around 6pm. at night, we planned to go star gazing but i was so tired i went to bed early. but nasri said that it was cloudy that night so there weren't so many stars for us to look at, so they didn't go that night.
the next day, it was raining! initial plan was to take the blue heron boat that would take passengers on a tour around the islands of fathom five national marine park. but all the boats did not operate on rainy days. so went to a coffee shop instead. and farisa and her family went back early as well to london.
since there was nothing much to do on a rainy day, we spent much time in the motel room and watched world cup match. but around 5 pm, we decided to go kayaking and canoeing. so off we went to cameron lake. kayaking is so much fun. canoeing as well but i really prefer kayaking then canoeing. it's easier to navigate. we had an enermous pot of japanese noodles for dinner.
the next day, nasri and i drove to owen sound, which is another town which is the farthest town that go bus or coach canada bus could go to. since yasser finished his exam the day before, he went to join us on that day by taking the bus. we then went back and headed to water sports shop to rent snorkeling sets. at first, we thought the water wouldn't be so cold, so all of us decided not to rent the wetsuit. we went snorkeling to see the remaining of shipwrecks near the little tub (the name of the harbour in tobermory downtown). the water was cold like crazy pig. we had to run back to the shop to rent wetsuits. we were lucky that the shop wasn't closed when we got there.
the wetsuit wasn't much of a help. you can still feel the icy coldness with your hands, face, ears and the lower part of your legs (below knees, as the wetsuit covers only till the knees). still, it was awesome. the shipwrecks scared the shit out of us. the water looked like a haunted space at first. and after a while, our curiosity began to overcome the fear and we swam around examining the rest of the ships. there were three ships around that area.
the rental for the wetsuit is valid for one whole day. so we brought our wetsuits back and that night, we did go to the big tub (the lighthouse at the tip of bruce peninsula) area for star gazing. the sky would look prettier if the downtown area was less bright.
the next morning, yasser, nasri and i went to take the blue heron boat for the fathom five islands tour. we got to see another shipwreck near the big tub. this one was the more popular one because most of the ship parts are still intact and you could clearly see the build of the ship, as if it has just sunken into the bottom of the lake.
the little tub harbour viewed from blue heron V boat
one of the houses in big tub area
we also got to see the flowerpot island which is popular for the rocks at the shore of island. it was said that plants do grow on most of the rock, thus the name flowerpot. that's one gorgeous island, i hope i would get the chance to explore the island the next time i go there. we didn't get off the boat and walk around the flowerpot island because it would cost us more. haha. well, need to save up a bit for banff trip.
in the afternoon, we went out snorkeling again, at the area where we did star gazing near the big tub. it was stupidly cold but we forced ourselves to just dive in because we thought we didn't want to waste the rent for the wetsuits that we already paid for. haha stupid reason, actually. gile sejok!
the guys then went to have fish-and-chips all you can eat for dinner. i didn't go with them because i think i wouldn't eat anything that's worth $9.99 so it wouldn't be worth it for me. at night we just stayed in the room and watched a movie on the TV. at around 10.30pm we heard fireworks (chi-cheemaun festival celebration, chi-cheemaun is a ferry that transport passengers and vehicles from tobermory to manitoulin island) from across the street (yeah i forgot to tell you that the downtown is that close to our motel). all of us dashed out of the room, including peti, yasser and kamal who were sleeping soundly before this. hahaha. and we enjoyed the fireworks show for about 20 minutes.
the next day, we went hiking again. we took the burnt point loop and again, more spectacular views greeted us at the lookout point. i'm really amazed that the elements are all pretty much the same, you know, rocks, trees, lake, clouds, sun. but i still found each of them uniquely different, every lookout has it's own uniqueness. hahah.
nasri and kamal left earlier as nasri had to send kamal to the bus station in owen sound because there were six of us, the car could only fit five people. and then we went back and tried to rent a kayak because we wanted to kayak all the way to the big tub from the little tub harbour to see the ship that was still intact in the water. but we found out that all shops were closing early that day, perhaps due to chi-cheemaun festival. finally we decided to go for a swim at singing sands beach. it was fun. i don't have the pictures. yasser has them.
burnt point loop trail, one of the lookouts
in the end, we went back to our room, packed our things up and leave for hamilton that very night. in conclusion, bruce peninsula park is really awesome! anyone thinking of going there, YOU DON'T HAVE TO THINK, JUST BRING YOUR BUTT OVER TO THAT PLACE AS SOON AS YOU CAN! ahahah. semangat gile.
okay i'm really looking forward to this jasper/banff trip. going to sleep in calgary airport's concourse hall now before we start off our journey tomorrow after nasri got the car :)
