The Friendly Bay

The southern stretch of Georgian Bay allowed us the experience of paddling in more developed and populated areas - a new experience for us both. We enjoyed the luxuries that few experience on canoe trips such as a visit to our favorite Swiss restaurant, the Alphorn, and a relaxing night in a soft bed at Balm Beach Resort. We were amazed at the friendliness we experienced along the way. Little treats such as homemade muffins, strawberry jam, cupcakes, cookies, grilled cheese sandwiches, and wine were given to us and helped to add to our dehydrated tripping menu. Many provincial and private park staff along the journey commented, "We’ve never had campers arrive by canoe!" It seemed that traveling by canoe, Canada’s historical mode of transport, was fairly unheard of in this region. We understood why when some nights we had to pull out our tent in quite populated spaces. It was interesting to see the large beaches of Nottawasaga Bay, home to the largest freshwater beach in the world, and to visit the historical Brebeuf Island lighthouse (100+years) where the one of the Great Lakes Coast Guard stations exists.
We are happy to have completed Georgian Bay, a total of 600 kilometers. We are now heading back to Killarney to start our tour of the North Channel and St. Mary's River.

Breaking Fifty

During the winter, in preparation for our upcoming paddling season, Jonathan and I spent some time pouring over nautical charts and topographic maps. Looking forward to paddling the coastline of Georgian Bay, we stumbled upon a roadblock - the Meaford Tank Range. Indicated on our nautical chart was a seventeen kilometer by two kilometer boating restriction zone. It would be difficult for us to paddle so far from shore for that length of time on such an exposed part of the coast. After contacting the Meaford Tank Range, we were given special permission to pass through the restricted zone due to the nature of our expedition. We were told specifically not to land unless it was a serious emergency because of the possibility of unexploded ordinates lying on the shore. We couldn’t even land to go to the washroom. To add to our distress, the distance between campsites, from Owen Sound to Meaford, was fifty kilometers – a distance we hadn’t yet accomplished in a day. Jon and I chose a calm day to make the trek. The coastline along the Meaford Tank Range was absolutely spectacular with large clay banks spreading themselves into the surrounding water. We surprised ourselves by paddling an average of 6.5 kilometers per hour which helped us get to our campsite earlier than expected. The Meaford Memorial Park was a great place to stay with a large sandy beach and friendly neighbours to share stories with.