Up and out this morning before sun up – not that there was
any sun to get up all day – well until about 5pm when a very weak one broke
through.
Reason for early start was 2 fold, i) I wanted to try and
see some wild life and ii) the room at the motel was not one to hang around in.
It rained on and off most of the day and the cloud base was
so low that I drifted in and out of fog and mist. I was happy enough though – disappointed that
I wouldn’t get the best of views perhaps but at least the rain was washing the
flies of my teeth. By dinner time though I thought I would be trying to make
some positives about the “misty views” etc.
But hey, the day turned out to be filled with all kinds of
surprises.
This is the town – all of it – that I’d stayed in last night
– they all read well in the blurb but somehow miss the spot.
I was heading first of all for a place called Thunder Bay
and setting off early, as I did, I promised myself a Canadian breakfast there
of eggs – over hard – see getting all the jargon – ham and home-fries. I got that and it was good.
After riding for a little while the dual carriageway changed
to an ordinary 2 way road and remained like that, except for a few passing
places for the rest of the journey. In some places you could see where the
original road had gone before any upgrades and those are always interesting
routes to take – even if most meant doubling back eventually.
But I was in no hurry and keen to spot some kind of
critter. I accept it was early but I was
still mostly on my own and this is a main cross country link!
I was fascinated by the lichen. Yes, we’ve all seen it but
this stuff was so thick and scaly, no it wasn’t moss – I’d ask Roger again but
if I carry on he’ll want paying as an advisor.
I got excited by the signs – I know sad – and slowed down
even more to peer into the undergrowth, which was silly really as moose are the
size of, well moose.
I was intrigued by this church but it was at the other side
of a railway track with no obvious crossing. Wasn’t too far from these
abandoned stores so wonder if there was an old town here once - now long gone.
Real cowboy town buildings aren’t they.
Then – a time zone change! Why can’t they all be like this
and then everyone will be clear. There was this plaque there too about Sir Sandford Fleming – no I hadn’t heard of him
either – but he was born on Scotland and responsible for “inventing” the
Standard Time Zones – probably fed up of making a prat of himself in hotels!
Met a policeman at this stop whose father came from Bradford but he, the policeman, had never been to England to visit, probably for the best!
The road was going on and on and up and down and my eyes
were going from side to side like an ”Eagle Eyes” Action Man.
It paid off though because I saw this chap in
time to stop. No idea what he is – looks like a black fox but they don’t seem
to exist. He was obviously rare though and had few friends as he came closer
and closer and if I’d opened my pannier I think he would have jumped in.
Thunder Bay was another disappointment – perhaps the gloom
again taking the shine off any attraction it had.
Just before Thunder Bay the 2 divided North and South routes
re-joined and ran along the northern shore of Lake Superior. I was excitedly
anticipating my first view of this vast lake but when it came it was snatched
through trees and partially hidden by the cloud. What I could see though was
beautiful – not any great impression of size because at that pint there was
“The Sleeping Giant” peninsular running across the view and then various small
islands just off-shore.
I liked this sign, twee as it may be...
As a rode along the trees suddenly changed colure to a
really spring-like light green, the photo probably doesn’t show it but the
colour change was spectacular.
I carried on enjoying
the ride but wary when the cloud got a bit thick especially as the road got
narrower and began to hug the cliff side more.
On I went with Assistant Lookout Frog on duty – he lost his
Navigator status when he got us lost on the way to Steinbach.
Got stripes back
though when he spotted this chap (or chappess – how do you sex a moose?)
Watched it for quite a while and was fascinated when it knelt down to eat – which answers that earlier question about knees.
The excitement builds up too about Winnie-the-Pooh and
Lyndsay makes a good point – where did his second name come from?
Maybe we’ll find out tomorrow – hang on in there with me.
