Bruce Peninsula National Park and Flowerpot Islands are next. We came to this area to hike to the Grotto and take a tour of the Flowerpot Islands.
So Bruce National Park is a nice park, however, there is no hydro and there are no comfort stations ! We didn’t care but just so you know – we are only here a couple of days so it was no big deal for us. You can drive outside of the park and there are places where you can pay and use their showers. The car line-ups to get into the Park are very long in the summer for people coming in for the day. The Grotto is a huge attraction and sometimes they close it the main gate down early in the day because so many people are trying to get into the park and they run out of parking. But if you are are camping in the Park, no worries, you just walk to the Grotto and Indian Head Cove. We were in Cypress Lake campground which is mostly pull through and little and/or no privacy. There were lots of empty sites when we arrived 20 July 2016. Apparently there is a bear wandering around looking for food but we did not see him. There seems to be an overabundance of hungry bears in Ontario this year.
The Grotto is a very unique place and the water is as blue as the Caribbean albeit very, very cold. The have interesting trails which are nice to walk and you can bike around the Park.
We drove to Tobermory and wandered around this little harbour village. We purchased our tickets for the next day for the Flowerpot Islands on a cruise boat, then we wandered around looking at all the gift shops and stores finally heading to Tobermory Brewery for a taster tray. The beer was good and we were able to get two seats on the deck facing the water and town so we could watch as we enjoyed our libations!
The next day we took the boat to the Flowerpot Islands and they had a glass bottom area in the boat so we were able to view two shipwrecks and then we headed to the island. There is a big and a little flowerpot. Take your bathing suits and towels as you have lots of time there to swim as well as hike around or whatever! The water is cool but it was so hot the day we went that it was refreshing to, at the very least, stick your feet and legs in the water. They even have “interior campsites” on the island. Not very private but still would be nice to stay for a few days. We took a 1020 a.m. boat and arrived at the island an hour later and then we had to take the return boat at 240 p.m. When we returned to Tobermory we headed toShipwreck Lee’s for fish and chips and Islander beer, sitting outside of course. Neat place, all kind of pirate-y ! The servers were super friendly and dressed like pirates ! and the food was good.
Being good Canadians, we love Beavertails so there was a Beavertail shop down the road from Shipwreck Lee’s so we headed there for dessert. You would think all Beavertails would be created equal, but apparently not. These ones definitely weren’t. Actually we have never had a bad one so I guess just the way the people working here made them. I dunno but I didn’t even finish mine and I never leave a Beavertail behind !
We are leaving tomorrow for Manitoulin Island so we’ll back to Tobermory in the morning to take the Chi-Cheemaun ferry !
Trums Travels 