Day 40 Little Current to Tobermory ON

A little bit of the view from Ten Mile Point

I'm writing this while waiting for the ferry to Tobermory which leaves in a few hours. We could have made the ferry that left about three hours earlier, but Bob is a slow starter who likes to spend a lot of time socializing. We didn't manage to get out of Little Current till after 9 AM this morning, pretty well ruling out (with Bob's riding style) getting to South Baymouth by 1:30 PM. I was annoyed at the delay, but happy to have relaxed ride down to the ferry. Manitoulin Island is a beautiful place and it would have been wrong to rush through it.

We only rode 45 miles today. I think my shortest touring day ever is about 43 miles and that was into a 30 mph wind. About 17 miles into the ride we stopped at 10 mile point. This was the site of the original Jesuit mission to Manitoulin Island in 1648. I must complement those Jesuits on their taste. That view is one of the best I have ever seen. Now there is an Art Gallery and Book store there. The store has a small viewing platform with a bench on it and they were playing Indian (North American) flute music on a high quality sound system as I sat here, eating an apple, trying to take in and make my own that view. It was powerful experience; certainly one of the highlights of this trip. Bob, who didn't realize where I was or really look at that view, rode on and, half an hour or so later, I rode on as well. If you are riding on Manitoulin Island, stop at 10 Mile Point!

The riding was hilly today, although not as hilly as the stretch south of Espanola. 6 has no shoulder, but traffic is light (except when the ferry comes in..) and polite. When we were maybe a dozen miles from the Ferry Docks, Bob decided to take a leak. I stopped on the opposite side of the road and he went off into the bushes. Then the front wave of traffic from the 1:30 ferry arrived. A stream of cars and buses passed while Bob was in those bushes...

We stopped for lunch at Manitowaning which is on the edge of a (non-ceded) Indian reservation. There is a loop road out onto the reservation which I would have taken if I hadn't been with Bob. I bet that would be a nice ride. Actually I bet most anywhere you choose to ride on this island is likely to be a nice ride!

Bay a mile north of the Ferry terminal

Bob at the ferry terminal

The ferry ride was fine. I get bored very quickly on ferries, but this ride was short enough that I wandered around the ferry, ate supper, and visited a bit and it was over. One hour and forty five minutes at a cost of about $12 USD for the fare and less than $7 USD for supper.

View from ferry leaving Manitoulin Island

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