Tobermory Ferries

 

Location: Tobermory, Ontario, Canada
Address:  8 Eliza St
Date:  September 2022
Website:  www.ontarioferries.com

  There have been ferries travelling between Tobermory and South Baymouth, Ontario for over 100 years.  Tobermory is at the top of the Bruce Penninsula and sits between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.  If you wish to travel further from here you will have to either take a boat or else head back and go the long way around.  On a trip from Sault Ste Marie, Ontario we travelled south by ferry to Tobermory.

   The ferry service started in the 1920s with the SS Hibou.  Later came the MS Normac which could hold up to 16 cars.  There were a couple of other ships before the SS Norisle came along in 1946.  You can still find the Norisle docked at Burns Wharf in Manitowaning on Manitoulin Island.

     The Norisle was capable of holding up to 46 cars as it made its journey from Manitoulin Island to Tobermory and back again.  In 1958 the Normac returned to help share the work load. When the Normac retired, the MS Norgoma joined the Norisle in making the 46 km voyage.

     In 1974 the Chi-Cheemaun arrived and replaced both the Norisle and the Norgoma.  The Chi-Cheemaun can hold 143 vehicles and over 600 passengers and it is still running to this day. 

 

   The Chi-Cheemaun can also hold large transport trucks like the truck full of livestock in the photo above.  You can get an idea of the size of the Chi-Cheemaun as it prepares to dock.

  Like the Norisle and Norgoma that came before it, the Chi-Cheemaun was built in Collingwood, Ontario.

     The beautiful indigenous art, like the turtle pictured above, gives the Chi-Cheemaun a bright colourful look. 

    The sides of the ship also feature birds and fish. 

    In South Baymouth we entered the ship through the stern.  We first had to wait for the vehicles that had arrived from Tobermory to leave from the same opening at the back of the ship.

    Upon arrival in Tobermory, the bow of the ship flips up to allow the vehicles to exit and a new group to enter.  If you see the Chi-Cheemaun in the harbour with its front flipped up you have not yet missed your ferry, but you better hurry.

    It was a beautiful, clear day when our ferry left South Baymouth to head south to Tobermory.

 

    The Ontario flag at the front of the ship blew in the breeze as we started our one hour and 45 minute journey.

    The Chi-Cheemaun passses by the famous Flowerpot Island.  The flowerpot formations made from the rocks are shown in the mural above. Unfortunately as the Chi-Cheemaun passes, these rocks are on the other side of the island.

    The ferry does pass Cove Island and you can get a good view of its lighthouse.

    At some points during the journey you can see nothing but water as you look from the deck of the Chi-Cheemaun.

 

   Before we knew it, the time came for us to head back down to our vehicles and get ready to drive through the Chi-Cheemaun and out into the town of Tobermory.  Just like the artwork that graces the sides of the ship, a voyage on the Chi-Cheemaun will brighten your day.

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Map of Our World
Chi-Cheemaun Ferry
SS Norisle

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Post # 317

Rise Of The Jack O'Lanterns

 

Location: Wheatley Heights, New York, USA
Address:  185 Colonial Springs Rd.
Date:  September 2022
Website:  jackolanterns.com

  As Halloween season approaches, all sorts of creatures prepare for October 31st to arrive.  Nothing represents Halloween quite like a carved pumpkin or Jack O'Lantern.  While we were in New York City we visited the Rise Of The Jack O'Lanterns.  The Rise Of The Jack O'Lanterns is a winding trail through the woods and is filled with hundreds of pumpkins.  There were pumpkins from all sorts of movies from animated Disney to Pulp Fiction.  This blog is going to focus on some of the spoookier carvings.  We followed the trail into the woods towards the glowing orange lights.

   The first pumpkins we encountered were based on famous works of art.  There was American Gothic, Mona Lisa and this more Halloween appropriate, The Scream.

     The next section featured all the Simpsons characters.  While not normally spooky, the animated show does a special Treehouse Of Horror episode at Halloween.  This year they will have made more than 32 of them.  Also Marge's hair reminds us of Bride of Frankenstein.

     There was no shortage of comic book heroes and villains.  We have pictured Venom above, as we find him to be the creepiest.

 

  While all the character carvings were made out of groups of pumpkins, there were still more traditional carvings scattered along the trail.

  The next group of carvings were from the creepy and kooky Addam's Family.  The Uncle Fester above appears to be from the movie version with Christopher Lloyd.  Further down the trail was also Christopher's most famous character of Doc Brown from Back to The Future.

    This skeleton biker reveals a bit of the secrets behind how these intricate carvings are made..

    A Pee-Wee Herman carving was the next we encountered.  Pee-Wee's Big Adventure was Tim Burton's first feature film.  Pee-Wee himself is not very scary. 

    But Large Marge is!

    Tim Burton's movies have always had a darker feel to them.  They have been associated with ghosts and strange creatures and Halloween.  He is responsible for Beetlejuice.

    Burton created the stop motion classic The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Jack Skellington has become both a symbol of Halloween and Christmas.

     There were also some carvings from the hilarious Mars Attacks!

 

    We headed further into the woods to see what else awaited us.

    There was a section for Peanuts characters.  Each Halloween, Linus waits for the Great Pumpkin to appear.  This year a great pumpkin carving of Linus waits for the Great Pumpkin.

    There was a section dedicated to artwork made up of flowers and skeletons.

   There were some classic horror film villains such as Freddy Krueger and the clown from It.

    In the Star Wars section there were lots of carvings.  Sorry Rebel forces but Halloween belongs to Darth Vader.

    There were so many more pumpkin creations along the Rise Of The Jack O'Lanterns trail.   We were impressed by the amount of work that went into the carvings.  If you need to get some costume ideas or enjoy a fall evening walk, these type of events can be found in many cities across North America.   Happy Halloween!

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Map of Our World
Rise Of The Jack O'Lanterns

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Post # 316