“JIIMAAN’s mouth closes…” Kingsville Ferry Dock, Ontario
I’m a bit overdue to put up this post, since I had gone on this trip last week. Having no cellphone signal on the island was bad enough, although Rogers does insist that there is coverage on the island. Well, I was getting constant text messages saying “Welcome to the U.S.A.”. I guess this was to be expected, since Pelee Island is Canada’s most southern point.
Wooden models of JIIMAAN found in the ferry’s gift shop.
In order to get to the island, I had to drive three and a half hours from Toronto to Kingsville, Ontario, where a ferry boat (that is able to swallow what I am guessing to be up to 40 vehicles of various sizes and their passengers) will take me the rest of the way to Pelee Island – about 33.5 km in Lake Erie.
Random photo of rope found on the one of the ship’s decks.
After arriving my girlfriend and I settled into our cottage on the island, we waited for the rest of our party to join us before heading off on our bike ride to tour the island.
Taking a bicycle tour of Pelee Island
There were few clouds in the sky and it was close to noon when part of our party had set off. The temperature was hovering around 30 degrees Celcius. I was loaded with sunblock, insect repellant and water. After making a few stops to put air in some tires, check reservations at a restaurant to confirm dinner and some cold smoothies, we made our first stop – the Pelee Island Lighthouse.
Pelee Island Lighthouse
We couldn’t really explore around the lighthouse. We didn’t realize that, despite having a good amount of insect repellant, the flies in the area bite (OWW!) and my god-daughter had gotten stung by a bee (WAH!!) I did have a good chance to take a few shots along the beach…
“Walking along the beach…” Pelee Island Lighthouse Trail
“Shells on the beach” Pelee Island Lighthouse Trail
“Balancing on driftwood” Pelee Island Lighthouse Trail
…and a couple more shots as I was quickly walking back to my bike to rejoin my party.
Flowers along the Pelee Island Lighthouse Trail.
“What a big puddle…well it’s a bog.” Pelee Island Lighthouse Trail
Day 1 completed…a little more than 10 km of biking. The rest of our party had arrived and it was time for some dinner.
Greeting our party at the door of the restaurant. Scudder Beach Bar and Grill, Pelee Island, ON.
And while our party (totalling 16 of us, including the kids) waited for our food, we had a chance to play some JENGA!
The JENGA! tower got taller than one kid…
Selfie with my girlfriend’s eldest niece (DUCKFACE!) in front of the JENGA! It got to become almost as tall as me! (I’m almost 5’6″)
We were so hungry that I had no time to take photos of the food. Safe to say, the food was decent, American bar/pub eats. After our meals, we snuck off to the nearby beach to grab some sunset shots.
“I wish sunsets were always this beautiful” Scudder, Pelee Island, ON
“The Birdhouse” Scudder, Pelee Island, ON
“Playing with the sand on the beach” Scudder, Pelee Island, ON (Post processed in phone: added contrast, cropped and straightened.)
“Kayaking along the beach” Scudder, Pelee Island, ON. (Post processed in phone with Samsung photo editor: cropped, straightened and Daylight WB added)
Well…this was day 1. That’s all I have time to post today. Hopefully I have enough time to sneak in a post tomorrow, highlighting a bit of day 2. Until then, enjoy!
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