One month into the trip seems like a good point to take stock and ask the kids what they are enjoying about the trip …
When asked, Olivia says that she likes “saucisses et pates” – and it’s true that we’ve been eating a lot of campfire sausages and quick-fix pasta! But if she had more vocabulary, I’m sure she would say that she is loving the encounters with various animals, from the giant humpback whales to the tiny monarch butterfly caterpillars or the frogs. Her enchantment with each encounter is not dependent on size or rarity, but on how fascinating she finds them!
Max replies that he has enjoyed finding a rattlesnake (in Bruce Peninsula National Park), snorkelling in the pristine waters of Tobermory and “right now, this moment”. As parents who know this five-year-old very well, there are two ways to interpret that: either that’s our Max, living in the moment and very easily joyful, but it could also be our ‘Mr quick fix’, I’ll just say something to get off my back!
Zoé says that she has liked finding insectivorous plants at the lakeside in Bruce Peninsula, that reminded her of the plants they found at Club Nature back in Pessac, and of course, spending time with the cousins.
We have spent the last three days in Tobermory, in the unexpectedly spectacular Bruce Peninsula National Park. Our first visit to a park outside of Quebec, Sandbanks Park, was fairly disappointing, despite a fantastic flaming sunset over the lake, the park’s beauty was undermined by the endless litter and picnic leftovers… We arrive in Tobermory not knowing what to expect, so discovering the lucidity and pale turquoise of the lake was simply breathtaking! The pale white beach stones make the water so blue, that you could easily think you were on the coast of the Mediterranean… The walks are easy and the rangers available to teach all about the flora and fauna and the indigenous history.
Our little adventurers have fully settled into the trip and are getting more intrepid each day, with the kids discovering a rattlesnake, 2 sleeping watersnakes and a garter snake on a hike, and becoming very comfortable campers, talking to the neighbours and playing with other kids. Zoé even snorkelled out to a shipwreck by herself and was overcome with pride! Their (skinny) little brown shoulders are getting browner by the day – as are the soles of their feet J The novelty of having Mum and Dad nearby 24/7 is not wearing off yet, and the requests for our attention, hands to be held, questions to be answered, fights to be sorted out, etc… are constant. We’re working on creating ‘adult’ time and space in our activity-filled days!
Sandbanks Parks
One of the beautiful beaches in Bruce Peninsula
On a guided tour to learn all about wildlife (here black bear claw marks)
A rattle snake
On the ferry ... leaving Bruce Peninsula
