Happy Canada Day!

Our first Canada Day back in Canada in three years. We definitely missed the party in Covent Garden, and nostaligically looked back at the very chilly Canada Day we spent last year on the Orkney Islands with Phil and Megan, but ended up having a very "Canadian" Canada Day on Manitoulin Island with some friends.

Todd's family have a plot of land on Manitoulin Island, a few hours outside Sudbury. I think Brad was a little suspect when Todd turned off down a "driveway" that looked more like an overgrown field towards the site. We tried not to pay attention to the large wolf spiders wandering around in the long grass as we put up our tent, but it was otherwise a very nice, peaceful wooded site.

The whole weekend was great though - complete with all the criteria for a Canadian long weekend - barbecue, cold beer, smores by the campfire, hikes, sunburn, and swimming in the lake.

We visited some of the small towns on the islands including Kagawong, Mindemoya and Gore Bay. There is a large native population on the island, and lots of native arts and crafts stores.

Brad and I camped in "Batman's" campsite the first night waiting for Todd and Shannon to arrive and woke up in the morning to discover that the campsite was hosting a yard sale. It was definitely different to see yard sales outside trailers and tents instead of houses, but good fun!

Here's just a few photos of some spots around the island, and one of Todd determined to find a crayfish to frighten Shannon with it!

Todd hunting for crayfish in the river.

Shannon and Dawn crawling beneath the tree branch on a short hike.

The beach where we spent the afternoon swimming and suntanning.

It may be a little hard to pick out, but there is an Inukshuk in this picture. It is a stone structure built by the first nations people in the form of a person. They can be used to indicate direction, or as a symbol of leadership, friendship, and our dependence upon each other.

A few more photos from our sunset drive.