Northern Ontario, Northern Route
2011/09/20
Despite the heat and noise in my crummy hotel room last night, I did somehow manage to get some sleep.
In the morning I dropped by Timmins’s Shania Twain Centre, which is also the access point for the gold mine tours. As feared, there were no tours running today, but the attendant did nicely allow me to roam around the site and photograph the old mining machines. I love this kind of stuff:
I then backtracked yesterday’s route for about half an hour because I wanted to check out some land near Nellie Lake that I had seen advertised in Dignam’s. It’s not a bad area if you want privacy, yet it’s less than an hour’s drive from two airports. The landscape is a bit flat for my taste though, and most properties for sale in this area do not include mineral rights.
Continued on from there along highway 11, the northern route around Lake Superior. I’ve never been this way before, and wanted to check it out. It continues to be very flat and monotonous – not really my preference in landscapes, though the thick coniferous forest is rather nice.
I passed a lot of historical points of interest along the way, but only stopped at a couple. Here’s today’s:
Passed through Kapuskasing, which as I recall has a special place in Canadian culture. Something about snake hips if I remember right. Ah, here it is. Anyway, the town is bigger than I expected – population nearly 10,000.
Thinking about Kapusasing and about Timmins’ fascination with Shania Twain, I suspect there is a trend towards notable talent coming from small towns or the countryside in Canada, and it would make sense because typically developing artistic talent is the only non-self-destructive way to spend your leisure time in such places.
Stopped at Hearst for the night – I would have preferred to get a few more miles in since it’s still a very long way to Thunder Bay, but this is the last civilized stopping point until nearly Thunder Bay itself. So, short day today, long day tomorrow – can’t be helped. I do like the northern Ontario landscape, but it’s a pain to travel through if, like me, you’re picky about where you sleep.
The Hearst tourist bureau had this amusing roadside giant tableau:
There’s something just a bit wrong with the wolves’ eyes.
The building design is amusing too:
As it turns out, this is a sawmill town. Lookit all those logs:
And somebody here is making money – I saw lots of new houses on the way into town, and some of them were very large.
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to Timmins
2011/09/19
Today was just driving from North Bay to Timmins. No significant stops or photos, though here’s one of one of those picturesque swamps I like so much:
Not a great day for driving though – mostly another rainy day.
I came to Timmins to check out the area, since I often see land for sale around here, and also because I wanted to visit the gold mine and take the tour. Sadly it appears the tours don’t run Mondays and Tuesdays during the off season, so I guess I picked exactly the wrong time to arrive here.
I also picked a bad time for another reason: the town is full. My first three hotel choices were all full, and I ended up getting stuck with a lousy room. I hope I’m able to get a decent sleep tonight, but if not, luckily tomorrow is going to be a short drive.
So if you’re ever travelling in this area, take note: Timmins and surrounding area are typically packed on Mondays and Tuesdays. There are no special events or conferences going on here; it just happens for some reason.
From what I saw of the town while looking for a room, I don’t like it much. It looks like an overgrown small town and lacks polish and decoration, and it’s all grungy – a wrong-side-of-the-tracks sort of place.
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to North Bay
2011/09/18
Drove from Ottawa to North Bay today. Two stops along the way.
First was Cobden, Ontario. We lived on a farm a couple of miles outside of town, briefly, when I was a toddler. I’m pretty sure the house was located near one of the barns in this picture. It’s no longer there.
My earliest memories come from this place. It’s where I said my first word, which was, of course, “tractor” – I’ve always been easily impressed by big, noisy machines.
One or the other of my parents would drive up this hill to go into town for supplies. I used to get upset when one of them left, and the other would sing to me – I still remember some of the songs my father would sing. My mother used to sing too, but sadly I don’t remember that.
I remember there being a swing hanging from the ceiling in the room I spent most of my time in.
And that’s about all I remember; it’s surprising I remember anything at all from this place since I was between 1 and 2 years old.
There was a bee hive above the kitchen door and I was stung near my eye once. I’m told it swelled up pretty badly, but luckily no permanent damage was done.
In the winter we would follow the tree line behind that barn and go for a picnic in the snow – imagine sitting on a blanket on the snow (the kind of snow that makes styrofoam-like crunch sounds because it’s so cold out), drinking hot chocolate out of a thermos.
Less than a 30-minute drive away are the Bonnechere Caves – surprisingly, I don’t think we ever went to them before. Luckily I arrived just in time for a tour (you can’t go in the caves unless you’re on a tour). The tours are about an hour long. I really enjoyed this, and I highly recommend it if you’re in the area – just make sure you arrive in time for a tour.
Cave teeth!
Cave bat!
Cave goatse!
Outside Cobden was this interesting historical note:
And later on I also passed a plaque about the NPD Reactor, but not knowing anything about it I didn’t stop.
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Service notice
2011/09/17
I will soon be entering the hinterlands of northern Ontario again. Between here and Winnipeg I will have little or no cell phone service, and internet access might be a bit spotty too.
I’m taking a different route this time, to see more of the landscape and scope out some potential places to buy land.
For reference, my tentative itinerary of places to stop for sleep is: North Bay, Timmins, Hearst, Thunder Bay, Fort Frances, Winnipeg. Subject to modification as things develop, of course.
En Route to Ottawa
2011/09/15
Another driving day. I’m on my way to spend a couple of days seeing the sights in Ottawa, but getting there from Edmundston was too far to go in one day, so tonight I’m staying in Montreal again – tomorrow will be a short drive and I’ll have time for some sightseeing in the afternoon after I arrive.
Today was the first really rainy day on my trip. There have been some storms on other days, but today it rained almost all day, and when I got near the St. Lawrence river there was thick fog for a while too. I had to slow down because of poor visibility and all the water on the road.
My tires are starting to look a little worn – I think I’ll get a new set when I reach Calgary, at the same place my father bought me these ones. Until then I have to be careful about wet roads.
Quebec lacks scenic viewpoints along the highways, but they do have an ample supply of rest stops with picnic areas, which is nice. About every 50 km on average, along the main highways. I was really groggy this morning so I made use of these convenient stopping points to stretch my legs and get some air.
On the highway, Quebec drivers have an annoying habit of just sitting behind you and doing nothing for long periods. I’ve never encountered this in any other province. Today I had one guy following me for nearly an hour, until I pulled off for a rest – and this was on a divided highway; he had ample opportunity to pass. He even passed other cars when I did, and then pulled in behind me again instead of taking the opportunity to pass me. That really annoys me – I am not your goddamn cruise control!
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