Early start today and as usual we get thrown a couple of curve balls. First up we had arranged to pick up 2 boxed breakfasts as we had to leave before brekky was served. We went to pick them up and no-one knew diddly squat about it. Lari threw a few Muffins & Croissants in a bag and we dashed for our taxi.
Next tester was our pick up point for our “Tough oor Bus”. Instructions said 640 Eglington Ave West outside McDonalds at 6.30am. The taxi dropped us off as planned 5.45, it was pissing down and McDonalds did not open until 6.00. No shelter so Trekking umbrella brought out, yay for the brolly. When McDonalds opened we checked the address and were told they were 670 Eglington Ave West. We fired up Google maps and went for a wet walk but concluded that we were actually at the correct address, as 640 was for the precinct not McDonalds. The bus turned up a bit late, which had us wondering if we had in fact got it wrong. Very relieved and slightly damp we were on our “Tour Bus” heading for Tobermory.
Our “Tour Bus” turns out to be 80%+ Chinese tourists and the poor Tourist Guide was like herding Chooks at the final collection point. Rather uneventful 5 hour drive with almost non stop useless commentary from the guide, mostly in Chinese, either he was telling them a lot more than us or it takes a lot more words for the same story. First time I have been on an Oriental style tour.
2 hours in Tobermory before our Island tour so it was time for a dash around Foodland to get our last bits and pieces of food supplies for the next few days. Then onwards for a quick lunch and refreshments. Tried a 6 sampler of beer at the Tobermory Brewing Co. & Grill with our lunch. We persuaded Chris the on duty manager to look after our packs for the afternoon while we went and did the tourist bit.
As we had booked on the “Tour Bus” and had time we decided to take the “Boat Tour” portion out to Flower pot island to see what a bus load of tourists would spend 4 hours+ each way on a bus to come and see. Yes the two “Flower Pots” were pretty spectacular, I personally would sit 8 hours on a bus for it. We chose to walk the loop trail on the Island and get a bit of a leg warmer in as we have done precious little these past few weeks in the lead up and a lot sitting in vehicles since we arrived. This was very good and gave us a bit of a feel of what we could expect tomorrow.
On our return we met by Tom & Laura the Peninsular clubs trail angel co-ordinator. Tom has been the most helpful source of information in getting us set up for this whole adventure. I was floundering until Tom responded to a Face Book post for help on the Bruce Trail timeline. We had a quick beer at the pub before they kindly took us to dinner at the local golf club, which was superb.
Once checked in at our Hotel for the night it was a mad scramble to get our packing order and everything prepared for our early morning departure tomorrow. Sadly the weather forecast is for rain and this is allegedly the toughest section of the Trail. Hopefully I will crash tonight and be ready for the off.