We started at 8AM today as we wanted to make it to Tobermory which was about 120km away. We encountered our first paved bike path since Orillia in Port Elgin. They had just installed it this summer, and it is a beautiful path along the water that goes almost all the way to Southampton. The scenery is very stunning in the area and I think it’s one of the nicest places we had been to so far on our trip.
We stopped for coffee (for Katherine) in Southampton, where we met many local cyclists who gave us some advice on the road ahead. We wanted to go to the local bakery but there was already a long line up before they opened at 9AM we decided to keep going.
We took the backroads as much as we could towards Tobermory, and it was mostly flat and very little traffic. We are going to miss this flat stretch of Ontario. We stopped quickly at Sauble Beach. It wasn’t very crowded at the time but it is going to be an absolute zoo this long weekend. We were glad we weren’t biking through it then.
Things were quite uneventful until we were forced on highway 6 near Tobermory. This is a two lane road with a 80km/h speed limit and a gravel shoulder. Traffic was fairly light as it’s usually dependent on the ferry schedule. We didn’t have any problems except for one driver who must have panicked right before passing us with oncoming traffic that she slammed on her brakes right behind us. We are not sure why she couldn’t get by like everybody else but this promptly made us ditch our bikes onto the shoulder (which was hard packed on this section so we were fine). I am not sure how close she came to me but to have to slam on the brakes in what must have been the last minute could not have been good.
We decided to go on the gravel shoulder whenever there was oncoming traffic in both directions just to be safe for the rest of the way to Tobermory. There was one part of the shoulder that wasn’t hard packed that caused some excitement for us as I almost wiped out on my own.. Needless to say we wished Ontario would either put up some “share the road” signs or at least bicycle symbols like we had seen in Quebec. There are many cyclists who are forced to take this road since it is the only way to Tobermory to catch the ferry. You would think for such a common cycling route that a paved shoulder is automatic for such a short distance. Anyway, that is our rant and two cents for that topic.
We arrived in Tobermory at a descent time (4PM) and stopped by the tourist office to get the ferry schedule for the next morning. Again, we were glad we weren’t in Tobermory for the long weekend as the tourist office had a sign saying every hotel, motel, B&B and campground is full for the whole weekend. We picked up some groceries and headed to Lands End Campground 2km west of town.
We were really impressed with Lands End campground, and we would have to say it is not the cheapest at $38 a night but it is the best campground we had been to so far (and we have been to quite a few in the last month and a half!). The sites actually had some privacy which was a welcomed change from many campgrounds. The sites also had some work done to them as opposed to just being a field like some campgrounds are. We are not too picky anyway but we really enjoyed staying there. We had a delicious steak. veggie, an couscous dinner that Katherine had cooked and called it a night to get ready for our 7AM ferry.
Trip Around The World 
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