frosty alone in the deep north: 100 Mile Cruise

One of my most regular email contacts is Louise who is the volunteer coordinator from Grace & Speed. As almost all of the people that "work" at the Heritage Centre are volunteers Louise has a big job but it is a job that she seems to enjoy. Then most of the volunteers are nice people which I am sure helps. And she does send good offers!!!!!!!!

GRAND MUSKOKA COTTAGE TOUR

Imagine, if you will … boarding the grandest of vessels, the R.M.S. Segwun, for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure including an exclusive tour of one of Muskoka’s most sought after summer estates! Your day will include a cruise highlighting the magnificent scenery & shorelines of the Muskoka lakes & lunch served in the elegance of the ship’s dining salon. And, for the ultimate in decadence, the Segwun will dock at a majestic summer cottage for a private tour of the manicured grounds and the luxuriously appointed cottage interior. Truly … a magical Muskoka experience!

This offer arrived a few weeks ago and after some thinking and discussions on SKYPE. I was walking along the the steamship wharf towards the RMS Segwun http://segwun.com/pub/muskoka-steamships.html prepared for the 100 mile cruise...

I couldn't help noticing the van from North http://www.northinmuskoka.com/ in front of the Segwun so I guess there was going to be some food as well. Hopefully some food that my diet allows although I figure there will find something....

One thing for certain today, there will be no shortage of things to look at and dream about.. For the trip today we were lucky to have a guide who had both an enormous knowledge of the lakes and their history but had an easy way of delivering the information. It turned out he was a retired Principal who had lived in the area for many years, they're everywhere!!!

Environment Canada promised that the day would be hot and humid and unfortunately they were spot on with that forecast. Because of that I had chosen an area towards the stern of the Segwun which had a very welcome cover!! And even better I was first in line as we were served coffee and Chelsea Bun.

Bun was good coffee was Canadian... Canadian coffee is interesting and Canadians love it. I love coffee but I'm ambivilent about the coffee here and wish I could find somewhere that would make me a good Long Black. Particularly with Montague Coffee Roasters strong dark beans. Oh well I guess the saying "suck it up Princess" comes to mind.

RMS Segwun and her motley crew headed through "the Narrows" and passed by some of the many little islands that all seem to have one or more cottages. These are not cottages in the Australian sense!!!!

Cottages on islands were originally somewhat cheaper as difficulties with transport and services made it harder for cottagers, but technogy has certainly changed this. The fact that during the winter you can ride a snowmobile or even drive a truck across the ice is also an advantage.

Another interesting fact is where you are barely seeing the cottages these days the trees that hide them are almost all regrowth. The loggers in the late 19th and early 20th century basically clear felled the area. Because Canadian lumber floats, the steamers were also used to tow the logs back to the many sawmills around Gravenhurst.

While the Cottage is often hidden or at least difficult to see one building that is far more visible is the boathouse. Although these boathouses are generally just to store a boat or two or three or .... They are very often magnificent but mind you so are the boats!!!

I was called for lunch and although the Chicken Caesar salad wasn't exactly Swank/ Jelinek friendly I was able to get the one with the least dressing and I must admit it tasted pretty good. And the view from the dining room was still very good.

Our next obstacle would be the locks and bridge at Port Carling but luckily for us the bridge goes up and the Captain was able to manoeuvre the Segwun into a very tight space.

The mural and Port Carling does look a little different from the water.....And don't Canadians seem to love flower boxes! But having seen Port Carling and this bridge during the winter I think I can understand why.

Once through the locks we headed along the Indian River and into Lake Rosseau and the cottages (and boathouses) seemed to get bigger and even !

The lakes are relatively narrow with lots and lots of inlets and bays and winding in and out is necessary which makes for a slow but beautiful trip. And all along the shore we saw cottage after cottage! We were winding our way along the south western end of Lake Rosseau and when we went past the swing bridge at Port Sanfield we entered Lake Joseph.

Our next destination was to be Summerholm which would be as far as we went on Lake Jo

http://www.cottageblog.ca/2009/06/07/summerholm-a-piece-of-history-in-muskoka/ .The owner was on the dock to welcome us, to help in the docking of the Segwun and to act as the guide for our visit. Summerholm has been owned by the Elliot family since the 1880's and to say it is nice is something of an understatement. I could happily Cottage here.