Grazia

After leaving the 16-lane frenzy of Highway 401 and a quick journey on the 410 w...

Late spring is the ideal time for a driving trip, so recently my co-workers Vanessa, Khurram and I tripped to check out the country around Toronto. Neither one of my co-explorers has lived in Canada for extended, so that they havent really had to be able to find places away from Big Smoke. Which means this was their first opportunity to venture forth into our big city that is surrounded by the hinterland.

empilhadeira

After making the 16-lane madness of Highway 401 and a brief experience on the 410 we drove in to Ontarios country north of Brampton. The landscape started to open - areas, farms and forest started to appear. The calm rolling hills north of Ontarios capital have a subtle beauty in their mind and I began hearing remarks like this is like a book, this could be a good place for spending a weekend etc. The scenery around Hockley Valley and the hilly moraines further north provide very breath-taking views over Ontario farm country.

Our first stop was in the village of Creemore, only a little village tucked away in the Mad River Valley, surrounded by the Purple Hills. The towns history goes more than a century, initially supplying Toronto with much needed lumber and later supplying hogs. One of the major attractions today could be the Creemore Springs Brewery, a really popular Ontario micro-brewery. After having a local breakfast with tea and scones the street was crossed by us to check out the brewery, and we still had fun researching the brewing process, incorporating trips, barley and some other components, although two people are not beer-drinkers. We admired the large brewing kettles, two made of stainless steel and one made of copper. A premium lager is made by creemore Springs and during the winter season the coffee pros also develop an UrBock model for the festive season.

With our knowledge of beer appropriately enhanced we continued on with our country drive, slowly approaching the Niagara Escarpment place, Southern Ontarios greatest geological feature. We stopped in the little hamlet of Glen Huron (populace 51) where we admired the old feed work of the Hamilton Brothers, going back completely to 1874. Just a couple of steps away was an attractive water wheel (cheekily provided by a water line as opposed to a genuine river...).

On a hilly region just south of Collingwood we stopped to enjoy the sweeping view that stretched all the method to Georgian Bay and then we continued into the Town of Collingwood, a place that's really become popular during the last several years. Collingwood, its surrounding Blue Mountains Ski Hill, Ontarios greatest ski resort, and its place on Georgian Bay ensure it is a four-season recreational destination. Lately, the facilities have now been improved and an entire European-style village awaits at the bottom of the ski hill. Downtown Collingwood it self features over 300 stores and restaurants, waiting to serve discerning people.

Our time was small so we continued our drive eastwards towards Wasaga Beach, with a period of 14 km the worlds longest freshwater beach. Surrounding this white sandy beach are several kilometers of walking, cycling, cross-country and snowmobiling paths. In addition, Wasaga Beach is also a popular destination of beach volleyball players. We got out from the car, and (it might not need been more than 12 degrees Celsius) you certainly needed a warm wind-proof coat on this windy blustery day. I admired the para-sailers, daredevils who braved the chilly waves of Georgian Bay.

The highlight of our time was yet to come: after having a veritable traffic jam in the city of Barrie, we squeaked into the Town of Orillia just over time to make it onto the Island Princess, Orillias famous double-decked river-style cruise vessel, with the capacity of holding 230 people. With this cool and increasingly rainy-looking morning there were no more than twelve folks, but the narrated tour was enjoyed by us around Lake Couchiching. Lake-front living is popular, and we discovered that most of the houses around the lake now sell for C$750,000 and up.

After our hour-long exploration by boat we disembarked and proceeded a relaxing stroll through the parklands right close to the shores of Lake Couchiching. The waterfront parks are graced by an imposing monument to Samuel de Champlain. Several young children were really swimming in the cold lake waters, demonstrating again that Canadians do indeed have anti-freeze flowing through their veins.

Our temporary waterfront walk was accompanied by a stop for ice-cream in one of the lakefront income trailers. Close by and right across from the Island Princess dock is yet another Orillia attraction: the Ossawippi Express, a fish restaurant offering several fully-restored, turn-of-the-century railway cars dating back to 1896 having an terrace overlooking Orillia's Lake Couchiching. We had a sneak peek as of this special food strategy and all agreed that the Ossawippi Express would be the perfect restaurant for a special function.

Down we were back in the car, driving back towards Toronto on the east side of Lake Simcoe. South of the river we were back the hilly moraines and we stopped briefly at an area country store named Hy-Hope Farms to grab some gooseberry and rhubarb-strawberry pies, a sweat treat to remember our country drive..