Canisbay - Algonquin Park 2008

We arrived at Canisbay on Sept 20th. By the end of our 10 day stay, the leaves were spectacular! Lots of reds and oranges. The weather too was wonderful - warm, sunny days and bug free evenings for around the campfires.
I forgot my camera (dah) so am relying on those with cameras to post some pictures. Saw no wild life in the park even though there was a roving bear plus a bull, cow and calf moose that periodically roamed through the camping grounds. Bob and I saw a family of five otters while fishing on Source Lake. We managed to catch 3 lake trout even though most were marking at 50-100 feet of water.
Only 9 campers made it up to Canisbay this year Rita and Craig plus Helen (Rita's sister), Wayne and Dianne, Bob and Pauline and Bob and I. A disappointing turnout since the fall camp out is typically one of the best attended.
The electrical loop at Canisbay takes in sites 176 - 232. Here is my ratings of the sites.
Best sites - 176 (very large and private),179,181,182,183,184,201,203,212 (very large and private), 222 (some view of the lake)
Good sites - 177, 206, 185, 195, 213,214 (drive-in rather than back in), 202, 200
Best sites if camping with friends - 211 and 210, 207 and 209, 195 and 196 (least desirable of the list)
Best non-reservable sites - 231 and 232
Thanks to Bob Curtis for the following lovely pictures!

Tranquil morning on Canisbay Lake



Along the Spruce Bog Boardwalk Trail



Misty morning on Canisbay Lake



Our intimate little potluck dinner



Happy birthday to Craig!



Beautiful fall leaves along highway 60

Port Burwell Provincial Park, July 2008

Port Burwell Provincial Park is located on Lake Erie, west of Long Point and east of Port Bruce. The park sits adjacent to the town of Port Burwell. Prior to 1972, the land was used to cultivate tobacco. Since then, I assume that the land was sold to the Provincial government to establish a park. The sites were laid out and then trees planted. Today the sites are lovely and huge, with excellent privacy provided by the mature forest, with a predominance of ash. Our sites were on the Leander loop and everyone was pleased with the quality and size of them. Our site was # 109 which was
huge, with lots of sun but still some shade.

Bob and Pauline were across the road on site #108. It was quite large with lots of shade and excellent privacy.

About 3 pm on Saturday the skies darkened and then the rain and thunder came. It just poured! We had our fingers crossed that it would stop in time for the potluck dinner.

Sure enough, we eventually sat down to the best potluck ever and a good feast was had by all!

The beach at Port Burwell is sandy and quite expansive. Lake Erie is quite shallow and is therefore seldom calm. Onshore winds create large choppy waves with little or no pattern to them. The park brochure warns of undertows, rips and lateral currents. Therefore care must be taken while swimming, especially with children. There is also a designated dog beach which is well cared for.



On our walk on the beach we came upon this beautiful piece of driftwood.


There is quite a large playground area set up for both kids and adults. Here is a picture of the wonderful playground equipment for the children.

What a bocce field! Also a ball diamond, horseshoe pits and amphitheater location.


Bob and I came upon two of these about the huge playfield. Any ideas on what it is??

In closing, Port Burwell offers good camping facilities within an hour and a half from Puslinch. The sites are wonderful. There are no designated bike trails but the biking is easy around the various camping loops. The comfort stations are acceptable but could use refurbishment. We enjoyed our stay and would certainly return for another visit.

Sibbald Point Provincial Park, June 2008

Virginia emailed me this lovely photo of a deer, spotted by Henry on one of their strolls. Thanks Virginia!

Sibbald Point is located on the southerly shore of Lake Simcoe near the town of Sutton. It is about a 2 hour drive from Puslinch, via 401, 407, 404, Davis Drive, Hwy 48, and Park Road. It is a huge park with lots of roads for biking and green spaces for relaxing and playing sports. The beach is lovely and long, with clean water. The sites are huge with good separation from adjacent sites. There are many pull-thru sites to accommodate the bigger RVs. Hookups are very close and not shared with adjacent sites - a real bonus. There is only one 2km hiking trail but there are lots of loops with connecting paths to explore. There are lots of different bird species. There is a small amount of poison ivy around camping sites and along the roadsides - nothing like Inverhuron or MacGregor! Mosquitos were surprisingly scarce!

We camped in the Radio Free Zone (loop 532 - 548) and would recommend it. It was very quiet during the week and only on Saturday night, did we hear excessive noise coming from the non-radio free zone nearby. The park appears to be well patrolled by wardens to deal with any rowdiness.

Karen and Bob's site - #548. This site was huge and probably good for satellite reception.

Regarding site #548, Karen and Bob wanted to camp in the sheltered area but as you can see there is lots of room to camp elsewhere on the site. This is a pull-thru site.

Hamilton's site #547. Another pull-thru site with excellent privacy.

Burr's site #545. Pull-thru with good privacy and lots of room - no satellite reception though!

Posing in front of Burr's 5th wheel

Lots of room for bocce!

Another successful potluck dinner!

The beach

The park has a park store with Kawartha diary ice cream! Yum-yum!!

In summary, this park is well worth a second visit. Next time we will go prepared to fish! Regarding sites, we agreed that the loop that was chosen turned to be the best - (sites 532-547). Of these, 532,546 and 548 offer satellite reception possibilities. For a smaller group of just 6 families, then loop 501-508 would be great. Sites 504-509 are in a contained group and would be the best if only 6 sites are needed. Site 503 is close enough that it would work too if we needed one more site for 7 families. Loop 4 (549-562) had some ok sites as well - in particular #553,556,557,559 (the last 2 two or three would work good for two families travelling together.)