Diary for Paul & Tracey's Travels


East along the lake, a walk in the park, farewell to rellies, and a flight back home

2012-05-24

Final day in Canada and another scorcher! Checked out of the hotel in Bowmanville at 10.30am and headed east on the freeway 401 to Newcastle on the coast of Lake Ontario where we had gone a couple of days ago. Here we picked up the coast road as it is called which follows the lake east. This is a quiet local road which winds it's way through farmland and some really upmarket housing.

We eventually got to Port Hope which is a small lake side town with a small beach and a small bit of industry.

We drove further east along the lake and eventually came to Coburg where you can drive on to a short spit of land which juts out into the lake. A bunch of teenagers were jumping off the roadway the few feet down into the lake, which despite the temperatures could not have been very warm.

All these small towns have populations in the region of 10 to 20 thousand with small quite quaint main streets, with the main centre of town surrounded by farm land and some exclusive streets and lanes that run down to the lake.

We then decided to go north a few miles to pick up the main east/west road to do the 10km or so to Brighton, another small lake side town. Here there is a national park called Presqu'ile Park which is an area of trees, marsh land and beaches which juts out into the lake. It cost us 14 dollars to get in for the day although we only stayed there an hour or so. It is a haven for wild birds and there are a lot nesting at the moment.

We went for a short 2km loop trail walk through the woods and along the beach. We also went down to the tip of the spit of land the park is on where there is an old lighthouse that used to guide ships around the point.

Then we went into the town and grabbed something to eat at a local cafe, before heading back on the freeway 401 for the hour's drive back to Bowmanville to pick up my English aunt who is travelling back to the UK with us. The drive to the airport should have taken an hour but the traffic around Toronto was horrendous due to the rush hour - imagine 8 lanes of traffic gridlocked in each direction. We tried coming of the freeway and using the more local roads but in the end had to re-join the freeway, but in the end we managed to get there in time for our flight which was due to leave at 8.40pm, and arrive in London at about 8am in the morning. Unfortunately it was delayed and we got in more than an hour late, but at least the sun was shing for us back in the UK.

This trip has been very enjoyable having been a good mixture of city visits, driving through fantastic mountain scenery, and meeting with friends and relatives. The weather has also been kind to us as it has been unseasonably hot and sunny. I hope it is not too long before we can return.....

Photos to follow........