Day 2: Port Perry

4 October 2018

We wake early this morning as we are still on a different time zone. This gives us time for showers and to sort out our bags yet again as we are travelling north today with Marcia to stay with Eke and Brian who we also last saw on our Best of Northern India trip 5 years ago (Eke, Brian and I had also previously travelled together for a month around SouthEast Asia).

Marcia cooks us bacon and eggs for breakfast and we sit happily chatting until we remember that we have somewhere else to be and had better get a move on or we will waste what is a beautiful day – clear cloudless sky and 18C. It is such a relief to package up my yellow jacket and leave it behind at Marcia’s with other things we won’t be needing over the next few days.

After a quick stop at the petrol station to check tyre pressures we head north on the 400 Highway. It is almost exactly 1.5 hours drive; Marcia has written out directions and I am navigator for the trip. Initially we thought it would take a long time as the highways in the city were moving very slowly but thankfully it cleared up quite quickly.

Eke and Brian live in a lovely little town near Port Perry on the edge of Lake Scugog, which is part of the Kawartha lakes water system, that in turn links in with the Trent-Severn Waterway. From here you can travel to the rest of the world by water. I am astounded by the sheer number of lakes of all sizes in this part of Canada.

After a joyful reunion and a delicious lunch that Eke has made, we drive in to Port Perry to look around. It has a delightfully quaint main street with all sorts of interesting shops to explore. We walk down to the lakefront and see the huge Grain Elevator that was built in 1874 and last used in 1979; then walk through the park area on the edge of the lake.

The name Scugog means marshy area in the native tongue as, prior to flooding by a damn, it used to be a wetland that was filled with wild rice and cranberries harvested by the local Mississauga people.

Our next stop is a boutique shop that has hundreds of different flavours of olive oil and balsamic vinegar available for tasting. There are stainless steel urns everywhere labelled with the particular flavour, pourer bottles and little tasting cups. There are suggested pairings that you might use for your favourite salad dressings. It is a mind boggling range but my favourite is the raspberry balsamic vinegar, and I also get small bottles of a Sicilian Lemon white balsamic vinegar and a basil flavoured oil.

A different kind of tasting is our next stop at the Old Flame craft brewery where we sit in a converted barn surrounded by all manner of historical brewing and farming equipment. Brian gets a tasting tray of a grapefruity Radler-style beer, a ‘dirty blonde’ and a red beer for us to try.

That evening we have delicious roast pork, scalloped potatoes and vegetables (and a dessert) and then while away a few hours reminiscing, sharing photos and travel stories. Eke belongs to a ‘Grandmothers’ group that helps support grandmothers in Africa who are raising grandchildren who’s parents have died of AIDS, so we also have lots of discussion about social issues and various aid initiatives.

Eventually Gill and I have to retire to bed as we are still in the wrong time zone.

 

Please join me over the next several posts as I take you on our Journey to the Arctic (and more).

The Joy of Business Class

Copenhagen Stopover Day 1
Copenhagen Stopover Day 2

Arctic Express: Northern Lights
Day 1: Copenhagen to Reykjavik
Day 2: Reykjavik to Constable Point, Greenland
Day 3: Scoresby Sund: Frederiksdal & Flyvefjord
Day 4: Scoresby Sund: Nordvestfjord & Ingmikortilaq
Day 5: Scoresby Sund: Eskimobugt & Immikkeerikajik
Day 6: Scoresby Sund: Danmark Island & Vikingsbugt
Day 7: Scoresby Sund: Cap Hope & Ittoqqortoormiit
Day 8: Scoresby Sund: Steward Island & Constable Point
Day 9: Constable Point back to Reykjavik

Iceland Discovery
Day 1: Reykjavik: Blue Lagoon
Day 2: Golden Circle
Day 3: South Coast
Day 4: Jokulsarlon
Day 5: Eastern Fjords & Moorudalur Valley
Day 6: Moorudalur Valley & Lake Myvatn
Day 7: Akureyri & Trollaskagi Peninsular
Day 8: Grabrok Volcano & Snaefellsnes Peninsular
Day 9: Snaefellsness to Reykjavik

Toronto, Canada
Day 1: Reykjavik to Toronto
Day 2: Toronto to Port Perry
Day 3: Lake Muskoka
Day 4: Millbrook
Day 5: Back to Toronto
Day 6: Toronto
Day 7: Niagara Falls

 

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For this and other similar tours see:

Explore Europe with Intrepid Travel (a range of different travel styles – see my post on travel styles)

Peregrine Adventures (Comfort tours)

Geckos Adventures (for 18 to 30s)

Note: After people telling me they had booked an Intrepid Tour on my recommendation, I now have affiliate links with the Intrepid Travel group of companies and may receive a commission if you book a tour online within a couple of months after clicking through to these sites.  So if you are enjoying my tips and stories and finding them useful in choosing your own travel, please click on these links and help me to bring you more .

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