Sault Ste Marie – on the border of Canada

Well, this will be the last blog associated with the beautiful Canadian countryside. An absolutely magical place and we know we will come back here one day and travel more of this lovely country. Now, from “cats, squirrels and skunks” to Sault Ste Marie. We decided on this day to travel until we hit our destination, so homework was the order of the day.

Kit learning his sounds.

Flynn and Jai doing maths

Amber reading instructions and following them in a practical arty way.

When we stopped for lunch at French River, we celebrated Father’s Day with Trevor. Fo those of you thinking, that’s strange….maybe Canadians celebrate a week later than Oz, the answer is no, they don’t. It was just “us” who have been on the road, not watching TV (except for movies) and not really taking notice of what was being sold in shops. So we knew Father’s Day was “sometime” in September. It wasn’t until we sent Father’s Day messages to our own Dads that we realised we were a week late. Met another lovely family also stopping for lunch.  They had just come from where we were headed and seen two bears crossing the road. Funnily enough, the Father was called Trevor and one of the daughter’s was called Kaitlin.

Happy Father's Day Trev

Picturesque French River

Stopping for a quick break

We stopped again a few hours later for a quick break. Obviously the kids had the need to expel some pent up energy after being in the RV for most of the day. Luckily there were enough pretty towns along the way to stop at, if only for a short time.

Flynn doing his dare devil stunts.

Jai's turn

If the big boys can do it!.......

Finally, very late at night, we arrived at our final destination, a “KOA” Camp ground set in the bush just out of Sault Ste Marie (which means Rapids in Saint Marie.) It is a city on the Canadian side bordering Michigan USA. The camp is run by a wonderful couple called Bill and Joan, who obviously invented the word “hospitality”. They don’t live there on their own however. They have 4 beautiful Collie dogs named Macey, Breeze, Indy and Chase.

Joan and Bill and their beautiful Collies.

Chayse the kid meet Chase the Collie.

Now the whole reason we headed for Sault Ste Marie was to go on the Agawa Train which takes tourists into the heart of the winderness. But, it is a 9 hour trip (including a one and a half hour picnic stop). When we enquired at the campsite, it was suggested strongly that children may get bored travelling that amount of time just looking at the scenery, and because it would cost us a pretty penny to take the whole family, we didn’t want to risk the kids not enjoying themselves. So, the money was saved for another adventure and we did some sightseeing around Sault Ste Marie instead. One such attraction was the Bush Plane Museum, which turned out to be very informative and particularly “kid friendly” with many interactive displays and movies.

Amber and Chayse "flying

Looking at all the planes on display in the Museum

The typical Canadian Beaver considered one of Canada's best inventions

The Canadian Beaver “Bush” planes were considered by many to be one of the greatest inventions in the history of Canadian Aviation. It takes a special breed of pilots to fly these unique and very useful planes. They go go in just about every rugged terrain and land on water as well. They only need less than 100 m to take off. These planes were the first of their kind to carry water to put out bush fires. Now, there are about 1200 planes still in existence, but are about 40 years old at least.

Kaitlin showing Akaisha how air pressure works.

Kaitlin inside the cockpit

Flynn. Kit and Jai (in background) on interactive games

A little side note to Brayden Dewar if you are reading this. You would have loved this Museum with a myriad of aircrafts, a lot of Scientific knowledge basically about “how” planes stay in the air, and a whole section on what it takes to be a pilot. We reckon you will be up to the challenge well and truly.

Having fun exploring plane

Fire Lookout

RV versus bush plane

Back at the KOA campsite, Bill and Joan were as generous as ever and allowed our children to have use of the “yellow banana bikes. As you can see, they had a ball…..as did the “biggest kid” of all!

Flynn on his yellow banana bike

Chayse and Kit having a ball

The "big kid" enjoys the ride more than anyone

Bill and Joan invited the kids to watch their dog’s agility training (and they have a champion among their pack) and the family had more fun playing mini golf. To make the place even more special for Flynn and Amber, they struck up a friendship with two gorgeous children called Maisie and Malcolm who had just moved to the area with their parents Jordy and Joan. Like I’ve said on many occasion, it’s the people who make the place!

Mini Golf

Malcolm, Flynn, Maisie and Amber

This sign says it all. Thankyou Bill and Joan for a wonderfully run campsite