Hidden Gem - Bruce Peninsula National Park

There are some places which in certain situations offer a rare serenity that remains so evasive otherwise and forces the cliche 'lull before the storm' out of you. Sauble Beach at 12 noon on the 11th of June was one such place. It is the world's 2nd longest freshwater beach (The first being in the same state too - Wasaga beach in Ontario). But it was the huge waveless calm expanse of the water and its colour that made it so awesome. It changed hues like actors change clothes in Bollywood songs. When we reached there, it was a shade of light blue and blended perfectly with the sky obscuring the horizon. We saw it white, green, and then black during our 45 minutes on the beach. Towards the end, a storm was developing on Lake Huron, and we could see some dark columns descending from the sky to the water, like premature tornadoes. It started raining and we went back to the car to go further into the Bruce Peninsula.

Tobermory is a place in west Ontario, not many Canadians are aware of. The place offers such pristine beauty for the nature lover, that I was left dumbstruck when we reached the Indian head cove (to the north of Marr and Cyprus Lakes). The water was crystal clear, the water bed clearly visible to a long distance from the shore.

On one side of the Bruce Peninsula is Lake Huron. The land gradually slopes into the water in that direction. The side we were currently in is in the Georgian Bay side, and this has a very rough coastline due to crustal faulting. There were cliffs of dolomite (a form of limestone) running the entire length of the coast. It also made the coast possible and challenging to hike at the same time. I laid my faith completely on the rocks and used the clefts and niches typical of dolomite to climb them. The discoveries we made of caves, grottos, and untraversed vertical cliffs along the coast thrilled us to the core. I found some orchids typical to this national park. However another creature I was looking for was the crayfish which we didn't come across.

We reached a cliff peak from where the water was visible vertically below... about 45 metres. All of us independently had the same thoughts in our mind - "How would it be to jump directly below into the water?" However, thankfully no one was crazy enough to try risking their lives like that. This point is called the Halfway Rock Point, and it forms an end of the 800km long Bruce Trail whose other end is the Niagara Falls.
Shitikanth grew very macho at times and tried to pull off something impossible, hurting himself in the process, thankfully not too seriously, as he fell with a dull thud on his chest on the rocky floor of a cave. In a grotto that we reached a few minutes later, a part of the wall under the water level had an opening into the bay, making it a natural marvel, as blue light was bursting into the cave from that opening. It was something comparable to the lagoon in 127 Hours.

We walked on along a flatter, but rocky shoreline called the Boulder Beach, possibly formed by collapsed limestone structures, and after crossing it entered some forested area which was actually an overhanging cliff from where we got another good view of the bay. Then we started returning along the Marr lake Trail.

Marr Lake

On hiking back to where the car was parked, we came across a group of four young people whose car had broken down, who had very little money with them and were very hungry. We offered to get them dropped at Tobermory in our car, while we waited. Shaun, (the 'Chinese driver guy', the name stored in Vishnu's mobile) was a bit iffy about the arrangement, and while we waited for the car to come back, we tried to think of worst possibilities and tried to form suspicions on the group. The car returned in a short while putting to rest all the negative theories.
Finally when we returned to Tobermory, it was 10 pm. But Tobermory is a village, and everything closes by 9 pm. By the mercy of the lady hotel manager, we got a breakfast for dinner. Then we returned to our deluxe cottage, opened our bottles of wines, and spreading ourselves on the recliner chairs (like at Chandler's and Joey's - Vishnu and I taking up their places) we watched Joker's antics in The Dark Knight.