Visiting Winnie the Pooh's Home

Last year we spent a week of our holidays in Disney World Florida and enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh ride as much as any other. Little did we know when we set off on today's journey that we would end up visiting Winnie the Pooh's original home!

Before we get to that, a little background on today's journey. 

Our route today

In planning this year's holiday one of the key factors was where we might stop. Unlike travelling in the USA where there is a town with at least one hotel every 20 to 30 miles. In Canada you can travel for long distances without seeing anything other than the road. Even when a township does come along it doesn't mean they will have services like a petrol station and coffee shop, let alone a hotel. So during the planning of this holiday finding the place to stay was a critical factor. It is why in some of the hotels, like tonight's, we paid an advance rate, which gets a discount. So the Comfort Inn, Thunder Bay was booked and paid for in January of this year.

Our route from Wawa to Thunder Bay is the only route we could take on our Western Trek, but it proved a pleasant journey:

Wawa to Thunder Bay

Breakfast

Today I had a lie in and didn't wake up until 4.15am. Maybe it was the big meal I had had last night, but the bed in the Beaver Motel was very comfortable.

I wrote a blog post and posted it, then at 5.30 had a shower and a shave etc. 

As I mentioned yesterday the Beaver Motel is a traditional style Motel, so while coffee is available in the lobby to grab as you leave, the breakfasts we have become used to in the Comfort Inns/Quality Hotels isn't available here. So we left the Motel at 6.40 and drove the half a mile to the Tim Hortons. It was a choice of this or Subway for breakfast and Tim Hortons is Canada's most popular coffee for a good reason. It's food and coffee are good. (80% of coffee drunk outside the home in Canada is at a Tim Hortons!)  <<Co-pilots note: The also own Dunkin' Donuts in the USA and started their expansion in the UK in the City of Cardiff.>>

I had Sausage and Egg on a twelve grain bagel and Drew opted for the same contents in an English Muffin, these both came with a hash brown and our favourite dark roast coffee. 

Breakfast at 'Timmies'

We arrived just in time, at 6.45am it was quiet and we were served in minutes. By 7.00am the place was full with 40+ people who were camping or RVing on the Drag Race site opposite. They were all dressed like drag racers, who have a distinctive, and scary look, but were pleasant enough. 

The Journey

After breakfast we left Tim Hortons at 7.20am heading towards Thunder Bay. The directions were, go 0.8mile turn right on to the ON17 (Trans-Canada Highway) and drive for 295 miles, Drew did another day of point and click driving.  

From Wawa there was nothing but an empty road and lots of trees, rivers, and lakes. The temperature was 54℉ on this Sunday morning, so we had to wipe some dew off the car first thing. 

White River

White River

The first town we came to, after 60 miles, was White River. This might not sound like an important place, but it had two claims to fame. 

White River is the place from which Winnie the Pooh travelled to London Zoo, where she was befriended by Christopher Robin Milne and became the lead character in Milne's father's stories for his son, that the world now knows as the Tales of Winnie the Pooh. 

Winnie and Honey - White River

In 1914, a bear cub was brought to White River by a trapper who had found her when her mother had been hunted and killed. The trapper sold the bear in White River to a Canadian soldier, Harry Colebourn, bought the bear cub and brought it to London as he responded to the call to fight in the First World War. Harry was brought up in Winnipeg, so called the cub by that town's name, which gradually got shorted to Winnie. At the time he was due to be shipped out to fight he asked London Zoo to look after the bear while he went to the continent to fight. The bear became a firm attraction and Harry let her stay at the Zoo after the war. 

Harry Colebourn and Winnie

Winnie was a favorite attraction at the Zoo. People would knock on her door and she would open it and come out. So it was that Christopher Milne met Winnie. Christopher had a bear given to him on his first birthday on August 21, 1921 which he first called Edward Bear, but soon changed to “Winnie-the-Pooh” after the playful Winnie at the London Zoo. Winnie died on May 12, 1934, but the stories about her live on in books and films, and in the hearts of children everywhere, be they 5 or 41 and 60, like the two people doing a little the Winnie the Pooh jig at finding this quite place on their journey through Canada as a bonus to the holiday. 

Winnie and Christopher Milne

Even at 8.30 in the morning there were another couple visiting the 'Shrine to Winnie'

White River's other claim to fame is that it is the place in Canada with the lowest recorded temperature, while this may not be true −58°C or −72°F is pretty cold, so the town has a large thermometer as you enter town marking the low. 

White River Thermometer 

Back on the Road

We left White River at 8.40am and headed on along the Trans-Canada highway. Trees and lakes remain the features of the landscape alongside the road. 

White River Lake

Sixty miles after White River, Marathon is the next town, but there is nothing remarkable here, most of the town being on the Lake side not the roadside. We have a mile or so of fog along the Lake shore and the temperature hovers around 59°F

After Neys we come back to the side of Lake Superior which has been off a way since White River. From this point on the rest of the journey has Lake Superior back alongside us. 

Our next stop is at Terrace Bay, 161 miles since today's journey start, here there is an odd pretend lighthouse and a large garage/restaurant. We stop for coffee and a loo break and take photos from the top of the 'Lighthouse'

Welcome to Terrace Bay

The Terrace Bay Lighthouse

At this point Drew has in two and a bit days driven as much as I did in the first four (791 Miles each). He extended his 'lead' as we headed back on to the road passing Rossport with its lovely view of the Lake, but the lake mist makes it hard to take photos. 

We carry on to Nipigon, 66 miles further on where we stop at Tim Hortons for a Cheese and Chive bagel for me, a very nice flavour, and a Honey Cruller for Drew.

Cheese and Chive Bagel

Honey Cruller

As we leave Tim Hortons Drew got into a chat with a man from Alberta who grew up around here and thought we were a long way from home due to our New York licence plate. We explained we were a bit further away from home than that, and he picked up on our accents. 

He mentioned avoiding driving in the nights as around here Moose are attracted to the lights. Drew mentioned that we had experienced this in Newfoundland. He said his girlfriend came from there and a nice inconsequential chat came to an end as we both got on our vehicles and drove on. Incidentally the morning chill has gone and the temperature is now 81℉ (27℃). 

Terry Fox

Terry Fox - Courage Highway

As we travelled along we noted that the ON17 had acquired an additonal name: the Terry Fox Courage Highway. Fox, a Canadian athlete, suffered from a malignant tumour in his right leg at the age of 19, he had the leg amputated, but at that point determined to become a runner. He led a long distance run to raise funds for those suffering from cancer and three years later, in April 1980, he began a Trans-Canada run in St. John's, Newfoundland, calling it The Marathon of Hope. On September 1, 1980, after 143 days and 3,339 miles just 16 miles outside Thunder Bay he had to stop the run, as he now had cancer in his lung and was unable to continue. He went home and died in June 1981. However his inspiration led others to engage in the Marathon of Hope and it has raised $715 million since then and the memorial was established here.

As we drove past it was time to think of those of my family, including my Mam, who have lost the battle with cancer, and time to remember and pray for those friends and family still fighting the disease and those who will in the future. 

Thunder Bay

Welcome to Thunder Bay

We arrived at the Comfort Inn, Thunder Bay at 2.30pm and checked into our room. We like the similarity of the places we stay, making things easy to find. Here we had a sense of deja vu as the bathroom was laid out exactly like the bathroom in Sudbury and the room itself had the same layout, and similar furniture to the Comfort Inn in Ottawa 😀. 

The internet was good here so I updated the blog and loaded photos from a lot of locations. As Thunder Bay was a stop based on distance we didn't have anything to see in the town, so we stayed in our room until dinner.

Comfort Inn, Thunder Bay - Looking very familiar

Dinner

A quick look at Google told us that we had a Greek restaurant almost next door to the hotel. So we decided to eat there for convenience, and so that we didn't have to drive again today.

Naxos - Across the Car Park

The place was called Naxos and was a combination of a restaurant and a bar. 

For starters I had Calamari, the squid was lightly battered in a tempura style batter and were both crisp (from the batter) and soft (from the squid), this was served with with red onions and a tangy tzatziki dip. Really lovely.

Haydn's Calamari 

Drew had Gigantes, something I'd not heard of before, but which he had tried while he was in Greece during his studies. These were giant lima beans baked in tomato sauce with herbs and red onions.

Drew's Gigantes

Between appetizers and mains we were served a lovely Greek salad each.

Greek Salad

My mains were a delight. I don't know what is particularly Greek about Liver and Onions, I'd always thought of it as a British dish, but this was delicious. The bacon was crispy and the liver was rich with the irony taste I associate with it at its best - yummy.

Haydn's Liver and Onions

Drew opted for the Gyros Platter which was sliced gyros on grilled pita bread topped with diced tomatoes, red onions and tzatziki. He loved it, saying it tasted authentically Greek. 

Drew's Gyros Platter

We had two espressos to finish and we left the restaurant at 8.45pm and I was again struck by the layout of the town which is much more like the USA than the UK, but has pavements/sidewalks which are far less evident, apart from in the big cities, in America. 

We got back to the hotel by 9.00pm and to bed at 10.30pm another successful day.