Hello from Kenora! Oh yes, we are still in Ontario. We are just some kilometres away from the province border. This means we should get to Manitoba shortly. However, today is our resting day and we are very thankful to Jake, who is also a member of warmshowers and is hosting not only us but also Florence, Alex and Florian at their parents’ house.

 

 

We arrived yesterday after a windy but also hot 60 km ride and it was nice to find out nobody was home because they were down in the family’s pond… which we proceeded to have a swim into as soon as we had gotten into our swimsuits!

 

 

So today we are relaxing and after we are done blogging we will go downtown and we will walk around for the whole afternoon, since we have all been invited to a jam session by Lindsay, Jake’s girlfriend. We must confess it is one of the best excuses we had so far to get a rest day… more particularly after having pedalling for ten days in a row.

 

Which bring us to the recap of this last long week on the saddle. We have been on highway 17 –which joined 11 at some point– all the way down from Terrace Bay to Nipigon, Thunder Bay, Kakabeka Falls and Kenora. Yesterday we saw a couple of signposts informing us we will be riding the last kilometres of the 17 as soon as we resume our journey and we are 240 km from Winnipeg!

 

While coping with a shoulder that thinned and widened without any particular reason and some moments of intense truck traffic, we continued wild camping around lakes and getting across construction areas until we arrived near Thunder Bay, where we got split for a short time.

 

 

While the French couple from La Terre vue d’une selle and Florian continued to the city, we received a confirmation from Stephanie –another warmshowers member– would be happy to host us in Amethyst Harbour, which is 30 km from Thunder Bay. While we were quite sad to wave the guys, we needed to stop earlier for a day because of some skin problems Pak had, because of which we ended up contacting the insurance guys from IATI Seguros so they could find us a doctor in Thunder Bay.

 

 

It finally took about 48 hours to get in touch with the Canadian partners but in the meantime we stumbled upon the best doctor in Thunder Bay: doctor Patrick, Stephanie’s husband! Without telling us, he recognised Pak’s rashes and asked her to bring some cream he generously offered to us. On top of that, we got welcomed and treated by the whole family –the 6 of them: Stephanie’s parents, Jean(ne) and David; and their children Daphne and Cédric. And as if that was not enough, we could enjoy our last swim at Lake Superior.

 

 

On 16 August we joined Florence and Alex in Thunder Bay, after each one of us had been shopping and getting provisions for the next days. Pak managed to find some decent waterproof panniers for FU.LA.NA., after he decided to discard one of the initial bags that need some constant repairing. Tere decided to keep it and we could therefore redistribute our stuff a bit before hitting the road again. Florian had finished his shopping already in the morning and had already left by the time we met Florence and Alex again.

 

 

From Thunder Bay the four of rode past the impressive Kakabeka Falls and continued up to Murillo, where we stopped at Valley Foods –THE local store– to get some refreshments to sooth our thirst🍻🍻. As we were already feeling a bit tired, and because there was a pretty big spot where we could pitch our tents, we tried to ask at the store whether we would be allowed to. We got a soft no at first –the owner was not around– and the lady told us that area would be quite busy that night because of a wedding rehearsal. Well, here is what happened next:

 

 

After a last check at the store backyard, we saw a couple of kids running around and a person whom we thought was their mom coming out from a door. Then we asked again if we could pitch the tents and she replied that would be absolutely no problem and we could use their own backyard, which was just next to the store! It was May, the store owners daughter-in-law. She even offered to have a shower, food… anything we needed. However, since we had bought some provisions and the house had a hose with running water, we told her we were just fine with a spot for the tents.

 

 

We parked the bicycles and used a table outside to enjoy our refreshments and preparing some dinner, while the bunch of the wedding rehearsal started to arrive and walk around. We ended up being invited to join them by Shanni –May’s mother-in-law,– then met her mother, her husband Ray, the groom… and we were offered more refreshments 🍷🍻 and even dessert in the shape of cupcakes 😋! However, the highlight of that night was the cold hose-shower under the rehearsal fireworks while we were being offered more refreshments! Luckily –for us and for you– there are no pictures nor videos of that moment.

 

 

The next morning we said goodbye to Shanni and Ray and we thanked them again for the nice night and we were taken the picture above. We then rode up to Raith, where we were also allowed to camp but under completely different circumstances. In a place that could be quickly described as a ghost town, a man who got unfortunately disturbed by us from his snooze –at 5 pm– refused to show his face while talking to Pak and sent us over a patch of grass by the red truck –luckily there was only one red truck!

 

 

The next day we decided to have a long ride of 96 km up to English River, which would mean a shorter one to Ignace the day after. Once we arrived there, we met Florian again and we had some trouble finding a convenient place where we all could pitch our tents. Then, the initial long ride turned into even a longer one up to a rest area more than 15 km after English River. That meant a new all time record for pAketTE! 112 km overall where Tere had been leading the group during most part of the day. Since that day we entered into a new time zone and we gained an hour, she even had the energy to have some fun with a playful hippo!

 

 

On 19 August we rode to Ignace, where we took a longer break during lunch time thanks to the local stores and the wifi connection at the library next to a nice picnic area. We then continued to Raleigh lake, where we knew about a nice spot to camp thanks to iOverlander. That day we saw something none of us had seen before: a guy running! He stopped to say hello and talk to us while he was recording the whole thing with his phone. He told us he started in Vancouver and was heading to Halifax while running about 100 km a day. This guy was really something, not only because of that but also because his outfit and ‘light-packing’:

 

 

Also, while we were chillin’ in Ignace, we met Mark, a guy from Milton Keynes who was also crossing the country east to west. We had a little chat and then he left, since he had the chance to get some accommodation thanks to a friend of a warmshowers member he met two days before. While he insisted on seeing each other the next day, he obviously was riding much faster and he started cycling way earlier than us –as we confirmed once we got stopped in a construction area and a lady told us he had asked about us an hour before we had gotten there. So, safe travels, Mark!

 

 

On 20 August we arrived to Dryden, we did some shopping and went straight to a nice-looking spot we might be able to use to pitch our tents. It was a small park near a lake by a golf club with no particular sign prohibiting to camp. We however were told by a man cycling with his dog that cops checked the area every night and for sure would ‘move’ us. Luckily for us, those cops might have taken that night off. We had a nice dinner by the lake and we slept like babies.

 

 

The next day we rode to Vermillion Bay, where we stopped for lunch and we gotten momentarily split again. While Florence, Alex and Florian continued to a rest area less than 50 km from Kenora, we decided to stay a bit longer and hit the road a bit later. As the sun started to set –and because we were also delayed by a puncture in Anacleta’s front wheel– we decided to stop at a spot near the highway we saw in iOverlander and join the rest of the group the morning after.

 

 

And this is how we met again with the three French guys yesterday morning and hit the road again until we arrived at Jake’s parents house outside Kenora. After more than 757 km in ten days, we were looking forward a nice rest, especially after the last couple of days where we had had stronger winds and higher temperatures on top of the hills we still had to climb along these last kilometres in Ontario. We were very glad to reach Jake’s place and have the chance to swim at the pond, enjoy dinner together while having a nice chat and even try the kombucha he makes. We were a bit undecided about our plans for the next day –that is today– until Lindsay –his girlfriend– arrived later in the evening and she explained she played in a band. After a nice chat about food and music and our travels, she invited us to the jam session they will be having at Bob’s Burger bar in Kenora. Since Jake had no objection to have us another night, we will be happy to stay here and relax during the day, so we can hit Kenora in the afternoon and party in the evening!

 

Thanks a lot again for following us on this blog or on the social world. Do not hesitate to contact us or ask any questions; we will try to reply as soon as possible. And, of course, please keep in mind you can always subscribe to our blog and/or our youtube channel.

 

‘Til next time then! Big hugs from Tere and Pak!