one miserable tugboat

Yesterday seems to have been pretty full on compared with the last few days. Shortly after getting underway we passed thru Bruce Mines, where the first copper mines in Canada are, the copper mines started operating in 1847. Like a lot of attractions in the area – it was closed for the winter but we could see a ramp leading to the mines so up we went for a little nosy... and found the gate to the mines unlocked and no one there. So what is an inquisitive group of tourists to do? Pop in for a look of course… until the maintenance person came. Luckily the naughty man agreed to show us around for free! He was paid by the hour, he said. That’s why you should just turn up when things are closed. This photo shows a circular type run in which a couple of horses walked in circles each day which enabled the ore to be hauled up from the mine - me and Emma were the horses!

Next place was Sault St marie, and since we hadn’t been to many museums, we went to the bushplane museum. The museum had a short doco movie about the history of floating planes and how they helped bring supplies to the remote towns in northern Canada, and how they used the skis on the floating planes to collect water to spray on bush fires. In fact this type of aircraft had often been used to spot fires as well. The museum also had several activities that many of us (mostly the kids of course) could do, including a 2 way radio connecting from a tower in the room to the radio station on the ground. When we had finished with the museum it was time for more excitement – the bridge back to America – and miles!! (bye bye kilometres)

We drove over another enormous bridge into the security check... where they took our Tangerines – they said no citrus allowed!! Oh well. We drove into the welcome center looking for directions and came out with... directions, a book and a lollypop each. What a lovely lady she was.

On the American side of the canal (also called Sault St Marie, we stopped by for a look at the Soo Locks, so named because of the way the French pronunciation sounds. There are in fact 3 locks in a row, but were there actually any ships in any of them? Nope, we only got to see a miserable tug boat go by but I guess that’s better than none. And the last task of the day finally arrived – finding a place to stay the night. We stoppe

d in a carpark a stone's throw away from the canal - the busiest commercial shipway in the world. They say the volume of shipping is greater than Panama and Suez put together, and you could tell because every so often through the night you could hear the loud toot of a ship going by.

Till next time……

From Amy.