This is it! The last episode of the Ultimate Northern Ontario Road Show. In our final week on the road we snuck down the Bruce Peninsula to visit old friends Barb and Dave Wynd at the Taylor Made Bed and Breakfast in Lions Head where we availed ourselves to the best breakfast on the Bruce. Riding over to Mattawa Voyageur Days to take in performances by the Northern Pikes and George Thorogood, we stopped briefly in North Bay for a night of Karaoke at Partners Billiard and Bowling.

We stopped in with our friend Melissa Marquart from the Ottawa Valley and took in a mind-blowing meal of authentic Polish proportions at the legendary Wilno Tavern. Our last great ride of the trip was on the Peterson and Elephant Lake road, which I enjoyed way too much, and finally we stopped in Peterborough to get a little help from Dan Jacobs, composer of many of the songs heard in the videos, to sign our trip to a close.

It’s been a whirlwind tour and we’ve made so many memories, but sooner or later everyone has to go home. We hope we’ve inspired you to think about exploring the world just outside your back door – Ontario!

Oh, and stick around after the credits, for a special treat. See you on the highway.

This week we went in-depth on the Island of Manitoulin, staying there five whole days at the iconic Mindemoya Court Cottages and Campground where we indulged in all the requisite campground activities, from a spirited all-age game of softball pitting the ruthless Beavers versus the tyranical Chipmunks, to a cookout and campfire, to far too many belly-flops and cannonballs off the dock into the Caribbean blue of Lake Mindemoya.

Our main reason for visiting the island was to spend some time at Ride Manitoulin, one of Ontario’s newest motorcycle events. Lucky for us a couple of adventure touring fun-a-holics, Steven Fox-Radulovich and Colin Wilson, took us out on a ride through some of the unpaved corners of the island and we caught an eye (and mouth and nose) full of some dirty goodness.

Mike’s pop, Pete, joined the crew for a couple days and helped us figure out what a poker run is, and successfully lose four hands! He also took Mike’s bike back to Toronto for service, as we’d just crossed the 11,000km mark and it needed service! Thankfully, he generously donated his Honda ST1100 (which some of you might remember from last year!) to let us complete the trip on two wheels.

We also did a ton of other stuff, like went to a smash-up derby, sung the theme song from Rawhide while holding a miniature shotgun, and drank some amazing ice caps. But you need to watch the video to find out about that.

This weeks episode begins with a delightful blueberry pancake breakfast prepared by the Silver Tops Club in the incredible community of Ignace, Ontario (slogan: You Otter Be In Ignace!) We’ve received all kinds of welcomes and been on all kinds of adventures, but the sense of community in this town make us all feel right at home.

We’d passed the half-way mark of the trip and were now heading in the general direction of home, except for one massive detour up Ontario’s most northerly road – Highway 599 to Pickle Lake. We found no Pickles, but we did get even further north than when we were in Moosonee! That’s pretty far.

We finally got to take our sail with Capt. Greg Heroux of SailSuperior.com Yacht Charters and it was a perfect afternoon for it. He even flew the beautifully coloured spinnaker for us, lighting up the whole bay with it’s vibrancy. And last but not least, we visited the municipality of Greenstone, where we took in an exhausting but rewarding hike up the Pijitawabik Palisades, camped on the shores of the massive Lake Nipigon, had breakfast in Beardmore, and visited the Geraldton Fire Management Headquarters and ReconAir – the gents responsible for fixing the float plane we flew in a few weeks ago with White River Air.

Next week: Ride Manitoulin! The Bruce Peninsula! North Bay! Mattawa Voyageur Days! Huzzah!

We’ve been racing against the clock all over the magnificent north shore of Lake Superior, enjoying the majestic mountains, lake views and natural wonders and have another episode ready for your viewing pleasure. If the gods of internet be with us, we should have this episode up later tonight, but if they are not, we’ll see you tomorrow morning. Until then, check out all our other daily updates on our YouTube channel! Also enjoy this super artsy picture of the moonlight on Lake Superior at Rainbow Falls campground.

This week the crew of UNORT left the road behind and ventured up the steel rails of the Polar Bear Express to Moosonee with our sights fixed firmly on James Bay. We stayed at a great B&B, arguably the most inviting and comfortable of the trip, took a magical day trip out to the mouth of the Moose River and the start of James Bay courtesy of Jenn Little and Nolan Tozer of Moose River Tours, stepped out onto the clay flats that extend for miles and roasted smokies at the quarry like real locals.

This was one of our most enthralling experiences, with each of us coming away with a wide array of thoughts and feelings. No other place provoked quite as much of a response as our sojourn to one of Ontario’s earliest settlements. Suffice to say, we’re eager to return someday.

Episode Five will bring a gold mine tour in Timmins, a touch of glamping at WildExodus in Timmins, ATVing in Chapleau and some incredible scenery and motorcycling roads in Algoma Country!

In this weeks episode, we travel from Sudbury to Elk Lake to sample the culinary delights and the mondo motorcycle-friendly Eco Centre. We do some team bonding at the side of the road fixing a flat tire on the trailer, and then visit the spa and wildlife preserve at Cedar Meadows in Timmins, before heading to Cochrane to visit Ganuk the newest addition to the polar bear habitat!

In the coming days we’re traveling up to James Bay, leaving the truck and motorcycle behind in Cochrane. We’ll take a trip out on the river and hopefully catch some whales! This is one of the most northerly areas we’ll be traveling to in Ontario, and we’re pretty excited. Not many can claim to have been this far north!

We’ve been shooting all week and have some incredible stories from the road. We picked up Jamie and Kelly for a couple of days, stayed at Halfway Lake Provincial Park, visited the Elk Lake Eco Centre and took a tour of their local food operations, headed to Timmins to stay with Richard LaFleur at Cedar Meadows and got to know his spa and wildlife park, as well as meeting the new polar bear at the Polar Bear Habitat in Cochrane.

Our big news is that we’re releasing Episode Three early, and doing a whole episode on our trip to James Bay. This is an area of Ontario few have ever travelled to, and we want to make sure it gets the coverage it deserves. So expect Episode Three sometime in the middle of the night tomorrow!

Until then, enjoy our teaser for Episode Three!