Chris from Wild Exodus and Marie of Post 392
So much food today.
After our epic excursion to Moosonee, we were all feeling a little sleepy this morning. Luckily the Best Western Swan Castle Inn in Cochrane, right across the street from the Ontario Northland train station, has a huge continental breakfast buffet where we could fortify ourselves for the coming day. They even have this amazing cast iron waffle machine that creates the most perfectly browned waffle! After breakfast we said goodbye to the hotel manager, the lovely Renee Vezeau, and headed down highway 655 back to Timmins.
We arrived at the Wawaitin Falls Holiday Park, home of Wild Exodus Outfitters, and were immediately whisked away on a luxurious covered pontoon boat for a tour of Lake Kenogamissi with our local guide, Chris. We curled up in the deep seats and tried not to nap as we floated down the lake toward Post 392 Bed and Breakfast, where a fabulous luncheon awaited us. Marie, a retired Timmins schoolteacher, opened her B & B in 1998 to cater to the large groups of snowmobilers who flock to the area’s massive trail network. She’s been adding rooms ever since, and she can now sleep 16 and feed more than 50 at a time. She certainly seemed to cook for 50 today!
We arrived at Marie’s dock around 1pm, and were seated at a large dining table overlooking the lake, surrounded by steaming dishes, about 4 minutes later. We ate like a crew of hungry snowmobilers — roast chicken, braised beef and gravy, roasted potatoes, carrots and broccoli, spaghetti, and warm fresh homemade bread with butter. For dessert she brought out a blueberry cobbler with real whipped cream, and regaled us with stories of her time cooking in remote mining camps, where her food was a favourite with the miners.
I had to be at the Timmins airport at 4:30 for my flight back to Toronto — returning in less than 36 hours! — so we didn’t have the time we would have liked to linger on the deck and chinwag with Marie. Chris made up for it though with some interesting local information on the trip home about the lake, the houses and road access, the dams, and the forest fire damage nearby.
I hit the dock running back at Wawaiten and left the rest of the crew in the capable hands of JC, who runs the camp. They’re spending the night in a cozy cabin on the shores of the lake, hanging with JC.
Tomorrow — my grandma’s 97th birthday party! And those other guys will be having fun with Jamie, hitting up the Shania Twain Centre in Timmins, and panning for gold on a gold mine tour. And uploading Episode 4!
Photo by Alexandra Sawicki
Speak Your Mind