12 - A Pretty Amazing Day

Overnight it had rained almost consistently and it was quite chilly, down to around 9 degrees by the morning. We decided that we would remain in the RV which meant I could do some studying and write some of this blog.
I was on the Cosmological Argument for the existence of God and wondered whether quantum physics would be a whole lot simpler. After a couple of hours of first movers, second movers, infinite regresses, unmoving movers causing motion and moving movers causing motion, I thought it was about time for a break! Fred had been amusing himself by playing spider solitaire and watching one of the many Simpsons videos we’d saved on our hard drive.
We had lunch, went for a quick bimble then decide to go for a drive. We still hadn’t been to the actual town of Britt (I say town but there’s only really a few houses and a local store there!) and a quick look at the map showed that the Bying Inlet was only a few kilometres away so we would visit them both.
On the way to Britt, I noticed a sign for the Little Britt Inn which I found quite amusing as images of David Walliams and Matt Lucas came to mind. Once in Britt we stopped at the store enticed by a sign for cold beer. We had not had any alcohol since arriving in Canada, mostly because the supermarkets didn’t sell it. To obtain it one must visit The Beer Store or small local store like the one in Britt. We had been advised by the security worker at the airport, a long-haired hippy who had taken us into arrivals to retrieve our delayed luggage, to try the Canadian beer. So we bought a box of twelve and headed in the direction of the Bying Inlet.
Somehow, we missed the turning to the Bying Inlet but
decided it would be better to visit Bayfield Inlet a little further
away which was right on Georgian Bay. Again the surroundings were spectacular and gave us the feeling of being somewhere remote. I was extremely excited to spot a Blue Jay fly across the road but again they are abundant over here. Still, they are very beautiful and strikingly blue. We both have to refer to our bird books more often than not as the bird population is completely different on this continent. Interestingly, however, I read in one of our books that the European Starling was brought to this area ‘…during the 1890’s in a misguided attempt to bring the birds of Shakespeare to the New World’. Subsequently they decimated many indigenous birds, another ecological error which is testament to the stupidity of the species which prides itself on its rationality!
We reached Bayfield Inlet, another tiny community consisting of a small marina, a campsite and a few houses. It had stopped raining but the clouds were still grey and pregnant and the air was particularly still. We parked the RV at the side of the road and got out to have a look around. The campsite had primarily wooden cabins but also a few trailers and, like most campsites at this time of year, it was closed. It was on two levels with a steep rocky incline to the top which we took so we could get a nice view of the inlet. The path took us to what looked like an occupied trailer so we turned around and headed back down the hill. We started to walk to the back of the ground level part of the campsite until I stopped suddenly. Then I said quietly and calmly, “There’s a bear over there.” Fred also stopped and then responded, “So there is a bear over there”.
About 20 metres away just in front of the forest was a Black Bear that had been lying down until it spotted us, at which point it got up to run into the forest. But…it hesitated and turned back around to face us. I said to Fred, “Take a photo” and slowly backed away with Tala until I was out of sight and then ran back to the RV like a proper coward! By the time Fred had taken the photo, I was nowhere to be seen!

THE BEAR!

What a great experience and what a beautiful animal! I was more excited than scared and was reacting in a way I thought I should (except without the screaming!). Upon reflection, it is so nice to know firsthand that large mammals have not been extirpated here like they have in the UK and most of Europe.
We drove back to the campsite almost dumbfounded about our bear encounter and a little worried that we had only been in Canada for one week but had already seen a bear. We have read that it is not unusual for Algonquin Park Rangers to see one to two or sometimes no bears in a whole year. Since the sighting I have become a little less scared and, conversely, Fred has become a much more nervous regarding bears, much to my amusement!
During tea that night, as we drank our Canadian beer and tried to come to terms with ‘the bear incident’, Fred jumped from his seat and ran to the cab window. I immediately followed and we watched as a beaver swam to the other side of the river, collected a branch then returned and disappeared under one of the jetties. I was able to film the whole thing but the photo I extracted from it is not great.
Once we had cleared up after our meal, we took Tala for a short walk and when we returned we couldn’t believe that a Woodchuck was sitting outside one of the small cabins near our RV. Tala and I went back inside while Fred tried to get some shots of ‘Woody’ with his camera.
How much wood would a Woodchuck chuck if a Woodchuck could chuck wood?
Moose FM informed us that it would freeze overnight which meant we would have to empty all our tanks to prevent freeze damage. Once we had ‘dumped’ we went to bed feeling as though we had featured in an episode of Spring Watch!