Seaplane Flying in Ontario

Upon arrival at Elmhirst's Resort on Rice Lake, we were warmly welcomed by Wilma. Wilma is the heart and soul of the resort, responsible for reception and back-office tasks, and she knows everything and everyone ;). Elmhirst's Resort is a luxury vacation resort where you stay in spacious cottages. These cottages are about the size of small single-family houses and are accordingly expensive. All of these cottages are located right on the lake. Since we came on the recommendation of Ramón's great uncle and aunt, who, together with Ramón's mother, took care of all the financial aspects, we had the opportunity to stay in our Trudy, including electricity and water connection. This saved a significant amount of our budget.

On Saturday, the sun announced its presence, which seemed to have been on vacation up until then. We were able to take our first flight with Vanessa, the employed bush pilot. And what a flight it was! We took off from Rice Lake and flew straight towards Toronto. Thanks to Vanessa's persistence, we received clearance to fly almost at the level of the CN Tower, where we had dinner just 2 days ago. What a magnificent view. We could even look into the open Rogers Center, where the first spectators were streaming in for the upcoming game. We then continued along the coast of Lake Ontario to Niagara Falls. The attached pictures can only convey a vague impression of the natural spectacle. We were able to circle the falls for 2 minutes before we had to depart again due to heavy traffic. We returned the same way. The game at the Rogers Center in Toronto was already in full swing. The impressions from the air were fantastic. It didn't feel like we were on lakes, but rather on the coast.

There were more rainy days to follow. We spent these days enjoying various culinary highlights. It was a relief for our weary camping food stomachs. Ramón was able to take a little flight instruction from Vanessa, which went very well. From the second takeoff, he was already completely in control of the aircraft again. We also took advantage of the in-between days to finally use a washing machine. This successfully tackled the laundry mountain that had grown to dizzying heights.

Wednesday was our last day. After 4 days of rain, the sun came out. And how!!! Within 2 hours (in the morning), we got completely burnt. It was the first time we felt the southern location of Ontario (similar to southern France/Barcelona). After practicing a bit of kayaking and going to the pool, Vanessa approached us and unexpectedly offered to take us on our final flight. We gladly accepted since the sun was quite intense. We enjoyed another beautiful hour in the seaplane over the Kawartha Lakes, which blended into nature like something out of a picture book. North of there, you get an impression of Ontario's incredible forest. From a height of 2400 meters, you couldn't see the end of the forest in the north. After landing, we quickly said our goodbyes, as we wanted to continue our journey to Georgian Bay. Our next stop: Wasaga Beach - the longest freshwater beach in the world.