The last week of this Canadian visit was spent mainly in Hanover, Saugeen County and up at Lake Sholdice in Grey Bruce County.The Town of Hanover lies about 160 miles northwest of Toronto, is located in the heart of the spectacular Georgian Lakelands and is surrounded by some of the best farmland in Ontario. It is a small town with a population of only 6,500 but a thriving town with great community spirit.
 

Borer's Falls

Niagara Escarpment

Saugeen County is an area of rolling hills, open spaces and tall forests and winding through this landscape is the Saugeen River, the third largest river in Ontario! Approximately half way through its 120 mile journey to Lake Huron, the Saugeen River reaches Bruce County just west of Hanover.

This was trapping country and the Bruce Trail runs as part of the Niagara Escarpment which stretches  for 160 miles northwards from Queenstown near Niagara up to Tobermory. The Bruce Trail only has some areas suitable for walking as most of it cuts through forests, rocky terrain and beautiful wooded valleys with rivers and waterfalls like the Borers Falls in the picture on the left

View of Lake Sholdice from my friend's cottage.

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The name Tobermory was given to it in the 1830's by Scottish fishermen because of its resemblance to the town of that name on the Isle of Mull in their native Scotland. The town is twinned with the town of Tobermory, Scotland. The name Tobermory, from the Gaelic "Tober Moray", means "well of the Virgin Mary". But the locals call the place just "Tub".

Wilmer Nadjiwon
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My previous visit here saw me coming home with some lovely woven winter tops which my elder children wore to almost threadbare. This time I purchased a music tape entitled, coincidently, The Journey!

And just before we leave this beautiful part of Ontario I leave you with some photos of what I consider to be another little piece of heaven on earth, my friends' cottage on lake Sholdice. My few days here allowed me to relax, read, pray and just soak up the beauty of God's creations.
 
 

.This spot draws me back each time I visit and it is here I can 'focus clearly and centre myself'. I enjoyed the antics of the squirrels, the chipmunks and the bluejays as they argued over nuts and seeds left out for them on the deck. I enjoyed the quiet atmosphere with no intrusive tv or radio. I enjoyed the scenery, the sunrises and the sunsets. I enjoyed my friend's company and her depth of spirituality, her homeliness and her welcome. In two little words: I ENJOYED!!!

I recently got a visit to this site from a gentleman in the Ottawa-Carleton and Eastern Ontario Region who runs a  Wilderness Education & Training Centre. Go visit his site, Northern Horizons, and experience some of the beauty of this part of the world with him and his team.

It was a little too early for the beautiful Autumn colours so I left my camara with my friend to capture the colours for me, a most beautiful Fall, by all accounts.

However the weather was just magnificent for the whole week and the sunsets were pure magical. There is no better rest for the weary spirit than to sit out at sunrise or sunset and relax in the glory of nature. We live our lives in top gear at times, marching on with heads down, not noticing the beauty which surrounds us. 

This visit allowed me the time to keep my eyes focused upwards, to see and enjoy the beauty of this earth, to feel the warm glow of the sun. I renewed and shared the richness and wealth of friendship and these treasures will be carried home in my heart to bring me through the coming winter season and my own 'times of winter'.
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The Rest of the Journey

Our Canadian Journey starts with my drive from Hamilton to Quebec and a visit to one of Canada's famous Catholic Shrines - Saint Anne de Beaupré. The rest of that day was spent enjoyably wandering aound 
Quebec City

The main reason for my visit to Canada came about on the Wednesday and Grosse-Île, a tiny island east of Quebec City and the final resting place of over 6,000 of my country folk. It turned out to be facinating, poignant and yet enjoyable - a visit I will never forget and one I hope to repeat with some of my own family someday. 

Heading for 'home' that night I got lost and somehow ended up in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, which has the most famous of Canada's Catholic Shrines - Notre Dame du Cap. What a grand day I spent there! 

For those who have just joined me on this page why not go to the beginning and see some of the earlier places in The Start of Our Journey through the West of Ireland. My Place Amongst the Stones gives the history of my company name, Moytura - a celtic heritage going back thousands of years. 

Back to our Irish journey and to my own parish of Lackagh - a small village just 12 miles from Galway with a mighty big history  telling a story of one of Ireland's bloodiest conflicts in the 16th century - The Battle of Knockdoe. 

From there we move on to take a quick jaunt around Galway City;  and then out to the heart of Connemara - with its wild and wonderful beauty. 

Our journey goes south into County Clare to see The Burren - a place that has lain undisturbed since the Ice-age and of immense botanical, ecological and archaeological importance.

We visit Ireland's finest early monastic heritage centre in Clonmacnoise in County Offaly and to my favourite of all the early Christian Church locations - Clonfert, with its beautiful tiny 12th century Cathedral of Saint Brendan. Come with me around the grounds of this lovely tiny cathedral and see the 1000 year old Yew Walk. While there, you can learn a potted history of Saint Brendan the Navigator, possibly the first European to set foot in North America in the 6th. century. See how we celebrated a most historic announcement when Clonfert Cathedral was listed in the World Monuments Watch 2000 as one of the world's most endangered buildings.

Join me on my 'Famine Journey' which starts in Westport, moves to Sligo and ends up here in Grosse-Île.

Finally, come with me on my pilgrimage to a peaceful haven in a war-torn country in Medugorje in Bosnia-Hercegovinia. The other areas of my Web site can be found in the drop-down box below.

If you are interested in Irish history or anything to do with Ireland why not visit our new additions where you will find a large selection of Irish material!:

I have added links pages of other places related to each location on our journey; links to leisure activities in Ireland such as golf, fishing, horse riding, sailing, festivals, entertainment etc. and finally some of my friends' home pages. 

Don't forget to bookmark this page and return to take up on more of your journeys with me. Oh .. and please sign my Guestbook if you have enjoyed your travels. Go raith míle maith agat - thanks a million

Every now and then people send me stories, poems, or URLs to other Home Pages that I find very touching or uplifting, so I have decided to make a new section on my site to house them all and share them with you too. Some will make you smile, maybe even laugh, some may make you cry or a little sad - but all will leave a little bit of a mark, if only for the few minutes you spend reading or listening to them. Enjoy - I call this section: