Saturday, August 20, 2011

Bus and Train tour to Moosonee and Moose Factory, Ontario

Friday evening August 19th we got back home from a tour to Moosonee and Moose Factory, Ontario. Tuesday we took a bus to Cochrane where we stayed overnight at the Station Inn which is attached to the train station. The next day we boarded the Polar Bear Express train to Moosonee. When we got there we took a school bus to the docks on the Moose River where we caught a water taxi to Moose Factory Island. The water taxi sort of reminded me of the water taxi in Venice. So Moosonee could be the "Venice" of Northern Canada. At Moose Factory we stayed at the Cree Ecolodge. The rooms were very nice and decorated in a rustic style. The next day we had a boat ride in a 24 foot canoe, with a canopy, to the mouth of the Moose River where it empties into James Bay. The Moose is a tidal river and the tides change about every 6 hours and a bit.

We then had a driving tour of Moose Factory Island to see some of the historic sites (Hudson Bay employee house, the HBC was there about 1673; historic St. Thomas Church; HBC employee graveyard; plaque for Henry Hudson; plaque for the HBC; and a couple of other things. Our first evening there we went for a walk from the Ecolodge to the convenience store on the other side of the island (about 1 1/2 km each way).

We then took the water taxi back to Moosonee and boarded the Polar Bear Express for the return journey to Cochrane. After an overnight stay at the Station Inn we took our bus back to Ottawa. So altogether a great four day trip.

By the way the train ride is 6 hours each way and you see a lot of trees!

We stopped in Cobalt to see the Silver Mining Museum and at North Bay to see the Dionne Quintuplet house.

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