Trip to Pellee Island - July 4, 2010.....

By Harry Van Dyke

 

Two planes (FEMU and GNOP) departed CYSN at 10:00am loaded with 4 people in each plane. Scott, his wife Cheryl, son Devon, and myself were in EMU. Steve Peglow, his wife Bonnie, and two friends were in NOP. Scott would be PIC on the way up and me on the way back. That's fair. Steve was PIC both ways.

 

After climb out, we contacted Toronto for radar following which took us to near Point Pellee where we were turned over to Cleveland Center for radar to Pellee Island.

 

Once we were over water, Scott strapped on his life preserver and our passengers started looking a little nervous. I wasn't worried. The lake is warm this time of the year.

 

After landing, getting our bicycles that were at the airport as pre-arranged, we pedalled to a restaurant for lunch and did a tour of the Island in the blistering heat. It was a beautiful tour but would be much better taken in cooler weather.

 

On the return to home, we checked fuel and decided that we were too close for comfort to be pushing the limits so we stopped at St.Thomas to fuel up at the self serve. The fuel pump loved our credit cards. It about a 4 hour trip both ways.

Here's a few pictures and appropriate commentary.

That little speck in the distance is Scott and gang in EMU whizzing past Steve who is poking along in NOP.

At Point Pellee, Toronto got tired of looking at our little blip on their radar and told us to go talk to Cleveland Center to follow us to the Island and make sure we didn't end up in Detroit by mistake which was a good possibility given Steve's habit of landing at the wrong end of the runway. ( remember Muskoka? )

Steve has his life preserver strapped on. He knows that he will be ok if things go bad. His passengers are on their own.

The Island is in sight.

It doesn't look very big from here. Hope the runway is long enough.

There must be an airport somewhere here. I hope this is really Pellee Island and not Detroit.

Ok, we see something that looks like it might be an airport. We will land there anyway. Hope they are friendly.

Steve trying to line up with the big long line up ahead. He hopes it is concrete, or at least something flat and smooth.

What took you so long Steve? We have been here for hours.

Scott and Steve calling London to close their flight plans. There is no tower at Pellee airport. There are no people at Pellee airport. Just an empty little building at the end of the runway that has a pay phone and a lot of old magazines laying around. Oh, and a washroom, thank goodness.

Bonnie I need my glasses. These darn numbers are too small. Oh, wait, this is my calculator. No wonder London won't answer.

Harry looking for stowaways.

Steve, Bonnie and friends.

Cheryl, Devon and Scott Pellow

Scott warms up on his little critter bike. It took a few minutes to get used to these strange little bikes, but they were fun to ride.

We picked up our bikes behind the little airport shack. There were a few cars around but no people. Very quiet.

Ready to hit the road. The bikes were strange little things but they worked well. I had called ahead to have them delivered to the airport which was a good thing because there is nothing around for miles, no taxi, no bus, just long roads. Bikes are $20.00 a day to rent which includes delivery and pickup at the airport.

There were lots of nice bike paths and roads. Lots of shady areas to rest in and cool off a bit. Saw a few snakes. They were dead. And flat.

There are some beautiful beaches on the Island. The water was very clear and warm. Very warm.

We found a quaint little restaurant. It was the only restaurant. It had good food and was about a 20 minute pedal from the airport.

The gang thought they would try to cool off in the lake. The beach was very shallow and the water was very warm. Too warm to cool off.

Scott what are you doing? That's not a toilet.

Steve had a whole picnic lunch jammed in his backpack which he generously shared with everyone. He had enough fruit in there to share with the whole island.

Fueling up at St.Thomas.

Why don't they put a reverse gear in these planes?

Ok, push this out of the way and lets head home.

 

Pellee was a fun trip and a great experience. There are lots of nice bike paths and very little traffic. The scenery is beautiful with all the winery's, farms, beautiful beaches, parks, hiking trails, and places to stop and enjoy. The trip is very enjoyable and would probably be even better in the fall when the leaves are turning and it is not quite as hot as it was when we went.