To Dearld we say that we will be back! We both want to visit Manitoba again, especially The Pas and then take the train up to Churchill to see Hudson Bay and the polar bears.
Today we decided to take a different route to the others. They were taking a road south of Dauphin to visit the Riding Mountain Provincial Park. We, on the other hand, were driving east to Lake Manitoba and then to Lake Winnipeg, before driving about 80kms south to Winnipeg.
Leaving our motel, the Canway Inn and Suites in Dauphin.
The weather remained overcast and raining for the first couple of hours as we crossed two forks of Lake Manitoba at The Narrows. This photo is of the one bridge across the lake that links the two fingers of land that extend into the lake.
Not long after we left Lake Manitoba the weather improved and the sun started to shine. A welcome change after two days of indifferent weather. Then, in a field on the right hand side of the road, we saw a very unusual sight a flock of storks, or are they herons, feeding. I've never seen so many storks/herons in one place, there must have been at least fifty.
We reached Lake Winnipeg at about noon, and what a wonderful sight it was! Glorious sunshine on a 'sea', with small waves washing up on a sandy beach.
We drove south along the western shore of this vast lake, apparently the 11th largest freshwater lake in the world. Fascinatingly, we learnt that the average depth of the lake is only 12 metres.
We drove past this small church with an interesting bell tower. The tower was built in 1938. The area has been settled by Icelandic settlers and their names can be seen on many roads and houses. It was called the Church of St.Benedict. I couldn't tell if the church was of Icelandic in origin.
We drove another 30kms down the lake to the town of Gimli, where we stopped for lunch. Near to the restaurant was this interesting bird nesting tower that had been built by the Manitoba Purple Martin Club. Birds were flying in and out of the nesting boxes and you could see the nests being built.
Gimli had another slightly strange 'exhibit' a jet fighter mounted on a pedestal. We never found out why it was there!
The town had a small fishing harbour and along the harbour wall was a long mural that had been painted by the Gimli Arts Club. It reminded us of the murals we had seen in Vicksburg on our drive across the USA.
The animal mural showed the animals that live in the 'Interlake Region', the area between Lakes Manitoba and Winnipeg.
We left Gimli and drove the final 80kms, of the 430kms total drive, into Winnipeg, arriving at our hotel early in the afternoon. We are here for two nights so I will post photos and describe Winnipeg in tomorrow's posting.
Maybe they are cranes?
ReplyDeletePeterW