Pelee Trip, Episode 3 - Pelee Island

We had to book the ferry to Pelee Island so went the day after we had intended. So, after a day of wine tasting, we had the bikes on the car and arrived at 10am for the 11am ferry. We travelled over on The Pelee Islander which was quite a small and old ferry but it was a lovely hour and a half trip.

We drove the car up to the ferry and then the staff drove it on. When we saw how squished in it was we were glad we didn't have to park it.

That's our RAV in the middle.

We couldn't see the island when leaving the mainland but gradually it appeared and grew as we got nearer. After docking and retrieving the car we decided to drive a little before taking the bikes off. 1st stop Pelee Island Winery, of course.

Outside the main building there were rows of different grapes planted with signs re how
to pronounce the type of grape, wine that results, wines that its used in etc.

After a tasting we carried on around the island and found a beach to swim at, as it was getting very hot. At the north end of the island was a sign to get to a trail to the lighthouse so we set out through some marshland, then woodland and finally a beach with the lighthouse at the end.

Lovely location and nice restored lighthouse, well worth the short hike.

Back in the car we decided not to do any biking as it was too hot so we drove to the South end of the island and hiked again. This time out to Fish Point which is the Southern most tip of the island and further South than Point Pelee.

Fish Point Trail was a lovely hike through Carolinian forest with information plaques (love those!)

Fish Point  looks a lot like Point Pelee or for that matter, Long Point, a snake of sand meandering South
with a flock of water birds at the end.

We swam again, still hot, and the water was beautiful, refreshing and crystal clear. Walked back to the car and then returned to Pelee Island Winery for a tour. The Guide discussed the grape growing environment and process, corking, wine making for the different types of wines and the history of grape growing on the island. All the grapes are actually taken to the mainland (by ferry) for processing. The tour ended with a guided tasting but we had to leave a little early in order to get to the ferry on time.

The return ride was on the modern ferry that held far more vehicles and we drove ourselves on.

Moon rising over Pelee Island and on the other side of the boat ........

......the sun setting.

There's not much to do on Pelee Island, its very quiet and people who live or vacation there, love that aspect. It is absolutely flat so hiking or biking is very relaxing (if its not too hot). For us the best aspects were the winery, hikes and ferry rides.