Camping in Tobermory Pt. 3

Flowerpot Island, Large Flowerpot.

On Sunday we took a boat out to Flowerpot Island from Tobermory harbour. We actually bought the tickets the day before just in case. We wanted to be sure we got the departure and return times we wanted. Tickets are around $35 return. I believe there's a National Park fee on top of that.

We got a fairly early departure time. I think 10:45 a.m. In the morning we had to get up early enough to eat something and pack our whole campsite up which we managed to do without much problem.

The girls woke up first and got a head start. Gabe, me, Peter and finally Keith followed. He has sleep apnea and usually has a device that helps with his breathing. Since he didn't have that with him his sleep wasn't as restful as it could have been.

We used The Blue Heron Company to take us to Flowerpot Island. They have orange jet boats that can bring you from Tobermory to the island 6.5 kilometres away in 15 minutes. There are other options available such as their glass bottom boats which take you over ship wrecks, but we weren't interested in that. We only wanted to get over to hike.

Our group were the only ones on the 10:45 a.m. boat. It was like our own private cruise. One of the staff members said people usually don't depart that early in the day (which was great for us). We could sit anywhere and had a great view of the scenery on the ride there.

Even though I went on the cruise to Flowerpot Island once before (many years ago), I didn't remember that they did a pass in the water of both the little and big flowerpots. That was great. I got some really good shots from the water.

The walk around the island was nice. We gave ourselves 4 hours to hike. It's not actually that big. We just wanted to make sure we had enough time to take a lot of photos. You could probably go around the whole place in 2-3 hours if you tried.

There are only two trails - the Loop Trail and the Marl Trail (which connects to the Loop Trail on the west side). If you head east from the dock along the Loop Trail it'll bring you first to the Small Flowerpot then the Large Flowerpot. If you continue around the trail you'll get to a small cave. Further on is the Lightstation/Museum and the "Loo" with a view (an elevated outhouse).

The Marl Trail brings you to the west side of the island. We had time so we did it. Of course the big attractions are the "flowerpots" as well as the scenery over the water. There are some wildflowers that I took pictures of as well.

Back in Tobermory we had one last ice cream stop before heading down Highway 6 to DNA fish and chip truck for lunch. For $11.50 they give you a huge piece of fish and more chips than you can handle. Good stuff.