"Tobermory Highlights" by Noemi Chellew

My first visit to Tobermory was during a camping trip with my husband and our two young daughters, back in 1994. The breathtaking views of Georgian Bay’s clear, turquoise waters and dramatic, rugged cliffs caught me by surprise – I knew I had to come back.

Thanks to the generosity of a special lady who had a way of bringing her various friends together (many of whom had never met before), I was able to return to the Bruce Peninsula almost every year.

The September gathering at her Tobermory cottage was an annual highlight for me. Not only was there a lot of catching up to do from year-to-year, there were brisk morning dips in the bay; cheesy cheese bread & home-grown tomatoes for breakfast; sunny picnics during long hikes on the Bruce Trail; vigorous boulder-dashing treks; snorkeling shipwrecks in Big Tub Harbour; cycling on Manitoulin Island; kayaking all day on an unusually calm Georgian Bay; enjoying wine & cheese on the rocky shore and more.

Stunning scenery, unique experiences and sharing life with passionate, caring women who I proudly call MY friends too – are the sources of inspiration for ‘Tobermory Highlights’.

This paddle is one of a collection painted by the "Tobermory Ladies".