Canada Day ~ 150

Today is Canada Day, a time of national celebration, but this year the celebrations are even bigger as it marks Canada's sesquicentennial ~ it is one hundred and fifty years since four provinces (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) became the new Dominion of Canada on 1st July 1867.

We decided to mark the occasion with a trip out and chose Cobourg as our destination.  Cobourg is located 95 kilometres east of Toronto, in Northumberland County.  We arrived late morning to find a cold, misty day, but everywhere we looked we saw a sea of red and white - the colours of the Canadian flag.  Crowds of people lined the main street where a parade was to take place and by the time we had walked along its length, stopping for refreshment along the way, the sky was clearing and the sun came out as we reached the harbour.  (I didn't take photos of the crowds because there was nothing happening at that stage and the sun wasn't out!)

 It is a few years since our last visit and today, the place was absolutely packed.  We saw many of the boats in the marina flying the Maple Leaf (officially the national flag, but often referred to as this).

Over on the beach there was this strange fog in the air, caused by the temperature difference between the hotter air temperature and the colder water - this is known as inversion fog.

The lighthouse marks the harbour entrance.  I have vivid memories of entering this harbour a few years ago by boat - we were out on the lake in thick fog and only found the harbour entrance because I heard the gulls roosting on the wall.  It looked a lot different today.

Closer to the beach and we saw the fog drifting inland.  The lifeguard station is on the right of the photo.

Over on the pier there was the midway (fair) which we did walk through, but didn't linger as it was extremely noisy!

On the opposite side of the harbour, a boat at anchor.

We spotted a family of ducklings - there were nine in total, but they moved so fast that I had difficulty capturing a photo of them - their proud mother was keeping a close eye on them as they dabbled in the shallows.

It was definitely more peaceful on this side of the habour and we enjoyed a seat on a bench in some shade before heading back.  Our visit included the Ecology Garden, which I will write about in a separate post.