LOCKS AND LAKES

Hi everyone, sorry yesterday's post was delayed - photo problems.  So you're getting two in one day - This is number 2

A late start to the day – ¼ to 9!   Most days we’ve been out and about by 8a.m.  Today we headed north right to the Canadian border.  We went to a town called Sault St Marie – which is pronounced Soo St Marie.  There is an American Sault St Marie, and a Canadian one which they add the name Ottawa onto the end.

Our boat for the cruise

Union Carbide Hydro works - the building is 1/4 mile long, all handmade cut stone

The closed doors of the 1st lock

Water is going up so we can go forward

The lock is opening - white dots indicate water starting to flow in

The 1st lock - the black doors are still shut -  u can see the water line where it will raise us up to in the boat.

The bridge between The US and Canada

Sault St Marie borders the St Mary’s River beside the great lakes. There were rapids between the two and so locks were built so that boats could traverse, though the locks are non operating for several months of the year.  I thought this was because of the ice etc but it’s really because they need to be able to do maintenance.  The drive to Sault St Marie is 2 hours passing over a HUGE 5mile long bridge from Mackinac City over the straights between Lakes Huron and Superior.   America sure knows how to do engineering.  I mean 5 miles of bridge!  Makes the Auckland harbour bridge look like a baby!

We did a 2 hour boat tour of the locks, going through two locks.  The first filled up and we were through in 8 minutes- all that water in 8 minutes.   Then we cruised into the lake area of which half way across we were in Canadian waters.  The Canadian side of St Marie has about 70,000 residents whereas the American side only 14,000.  We think this might be because the Canadian side had a big steel mill and smelter on its river edge and obviously it needed more workers etc. 

From Sault St Marie we decided not to go over the bridge to Canada for ‘been there’ moment, because we noticed the traffic coming back from the Canadian side to the US customs was extremely slow.  Instead we headed back south and stopped at St Ignace, a small town on the lake.  There was a big hot rod car show/swap meet on – and the cars, full of granny and grampa drivers were cruising up and down the main street.  Heaps of stuff for sale.  We got chatting to two guys who really recommended the fort reincarnation at Mackinac City – just back over that 5 mile bridge.  So we headed back again and found it an hour before it shut.   It’s huge and very very realistic. It is on the site of the original fort set up by the French/English who traded with the local Indians and had a really good relationship with them. 

The Mackinac bridge - five miles long 

A replica of an indian hut, because skins were traded, they didn't use for huts (teepees) but used bark instead

more of the bridge

Inside one of the traders replica huts

Whose that girl?

Part of the fort taken from the fortress wall

Instructions on the use of a black powder musket

 See you back tomorrow

Jane and Neil