Christian Island

[Yuri]

Just having some fun with Google Earth. Looked for 238 Harvey Street in Orillia, Gord's boyhood home, but the resolution isn't high enough in those images to make out individual houses clearly. Settled for "The Lee of Christian Island" (Below). For those who want a fantasy visit to Toronto, try a search for Massey Hall. (I won't post the co-ordinates as the search is half the fun!)



Yuri

[SilverHeels]

Yuri, you have just made my day. Thank you!!

[Peter Bro10]

Christian Island has been on my list of places I seriously wish to visit... someday, hopfully in the not too distant future. Did some additional web search, and found some rather facinating stuff on the local people, etc.
And I agree, the "virtural" tours are fun. Thanks!
I'm sailin' down......

[SilverHeels]

Peter, I've been to CHRISTIAN ISLAND ...

[Yuri]

Sorry, I had meant to post "Christian Island" under "Small Talk". It would be a fun adventure to take the place names that Gord mentions in his tunes and plug them into 'Google Earth' then travel to each location in those sweeping virtual trips (as you see on CNN broadcasts). Sweeping in from outer space to zoom into Reno & Rome, or "up in Hornepayne", "New York seems so far away", Lake Couchaching, Yonge Street, Boulder Dam and so on. Hmmm, Hornepayne, I think I'll check that out next.

Bru, tell us about your impressions of Christian Island. I've been close by but never gone over.

Yuri

[SilverHeels]

Yuri,
if I have told this tale before, to those who have heard it, I apologise.

'Christian Island' has always held a fascination for me, ever since Gord's song captured my heart, so when I was in Toronto - way back in the 70s (I was very young , I took the opportunity to go to the island. I remember it was a foul day. Blustery and wet but as I took the ferry from Cedar Quay (I think that was the departure point), I imagined I was setting off to find my Garden of Eden. I was actually quite young so I even dreamt I might find Gord up there. Duh! The crossing in that storm filled morning was quite an event. The ferry was crowded with Indians returning from the mainland. I was inappropriately dressed for the torrential rain and the only non-Indian aboard. I have to tell you, I was just a wee bit nervous, trying to ignore all the dark scowls coming my way. But I was going to Christian Island. My fantasy was about to materialise.
However, on landing, disappointment hit me like a brick. I must have been expecting something from the still to be produced 'Dances with Wolves' but this was more like a ghetto. The beach was full of rusting car skeletons, discarded refrigerators and empty cans and bottles, it was a dump!
Looking inland, I saw that all the houses all carried tv aerials! Somehow that offended my idealistic sensabilities more than anything else.
I did not get to see the actual reservation. I was being pursued by a drunk native and
that coupled with despair and disappointment, urged me to return to the ferry point to wait for the next ferry back to the mainland. What had I expected? Millionaires cottages in the lea of Christian Island maybe. Not so. Well, not on the side I landed.
Had I not been alone, I might have been braver and explored more but I was young, blonde and scared of the drunk watching me.
However, my love of the song remains and the fantasy lives on within me. One day I will go back for another more indepth look.

When I arrived back at my hotel in Orillia, I was reprimanded for taking such risks. Risks?
'You could have been raped, or killed even' squealed the receptionist who was to become a dear friend (now sadly passed) 'those people up there are all out of their heads on booze and worse'.

But I was already a Lighthead and I could not have NOT visited the Lea of CHristian Island, once I was that close, could I?

(Do not let my tale put anyone else off from going. I plan to return. Somewhere I have some photos. I will try and locate them and get someone to post them.)

[Yuri]

Thanks Bru,
Yup, that's what I thought. Sometimes it's better to let a fantasy remain just that. Reality, no matter how nicely it is packaged, sometimes stinks. For those with an open mind, and a strong conviction, it still might be a worthwhile pilgrimage.

Yuri

[BILLW]

Great story Bru, thanks for sharing !

Bill

[RM]

SilverHeels,

That song will never be the same.....Lordy.

[SilverHeels]

Ron,
please don't let the story ruin the song. That was not my intent. My fantasy remains and so should yours.

[RM]

Originally Posted by SilverHeels

Ron,
please don't let the story ruin the song. That was not my intent. My fantasy remains and so should yours.

Fear not....it will not ruin the song. I now have two images to draw upon. I'm comfortable with both.

Actually, I have three......my first experience on a small sailboat (26 ft) resulted in us seeking shelter from the wind on the leeward side of a small land mass. As we waited for more favorable conditions, I looked at the top of the outcropping, and saw 3 crosses ( I assume they had been placed there for a few who had perished). I immediately dubbed it "Christian Island".

The song will remain rich.

[Gitchigumee]

Bru that story is good stuff. Sometimes you have to take risks, and although this one did not necessarily pay off the way you had hoped, it did leave you with a very colorful memory.

I found this link to some current photos:

http://www.chimnissing.ca/photos.html

[jj]

Originally Posted by Yuri

Thanks Bru,
Sometimes it's better to let a fantasy remain just that

Yuri

hear, hear, Yuri ....venture at your own risk (of being startled)...I'm not referring to CI here

[JohnStinson]

I've been summering in the "lee of Christian Island" for 20 years. I own a small log cabin smack dab in the middle of that satalite shot. I sit on my deck overlooking that great stretch of water and its like magic. Listening to Lightfoot songs makes it great. The water is as clear as glass. Its clean. The fresh air..its all good. I sailed through these waters on my 26 foot sailboat from Midland to Thornbury with my wife prior to owning the cabin. We anchored for lunch at Beckwith Island, thats the one beside Christian. I look across the water and thought that would be a nice place for a cabin. 2 years later.. we were there. Here's a few pictures of that place.

Gord must of sailed in his boat through here often.

Not sure how to put pictures in yet...

[Dream Street Rose]

Okay John, I think the party is at your place. I think you and your family live on a little piece of heaven. Let your wife know that my "peeps" and I shop, cook and clean. What does she want for dinner the first night?

Happy to know you are all enjoying the treasures that are out there.

DSR

[JohnStinson]

Oki doky.

I have some other shots of the area ...here ya go.

Just wanted to change the tone of the story above.
(BTW...there is an indian reservation on Christian Island ..and the people and place ain't so bad at all)

[SilverHeels]

OK John ... I'm on my way! A log cabin on Christian Island!!!!!!!! OMG!

[BILLW]

Thanks John,

Nice pictures. Is that you sitting on the dock playing ? Is your cabin on Christian Island or Beckwith Island ? Great story thanks for sharing it. I used to do a lot of sailing with my parents. I thought we were rich sailing and stopping at yacht clubs and coves, etc. Later I realized that boats twice as big as ours could cost 10 times as much, but we had fun, rich or not so rich.

Bill

[charlene]

http://www.chiefs-of-ontario.org/pro...eausoleil.html - info about the history of C.I.
lighthouse on C.I.:
http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/galle...tianIsland.htm
and a mention of the Lightfoot tune:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Island,_Ontario

[Jesse Joe]

Nice pics indeed and thanks for sharing John. But like Bill W's question, are you a guitar player ?

[timetraveler]

Even though it's an airial shot of the island, I think it's a nice looking place & just might be a great place to visit.

[JohnStinson]

Thats not me in the picture.
But I do play guitar, in a fashion, and sing, in a fashion. Its all Lightfoot music ..i admit...mostly.

Have played for much of twenty years with Chris Scott, who is moving to Costa Rica in Feb. Thats us below..me in black.

New to this forum. Great to find GL fans.
Off to work.

[Rainbow Trout]

John, How lucky you are to have a little bit of heaven here on earth!! Take care of that special place.

[johnfowles]

The The ferry ramp photo taken on a blustery day in November 1999

[Jesse Joe]

Great sound must be coming out of those Yamaha speakers.