Feb 21, 2010
If you have ever been on google earth there has been a recent update and the Hwy #522 corridor is now available in street view! I was shocked to see that you can actually see a street view of our area. If you click a ways past the 4 corners in Loring, you can see NLR sign and the entrance to our road. I have given them our gps co-ordinates and some photos of the resort but that has not been updated as of yet.
Feb 18, 2010
Is everyone enjoying the Olympics as much as we are? wow, wish I was there to get in on the Olympic spirit. My lucky brother won a trip there and will get to see both gold medal hockey games!
Feb 15, 2010
Just back from vacation here, had a great time. Nice to get some sunshine and warm weather!
Jan 24, 2010
So far it has been a relatively mild winter here with not a whole lot of snow. Enough to play in, but not enough to shovel roofs, for which we are thankful. Yesterday we were skating on the lake on Phil's big skating track he managed to make by clearing the snow with the ATV. Its not for the faint of heart as I think it is bigger than an Olympic sized oval. It was a beautiful sunny day here and there were lots of people out enjoying the day, ice fishing, snowmobiling and having bon fires. And of course an ice cold beer straight from the snow fridge completes the day!
Tonight and overnight we are bracing ourselves for some freezing rain and then snow that is expected. Hopefully we will not get much.
Jan 9, 2010
Northern Lights is now on Facebook! Yes thats right we have finally got with the times. If you are on look our page up. Be patient as I slowly build the page up with info and photos. Its not an easy task when you are on dial up connection still!
Jan 8, 2010
Time sure fly's, we are almost in the 2nd wk of Jan already. So far we are having an awesome winter. Just a nice amount of snow, nothing too crazy. And its staying cold, no silly thaws ruining our ice and flooding our basements. I can take the cold and the sunshine any day, I hope it stays like the for the next while
Jan 2nd, 2010
Happy New Year! Wow another year, another decade has passed. We wish everyone a safe and happy new year filled with many blessings and much health.
Well, the lake is frozen over nicely. We think about 10 inches of ice or so. Although we haven't seen much sled action on it yet, our friends on Lake Nipissing already have their fish huts out and are ready to go. This is the first year in a couple of years that we have had such nice perfect ice this early in the season. It would make a perfect skating rink this year too. Now if only I could skate.
December 20, 2009
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that you remember the true meaning of xmas and that you all get to spend some quality time with the people you love. Have a safe and happy and healthy New Year!
December 4th, 2009
Well we finally have our first significant snowfall. I had to break down and put the snow tires on the car. But not before having my first hair raising drive from North Bay! I managed to start my xmas shopping this week, it was pretty crazy at the mall, but I managed to get our unscathed and without shooting anyone.
On Dec 2nd, Phil had his last Sail of the year before pulling the boat out. Yes he had to brush the snow off to do it. And with the water level being really low now had to be careful not to go too close to the edge. The water level is alway lowered 3 to 4 ft every winter as controlled by the damn system. I think it is lower this year than we've ever seen it. But it never fails in the spring it always goes way up again and sometimes goes over our docks.
November 13th, 2009
Happy Friday the 13th! We sure have been enjoying this great weather this last week and half. I got my wish for dryer weather. Still more to come I hear. I wonder if we are in for a mild winter this year. I've been able to get alot of raking done around here which will save time in the spring. We even managed to sneak in a couple of Sails. The sail boat is the only thing left in the water now. As long as the weather holds we'll leave it in for a while yet.
October 23, 2009
Yes it has been a long time since I've upated this. I hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving with there families. We have had quite a busy end to our season. Lots of last minute bookings for September and October. In addition we have been busy doing some much needed renos on our house. We have also had family health issues and have had to make several trips to southern ontario.
We are officially closed for the season and as usual we thank all of our loyal repeat customers that make it such a joy for us to be here when we see you each summer. Even though we are closed we are still here and accepting new reservations for 2010. The 2010 rates will be posted shortly on the website. Lets hope that the weather next year is alot better than it was this year. We need lots of sunshine and dryer weather please! As I write this it is raining cats and dogs here and I think trying to snow. We are not ready for that yet.
September 21, 2009
We have now had 20 days of in a row of nice weather and no rain. Suppose to rain here overnight though. Things are slowing now and we have various projects underway for the fall. The leaves are really changing on the trees now although still lots to go yet.
September 12, 2009
Here we are into our 12th day of nothing but sunshine and clear blue sky's. The forecast for the next week looks the same. There has been rain above us and below us, but we seem to be in this little protected pocket. Why not check out our last minute specials page and come on up for a visit!
September 7, 2009
Wow! What a great weekend and past two weeks. Not a drop of rain and nothing but sunshine! Beautiful clear nights, great for bon fires, no bugs! We sure are enjoying this little bit of summer weather that we didn't get in July or August. Swimming is still great right now too. The water temp today was 73 degrees. Lots of people in swimming.
September 2, 2009
Have you stayed with us recently? Why not sign our guestbook? Let other people know how your experience was with us!
September 1, 2009
Wow finally some beautiful weather. Nothing but sunshine and clear blue skies forecast for the next 8 days! Fall is such a beautiful time of year here. no bugs, nice weather, the lake is still warm enough to swim. I think it is my favorite time. Once the leaves start to change colour which is a few weeks away yet, it is a spectacular site.
August 29, 2009
Lots of rain here today, but it is suppose to clear and be nice this week. We are looking forward to that. The evenings are a little cooler now and are perfect for nightly bon fires. No bugs! There is a hint of colour change in some of the maple leaves. If you have never seen the fall colours up here they are spectacluar. Why not come and visit us for a quick get away this fall?
August 27, 2009
The construction is nearly all complete on hwy #522 coming from the East to us. Now you can enjoy the nice new smooth pavement! yipee!
August 25, 2009
Have you got your Boater's Licence yet? In September everyone operating a boat must have their Boat Operators card. Its simple and easy to get, just follow the link on our Home Page or our Fishing Page.
August 24, 2009
The weather expected to be nice here again for the next couple of weeks. However it has been cooler at nights already. Its starting to feel like fall a bit. But the plus side is there is no bugs which is nice. Its great sitting around a camp fire and not being bothered by mosquitos.
The Sudbury Music Festival is coming up this weekend and it looks like its going to be a great one. If you are in the area or coming up to see us you might want to check it out. The link is http://sudburysummerfest.vianet.ca/
August 20, 2009
We thanked our lucky stars today. We had a torential down pour of rain, probably about 4 inches in a matter of 15 minutes or so. It completely washed out our roads and washed all the gravel onto the dock and into the water. At the end we felt a blast of warm strange air and it got windy for a minute and I thought this isn't good. Apparently there was some tornado damage in Arnstein and Restoule which is not far from here. We didn't have any tree damage at all and for that we are thankful.
August 10, 2009
Finally we are getting our share of warm nice weather here. The temps have been great for swiimming and the stable weather has brought the fishing back on.
August 6, 2009
Have you thought about your 2010 vacation yet? We are getting alot of calls for next summer already so if you are thinking about it, now is the time. If you still want to get away this summer we have a few openings the last couple weeks of August, check out the last minute deals page for details.
The fall is a great time to travel as well. The fall colours are spectacular up here and usually start about mid September. Maybe we will even get the summer we have been waiting for in September! Wouldn't that be nice. Usually the weather is still nice in September and there aren't any bugs. Thats why its my favorite month.
July 22, 2009
There are alot of great events happening in and around the area for people to check out. If your looking for a unique dinning experience check out Renee's cafe in South River, just a short drive from us. They get in alot of great music acts that you can enjoy while eating dinner. I usually keep a schedule of coming acts right in our store. Then there is the North Bay waterfront music festival July 31st-Aug 2nd. They always get alot of great bands. This year they are featuring the Tragically Hip and Simple Plan. For more information check out their website: http://www.symphonyofsound.com/
July 21, 2009
Today my nephew Nick and I went on a one day canoe trip. It was an awesome trip. It took us about 5 1/2 hours but we took our time and stopped a couple times for a swim and lunch. From our lake we paddled to Toad lake then into Wilson lake and then did a short portage back into our lake Little Long Lake. Its a great trip for anyone just looking for a day trip. The weather was absolutely perfect and the winds were light, we couldn't have picked a better day.
July 17, 2009
I hear on the weather network that the last half of July and August are going to be warmer normer temps. That would be nice. This last couple weeks its been a little cooler than it should be. It makes it nice for working and sleeping and fishing. But not so much for swimming. However that didn't stop the kids this week swimming every chance they got.
Just a note, if you are coming up from Hwy#69 to see us, make sure you take "Northern Lights Road" off of Hwy #522 and not our neighbours road before us "Labrech Drive". Alot of people have been turning immediately when they see the Ontario Road sign, you must drive about another 500 feet to our drive way. Look for the Canadian Flag and our sign right at the road. The reason I am saying this is our neighbours road is not a nice road to drive on, its very hilly and not fun for people to drive on and a little scary.
July 10, 2009
If you are coming to Northern Lights this weekend, you may want to consider taking Hwy #69 through Parry Sound to us. Hwy #522 between us and Hwy #11 is under construction and is quite a mess!
This week we had some fishermen go to one of our back lakes, Etta Lake and had Bass hitting there line the minute they put it in. This lake is rarely fished and the bass are quite plentiful. There are also some good size Northern Pike in there also.
July 6, 2009
The weather has cleared and we are enjoying some nice days. The weather man keeps calling for rain but we are not getting anything more than a few spits. The evenings are nice and cool for sleeping and NO BUGS!! Very nice for evening camp fires right now.
We have alot of Bass fishermen in this week and they are catching lots. Even some new people that have never fished before are having a ball just fishing right off the dock.
July 1, 2009
Happy Canada Day! We have decided not to have fire works this year. It is just too wet. This week there has been a low front that keeps hovering over Ontario. We have had lots of rain and cooler temps. It is suppose to clear out by the Long weekend. We have several cottagers in this week and despite the weather they are still catching some fish.
We still have a couple spots left for the long weekend if you are thinking of a last minute cotttage rental.
June 19, 2009
We are in for a heat wave here this week!
June 15, 2009
Well I had my first swim on Saturday, it was a refreshing 65 F. Today I went for my second swim and it was up to 68 F!. It was actually quite nice.
June 8, 2009
Last week was an absolutely beautiful week weather wise. It allowed us to get alot of work done outdoors. Rain today expected for a couple days. The black flies are disapearing a bit finally. The water temperature is currently about 60 F, not too warm yet. This is good for the fishing! There was some nice size pickerel caught this week as well as a few pike.
June 1, 2009
We took a drive yesterday to the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Rosseau. It is an awesome place. They rehabilitate injured or sick animals and release them to the wild. In some instances they cannot be released and the sanctuary is their home. Aspen Valley makes every effort to create the most comfortable home for these animals that they can. For example a typical enclosure for a wolf is about 5 acres. As you can imagine the daily care, feeding, and up keep of the sanctuary is mind boggling. They are a non profit organization that rely's solely on donations. Not just financial donations but things like old blankets and towels, dog food, straw and anything else that helps to make the animals more comfortable. If you are coming up to the area it is worth a look. I have a link to their website in my Areas of Interest page.
May 30, 2009
Frost overnight, woke up to snow, then sun, then hail, then sun, then rain. Forecast is looking better for this week, suppose to be sunny all week!
May 29, 2009
Ok ok already with the rain! I take back what I said about not getting much rain. Its been raining here non stop ever since! Suppose to clear up for the weekend.
May 27, 2009
It rained a bit over night here and a bit today. Not much. Last week we managed to get out on our new sailboat to try out the rigging. Last fall we bought a 17ft Siren. Since we haven't sailed or rigged a boat for about 6 years we had no idea what we were doing. After a few trials and scary moments I think we have it figured out now. It is quite the challenge to sail something like that in our lake with all the wind shifts caused by the land and the trees. Especially trying to sail it back into the dock not using a motor at all. Phil likes the challenge, me not as much. I tend to freak out. Oh well, we have to have some fun once in a while.
May 25, 2009
Fishing continues to be great here this week, lots of Northern Pike and Pickerel being caught. The bugs are bad so if you are coming up soon, bring some bug gear. We also have some on hand in case you forget.
Phil is continues to do all sorts of projects. He just finished leveling cottage #3 and tiling all around to take the water away. It was something we wanted to do last year but with the exceptional amount of rain we had it was never dry enough. Believe it or not we haven't had much rain this spring and we are currently under an extreme high risk of fire alert for the area.
May 18, 2009
For those of you that check out the 'what's new' regularly, you might notice that there are some postings missing. Thats technology for you, I can't get them back and I don't remember what I said yesterday let alone a month ago!
This weekend was our opening weekend. As per usual the weather was not good, lots of rain on saturday. Sunday and monday are nice but unseasonably cold. The good news is this has held off the black flies a bit. Despite the weather we were over half full which was great. We have a group of regular guys that love to fish for Pickerel and that is there pictures you will see today on photo of the week. There first day here they caught about 18 fish, mostly pickerel (walleye) and some northern pike and crappy. On Sunday they caught a 3.5lb blue pickerel which is pictured in photo of the week. This is a first for us seeing a blue pickerel from our lake.
May 5, 2009
You can now see the pictures of our new cottage #10 under the accommodation section!
April 10, 2009
Spring is in the air again this weekend. Finally, after we got our last big blast of winter last weekend. Our snow was pretty much gone then we got 6 inches of heavy wet snow. What a sloppy mess our road is. We had been working on building a new cage and dock at cottage #6 (just for you Joe), when suddenly the water level rose to above the docks. It has started to recede now so we will be able to get back at it. But with the water level rising so much we discovered today that the dock at cottage #5 lifted off its cage support and floated over about 4 feet. So now I guess we have two docks to fix! Oh well at least it didn't happen in the middle of summer. With the sunny weather we are getting anxious to get outside and start raking and cleaning up the yard as soon as the ground dries a bit more.
Happy Easter to you and all your families!
March 14, 2009
Hope everyone is keeping well this winter. We are getting anxious for it to be over and get outside to do some work. The snow is melting good now and there isn't alot left except in the bush. There is still lots of ice on the lake though. But you know if the chipmunks are out of hibernation spring will be here soon. We are looking forward to seeing all the regular customers again that are begining to feel like family now. Looking forward to welcoming you all back.
Feb 8, 2009
2009 Summer Accomodation schedule is now available! Check it out under the accommodation tab.
Jan 30th, 2009
Wow the winter is just flying by here. Most people probably wouldn't say that with all the cold and snow for most everywhere this year. We can't complain too much though. For the most part we are enjoying the winter. Lots of projects on the go. Its nice to have the new workshop to work in this year. And the snow shovelling keeps up quite busy. We have already done all the roof's once before xmas and its looking like we might have to do them all again. Yipee.
Dec 7th, 2008
The full brunt of winter has decended upon up early this year. With snow falling almost everday since mid November. You will see from photo of the week that we have lots. Not complaining we just hope it stays cold this year and doesn't thaw in the middle of January again like last year. The ice is starting to form on the lake now which will make the snowmobiliers and the ice fisherman happy. Time to get those snow tires on the car soon. I had an unpleasant encouter with a deer on the highway last week. Lucky for me I wasn't going fast and both the deer and my car came away relatively unscathed.
Oct 26th, 2008
Well the camp is all closed up and tucked in for the winter now. Last Tuesday the skies opened up and the white stuff fell out. Leaving us with about 3 inches of snow. We were not prepared for that! This put an abrupt stop to the raking of leaves. Progress has been made on the new buidling and it is nearing completion. We will be spending the winter doing some final touches to it and it will be ready to go in the spring.
Sept 28, 2008
Every once in a while someone asks us. Why do you want to live up here year round? So far from the city? What do you do for entertainment, where do you go? Sometimes its hard to put into words but I read an article in our local paper the other day that summed it up pretty good. The columnist lives in the North and recently spent two weeks in Toronto. She says she was deaf from the blaring of horns and sirens and traffic noise. It saddened her that she couldn't hear the wings of the birds as they flew overhead or the crickets at night. And the sadest sight was the stress of the faces in the crowd as people with furrowed brows rushed around with anxious eyes. We often see this on the faces of people as they rush up here to start their weeks vacation. All stressed from the drive, all stressed because their cell phones do not work, all stressed becuase their work place won't be able to call them and interrupt their vacation! Oh my, imagine a vacation without being bothered by your boss! Then after a couple of days we see these same people and they have this relaxed look about them, they are walking slower, they are reading more, taking afternoon naps. They comment how they have not slept this much in years! Maybe its because they can truely allow their body for the first time in years to relax. Get back to nature and enjoy hearing the birds and the crickets. And seeing the great Blue Heron sitting on the end of the dock and listening to the Loons cry. The smallest and simpliest of things entertain us. The other days we sat watching a squirrel throwing pine cones out of a tree then gathering them all up to hide for the winter. And I enjoy watching the chip munks con all the tourists into feeding them bag after bag of sunflower seeds as they fill their under ground bunkers. We don't need big screens and fancy restaurants. Sure once in a while we endulge ourselves with a trip to the city, but when we do it makes is that much more of a special treat and we are always ready to come home to the silence in our little peace of heaven at the end.
Sept 26, 2008
Work is progressing on our new building and cottage. The deck is now built, the drywall is now up on the inside. The bathroom almost complete. Next the Pine will be going up. It feels good to get back to working on the building as we had to stop all work in the spring to get the resort ready to open. We are hoping to have it completed over the next couple of months.
Sept 22, 2008
This past weekend we enjoyed hosting the 2nd annual Therapuetic Touch weekend retreat. The weather was cool but beautiful. A good time was had by all and we look forward to hosting it again next year! Every once in a while we need a reminder of where we live and what beauty we have around us and how very fortunate we are. Sometimes we get wrapped up in the work and forget. The TT ladies always help me to see things through different eyes. Thank you ladies!
Sept 1, 2008
I can't believe it is September already. The weather is fantastic and we have been doing lots of swimming. This is the weather we should have had this summer. Its a really nice time of year to be here. The water is still warm about 75 degrees. Lots of Bass are still being caught, a few Pike and even a few Pickerel are starting to come on again.
August 24, 2008
What a beautiful week weather wise here finally. The only day we had some rain was Saturday of course, that makes it challenging trying to get the resort ready for our full turn over. And drives Phil crazy bailing all the boats. This weeks forecast coming up is even nicer. I guess we are finally getting the summer we should have had earlier. We are hoping for a beautiful fall also. The fall colours should be awesome this year with all the rain we have had. The tree colours should be vibrant. We are already seeing some hints of colour change here and there. Yes hard to believe they are starting to change this early.
August 17, 2008
Wow! Today Roy D. who has been coming here for years and years caught a Large Mouth Bass weighing in at 6 1/2lbs, measuring almost 19" in length and a 14" Girth. That is the biggest Bass we have seen caught since we have been here.
August 16, 2008
Finally we have several days in a row with no rain! The weather has been awesome the last few days, not too hot, not too cool and no rain. Despite that the lake level continues to be quite high, the water temp is around 75 degrees F.
Two young brothers Josh and Ryan were very excited last night to catch a 25" 3 1/2 lbs Pke and a 1lb 12 1/2 inch Small Mouth Bass. I will be posted their picture shortly on the website.
On another note, for all you high tech gadget people, this is worth a mention. Lately we have had several people come up relying solely on their GPS system to get here. This has not worked out so well for them as their GPS tells them that they are going the wrong way and to turn around. This has resulted in several people getting lost and taking an extra long time to get here. I guess Loring and Port Loring have not 'made it on the map' so to speak. We have also had similiar problems with google maps and mapquest also. It is best to just use the old fashioned way of looking at a road map or just following the directions right here on the website.
Aug 10, 2008
Fising continues to be good, a 14lb Pike was caught the other day. Momma Loon and her baby's have been spotted several times on the lake. It is quite a site to see as she teaches them to fish. Some guests have taken some real nice picture and I'm hoping they will send me some for the photo of the week when they can. Some warmer weather is promised on the way this week according to the weather man, we are hoping he is acurate for once!
Aug 3, 2008
Overall it has been a cooler than normal summer. The water temp is about 74 degrees F. Which makes for a great fishing season. The fish have not retreated to deeper waters since the temp has stayed down. Lots of people in swimming, the water is nice and refreshing.
Last week 6 yr old Alexander was fishing off the main dock mainly catching some little sun fish when all of a sudden a 4lb Bass jumped on his line. You can imagine his surprise! He was quite excited to share his story with everyone.
July 8, 2008
The weather has been nice and pleasant the last couple of weeks, finally not too much rain. We just had a little today but just enough to freshen things up. Lots of kids here this week so the beach has been getting a real workout everyday with the warm weather. There are still some nice size fish being caught as you can see from the 39" Pike caught on photo of the week. A real nice small mouth Bass was caught the other day also, 17" 4 3/4lbs.
June 28th, 2008
Wow, what a shock to our system to all of a sudden have the camp booked to capacity today! Of course it had to rain and rain some more as we were checking people in. We were spoiled with about 5 days of solid nice weather before that. We did finally get our first swim of the year in yesterday, water temp was about 72 F. It felt pretty good.
One question we keep getting asked by people planning a trip up is "Do you have high speed internet access"? NO. "Do you have Cell service"? NO. Leave the lap tops and the cells at home you are suppose to be on vacation to get away from all that stuff! By the end of the week you will be sad to strap that cell phone back on and head back to the digital, high speed, face paced world! We don't miss it a bit.
June 13, 2008
Happy Friday the 13th! If you are trying to get a hold of us by phone, please don't give up! We have had some issues with the phone service up here the last couple of days, not just us but the whole area including North Bay. Reports of people trying to call us and not getting through and not getting our voice mail. This has also been intemittantly affecting our internet service as well. Please don't give us and try us again! Your best bet is probably email as I'm not sure the phone is completely straightened out yet.
Since my last post we have had rain, cold, rain, then hot and humid again today, then rain. Well you get the idea. The lake level is real high right now. The water temp has reached 70 F (19 C) today. We were temped to go for a swim, last weekend we actually had some people in swimming. Its got to be a little hotter for me yet.
June 6, 2008
Very hot and humid here today! Quite a change for us as this time last week we had the furnace going. It was hot enough to swim, but the water is not that warm yet, but give it a few more days. This hot weather will also chase off the black flies which Jeannine will be very happy about because she doesn't have many more spots left to bite. We have a group of fishermen in again this weekend and today a 24" Pickerel was caught not too far off shore.
Jun 1, 2008
Bruce and the boys left today but not before catching another 28" Pickerel which they released and a 36" Pike. Way to go guys! Of course it rained most of the wknd and today the sun came out and it warmed up quite a bit. It looks like a nice week of weather on the way this week. Maybe I can actually get my garden in if the black flies don't carry me away.
May 30, 2008
The Dobie group is here fishing this weekend. Wow they have enough fishing gear to supply the whole camp! They are some serious fishermen though. Most people have been using live bait and have been quite successful. Well this morning they caught a 29" Pickerel on a Rapala! Of course this is one of our big breeders and it was released. They also caught some nice size Northern Pike also. Several Bass were also caught and released. Hopefully the rain isn't too bad this weekend for them! Although the fish don't seem to mind the rain.
May 25, 2008
The weather this weekend has been beautiful, a contrast to last weekend for sure. We have two groups of fishermen in this weekend. They have been catching some Pike and Pickerel and practising catch and release. I think the bugs have been getting the best of them! If you are planning on coming up soon you should consider bringing your bug jackets, serioulsy the black flies are bad and so are the mosquitos.
For those of you that know us personally you will appreciate this story. So yesterday after working our tails off staining cottage decks most of the day we decided to go for a little boat ride to visit our friends at Old Mirror. When we arrived we found out that they were not there but were out for a canoe. We were happy and surprised to see our friend Hans there with his small Float Plane. We decided to drink our wine that we had brought for Urs & Verena with Hans and his friend. After rumaging around in a cottage we managed to find some glasses and a cork screw. After about an hour our glasses dry and Urs & Verena not back from canoeing yet we contemplated coming back here to get more wine. Hans readily agreed and said he would fly us back. We all hopped in his plane and flew back to our resort to get more wine! You can imagine the looks on our guests faces as the float plane pulled up to the dock and we emerged. By the time we got back to Old Mirror our friends were back from canoeing and joined us for a glass of wine. This could only happen in the North!
May 22,2008
Well I finally got back to the website. It has been still crazy busy around here and I have been getting outside work done on the cottages dodging rain drops and blackflies! Oh my god they were bad today. How come they always know when I have a tool in each hand.
I received an email from cottage #5 & #6 from the long weekend and instead of typing out their success numbers, I thought I'd be lazy and I just copied Terrys email into the Guest Book for you all to read...he is a bit of a writer it seems. Thanks Terry and looking forward to seeing you all again.
May 19, 2008
Well the Victoria Day Long weekend is almost at a close. The weather has sure been crappy, typical for this weekend each year, right? We had a cold front move in on a beautiful sunny and warm Friday afternoon with lots of wind and moisture. I didn't know Rain-Suits came in so many different colours!
BUT...it sure did not dampen the fishing abilities of our new guests, the 'Brunell-Party' and subscribers to Ontario-out-of-Doors! WOW! Have they found the hot spots for the Pickerel. They just came in with 3 more beauties of good eating size and back out now for some more. Their biggest this weekend has been a 6 pound male over 24" in length, which was their, "ONE-over -18" ...allowed to keep. Great to have you guys here. Welcome.
Wayne Browning is here again from Barrie with good friend Ron and his two children, Alex and Shelby. They are having good luck too despite the weather. As I was bringing them firewood and collecting their garbage last night, I could smell their fish fry of Pickerel and Pike cooking. Sure smelled good!
And speaking of Pike, Wayne just wrestled in a monster off the main dock, with a minnow on a hook and bobber. Of course Alex, the fish cleaning wizard, was there with the net to help out. Jeannine caught it with our camera but he released it before we could weigh it. It did measure 42" though. Nice fish Wayne. C'mon, your turn Shelby.
Ron will be sending me a picture of the 181/2" Small Mouth Bass he landed and released yesterday. He says it took over 10 minutes to bring into the boat. Looking forward to seeing that.
Watch our Website for all the 'new pictures' from the whole weekend. I still have to check with Cottages #5, #6 and #8, as they are still out and not reported their luck to me yet.
April 24, 2008
Well with record heat here the last week, the ice has completely gone out of the lake now. Its been quite hot doing the yard work, we are almost ready for our first swim... almost. The Fish enhancement guys are here netting the Pickerel for the hatchery. Its less than 3 wks now before we open and as usual, too many projects on the go and wondering if we will be ready!
April 8, 2008
You can now see our Ontario Out of Doors article by clicking on the link on our home page!
March 30, 2008
Exciting news.... check out the latest issue of Ontario Out of Doors magazine! There is a feature article on Northern Lights Resort. We haven't even seen it yet ourselves but the response from the readers has been awesome. Apparently it hasn't even hit the newstand yet as we have not been able to find a copy. Once we get one we will put posting it on the site here.
March 15, 2008
We have now added a availability calander on our rates page under accommodations. If you are looking to book this summer check it out.
Check out the photo of the week and saw the cute little Barred Owl. He was sitting on our roof above our bird feeder the other night catching mice or moles chomping on the bird seed. We were able to capture a few cool photo's while it just sat there and looked at us.
Feb 20, 2008
Same old weather story, freeze, snow, rain, ice, melt, repeat. We have never seen our road be such a skating rink all the way out to the hwy before. Its just crazy.
Progress on our new building has been slow, we are hoping to get working on it again soon. The hydro should be hooked up to the building this week.
We watched the lunar eclipse tonight, it was pretty cool. It was a perfectly clear night for viewing it. The lake is moaning and groaning right now too which is really neat. If you have ever lived on a lake that freezes in the wintertime you will now what I mean. It makes all kinds of strange noises as it freezes more. If you didn't know what it was you would think their were aliens out there.
Feb 5, 2008
Over the next couple of months I will be updating the website, adding some new pictures and changing a few things. If you are one of the many that have sent me some pictures, please be patient I will be adding some of them shortly. I do appreciate all the fantastic photo's that you all send us.
The weather is still unpredicatble. We did not get that big storm sweeping across most of south and central ontario. The temps have dropped back down though which will be good for the ice conditions on the area lakes. Our lake has about 8 inches of ice or so. Some areas have been slushy here and there do to all the thaw and refreezes with snow on top. Not making for ideal conditons. There are some snowmobilers on the ice but they have to stick to the same tracks or get bogged down in the slush.
Jan 31, 2008
Yes I know it has been way to long since I've updated this. Phil & I went away for a week just before xmas, then I had a doosy of cold till new years. Then I had my foot operated on and still have the cast on as I speak. It will be off in another week. So it has been a busy and strange winter for us. With me not being very mobile. Phil is about to start insulating the new building apt/workshop and begin finishing the inside. So that will keep us very busy till spring. It has been a strange winter here weather wise like everywhere else. We have had two complete thaw's in January, with high winds and rain. Currently we do have about 4-5 inches of snow but expecting another thaw day next week. The ice on the lake is not in perfect condition as you can imagine it is quite slushy. A few snowmobiles have been on it however.
People are now calling for summer reservations and things are filling up quickly. So if you haven't confirmed or booked yet, now is the time!
Dec 3, 2007
Its that time of year again when the malls are crowded and everyone's busy preparing for the holidays. I prefer not to shop during this time! It makes me glad I live in the middle of the bush.
We've had a huge snow dump these last few days and we have been out snow shoeing. The first time out I couldn't catch my breath and thought I was having heart failure. All is well now! The lake is just starting to freeze around the edges and in the bay, it won't be long now if it stays cold.
Nov 23, 2007
Progess on the new building has been slow. Not alot of luck getting an electrician here. We now have some significant snow on the gound. It was real pretty this morning as you will see on photo of the week. Won't be long we will be snow shoeing.
Nov 12, 2007
Well we have had our first snow fall last week, but it didn't really amount to anything and is already gone. We are still working on the building here and there. We need an electrician to get the wiring done before we can proceed much further. Anyone out there want to barter?!! I have posted some pictures finally on photo of the week of the new building so everyone can see our progress.
Our 2008 rates are now posted on the website. There is also a printable version as well.
Oct 15, 2007
After seven straight days of rain, construction of our new workshop and apartment has been taking place this past weekend. The building is now framed, roof is on and windows are in! We have our work cut out for us this winter as we will be finishing the inside ourselves. I'll post some pictures of the construction process shortly on photo of the week. We are quite excited to get started on it!
Oct 8, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving! Well, after the last guests leave today we are officially closed for the 2007 season. It went out with a bang so to speak! We had a big electrical storm on Friday night here. Lets just say no one had any sleep. At about 5:30 in the morning right after getting nicely back to sleep a very loud CRACK shook the whole resort. Of course the power went out with that one. Power was restored by 8:00am. Later in the day we discovered that the boat house took a direct hit. We are not sure why it didn't go up in flames other than there was higher powers looking out for us. The panel box was blown right off the wall, face places blown off the light switches. The fridge was black with smoke marks, the beer was still in tack! Phil's little radio on top of the fridge was blown apart to pieces. I could go on and on here, but I think you get the picture.
We'd like to thank everyone for their business this year and look forward to seeing you all in 2008. Even though we will be closed for the season shortly, we will still be here working away and accepting reservations for the 2008 season.
Sep 24, 2007
Wow! What a great week of weather we have had. The Therapeutic Touch Retreat was awesome and a good time was had by all. 40 women decended upon NLR for a weekend of fun and learning. The Retreat still has a nice energy hanging around even after all were gone. Phil & I sort of have the Resort back to normal now thanks to our good friend Colleen that stuck around to help with the clean up. We managed to take a day off in between though and head of the river to the Pickerel River Dam. Exploring all around the Dam was the highlight of the trip. Thanks Colleen!
Sept 17, 2007
The fall colours are starting and everything is beautiful. This weekend is the Therapeutic Touch Retreat! The weather couldn't be more perfect.
Ever hear of a fresh water Jelly fish? Some guest of ours last week found a patch of jelly fish on toad lake and brought one back to us in a container. We called the MNR bioligist and found out that they are actually quite common. Who would have thought? Their presense is good news and means the lakes are healthy.
Aug 31, 2007
Beautiful weather, cooler nights! Some of the leaves are starting to change on the trees. It seems early for that. Our buddy Parry is still around, entertaining the guests and following them up the road on their walks. We have also spotted nine of Parry's sibblings around also! Very awesome!
Aug 17, 2007
Cool and rainy today, even some hail fell from the sky! We needed the rain, but I could have passed on the hail. Suppose to warm up and gradually get nicer.
Aug 14, 2007
Lots of large Northern Pikes caught last week, even a 39 incher! Way to go Don!
If you are coming up this weekend, the nights are getting cooler now. Its only been about 10-12 degrees C through the nights. Highs during the day around 20-22C. Just a nice comfortable temperature. No humidity and not many bugs now. Water temp is still up there, about 76.
July 27, 2007
The weather has been beautiful this past two weeks. We had a small shower last night over night then today was nice. Suppose to be sunny and warm for the next week. Swimming is great right now, water temp about 74 degrees. The fishing has been awesome these last two weeks. Justin and his brother Tyler had alot of luck this week catching lots of Pickerel and Bass. Justin caught a 16 inch 2 1/2 lb Pickerel the other day. Today Tyler caught a Northern Pike 27" weighing in about 4 1/2lbs. Way to go guys!
July 15, 2007
Started out a nice day today, clouded over with a few showers this afternoon. Then cleared up to be a beauty day. Still is a little cooler than normal for this time of year. A nice 32 inch Northern Pike was caught this morning. Lots of Bass being caught as well.
July 11, 2007
Big storm whipped through last night, lots of heavy rains, luckily no major damage and the power stayed on! Its alot cooler here today with no humidity which is nice. Despite the weather still lots of fish being caught. Mostly Bass, but some Pickerel also.
July 8th, 2007
The water temp is about 72 degrees F. It has been as high as 79, but with some cooler weather last week is has gone back down. This means the fishing has been good though! Lots of 2 + lbs Bass being caught. Even a 22 inch Pickerel was caught on the weekend. Lots of people swimming and spending time on the beach with the warmer weather the last couple of days.
July 1, 2007
Happy Canada Day!
June 19, 2007
Finally we had some nice rains the last couple days. It was very much needed with all the heat we have been having lately. This has cooled things down quite a bit now. Just right for Phil and a little on the cool side for Jeannine. Good for sleeping at night. Phil has finished working on 'Betsy' yesterday. She is getting quite old now and is getting harder to keep her in good shape for the regulars that want her. In case you don't know what I'm talking about Betsy is our 18ft wooden giesler boat. She is a favorite by many regular customers so we are trying to preserve her. We took her for a ride today in the high winds and its amazing how she just glides through the water with ease. Handles like a charm. Now Phil is turning his attention to 'Billy' our newest giesler and Phil's new project. Yes we are nuts and yes we name everything around here. Hey we live in the North now what can we say? We have to keep ourselves entertained somehow.
June 17, 2007
Happy Father's Day!
June 16, 2007
Fishing continues to be great. Some nice pickerel and northern pike caught this week! The weather has been absolutely beautiful this past week.
June 9, 2007
Weather is back to normal, swimming again! Fishing has been great. We have enjoyed a few feeds of Pickerel (Walleye) thanks to Tim Allard and also thanks to one of our guests. Black flies are completely gone.
June 5, 2007
Snow in June!
June 4, 2007
Northern Lights welcomes Tim Allard, Field writer from Ontario Out of Doors for a few days!
June 2, 2007
Its been quite hot and humid here, lots more swims in by all! Water temp is warming nicely, about 20C or 70F. Lots of fish being caught this week also. Some nice Northern Pikes and also a few nice Pickerel (walleye).
May 29, 2007
First swim of the year, it was a little cool yet! Phil's never seen me swim so fast.
May 25, 2007
Almost hot enough to day to go for a swim! It was 29 degrees Celius here today. Too hot to work outside with the black flies. We had a pretty busy long weekend this past weekend. It was a good start to the season. Some nice Northern Pike were caught and enjoyed. Pickerel season opened on the weekend too and we are expecting they will be coming on strong here as the fish hatchery were quite successful spawning the Pickerel from our lake earlier this spring.
The Trilluims are in full bloom here and are being enjoyed by many people taking pictures. Some rare green ones have been seen in addition to the reds, pinks and white ones. I hope to post some pics of them soon.
Be sure to check out the Last Minute Specials and deals page there are some awesome Last Minute Travel Deals on there. I have also posted the July & August cottage vacancies. If you haven't booked your family summer vacation yet, now is the time to do so before its too late!
May 9, 2007
Hello Amigo's!
All is well here at NLR. We have been working our little buns off getting the resort ready for opening on May 18th. We have been doing some minor renovations around here. For those that stay in cottages #2, 3, 5 or 6 you will notice some changes and improvements this year. We have also built a new laundry building to replace the old one. The facilities will be quite nice now for those that wish to do their laundry while staying with us. We hope you like the changes.
In other news, Parry the partridge is still around crazy as ever. Woody the large Pilated woodpecker has been seen pecking at his reflection in the windows. The chipmunk population seems to have soared this year, get ready to feed them they are hungry! The Trilliums are in full bloom now and the brillant reds and whites can be seen throughout the resort.
We have been enjoying about 2 weeks of beautiful weather here which has been real nice for working. So far the black flies haven't carried me away yet. Maybe I'm getting immune? I have to laugh though when I see the high school students waiting for the school buses on the side of the roads frantically waving their hands at the bugs. Don't they know yet that they love perfumy, gel spiked hair! I must be settling into the norhern life as I've learned what not to do to keep the bugs away. And if all else fails I wear a bug suit until they are gone! Usually by June they have left.
The summer is almost filled up, if you haven't booked your vacation yet you better do it soon! We are looking forward to seeing all the repeats guests back again this year. My how a year flies by! See you all soon.
April 6, 2007
Happy Easter everyone! Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend with family and friends. What about this snow we are having? We have about 2 inches or so. Looks like Old Man winter doesn't want to set us free just yet.
The other day we watched a great movie called An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. If you haven't watched it yet, you owe it to yourself to see it. It is a candid look at the Climate Crisis we are all facing. The movie is very well done and is a real eye opener. If half of the people in the world that watch it and decide to take some action I think it will make a difference. Being energy conscious is something we have always tried to do at the Resort. Some of the things we have done and will continue to do is we are starting to replace 30 yr old appliances with new energy efficient ones. Everytime we replace a light bulb in the cottage we use the new energy saver ones. The other thing we do is turn off the outdoor high voltage overhead lights in the evening rather than leaving them on all night long as was previously done. Already this past year we have noticed a huge difference in our energy consumption just with those small changes. Now after seeing this movie we will continue to look at ways that we can improve and do our part.
There are alot of simple things that we can all do to make a difference. Please visit http://www.climatecrisis.net/ to see what you can do to tread more lightly on this planet, our home. And if you haven't already watch the movie and tell everyone you know!
March 28, 2007
Hello everyone. Well our mild winter is over, the snow is almost all gone, the ice is melting on the lake. All the chipmunks are out of hibernation raiding my bird feeders. Soon the Loons will be here. Summer bookings are filling up fast and it is soon time for us to start getting the resort ready to open in May. The weather has been so nice this week I'm anxious to get outside and do some yard work before the black fly season. Last night we went for a walk and saw 4 deer passing through the resort, its nice to see. Parry the Partridge is still around, we have discovered that we can feed him corn and I had him eating right out of my hand. He still follows us as we walk down the road. This winter we have been helping Elmer feed the deer in Arnstein and are happy to be doing that. This year we are happy to see our "Little Lady" deer friend back with her fawn which we've named "Little Man". Phil can call him and he comes running right up to him for his special little pile of feed. We can also see that Little Lady is expecting another fawn this year. Its exciting to watch them from year to year and its something we really enjoy.
I will be posting some spring fishing specials and packages on the Last Minute Deals page soon so keep an eye out for that. Shortly I will also be posting the summer cottage vacancies. We are looking forward to another exciting year and welcoming back all of our loyal repeat guests and their families. It will be nice to see everyone again!
You may have noticed that you can no longer post comments on the guest page. I had to turn that feature off due to the high amount of spam. They are such a pain. If anyone wants to post anything just send it to us in an email. I plan to turn the feature back on during peak season though so you will be able to post directly again.
Jan 3, 2007
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a nice holiday season and are enjoying the new year. This mild weather has been great for holiday travel and all the hub bub that christmas brings. But not so great for the ice fishing or snowmobiling. All of our snow is completely gone and the ice that was on the lake is now gone also. We feel like we are living in southern Ontario again! I guess we didn't move far enough north! I'm not complaining, but I have become quite fond of the snow and the outdoor activities. And this global warming thing can't be good for the polar bears either! Have a great New Year everyone and we will see you in less than 7 months...
Dec 3, 2006
Well we just received our first real snow fall of the season the other day. About 5 inches of the fluffy white stuff fell. Today we awoke to a few more inches and its still snowing now. Everything always looks so nice and clean and fresh. I took a couple of pictures for the photo of the week. We may even go for our first snow shoe in the bush today, I'm imagining we won't make it far as it is very hard and we are way out of shape!
Oct 24, 2006
The resort is now closed for the season. We are busy getting all the cottages winterized and things put away for the winter. The water level has been quite high these last couple of weeks due to all the rain and snow. Thankfully the snow is not sticking around yet. We are looking forward to resting up a bit once everything is done. We are still here however and accepting reservations for the 2007 season.
You may have noticed from the photo of the week that Parry the Partridge is still around. The crazy bird was helping Phil to cut up a tree that had fallen over. Next month Parry will become famous when he will be featured in "Our Canada" magazine in a story that we submitted. Make sure you pick up a copy.
Oct 13, 2006
Snow!
Oct 12th, 2006
I made my first snow ball of the year today! Yup thats right, snow... today we had rain, hail, sun and snow. Hopefully this won't last long!
Oct 10, 2006
We had a nice treat today! Our friend Hans Peter from Switzerland landed his float plane on our lake and taxied up to our dock to pick us up. We both enjoyed a nice flight over the area. The weather was real clear and we were able to see Georgian Bay and Manitoulin Island. What a special treat this was for us! Check out the pictures on photo of the week.
Oct 9th, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. It was a busy time here this weekend and the weather was great! Most of the leaves are off the trees! Happy raking, yipee!
Sep 28th, 2006
Well, we made it to Lake Arthur with Urs & Verena. It is a beautiful hike in on the trail. The day we went was warm and sunny and the leaves were colourful. Lake Arthur is awesome and well worth the hike. Our little boat that is parked there is perfect for the lake. Anyone looking for a little something different to do for a day would enjoy this.
Sept 25th, 2006
Yes, I know, "long time no write". What can I say, we have had a really busy summer. It has finally slowed a bit. The weather the last couple of weeks has been cool and rainy. I'm hoping it will come
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