The Big Apple in Colborne

I thought I'd mention the 'Big Apple' as a side trip on the Waterfront Trail.  Actually if you've ever seen it off of Highway 401, you might be surprised to know that the people of Colbourne have put the apple on a pedestal-quite literally.   The town has become famous for their 'Big Apple' Hey not even New York has one this big! 

It's more than 10 metres high and 38 tonnes in mass, making it the biggest apple in the world.  Located a few minutes north of downtown Colbourne its a year round park.  The main building has a tourist centre, gift shop, bakery (apple pies perhaps?) and two restaurants.

I don't have any young kids anymore, but it is a neat place for everyone as it has a mini golf range, picnic and play areas and in the warmer months a petting zoo.  There's also a working beehive, which I'd like to check out someday.  Of course you'd be viewing from behind the safety of plexi-glass, but I love bees!  You can see them busy at work making honey.  Did you know that without bees polinating the apple blossoms, the trees wouldn't bear fruit...but that's another story.

Gus Harris Trail

I admit it, its not quite green enough yet, but it's getting there...  Our weather has been so confused lately promising us warm days ahead and waking up to blankets up to our noses!  But, spring has sprung and with it promises longer days and yes, warmer ones too.   

The Gus Harris Trail, which was christened on June 1, 2002, was named in honour of Augustus John (Gus) Harris, who was a career politician.  Like Kay Gardner (see the Gardner Beltline Trail in this blog), Gus served his city tirelessly in a variety of different roles and eventually becoming the mayor of Scarborough Township in 1979-88.  He passed away in February 20, 2000 due to his complication of Parkinson's Disease.  Yet another sad tale of a man who's honor was given to him after his death.  I could never understand this philosophy and it happens often.



We reached the trail very late in the day passing through from the east and travelling to the west, which is why most of the pictures are in the mode of the sun setting.    You can reach the Gus Trail off of Pharmacy Avenue, just a little north of Victoria park.  It's not a particularly large section of parkland but you won't be disappointed and despite the preceding photographs, there's much to love about this trail.  

 
A little historical fact (of course) was during the last ice age, this section of Warden Woods Park was once a part of the natural shoreline of Glacial Lake Iroquois!  The sandy soil of the ravine, has been ravaged over the years which have made city workers busy.  The most severe problem is soil erosion which has been somewhat eradicated with rock walls embedded in mesh to prevent flooding and further erosion.

I wanted to mention the footbridge that you'll see a few hundred metres into the trail.  It crosses the creek, and the other side offers dozens of several foot trail that weave their way into the forests of maples and oak trees.  I had my zoom lens ready to take my first decent shot of a wide variety of birds I saw overhead, including one woodpecker, which was evident by sound.  

Unfortunately as it was quite late into the day, so I didn't get THE shot of the bird I was hoping for :)