Photo Gallery of Lake Ontario

© Duchess O’Blunt, 2011; all rights reserved.
© All photographs in this hub are the property of the Duchess O'Blunt.

Lake Ontario is the smallest of the 5 Great Lakes in North America and shares a border between Canada and the United States. It is:

• 193 miles long
• 53 miles wide
• 726 miles of shoreline
• average depth of 283 feet.

The Province of Ontario - the Canadian side of the border - was named after Lake Ontario. In the Wyandot (Huron) language, Ontario translated, means "Lake of Shining Waters"¹.

Mother nature expresses all her moods over this beautiful, expansive fresh water lake and provides a home for many types of fish and foul.

Downstream, Lake Ontario feeds the St. Lawrence Seaway and eventually flows out to the Atlantic Ocean. There are many main rivers meandering throughout the Province that are fed by Lake Ontario.

It's no wonder there are so many major cities and ports of harbour located along her shores. Two such cities are Cobourg and Oshawa.

¹Work Cited: wikipedia

Settlers stared arriving in Cobourg in the late 1700's but she was officially incorporated as a town in 1837.

Homes built during this time had an American influence because of the ease of transportation to this Port of Cobourg who boasted a bustling railroad and harbour.²

Over 500 homes in Cobourg are designated as heritage homes of Ontario and were built in this time period. Downtown Cobourg still boasts their own Town Crier.

² Work Cited: Cobourg History

The city of Cobourg is well known for it's community, everyone knows everyone here.

Community activities such as the farmers market, the annual Ribfest and Highland Games are just a few.

Sailing races take place every Wednesday evening during the season, and if you work or live here, you are pretty much guaranteed to know at least one person who takes these races very seriously.

Every Halloween Cobourg hosts a Haunted Walk that is sure to delight and frighten.

Buses full of tourists stop to see the historical down town during Ontario's fall tours.

Shopping the downtown section is something you need to do when you are here. Shops are unique and eclectic.

Cobourg has one of the most popular beaches on the shores of Lake Ontario. Folks come from miles around, even other cities also on Lake Ontario.

During the summer you can almost always find a game of beach volleyball.

If you are planning on coming to Cobourg, a must see is the the annual Sand Castle contest, well know throughout Ontario, with contestants from all over the Province. Some say even farther afield, although I cannot attest to that personally.

It's too cold in the fall for a swim, but the beach is a wonderful place for a walk. Whether you prefer the morning or evening for your daily constitutional, you will more often than not catch wonderful glimpses of the sun rising or setting.

Like many cities, Oshawa grew into the metropolis of today from it's original trading post. In this case, the post was established in the mid 1700's and was primarily built to trade with the Indians of the Mississauga Tribe at Oshawa Creek.

In 1842, the settlers applied to the Government for a post office. The application was granted but a name had to be chosen for the post office. After several meetings with no clear winner, two visiting Indians were asked for their opinion. They suggested the Indian name "Oshawa", the literal translation of which is "that point at the crossing of the stream where the canoe was exchanged for the trail".³

Oshawa was accepted and was incorporated as a village in 1850.

³Work Cited: A Brief History Of The City of Oshawa

One of the most common known facts about Oshawa is that General Motors has one if it's major plants in the city. Colonel Robert Samuel McLaughlin came to Oshawa because of the rail and harbour facilities. Armed with a $50,000 interest-free loan from the Town of Oshawa, he built the McLaughlin Carriage Company which soon became the largest carriage works in the British Empire. The Colonel was a man to stay with the times, and noting the potential of the automotive industry, he established what today, is Oshawa's number one industry.

He built Parkwood Estates with his own indoor swimming pool, barber shop and bowling alley. This property sits directly across the street from Oshawa's hospital, is open to the public for viewing and has become a favorite place for wedding pictures and movie shoots.

Oshawa boasts their annual week long multi cultural family festival. Fiesta Week starts each year on Father's day.

Every fall, you can visit the Maple Syrup Festival at Purple Woods Conservation areal. They even have their own sugar shack. Tasty fun for the entire family.

Park on the lake

Lakeview Park, offers the community of Oshawa and surrounding area Museums, a park pavilion, expansive grounds, and sports fields for all types of organized sports.

Families take advantage of the playground, and the beach on hot, hazy summer days. The park benches and gazebo over the lake are the perfect place for a lunch break.

Every year this is the place to go for spectacular fireworks. Matches are set to the sulfur from boats far out in the water. The shores are lined with people. This is offered to the community free of charge and special bus routes are planned to provide transportation across the city for any who wish to view the show.

Down by the boardwalk

The Boardwalk is a beautiful, well maintained portion of a walk that travels from Park Road South in Oshawa, through to Toronto. Skaters, bikers and hikers enjoy many miles of the shoreline of Lake Ontario. For myself, I like it best early in the morning when only the animals are there to keep you company. Blessed peace and beautiful quiet are great companions for the glorious sunrises.

"Red sky in the morning - sailors take warning". . . the rest of us will enjoy the view.

The lake is always a great spot for spectacular sunrises or sunsets. As an amateur photographer (I might even go so far as to say a "wannabe" amateur photographer), the lake provides a perfect opportunity for me to take some great pictures. Some of them might even make the rest of the world think I know what I am doing.

To get these early morning shots, my husband and I had to get up at 4:30 am to get the beach in Oshawa before the sun actually peaked on the horizon.

The sun rose with a blush then burned bright bright red long enough for us to capture the morning's glorious views. The birds gave us our own private "fly by" and the raccoons and squirrels kept us company.

One of the things that I have recently learned is that sometimes the best shots are taken when you are not looking for them. We have recently acquired a new camera and it is one I have fallen in love with. As a result, I barely leave the house without it in my possession.

I like to drive along the back roads when I travel. I prefer them to the highway whenever possible because you can't just stop the car to take a snapshot of something that grabs your attention while driving at 120 kilometers. You just might make someone really mad.

So I drive along the narrow roads that are full of potholes because everyone else just seems to be in too much of a hurry, or are very careful not to scratch their vehicles to take the time to enjoy these roads. It's generally there that you can see those shots and actually stop to take them.

The solitary sailboat, the winter picture of the lake and the docked sailboats in the winter - all taken in this manner. Mind you they don't always turn out the best, but you keep shooting them because you just know that somewhere in the thousands of pictures you take, you will find that one special one.

I hope you have enjoyed these views as I have tried to do just that.

That one special shot is very elusive, but I keep searching.

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