Madeline Island, all I ever dreamed of…

22nd – 29th June: Days 75 – 82

Our only stop in Wisconsin is Madeline Island, the only inhabited of the 21 Apostle Islands. These are a cluster of islands just off the shore in Lake Superior, protected as National Shoreline Park.  A small car ferry makes the 20 minute trip from the small, quiet, picturesque mainland harbour of Bayfield to tiny, sleepy, beautiful La Pointe, the only settlement on the island.  Madeline has a long history as a port and fort, with interactions between Native Americans, fur trappers and traders, loggers, prospectors and missionaries. Now it is all about holidays. The island is 15 miles long by 3 miles wide, has 3000 residents in summertime, but only 300 ‘year-rounders’. The winter residents can drive their cars across the ice to Bayfield once it has frozen thick enough. Difficult to imagine when visiting in June.

We had stocked up with provisions on the mainland, did the laundry in La Pointe and then headed out of town the 6.5 miles to our camp.  The only camping on the island is in 2 parks halfway up the island on a big bay called Big Bay. One is a State Park and the other is owned by the town called Big Bay Town Park. Logical. We were in Town Park which was a lovely wooded camp with large secluded sites, fire pits, a beach and a lagoon. The roads to and from La Point were fairly flat, wide, smooth and had designated cycle lanes. A fantastic place to be on 2 wheels.  The hottest business in town on a sunny day is the moped rental outfit.

We had 7 nights here and after getting installed on a lovely warm afternoon we started island life with sundowners on the beach and sausages cooked on an open fire. Bliss.

The next day we saddled up and rode back to La Pointe. The island was beautiful, the verges filled with wild lupins, and loads of amazing waterfront holiday homes with their own docks. I can see why this place is a popular holiday spot.

 

Our chief objective today: to find somewhere we could watch the next 2 Americas Cup sailing races the next day. The Beach Club, a bar overlooking the ferry wharf, fitted the bill perfectly. We had lunch sat up at the bar admiring the view and chatted to a local called Leon, a slightly unkempt retired lawyer, who seemingly now fills his days with margaritas.  We headed home, stocked up with firewood and had another evening sitting around and cooking on the fire. Our planned stargazing was curtailed by some rain, so we headed in and broke out Breaking Bad Season 3. Now we’ve started something…

Undeterred by the threat of showers we cycled back into La Pointe in the late morning to stake our claim by a TV at The Beach Bar for the sailing. The bar was filled with Harley Bikers, but as they were not apparently sailing fans we found a quiet spot in the corner and watched the racing on mute. NZ are comfortably ahead, but we’ve been here before…. Back at the homestead, in a rare outbreak of domestic goddess-itis, I baked brownies. (Confession: packet mix). This really is fancy camping.

The rain arrived with a vengeance the next day. Pretty much all day. Under the shelter of our large umbrella we trudged the 300m down to the camp office to use the wifi in the morning and watched DVDs and ate brownies in the afternoon. Our the Tin Can is small, but has enough mod-cons to make a rainy day more than bearable. We even actually read our real paper books. (Yup, thats what no wifi/4G will drive you to.)

We had booked a 7 hour boat trip for the following day, and awoke to ongoing rain. We had no way of finding out if the trip was still running as there was also no cell reception out at the park, so we just had to go anyway. This was a minor kerfuffle as we took the whole shebang to town, planning to swing by the island dump station on the way home. (Woop-de-poop…) The weather gods were kind to us though and the rain turned into sunshine, although there was a cool breeze. The trip was in an open 7m sports boat with a 8L petrol inboard, with a very nice young man called Kyle as skipper and a father and son as the only other 2 passengers. We bashed around the islands looking at shipwrecks, lighthouses and had a stop for a walk on an amazing deserted beach. It definitely reminded us of parts of the Bay Of Islands, but the water is much colder. Still only 41 degrees at this time of year. No swimming was contemplated. The main destination for the trip was one the outermost islands called Devils Island. It has fantastic sandstone cliffs which are multicoloured and eroded into amazing caves and shapes by the water and weather.

The lovely Kyle sorted out some inflatable kayaks and we were able to get up close and personal with the formations.  A good day. We arrived back windswept and happy to hear that the Kiwis had secured victory in the Americas Cup.

Day 5 on the island was beautiful: sunny and warm.  We biked back into La Pointe again and spent 3-4 hours drinking coffee, eating, catching up with wifi, visiting galleries, shops and the museum, and generally soaking up the easygoing island vibe. This is a sweet spot. The 13 mile round trip on the bikes is a bit further than ideal, but it is earning us some calorie credits. Damage limitation on the waistlines. The evening was warm and still and we managed to sit out by the fire until dark. We were captivated by our first ever experience of fireflies, a bit freaked out by some rustling in the woods behind us that we were sure was a black bear cruising through, and amused by the 2 guilty looking raccoons that we caught  checking out our pile of empty beer cans.

As forecast, the next day turned out wetter than an otter’s pocket. We decided to go for a walk anyway, and at least managed to set off in the dry. The trail was 12 miles along the lakeshore, through a wood and round a headland. It was beautiful and unsurprisingly deserted, given the mild monsoon.  We arrived home drenched to our under layers, but with joy just about intact.  Amazing what a hot shower, a lovely cup of tea and a brownie can do to boost morale. We filled the rest of the day with more Breaking Bad episodes and it just rained and rained and rained.

In the morning we headed back to the ferry to return to the mainland to carry on our way. Madeline Island is a real little gem of a place and despite the rainy days we have loved our stay here. Another place to add to the list of places we would like to come back to.  An ever lengthening list. Next stop, Copper Harbor.