A Lunch With History

It was my lucky week -- I not only got to cruise on the S.S. Bigwin, but I was invited for lunch on the Island....

The general manager, Jonathan Gee was very kind and took the time to escort my friend Norma and me around the island by golf cart after our lunch.

Which was fabulous.

The old tea room has been fully restored, and it is a beautiful space. It is now being used for yoga, massage therapy and as the kitchen when there are tented events on the site of the old rotunda. So wonderful that this bit of history has been preserved and not just torn down and replaced by square box construction!



Fireplaces from the old Rotunda have also been preserved -- Norma is quite dwarfed by this one, which served two floors of the old building.

And yes, Jonathan tells us that they still work, and on occasion do have fires burning...




The views from the course are fabulous. This is the signature 6th Fairway... dropping down what seems like forever to the green, and with a wonderful view of the lake beyond.

 The old Water Tower was also restored -- and now houses and hides the tower equipment that provides for high speed internet on the Island.  Smart.    This tower was built out of cement that was hauled up from a barge on the lake on a pulley that brought up 5 gallon pails of cement on at a time -- the labourers would unhook the pail, dump the cement, and hook it back on for the return trip.  It was a constant stream of buckets... and the sand that mixed with the mortar came from our farm at Bondi. So this tower is part of our connection to this Island!


 We are told this is Chief Bigwin's Stone -- can you see the profile???


Legend says that if the stone is removed, the Island will fail, so they are careful to keep it nice and safe, just in case.


The 18th hole drops down from behind the cottages where Queen Juliana of the Netherlands lived during WWII.  There is a lot more history here than you might think!