Postcard From Manitoulin Island: Enchantment for children

"In the middle of a continent is a great lake. In that lake is a huge island, and in that island is a lake, and in that lake is Treasure Island..."

Not a children's story but a real place in Ontario that retains the wonders of childhood: a place where the stars twinkle more brightly, the deer emerge from the forest at twilight and the abundant fish are enchanted princes (that one's a fib).

This place is reached by giant canoe, that being the translation of the Ojibway word Chi-Cheemaun - and the name of the car ferry that connects the mainland nearly two hours away. A place of prelapsarian innocence, where no one locks their doors and you can drive the 160km length of the island without coming across a single McDonald's.

In the vacations of my misguided youth, I was not impressed by the fact that Manitoulin Island is the world's largest island in a freshwater lake. The isle in Lake Huron was Hicksville, Ontario: full of cousins who greased their hair and considered a Farquhar's Dairy ice cream (still made on the island) a major treat. Yet all the while those family holidays were creating a childhood idyll that is just as accessible now. Today visiting children mess around in boats. They can learn to do a back dive off the end of a dock and body-surf at the pristine, dune-backed Carter's Bay beach. And since no children's story is complete without baddies, they still fear poison ivy (a three-leafed plant that can impart a vicious itching rash) and bloodsuckers (harmless water leeches).

People born and raised on the island have acquired the nickname "haweater", after the edible native berry. Haweaters don't go in for the have-a-nice-day brand of communication. More a nod and a crooked smile. But if you need directions, the islander will become garrulous: "Just carry on past the Thompsons' homestead and when you see the old Boyd place, take a left on the gravel road." If you lose your way, it doesn't really matter. The deserted roads edged with Queen Anne's lace, chicory and fringed gentian are always a delight to explore.

Sheguiandah, Sheshegwaning: the place names hint at the past of the First Nations people who inhabit them. Indeed, the island is one of the best places in Canada to encounter indigenous culture. Powwows take place in the summer, culminating in the Wikwemikong Competition Powwow in August when bands gather together to demonstrate their dancing and drumming.

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