Bummed your invitation to Martin Short’s cottage in the Muskokas was evidently lost in the mail? Save yourself the long drive and listen to this week’s episode of brioux.tv: the podcast. One of my favourite guests, filmmaker Mitch Azaria, is back with his sixth in an annual series exploring the province of Ontario: Tripping The Muskoka Lakes.
Azaria’s earlier Tripping documentaries are all worth seeing. Each are shot in a similar three-hour format with every one offering a different mode of transportation. The 4K films have explored the Niagara Falls region, the Rideaux canal near Ottawa, the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, the French River, as well as a vintage train treck which heads north of Superior. We talk all about this new documentary exploring Ontario’s most exclusive cottage country lakes. It premieres April 20 on TV Ontario and also streams even earlier on TVOdocs.org and at TVO’s YouTube channel.
This latest three hour, immersive, real-time documentary invites viewers to cruise along aboard the “Heather,” a made-in-Muskoka Duke runabout. The sleek mahogany classic has been converted to electric power. From the pasenger seat you’ll cruise past incredible boathouses along “Millionaires” and “Billionaires” row. Reel in a boatload of pop up info bites and dive under the water to visit the wreck of the Waome, a 78-foot ship that sank in a minute in a violent 1934 storm. Three lives were lost.
The tour stars in Gravenhurst, the southern most town in the Muskoka area. You’ll learn about the Depression era kidnapping of John Labatt, scion of one of the top cottage families, who was held for $150,000 ransom. Hear how the crooks came up with only empties! See a breathtaking drone shot dive down onto the deck of the Church of the Kettles and then get walked right into the church mid-sermon!
Travel tariff free from your own living room. To listen to this episode, simply click on the white arrow in the blue dot, above.
