Remembering Norman Bethune, a Canadian Hero in China, at His Birthplace - Gravenhurst, Ontario

A list of good locations in Muskoka to see the autumn colors 

The autumn season is a beautiful time in Canada!

We have always wanted to take a tour during the month of September or October to enjoy the changing colour of the season.

This year we caught the tail end of the autumn season and went on a bus tour  with our friends.

We joint a bus tour to see the colours of the leaves

We left on Friday morning after we met up with W. and A., boarding the tour bus in Richmond Hill, a Toronto suburb.

Beautiful scenery on our way up the Ontario north region

Our destination was the famous Agawa Canyon in northern Ontario, about eight hours drive from Toronto. The drive up was beautiful as we saw the brilliant colors of the leaves.

Our first stop  - the Bethune Memorial House, Gravenhurst, Ontario

Our first stop was the Norman Bethune Museum in Gravenhurst, about two hours drive north of Toronto.

Statue of Dr. Norman Bethune helping the Chinese at the Bethune Museum

Dr. Norman Bethune was a Canadian doctor from a small town.

Gift Shop, Norman Bethune Museum, Gravenhurst, Ontario

He was more well known, respected and loved by the Chinese in Mainland China than in Canada, his native land.

He was born in 1890 in Gravenhurst, Ontario

After his service as a doctor during the Spanish War in 1937, he spent time in China working as a battlefield surgeon and a medical advisor with the forces of the People's Republic of China.

After his death at the war front in 1939, Dr. Norman Bethune became a national hero to the Chinese people.

Display of Dr. Bethune's contributions written in Chinese, Bethune Museum, Gravenhurst

He was and is still highly honoured and respected in China where he died while serving the people during the war.

Schools and hospitals in China have been named after Dr. Bethune in order to remember his service to the Chinese people.

The Bethune Memorial House - where Dr. Norman Bethune was born, Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

We visited the house where Dr. Norman Bethune was born.  Dr. Bethune's homestead has been declared as the National Historic Site by Parks Canada.

The front porch of the Bethune House all decked out for the fall season, Gravenhurst, Ontario

The Bethune Memorial House is a popular site where many visitors, especially Chinese tourists,  to Gravenhurst will stop for a visit and  learn more about this Canadian hero and his work in China.

We stopped at a souvenir shop enroute to Sault St. Marie, Ontario

After a stop at the Bethune Memorial House, our tour bus stopped at a local eating plaza right by a neat crafts store on its way.

Bird houses made of birch logs - how Canadian is that!

I loved local arts and crafts and enjoyed looking at all the beautiful work by local artists.

enroute to Sault Ste. Marie for the fall maple leaf tour

It was a fun and educational first day of our northern Ontario tour!


R.T.
Sault Ste. Marie
Northern Ontario
Canada
Oct. 2018