Impressive pentagonal memorial to lost sailors in Lunenburg
13:15: Roadkill count: 5 porcupines.
Impressive pentagonal memorial to lost sailors in Lunenburg
Spent the night at Loomer's Campers Haven in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia (New Scotland). The manager, out of Pennsylvania, mentioned that the best way to meet locals was to walk around the campsite. Indeed, we did not have to walk far as our neighbors Kim and Raymond were from Yarmouth. Raymond repairs appliances.
Picton Castle
Haddock and scallops are the local fish of choice (lobster was out of season here). Besides breading and frying, Kim suggested poaching the haddock in whole milk (half-way up the fillet), butter, onions, salt and pepper, and baking for half an hour (I think) at 350. Sounds yummy to me!
Note that this is the first time I've been on Atlantic time.
The drive up the south shore is very pretty. It's flat, flat, flat. From the rare knoll, it's short, stumpy evergreens as far as the eye can see. The trees are only between 5 and 10 meters high. The green is occasionally punctuated by the blue of pristine coves scattered with boulders.
Lunenburg buildings
Just passed Bridgewater, home of the DesBrisay Museum. I think Greg passed through here.
15:59: Had a great haddock lunch at Big Red's in Lunenburg. Then walked around this picturesque fishing village which now gets by with tourists' dollars. There's a tall ship moored there called Picton Castle which will sail around the world in 2003 and needs crew. Tempting. Very tempting.
Went to see St. John's Cathedral which, according to Lonely Planet, is "a real stunner." However, it had burned down in November, 2001, and was undergoing a restoration.
10:45: On Saturday afternoon, we arrived in Halifax, booked a night at the Shubie Campground in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
A crowded waterfront
The Harbour Hopper (Lynn dove in to take this shot of us)
A sub in dry dock (prop covered for the spys)
The clock tower (a Halifax landmark)
More waterfront
We then took the world's fastest historical walking tour of Halifax. Although it was founded 250 years ago, it feels very modern. Only a few old buildings down by the waterfront remain.
The waterfront was oh so crowded.
We checked into the campground and in keeping with the maritime theme, Lynn made an awesome seafood chowder. We met Ernie and his wife Karen from Dartmouth. Ernie manages a Burger King.
Yesterday, we drove back into Halifax, and visited the Maritime Museum and learned about the Halifax Explosion on December 6, 1917 where a Swedish freighter collided with a French freighter full of explosives. Sparks ignited fuel. Twenty minutes later the explosives caused the largest man-made explosion until Hiroshima, leveling much of Halifax. The museum also had an exhibit on the Titanic since Halifax was the closest port to that disaster.
We then took the Harbour Hopper tour. Much of the tour covered the same route we had taken yesterday but then the Vietnam era amphibious vessel took to the water and offered a nice waterfront view.
Our best campsite of the trip
We stopped at the Bay Gardens 2000 Campground in Five Islands, Nova Scotia. This is a beautiful place overlooking the five islands. Water, trees, red beaches. The tides here in the Bay of Fundy are extreme. Moored boats become high and dry, a land bridge to the kilometer-distant islands rises, and a half dozen clam diggers appear with their ATVs.
You have to drag your boat through the mud to the horizon!
Cape Split
Folks don't have far to go after the Bingo game
Just outside of Five Islands, in the oddly-named town of Economy, we came across a senior centre with a cemetery next door. We had a nice chuckle over that.
Enjoying a nice campfire
For the third night in a row we shared a campfire with a local. Jeremy makes license plates in Amherst. His wife, who stayed with the kids, has been working at MacDonald's for 17 years and is still making 7 dollars an hour. Wow.
Mining for fossils in Joggins
8:12: Told Lynn to stop the car west of Port Greville yesterday and checked out an acre of big, blueberries. However, once we got down to Cape D'Or, we found hundreds of acres more. These couldn't be wild.
We stopped in Joggins and scavenged for fossils on the beach. We did manage to find one for a small fern.
We then left the rolling, green hills with Bay of Fundy seascapes, and returned to the flat road through the trees as we experienced in much of Nova Scotia.
Hanging out on the cliffs of PEI
Then over the bridge to P.E.I., or Prince Edward Island. This is a long bridge--13 km. And over the Atlantic Ocean too. Impressive.
We ended up at the remote Johnson Shore Inn overlooking the ocean on the northeast side in Hermanville, Prince Edward Island.
The coast here is red as at Five Islands, but it's rocky, not muddy. We even managed to find a sandy beach and swam amongst the jellyfish in the relatively warm and clear, blue water.
A PEI country church
8:01: We decided to stay another day at the Inn and relax. We did laundry, walked to some sand dunes, and got stung by those jellies (but had some vinegar handy). I walked back those two miles in the water while Lynn observed from the cliffs above.
Arna, the innkeeper, prepared a scrumptious meal, served by her partner Julie.
15:39: Just popped into Quebec. The Chaleur Bay and the town of Campbellton at the end remind me a little of Geneva, although the mountains are not so high. The drive up the Matapédia River valley is also a pretty one.
11:34: This must be spring in the St. Lawrence region as all of the wildflowers are in spectacular bloom along 132 headed towards Quebec. This is also a very glacial region with erratics and drummlins along the shore. Unfortunately, it is still hazy so not much else can be seen.
Peter Galbraith and his wife Katia
We arrived in Rimouski last night in time for dinner because we gained an hour crossing into the Eastern time zone. At 450 miles from PEI to Quebec, this was our longest day so far.
We met Peter Galbraith, one of the mh-e developers, his wife Katia, and daughters Rebecca and Elisabeth. Elisabeth, a year old, screamed upon hearing English. And screamed.
Katia cooked a delicious meal and we visited late into the hot, humid evening. In the morning, Katia cooked another marvelous meal of blueberry crepes. It was great to meet another Internet correspondent face to face.
Oooo, la, la!
9:05: Ah, Quebec. Beautiful city. The most European of cities outside of Europe. The Chateau Frontenac dominates the skyline of the old city as it rises above the old walls.
Lynn surveys the Plains of Abraham
We strolled through the Plains of Abraham where in 1759, the thin red line of the British army vanquished the French. The plains are now preserved as a park. The streets brought me back to my days in Heidelberg. Indeed, one of the pubs we visited was in an old munitions building from 1743 and had the arched ceilings reminiscent of The Cave.
Time for a brewski!
Take it already!
And it was hot. And humid. We found we could survive by stopping in a pub every 10 minutes and having a pint.
Unfortunately, the "historic walking tour" was the worst yet. Not only was it veiled advertising, the buildings and route were not marked on the map which made it so cumbersome we put it away and simply followed our noses. The historic walking tours of Australia are second to none. Tourist bureaus of other countries take note.
We spent our two nights in Quebec at Camping Imperial in St. Nicolas, just outside of Quebec. Except for the bridge noise, it was a very nice campground with clean bathrooms. While it was the smallest camp site we've had, it was also the most private as it turns out due the strategic placement of trees. The owner was very nice and displayed his commendations from the Canadian Tourist Board proudly.
And now we're driving from Quebec to Lynn's mom's place in Washington, Connecticut where we'll stay for a few days before heading off to Stockholm for Yves' wedding. We'll return to our story when we head back west.