the last of Nova Scotia

am trying to upload pics from our campsite in New Brunswick but not much success.

as we last left you we were doing an overnight at a campground in Truro, NS. Next morning we got up to go see a "tidal bore". basically a river flowing into the ocean reverses direction at high tide a water rushes back up. Kind of neat. From there hiked around a nice park downtown and then on the road. arrived in Halifax and found and parking spot downtown. Low and behold it was right across the street from Alexander Keith's brewery so we did the tour (period costumes, hokey acting, a couple of beer and a lot of fun) and pledged allegiance. after that wandered the waterfront for a bit and then headed out to find a Walmart.

next morning got a haircut (it does not get much more exciting than this!) and then found a different Walmart as the previous one was close to downtown, a train track and a bus terminal. next one was more out in the suburbs and after one bad attempt (going the wrong way) we caught a bus that went thru Halifax and over a bridge to Dartmouth. A short walk and then took a ferry back to Halifax. For only $2 you get a harbour cruise and some great views! The weather was amazing - it got to 30 degrees with sun and little wind. Saw the sites (Citadel Hill, St. Paul's), went to the Maritime Museum and still found time occasionally to stop and relax at an outdoor cafe. Aneeda picked up some lovely hash attire thanks to Ms. D and the staff at Wellington West in Halifax.

went to a waterfront pub that night and saw a great band (the Hupman Bros), a couple of young guys doing original songs and great blues covers (Hendrix, SRV, BB King). stayed out to late to bus all the way back to our 'home' so had to take a cab.

next day was pretty quiet. Iwas pretty sick for some reason (no, I did not drink too much). Hung around most the day and then to Peggy's Cove. Camped near there and woke up to cold, wind and rain.

drove to Lunenburg the next day and wandered in the rain. Nice old city and got to tour the Bluenose II. Sadly, the sails/harbour cruises were cancelled due to weather that day so missed that. She is a gorgeous ship.

from there did a bunch of driving and stopped to see a few neat sites (Burncoat Head, which has the highest tides). Ended up back in Truro and went to a movie (3:10 to Yuma, pretty good) and a Walmart.

Saturday more driving and went to Parrsboro, NS at low tide. The harbour actually empties and boats sit on the ocean floor tied to the dock. Kind of neat, hope to post pics some day. Ended up at a campground near Fundy National Park in NB where I sit now. Nice campground with a great internet connection but still can's upload any pics?!&&?$?.

will try to get some on soon. Next update will probably find us in the USA, where the dollars are on par and the gas and beer are cheap!!

hope everyone is doing well - miss you all!!!

halifax etc..

some PEI pics. Our private campsite at Savage Harbour - pretty amazing. Jacki, Kent and Monique on the great mussel hunt. Aiden and Janeya were fishing (not sure for what). the golf was not pretty but the course sure was. Monique at the fox museum (thought they should let her in as she used to be a fox, she argues she still is!).

will update on Halifax et al later!!!

PEI and Cape Breton

a couple of Cape Breton pics as promised. The left one is Chetticamp, one of the few times there was no wind out here and the water was smooth enough to cast a nice reflection. The right one is Bay St. Lawrence on the northern end.

anyway, when last updated we had reached PEI n Tuesay and camped near the ferry terminal. Wednesday we golfed at Brudenell - an amazing resort course. Great scenery, great course conditions, great weather and poor to mediocre golf. Loved it but of course forgot our camera. Camped right beside the golf course. Thursday went to National Park at Greenwich and saw the dunes. Great beach with large dunes as far as the eye could see. Not a soul around except a couple of park employees and a half dozen old ladies - looked like a church trip. It was really nice. From there went to Charlottetown and hiked thru the downtown and waterfront. Neat and old little city. Had a great lunch at a pub on a "no vehicles" market street.

After wandering we went to visit some ex-Red Deer hashers. Jacki and Kent (aka Knot A Girl and Hunka Hunka Burnin Spud) have a beautiful new house outside Charlottetown. Got to meet the twins, Aiden (the PEI baseball hitting star) and and Janaya (whose big eyes and cute smile are going to cause her Dad no end of trouble!). They fed us far to well and entertained us for the night.

Friday morning off to Summerside. Nice little city - wandered around the waterfront for awhile and then saw they had a new "wellness" facility. Went there - it was a lot like the Collicutt Centre on a little smaller scale. Spent some time in the gym, swam a few laps and did the steam room. Exercise is really overrated as I hurt for days after. Went to Linkletter Prov Park after and had a picnic supper while we watched the sunset. Very nice and then did the Walmart camping thing.

Saturday more driving around along the shoreline. PEI is great as everything is a short distance. Went for a bike ride on the Confederation Trail. The trail is the old railway line and covers pretty much the whole island. Really well maintained and flat so is a joy to ride on. From there went to Savage Harbour as recomended by Jacki and Kent. Parked down a back road, pretty much right on the beach, no one else around. It was amazing. A car pulled up shortly before 6:00 a.m. but backed out when they saw us - I figure young couple looking for privacy!?!

Sunday morning went back to Jacki and Kent's and spent the day with them and the kids. Had a great time - saw some sites and went mussel and oyster hunting. Then back to their place for another great dinner. After that played some cards but somehow did not seem to do as well without me keeping score.

It was great to see them and meet the kids and hope they can get to Red Deer sometime soon to see us and the rest of the hashers. They are phenomenal hosts if anyone else gets a chance to come visit!

Monday morning was more golfing. Glen Afton is 18 holes right on the ocean. Beautiful views and a decent course. Aneeda/Monique shot a 56 on the front nine and was thrilled. I think she will soon be beating me.

Monday afternoon we crossed the Confederation Bridge and now back in Nova Scotia. It is now dark and cold and I am at a picnic table outside the office of a campground near Truro.. They advertise WiFi but only works in a 10 foot radius of the office....

Still having a great time and still missing you all!!

Randy/Mobey's and Monique/Aneeda

PS was going to add more pics but having connection probs - will try to get on later....

a quick one

just a quick update and no pics as sitting in an internrt cafe - promise to get some up as soon as we find a wifi site.

the ferry crossing was actually OK considering how windy it was in NL and was just as windy when we got to Sydney. Rain was heavy and falling sideways!! Didi the Walmart thing in Sydney again, and able to go to the same sports bar to watch the Bombers game (they kicked Hamilton for those who missed it.

Sunday/Monday was Cabot Trail around Cape Breton. Just as amazing as we had heard. Stayed near Cape North the 1st night right on Aspy Bay and then drove around to some island that name escapes me right now the 2nd night. Did a great hike to the coast and saw all kinds of whales.

Tuesday a.m. we got up and went for a bike ride on the island (Chetticamp?) . It started as a decent road, then a poor road, then a quad track and then a really rough quad track. Was really enjoying it until Aneeda's bike caught a tree root and kicked her off. An ugly tumble and lots of scrapes/bruises but thankfully appears to be no lasting damage.

Tuesday evening we did the ferry to PEI (province #10 for those who are counting!!!). Talked to Jacki and will touh base again today, probably go by tomorrow or Friday. Today we get the golf clubs out for first time in 4 or 5 weeks - Brudenell course, supposed to be amazing.

now you are up to date - will get pics up soon.

farewell newfoundland

when last updated, we were at B&B in L'Anse Aux Meadows on Monday. went out for dinner to a restaurant a couple of km away. According to Dot, the lady who cooked and cleaned at the B&B, "dat's fine dining, small portions and lots of fancy sauces, can't even taste the fish. Tain't never been there". so we went. I had the halibut served on a bed of olives and artichoke hearts and smothered with pesto. mmmm.

next day walked to the viking site. can someone younger than me let me know what they teach in school now?? when i went, Columbus discovered North America and Leif Erickson/vikings was treated more as a fable. the L'Anse aux Meadows site was discovered in 1960 and initial excavations done in 1968. there was a real life Norse settlement here ~1,000 years ago. it was a really neat place - movie about the discovery, museum with artifacts, guided tour of the site(see mounds above) and a recreation village with period costumes and replicas.

after the site, we biked and hiked around, went to the top of a high point. we were on the northernmost part of NL.

that night had dinner at the B&B cooked by Dot. Pan fried cod, fish cakes, shrimp salad, potatoes, carrots, pie and ice cream. Portions were huge and there wasn't a sauce to be seen...

Wednesday was a driving day which was good as it was miserable out. Strong, strong winds, rain and cold. The water pic above kind of shows what it was doing out. Driving was a white knouckle experience and sometimes worried we were going to get blown over.

eventually made it back to Gros Morne and a different area/campground called Trout River. Thursday went for a long hike on Tablelands (I won't bore you with a long geography lesson but it was pretty amazing, see other pic above). still very windy out. The tour boat that covered the lake we hiked beside actually went out and turned around as it was too windy, apparently for the 1st time ever?!? Thankfully the campsite was very protected or the wind would have rocked the van all night. Friday we packed up, went for a shorter hike (9 km) down to the ocean. It as high tide and still very windy or we could have wandered on the beach around some sea stacks and caves. After that to Cornerbrook and did laundry, camped at Walmart.

Afraid it is now Saturday morning and we are on the ferry back to Sydney. NL was great!

newfoundland

when last we left you we were in Rocky Harbour in Gros Morne Nat'l Park. Our dinner that night is pictured above. "Pinchy" was cooked fresh that morning and was delicious. Friday we did a 11 km hike to see the waterfalls seen above. there were 3 levels to the falls but could not get all in one picture. saw a couple of moose (cow and calf) along the trail. Friday night was a short walk to the local watering hole to see "Anchors Aweigh". it was a great time with traditional music till about 2:00 a.m. the band only took one short break as they have apparently learned that if they quit playing, people leave. there were a few locals at the pub but generally there were tourists and we brought down the average age by a lot. on the walk back to the campground, met some "moose hunters" - 3 very drunk lads staggering up the hill who said they were looking for a moose to wrestle to the ground (hunting season started Saturday).

Saturday was a beautiful day, 27 degrees and sunny, apparently the hottest day they had all year as weather has been crap since July. did a couple of short hikes and saw some incredible scenery. went to the campground recomended by "Ted from Smithers" in Cow Head on Saturday night, picture of our backs above is beside the van which was parked on a beautiful bay. Only other couple in the campground was Paul and Dale from New Hampshire. Shared a drink with them and then walked into town with them to see a play - comedy which was pretty well done ("She'd be Your Mother's Brother's Cousin").

Sunday was a short drive to Port au Choix and then biked around all afternoon to a great little restaurant and to a really nice point with a lighthouse (Monique forgot the camera so no pics). Campsite was right on the beach again. Sunset was nice but it was cold as Red Deer in January so our attempt at a campfire was very short-lived.

Monday brings us to a B&B in Hay Cove. we spent most the day driving but put on very few km's as there were lots of detours and short stops. Went to St. Anthony which is basically the end of the northern road. Picture of distant lighthouse above is Flower's Cove. From here we could also see Labrador but decided not to take the ferry across. Monique tells me Labrador is not a separate province.

tomorrow is Viking time!!!

we love NL but it sure is cold, today we had on the wool socks, sweaters, jackets and as many layers as we could find. we would have put more on but we only brought so much. I think the high was 10 degrees with a strong wind off the water to add to the chill.

hope everyone is doing well and all you hashers survived CAMP U!!!

maritimes 3

the ferry ride is over and it was good. they had entertainers - a couple of guys from NL, one on guitar and one on squeeze box. told stories/jokes and played some great tunes, the trip went by quickly.

you arrive in NL at Port Aux Basques (houses pic above taken from ferry as we arrived) on the southwest corner of the island. generally from there there is one road that makes a semi-cicle loop of the island to St. John's in the southest corner (905 km). there is a ferry that runs from close to St. Johns, but only once a week in Sept, it is a 14 hour trip and is very expensive. so choice is basically to drive as far as you want, turn around and drive back again. in our typical non-planning we had no idea where we would go. first night camping (provincial park near Port Aux Basques, see beach pic above) I was talking to a couple from Ontario who were familiar with the island and recommended a place they loved that was almost all the way to St. John's. Later was talking to the park employee, who had overheard this, and he advised another place, said the drive around was pretty monotonous and north was better. Since he was a local, we are now going up the northern peninsula, presumably to see whales, a Viking settlement and maybe a late season iceberg!

next 2 nights were in "Blow Me Down Provincial Park. Place was great but weather sucked. Did a 7 km hike one day, for those of you who remember the Qidi Vidi hike, it was like that only wetter (see Monique pic above, this was early in the hike). Scenery was phenomonal (town thru trees above is Lark Harbour, pic taken near end of trail) but trail was a mud pit and bushes and trees that lined it were a source of more water than that falling from the sky. All told though, we really enjoyed it.

Next day was drive to Gros Morne National Park. At a gas station was chatting with a guy from Smithers , BC who recommended a place to stay further north. Campers a a very social bunch. I now sit in a campground in Rocky Harbour. plan is for a 10 km hike tomorrow followed by a pub night with Newfie entertainment and then to a new campsite Saturday for more hiking. In the "small world" category, we met a couple in the campgound who are from Carmen, MB (close to Portage where Monique and I grew up) but who just moved from Innisfail (close to Red Deer) and prior to that from Portage. Monique and I know their son from high school, a year older than us but some common friends.....too weird. Anyway, they had just come back from where we are going so got some more advice on places to stay/see.

loving Newfoundland, hoping for a few more days of good weather to keep enjoying. Hope everyone else is doing great!

maritimes 2

our 1st night at Baddeck rained all night, sometimes hard and sometimes with a little thunder and lightning. the campsite was pretty boggy when we awoke, but it had stopped raining and was another beautiful day. Did not think much of the rain until we started driving and saw the sights above. The "waterfall" above is the road we wanted to take. Talked to the lady who lived right by here (youse from away? she asked) and this was the first time this had happened in the 40 years she had lived there. Quite a mess, a lot of the rural driveways slope to the main road and many were cratered and impassable from the water running down. we did still manage to get around though and saw the Highland Village which highlighted Scottish settlement in the region ($9.00 to get in so it wasn't very busy - see last update). On Sunday we went to Louisberg where they have essentially rebuilt a lot of the old fort as it looked in the mid 1700's. Very large and very interesting.

Sunday night to Sydney, where good luck had a Don Cherry sports bar right beside the Walmart. Got to watch the Bombers game but we were the only ones in the whole place interested in it.

it is now Monday and we are on the ferry to Newfoundland. May not be able to update for awhile as I am not sure if they have heard of the internet there (just kidding, Jenny).

Hope everyone had a great long weekend!!