Cabot Trail

Yesterday we took a 9 hour bus ride around the Cabot Trail. We did make a few stops along the way. I never realized how mountainous it is and also how beautiful. Thankfully we didn't have to drive the MH through it. That would scare me to death. Really steep and long hill, up and down. Today we drove 35 miles to North Sydney which is our last stop on the caravan. Seven couples have dropped out of the original 20 rigs. But 11 new couples have joined up for this portion of the tour. There was 59 people at our social tonight. Tomorrow night is the farewell lobster dinner. And Monday morning we head back to Moncton.So as this is the next to final day of our caravan, my blog is done. Hope it made for enjoyable reading.Till later then..take care.

Baddeck, 2nd Day

Today we took an all day bus tour, left at 8, got back at 515. Then we had the social hour and it went on for a couple hours because there were some goodbyes (some not going on to North Sydney) and chit chat. So I am rather pooped and my brain isn't working very well. Tomorrow is only a 35 mile drive, so once we have arrived and settled in I will post today's blog with pics of the Cabot Trail tomorrow.
Till later then...take care

Baddeck, Arrival

Today was totally a travel day. It was 212 miles here. Really good drive. Very pretty scenery. Tomorrow, is a 9 hour bus day tour. Going to the Cabot trail. Don't know if we can get a dog sitter, or not. If we can't then Ken says he will stay behind and I am to take lots of pictures.
Till later then...take care.

Halifax Day 3

   

Wood panelling found floating after Titanic sank

 

     Child’s Shoes                                               Deck chair found floating

Model of Titanic

Today was a free day, so we ventured into Halifax and went to the Maritime museum. I guess if you are really interested in maritime facts etc., you would find it very interesting. We only found it moderately so. We really went to see the Titanic exhibit, but it was disappointing. There was very little there in the way of artifacts, and all the facts I already knew. The ship models were very beautiful and we enjoyed those.

Tomorrow is a long day 212 miles. We have to be on our way by 8 AM.

Till later then...take care.

Halifax Day 2

 
   
    Grave of unknown child

 
  Yes, there really was a Jack Dawson

               Just a number   

 

 

  Check out the size of this canon

                Inside the Citadel grounds

Today we took the bus tour, started at 8:30 AM and got back here at 4:30 PM. We had to get some dog sitters in to take the 'kids' out at noon.

We started off touring the city of Halifax, nothing spectacular there. Then we went to the Halifax Citadel. Now that was very interesting. This is a citadel/fort that was built on a natural hillside which made it a extremely difficult fort to attack. In fact it never was. They have re enactments going on all the time with military troops. It sits on a hill overlooking Halifax harbour which was extremely important for defence.

 

Then we headed for the cemetery when 200 people who died when the Titanic went down are buried. After she sank several ships from Halifax headed out with Chaplin's aboard to pick up the bodies. They apparently found 316 bodies and as all they had room for on the ships was 200 bodies, they buried 116 at sea and the rest they brought back to Halifax. They identified who they could, and took pertinent information about those they couldn't and buried them. Many headstones, just have the date and a number. Over the years several more have been identified as families started supplying more information. As they were identified some families changed the original headstone and put up a more elaborate one. One marker there is for a 2 year boy. The sailors who picked up his body were so deeply touched by his death that they put up a special marker for him. It was thought that he belonged to a woman, Alma Paulson, who drowned along with her 4 children but DNA tests proved that not to be so. So there he rests nameless. Sad. Then there is the grave of Jack Dawson. For you Titanic movie fans you will recognize the name. Apparently there really was a Jack Dawson and the reason they used his name for the movie is that he had no next of kin, nothing, so they could use his name and not have to worry about any copyrights. He did work on the ship and his position was the lowest on the ship, he would keep the piles of coal level as they were used so that the loads were balanced. The shape of how all the stones are laid out is like a keel of a ship. Tomorrow we are going to the Maritime Museum where they have artefacts from the Titanic.

Headstones shaped like a keel of a ship

 

Then we headed to Peggy's Cover for lunch and site seeing. What a pretty spot. Lovely. The population is only 40 and they still are fishing lobster for a living. The spot is loaded with tourists which does spoil it a bit, but they are trying very hard not to let it get too touristy. Any gift shops (and there are only a few) are owned and run by locals, same as the restaurant. They do not allow any other tourist traps there, no gas stations, nothing. The whole area is still owned by the residents. So that at least keeps it from becoming tacky. Unfortunately, the famous Peggy's Cove lighthouse is under going a face lift so it's covered with scaffolding. It's a beautiful spot though and enjoyed the visit immensely.

 

Halifax Day 1

We arrived today at about 1:30 PM. It's a big campground, quite nice.
We drove into Halifax tonight to have our 13th dinner. Went to a restaurant called Salty's. Very expensive, but excellent food and service.
Tomorrow we have an all day bus tour. We have had to get a dog sitter in at noon to take the 'kids' out for a pee break. We leave here at 8:30 AM and don't get back until 4 PM. We visit the Maritime Museum, the Titanic memorial and Peggy's Cove.
As nothing went on today, this will be short and, sorry, no pics.
So tomorrow, I should have pics of the day's excursion.

Till then...take care.

Lunenburg Day #2

  

Lunenburg from wharf

   

Lunenburg from across the bay              

 

Blue Nose and Trophies                      

 

Model of the Bluenose                                 

       

Ken and some wench he picked up  

        

     
    Typical downeast dory

 

 

Today dawned rainy, cloudy, windy and chilly. Lovely!! Anyway you gotta do what you gotta do, so we all head down to the Maritime Fisheries Museum. I'm thinking what could be so interesting about a fisheries museum?? Well, I was surprised. This was very interesting. We learned about the fishing that was done many, many years ago.

There had a very interesting illustration of the Grand Banks. It was like a topographical map. Showing the depths and currents etc. They have live ocean fish in tanks, cod, lobsters, flounder, salmon and others I can't remember. We were told the story of the original Bluenose and they had artifacts there from the original ship. They had the trophies that the Bluenose won racing. There was a memorial room listing from 1925 the names of sailors lost here at sea. Records prior to that were lost. Amazing, there were lots and lots of names, and the same surname appeared year after year. So these families were obviously always fishermen.

The building that the museum was housed used to be the ice and salt house for the region. Beautiful old building. They would store the salt there that the boats used to store the cod in while at sea. They would clean them, and store them in salt while at sea to preserve them.

We then went and had lunch at a restaurant on the wharf. Not an easy task as there are so many to choose from. We chose well though, because we had fish and chips and it was one of the very best we have ever had. Also had a Caesar (the drink) and it was excellent. There was so much food that neither of us want supper.

Lunenburg is a beautiful town. It is built on a drumlin (I'd never heard of them either) and the town can be quite difficult to walk around in because of this. Very steep hills. If you've every been to Quebec City, it's very much like that. Up, down, up down, really, really steep hills. Actually, one lady in the caravan had to be taken to the hospital because she threw her back out walking these hills. She was having muscle spasms and was in a great deal of pain. She is doing better now.

Tomorrow is a free day before and after we leave here. It's only about 50 miles from here so it should be a short drive. Hopefully no more winding roads, don't think my stomach could handle anymore.

Just before the 5 PM social hour the sun came out and it's been out since. But they are predicting rain tonight, AND tomorrow. Wonderful, here we go again.

Lunenburg

Lunenburg was only 86 miles from our last destination. Today is a free day, no gatherings, no 5 PM social. Tomorrow is some tour of a Fisheries Museum.
It is about a 5 minute walk to the town of Lunenburg, so we'll probably walk there, maybe later tonight.
We are going to celebrate the 13th tomorrow as there is a seafood restaurant in Lunenburg we want to go to. And as the next stop is Halifax, it's a rather large city and we might not be able to find somewhere we want to go.
The drive today was up, down, over, around, over hill and dale on country roads. I do not do well with that kind of driving. Needless to say, I hurled !!! Lovely..was so impressed. Held it as long as I could, then went and grabbed a garbage bag. I guess some of you are saying why not run back to the toilet. Nope the coach really sways back there and it would have made me feel worse. Once we settled in and I got some fresh air I felt better. Man, haven't been car sick in ages.
As there is nothing on today, I'll leave it til tomorrow. This is supposed to be a very pretty, colourful town, so looking forward to that.
Campground is fine, lots of space between sites. We put our awning out for the very first time ever. Awesome!!
Till later then..take care.

Annapolis Royal

Historical Gardens

Habitation compound

Fort Ann

Fort Ann

Ken avoiding the mosquitoes in graveyard .. they were very bad.

Graveyard at night...

Yesterday we arrived here in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. It was about a 4-hour drive from our last destination. Their Internet is, apparently, broken, supposed to be fixed today. So far, it is not. My air card has been working on and off. Probably because we are in a bit of a gully here. My cell phone also doesn’t get too great a signal.
We had a free day after we got here and there was an optional graveyard tour. This is the oldest graveyard in Canada. The tour starts at 9:30 PM, you are all issued lanterns with candles inside. There were approximately 60 of us traipsing around the graveyard in the dead of night. I looked for ghosts but didn’t see any. What there were was tons and tons and mosquitoes!!!
Today there was a tour of a habitation. This was a type of settlement where only men lived in. They worked the land, did woodworking and lived peacefully together. Approximately about 20 men. It appeared to be a type of early monastery even though they did not call it that. It was very interesting.
Then we went off to some Historical gardens. Very beautiful, huge rose garden with many, many types of roses. There was more variety of plants in the whole garden than I have seen at most nurseries. It also had a German coffee shop where we had lunch. Simple lunch, soup, sandwich and dessert, but very good.
We then headed for Fort Anne, which is, as the name says as fort. Unfortunately the buildings are gone, but the land fortress remains. They dug the land up for protection in the shape of a star, huge hills which protected the buildings against cannon fire from the ships in the river. More information can be read here http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ns/fortanne/index.aspx
The rest of the afternoon we spent back at the MH relaxing, having a beer. Yesterday and today was a divine day, sunny, warm but not too warm. Tonight is a free night. Tomorrow we head for Lunenburg, about 86 miles away. Nice short drive.

Ok guys..let me know if you're reading this blog..comments now and then would be great...

Bah Humbug

The internet here doesn't work and my stick connects, but is painfully slow, so I'll leave the blog til I can get a good connection. Takes forever to upload. We're in a bit of a valley here so maybe that's why. Have some good graveyard photos taken at night to upload. Till later then..take care.

Truro, Nova Scotia

Today is a free day unless you signed up for the Tidal Bore Rafting, which we didn't. Will update later when they get back. Man they will freeze, it's very nippy here today. Furnace ran all night.
We are going into the town of Truro later on. They have some tree sculptures we want to see. Apparently a few years ago the trees were ravaged with Dutch Elm disease and when they cut them down they left the stumps, most quite large in height. So someone, who knows who that was, decided that local artists should carve the stumps. I have seen pictures of them and they look quite good, so we are going to try and find them and check it out. Other than that don't think there is alot of see and do here.
Last night was a bit of a mix up. They had scheduled a supper put on for us by the local fire brigade, but our leaders told us they had been trying for 2 weeks via email to confirm this and had not heard one thing back. So they found a local restaurant for us and we were going to go in shifts as it couldn't handle all of us in one go. We were going with the 3rd shift. So the 1st shift set off and we went back to the MH to have a drink and watch some TV (we finally have cable and get more than 2 channels). One of the leaders knocked on our door and said that they had heard from the fire brigade and they were expecting us. So off we went, and off they went to get the people that had gone to the other restaurant. They had finished their meal by this time so they came back to the fire brigade for dessert. The meal was alright, didn't knock our socks off, actually think we would have preferred the other place, oh well.
Will pick this up later.............
Not much more to add..we drove into town, but there really isn't much there. We did check out some of the 'tree statues' cute but that's it.
Heading for Annapolis Royal tomorrow.

Hilden, Nova Scotia

We drove 155 miles from Cavendish P.E.I. to Hilden Nova Scotia today. It was a very smooth ride.
We are all set up now for 2 nights.
Last night we went to the theatre to see Anne of Green Gables. It was an excellent presentation. Enjoyed it thoroughly.
Tonight the Hilden fire department is cooking us supper. Hopefully, they don't get a call, or there will some 40 odd very hungry people. LOL.
Tomorrow we visit the tidal bore centre and learn all about that. Some people signed up for the tidal bore ride, but as mentioned in a previous blog, not our cup of tea.
So as this was a travel day, there is little to report. All is well, AND the sun came out this afternoon, but it is clouding over again.
Till later...take care.

Relaxing Day

Today was a free day, meaning no tours etc. We drove into Summerside about 22 miles away. Cute little town, but it was Sunday, and nothing much was open. We needed to go to Canadian Tire and had to sit and wait for it to open at 12 noon. Any stores that do open don't open til then. Came back and did some RV cleaning, just like a house it needs to be cleaned. Bummer.
Tonight was a lobster dinner with the group at a restaurant just down the road. It was very good. They have a salad bar there that is about 60 feet long. They had mussels there too. Ate my fill of lobster and mussels.
It rained here all day, poured and poured. Tonight it has stopped but it is on the cool side. I actually had to put the furnace on. I imagine over night it will be quite chilly.
Tomorrow we are going into Charlottetown and then later to the theatre to see a production of (what else) Anne of Green Gables.
I won't blog tomorrow as there will not be much to say. The day after that is a travel day and we are heading to Nova Scotia. It will be a long day as it is 158 miles.
Till then..take care.

Touring Cavendish

Lawn furniture made from tree stumps?

 

  Whalebone garden

Red cliffs

 

 

 

Old fisherman talking with our bus driver

 

 

Lobster pots and drying gum boots

 

 

 

At LM Montgomery's home

Today we went on a bus tour and lunch then more bus touring. We went to the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery. For those of you who don't know who she is, she is PEI's pride and joy and she wrote Anne of Green Gables. Everything around here is Green Gables this and Green Gables that. Then we drove to the Cavendish Dunelands Park. This overlooks the ocean. The soil here is just as they say, red. Very pretty park.

Then we drove to a cute little fishing village called Rustic. Perched right on the edge of the ocean. They are mostly all lobster fisherman there, but the season for lobsters just finished so they are hauling all the pots and putting them away until next season. Picture postcard village. As we were leaving we saw this house with a woman tending a small garden. The garden was enclosed in a edging but the edging wasn't wood. It is a jawbone of a whale what washed up on shore 80 years ago. And the old fisherman who lives there was the cutest thing. Typical east coast fisherman.

 

We had some lunch and continued our touring of some more small villages and and very old church. Very beautiful. We also went to an artist's gallery. This is where, I'm supposing local artists, display their wares. The stuff there was unbelievable! Art work, furniture, crafts. Very, very expensive. Our group leader calls those kind of stores, Separation stores, cause they separate you from you money. They had some very unique pieces made from what looked like stumps of wood, but really neat, especially for the backyard.

We got back to the campground about 3:30, dogs were fine but then we had someone come in at around noon to take them for a walk and a piddle.

There's a storm brewing (what else is new), the wind has picked up and I hear thunder. Tomorrow is a nice and relax day, but there is a lobster dinner.

Til then...take care.

Cavendish, P.E.I.

Crossing the Confederation Bridge...

The approach to the Confederation Bridge.

Today we arrived in PEI. What a pretty province. We had to cross the 9 mile Confederation bridge. Amazing piece of architecture.

Haven't done any site seeing yet. Tonight was a pot luck supper. I made a big pot of chili, and almost all of it was eaten.

Tomorrow we're gone on a bus tour from 815 AM to about 4 PM. We are getting a 'dog walker' here at the KOA Kampground to come in around noon for a pee break.

So tomorrow I should have a more informative blog. Till then..take care.

Visiting the Hopewell Rocks

Today we went to see the famous Hopewell Rocks. They are basically, as you see on post cards etc. You can walk down to walk on the sea bottom as the tide is out. It really is just mud and rocks and some sea weed. Be prepared to get dirty, especially your feet. Both Ken and I thought that it was better in pictures than in person, or at least the same. Neat but nothing spectacular. Would have really like to be there to see either the tide coming in or going out. It does so very quickly. But timing was off.

We drove into Moncton, had to pick up some fixings for the Pot Luck tomorrow night. There was an optional trip which was a Tidal Bore Rafting trip. This is a trip in a raft, similar to white water rafting, in which the incoming tides (which are very fast and fierce, and the river meet). It can be a little rough and wet. The river is greatly churned up by the force of the incoming tide so the water is the colour of mud. So not only do you get soaked but you get soaked by muddy water. Nice but no thanks. We opted out of that one.

Tomorrow we head for Cavendish PEI. Crossing the Confederation bridge. We're there for 4 nights.

Till then, take care.