Wishing stone

Look! Denise got me my very own wishing stone.

I know, I know, it's really made of glass. I think I can look into it and dream of travel destinations for Denise and me.

Where did she find it? When we were in Sydney she found a brochure called the Cape Breton Artisan Trail Map, published by the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design. There were some galleries that jumped out at her, and she picked up a couple of small pieces of glass for herself, one at the place that published the map, and one at Glass Artisans Studio & Gallery. That second place is where she picked up my wishing stone. And there was an artist set up in a tent outside - in all of that wind - blowing glass into wonderful shapes. That was fun to watch too.

--- Rover

A quick Rover review

I'm so glad that Denise knows that we will need to go back to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia someday. I won't need to do any convincing since she already knows we didn't get enough. I'd like to see some other places in Newfoundland, and I really need to go back to Gros Morne National Park again too.

We had a really good wander, even though rain and fog made us turn back early or skip some walks altogether. We walked in sunshine, in fog, in out and out rain. We bounced along the shore, and we climbed up high too.

I really wanted to visit Acadia on our way home (well sort of on a slightly out-of-the-way path home). I saw the weather forecast, so I knew that wouldn't be a good idea. I was sure I was going to need to convince Denise to stay on the highway and head straight home from Moncton, but she knew that going home was the right thing to do. No convincing needed. I wonder if I can talk her into a long weekend to Acadia a little bit into fall. Hmmm...

Denise is still reviewing her photos, and if I know her it will take a bit to get her galleries built. In the meantime, I grabbed a couple of photos to share with you.




From our first morning in Newfoundland, heading back to the mainland after encountering heavy heavy fog on the Port au Port peninsula. Why did we stop at this spot? Because of the alpacas!



Isn't he beautiful?



This is from our first walking day in Newfoundland. (Or should I say on Newfoundland?) We were bouncing along the Tablelands trail in heavy mist, then in light rain. Can you see the raindrops?



But oh! we had sunny days too. Here's a shot of me in front of Louisbourg Light in Nova Scotia. That was such a pretty day!

--- Rover

2670 miles

...or 4297 kilometers if you prefer metric. That's how many miles I rolled over in my wandering - from home to the furthest point of my travel, around in some circles, and home again.

Yes, I know, that wasn't human-powered mileage. My feet put on a fair amount of mileage too, wandering on trails, along many bodies of water, even in cities. I could have happily continued wandering, but it was time to head home.

---

I really did hope to stop in Acadia National Park on my way home. After all, I've only been there once this year. A second visit sounded like a good idea. Of course that was before Danny started spinning up the East Coast.

Yesterday was my Moncton, NB to N Andover, MA day - heading home, driving on dry roads. Today? It rained all day, dropping about 2 1/2 inches of rain in the area near my home. Other towns received upwards of 5 inches. Now that's a lot of water!

My decision to head home without an additional stop in Maine was a good one (this time). It was a good and needed rest day. I took a quick look at my photos, more looking and weeding out still to come - but I spent most of the day relaxing, reading, listening to the rain.

---

I learned many years ago that the only places I don't need to return to are those places that I didn't like.

Happily, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia both jumped back onto my list of places to wander again.

Province # 3

It was 5 o'clock when I crossed the Canso Causeway from Cape Breton Island back to the mainland portion of Nova Scotia. It was time to start the journey towards home.

I jumped onto route 104 heading west. It was a two lane road with sometimes passing lanes, with speed limits ranging from 80 to 100 kph. And then, it changed to a divided highway. The miles flowed by. I ended today's drive in Moncton, New Brunwick.

I keep thinking about stopping in one more wandering spot on the way home. The two places that have been swirling around in my mind are Hopewell Rocks and Acadia National Park. That doesn't surprise you, does it?

Problem is, if I stop somewhere to play tomorrow that puts me on the road on Saturday, driving through what's likely to be heavy rain. Only tomorrow will tell...

Lookoffs and conversations

We drove, we stopped at lookoffs, we talked, we walked.

The sky was covered with layers of clouds early, and there were some sprinkles too. Later... the sun appeared, darting behind white and gray against a pure blue background. We still had (at least) one mountain to climb, with lots of lookoffs to embrace the scenery. And everyplace we stopped Denise spent some time chatting with other people - about the beauty around us, about photography, about the possible coming hurricane, about our wanderings in Cape Breton Highlands. It was a talking and looking kind of day.

We walked a boardwalk through a bog, and then we moved on to the Skyline trail. We started down the trail, walking through a lane of trees. We walked, we walked a little further, it started sprinkling, and then we turned around. The end of the trail was purported to be a headland overlooking the Gulf coast. I bet it was beautiful... but you know about Denise, don't you? She really likes to be able to see things (other than lines of trees) during her walks and rides. I suspect that if it had been a warmer, sunnier day that we might have continued walking. I think that we're going to be coming back here another time, so we can finish Skyline then (whenever then is).



Back at the car, we continued down the Cabot Trail, stopping at more lookoffs. We stood for a while and watched the waves crashing against the shore, cliffs. The water was wild today, and the wind? It was another day of high winds. Denise had less of a problem today - she wasn't blown around quite as much as yesterday.



Oh! we stopped to visit Joe's scarecrows too. That was fun.



--- Rover

Breakfast with Anna

If you don't like breakfast and conversations you might not want to stay at Highland Breeze. But if you do? What an awesome breakfast!

We sat down at a table filled with options for a start at breakfast. Yes, I did say start! There were a couple of choices of cereal, wild blueberries, yogurt, and coffee. Anna was very busy; when I walked into the kitchen she was busy stirring something wonderful. We had home-baked English muffins, cinnamon rolls, and potato pancakes. Eggs were on the menu too, but all of us opted out. We were already stuffed!

Conversation was flowing along with the food. I left the B&B a bit later than I'd planned. No matter - it was a thoroughly enjoyable start to the day.

Not again!

Did you know that there is another hurricane starting to swirl in the Atlantic? I didn't want to tell Denise, but it turns out that she already knows. She was chatting with Anna in the living room and the television was tuned to the weather channel.

We're still going to be playing in Cape Breton tomorrow, but we don't have a definite end point for the day. I suppose we could make it home on Friday if we make it a really long driving day. I think it's more likely we'll be back on Saturday.

Driving in a nasty storm doesn't sound too smart, does it? I suppose if we're still traveling when the storm hits that we may end up finding a place to wait it out. It's a good thing that Denise bookmarked the Canadian Hurricane Current Conditions page so we can keep an eye on the storm track.

--- Rover

Scary strong winds

Ah, another good breakfast to start the day... fresh fruit, yogurt, and banana nut muffins, followed by French toast. Very nice.

It was a driving day, a walking day, and a fighting the wind day. I started by repeating a few kilometers of road backwards, looping from Sydney past North Sydney, then heading towards the Cabot Trail. I skipped a bit of driving by taking the Englishtown cable ferry to cross St. Ann's Harbour.



I joined the Cabot Trail, entered Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and started climbing mountains. The first big one was Smokey. I looked ahead to see the road hanging on the side of the mountain, high above, a tiny ribbon. It was a rather slow climb since I was one of several cars following three large trucks up that winding and steep hill. My speed? It ranged from 10 to 20 miles an hour. The view from the top was fabulous.



Ah, time to walk. I headed out Middle Head, a wonderful walk out a very narrow point of land. It was on that walk when I discovered that the prediction of 50 kph winds was real. The further I walked, the stronger the wind became, It was pretty much an out-and-back walk, with a very small loop at the very end. As I started around that loop I started to feel like I was going to get blown over. Instead of completing that small circle I reversed direction.

I'm traveling with both a monopod and a tripod, and it is the monopod that has been accompanying me on my hikes. Yup, that's what I had with me on Middle Head. It helped, but the tripod would have been a better choice. Yes, I did switch to the more stable 3-legged support a little later in the day. By that time the wind was so strong that while I used the tripod I felt like I had to keep a firm hand on the camera and tripod so they wouldn't blow away.

Hey, it's Rover. I really wanted to bounce down the Middle Head trail with Denise, but I rode in the camera pack all day. I figured out to sneak the zipper open enough so I could see all of the beauty around us. I really think I would have been blown into the ocean if I tried to walk. Denise was having trouble staying standing at some points during the day, and she weighs more than I do!

After Middle Head I drove and stopped, drove and stopped. The wind seemed to get stronger and stronger. I couldn't let it stop me from playing with my camera though.



My last stop before finding my home for the night was Dingwall. And then, I climbed over one more mountain before rolling into the Highland Breeze B&B.

---

Interesting.

Anna - my B&B hostess - provides food twice. There's the normal breakfast, and there is also dessert and conversation in the evening. She made a very tasty cake, served topped with ice cream, a nice treat.

It was an evening of interesting exchanges between Anna, the other guests here, and three more people staying at a B&B down the road because Hghland Breeze was already full when they called for reservations. Anna invited them to stop by, and they did.

Big water

So much water...

Today I was looking at our maps, and I thought I'd list the (big) water we've seen on this trip. We rode over two waters, and we wandered next to others. So, let's build the list.

We started by floating across the Gulf of Maine. We walked next to the Bay of Fundy, then we crossed the Strait of Canso, the narrow channel between mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island, between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean. We drove by Bras D'Or Lake on our way to North Sydney. Then we crossed Cabot Strait on our way to Newfoundland, then bounced next to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Yesterday we were at the Atlantic Ocean, and today we followed the edge of Cape Breton Island from the Atlantic Ocean back to the Gulf of St Lawrence.

That's a lot of big water, isn't it?

--- Rover

A light wandering day

I think Denise is still a little tired so I told her that I would take over the word play for the day. The day started with an excellent breakfast, fresh fruit topped with yogurt and fresh bran muffins followed by poached eggs. Oh! And good morning conversation too.

Our first bounce of the day was to the Sydney waterfront. Did you know that there is a big fiddle sitting in front of one of the buildings there? It's really, really big, isn't it?



We headed back to the B&B, and Denise spent some time chatting with Gordon and Bev (our hosts) about where we should wander for the rest of the day.

Our first stop was Mira Gut. Don't you think that's a strange name? We headed a bit north from there, back towards Sydney, and then Denise decided to follow a dirt road onto a little island and out to Waddens Cove. That was such an empty road, and yet... there were a number of houses at the very end of the road. It seemed like such an incredibly isolated place to live.

Next stop Louisbourg. I think most people head there to visit the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site but today didn't feel like a history kind of day. Instead, we started at Louisbourg Light. The rocky coastline reminded us of Maine, of Acadia National Park. The ocean was even making the same big crashing noise as it does at Thunder Hole in Acadia. Oh! And we could hear the sound of rounded rocks rolling together. We bounced down a trail in that area, and of course Denise was playing with her camera.



After a bit we decided to move on to a different spot. This time we headed to Kennington Cove, a beautiful beach accessed via another dirt road.



We were so lucky that Denise asked Gordon & Bev for their suggestions - we never would have seen Kennington Cove on our own.

It was a good wandering day.

--- Rover

Floating

I woke up to find blue skies decorated with white this morning. The clouds returned, the air stayed dry. It was a good day for driving, and hopefully it will also be a good day for a sea voyage. The engines have just started rumbling, soon to be moving.

My quick drive through Port aux Basques didn't reveal any enticing walkng spots. Off to the ferry... I was early enough to see the MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood arrive in port, spin around, and back into its docking spot. I can't imagine turning something as large as this ship so precisely.



The ship seemed to enter the port slowly. Maybe that was because of the need to turn and back; we pulled out of port very quickly. I found a home for the voyage, some seats along the side of the ship, daylight streaming through the windows, companions for some conversation.



As the sun was sinking into the sea, I headed up on deck for a bit. Sitting still, the ship seems to be stable. Standing and walking is another story entirely. There's a definite roll, with deep waves visible on the horizon. Sitting is a good thing.

---

I'm still sitting on a moving ship. At about quarter to 9 they made an unfortunate announcement. The MV Atlantic Vision is still in port at North Sydney, unloading and reloading. With the Atlantic Vision in port there isn't room for another ship, so our arrival time was changed to midnight. Ouch! I wandered over to see if there was a phone book on board since I left the phone number of tonight's B&B in the car, and the car decks are not accessible when we are moving. I found the phone number, discovered that my cell phone works on one side of the ship and not the other, and was able to contact Colby House to tell them that their late-arriving guest was going to be even later than expected. I feel bad that they are waiting up for me; this situation is totally out of my control – and that's what my hostess said too.

A very late arrival... now I'm doubly glad that I was able to extend my stay at Colby House (back) to two nights. I was originally supposed to be there Sunday and Monday nights. When I canceled Sunday because of the canceled ferry, I was down to one night, but when I called to confirm tonight I asked if they had a room for Tuesday too. Luckily for me they had a cancellation for tomorrow night. Not moving to a new location tomorrow sounds good to me.

---

Ah, this ship does have Internet access. Posted while floating...

---

Later, after midnight

Ah... what a nice welcome for a very late arrival. In spite of the fact that I was a good three hours later than expected - much much later than is usually acceptable at a B&B - Gordon & Bev welcomed me to Colby House with a smile and made me feel very welcome. I'm settled in to my very comfortable room, time for some sleep.

Stepping to the south

A bit of driving, a bit of walking...

The rain started a bit later than expected. It was gray but dry as I headed away from Gros Morne. The visitor information center in Deer Lake provided maps of the Corner Brook area, and conversations with two bikers (of the motorcycle variety for those (bi)cyclists reading this). I crossed paths with the bikers several more times in the day, giving us an opportunity for an interrupted, interesting conversation.

Once I got to Corner Brook I headed down Captain Cook's Trail. The part of the drive that hugged Humber Arm was just a drive without any access to the water, but once the water opened into the Bay of Islands there were more views, and even a few places to stop. Funny, when I passed through York Harbor I could see a car on what appeared to be a dirt road right along the shore. It was a road without a sign; an opening that I missed as I continued to the end of the road in Lark Harbor. I kept an eye out after I reversed direction; luckily the road jumped out at me. Ah, time for a walk along the water, a chance to look at reflections in a lagoon, at clouds lowering, hovering in the hills.





I ended my day in Corner Brook just as a light rain started. It's raining quite hard now, and there is a rainfall warning and a tropical storm watch in effect.

What ferry will I be on? I just listened to a long detailed recording at Marine Atlantic. My departure time is now set for 4 tomorrow afternoon. All things considered, that's not bad at all. To Nova Scotia!

Animal smiles

Oh! I saw a moose today! We were just about to turn into the Southeast Brook Falls trailhead when Denise thought she saw something. I popped up and saw the same thing. It was a big (female) moose. No photos, but we both have memories of a somewhat close encounter.

Did you know that Denise talks to animals? We were rambling down the trail when a little chipmunk ran in front of us and jumped up a tree, running around to hide on the back side. We stood still; the curious chipmunk popped his head out to look at us. He had what looked like a blob of small sticks in his mouth. Denise asked him what he was eating; instead of answering, he just ran up the tree. Funny..

--- Rover

A funny kind of day

The rain was heavier than I expected, but it did eventually stop. The ferry worry is gone since Marine Atlantic decided to suspend operations from 8 AM Sunday until 8 AM Monday. I'm hoping to set foot on Nova Scotia at some point on Monday (I hope, I hope...). In between the rain and making some travel arrangements, I did manage to do a little bit of wandering.

We had what I would consider a special treat for breakfast. What? Oatmeal – the soak overnight kind – topped with yogurt, cinnamon, and a little maple syrup. Wonderful... I would happily eat that every day (but I guess that will have to wait until I return home, won't it?).

The downpour of this morning lightened up a bit. Time to head out...

My first destination was Broom Point, My intent was to walk along the shore after I visited the restored fish store, but by the time I pulled in there the wind was howling and rain was falling sideways.

It was raining so hard that Denise borrowed my baby camera to take photos in the fish store. She didn't want to carry her big camera in that downpour. Isn't it a good thing that I have a camera with me too?

--- Rover

Thinking I needed an indoor activity for a bit, I headed to the Bonne Bay Marine Station in Norris Point. There is an aquarium there that is open to the public in addition to the research facility that is the station's reason for existing. There was one tank of fish - wolffish if I remember correctly – where the fish were lined up staring at me. You don't think they were staring? It certainly looked like they were.

What I found even more interesting were the charts showing the ocean currents flowing through this area.

The rain turned to mist, and outside activities called to me once again. I walked places today that I had walked before on a quieter day – what a difference! Waves were rolling against the shore, there were clouds and mist, and I could lean against the wind. In fact, there were times when I found it difficult to stay upright – and these winds were no where near hurricane strength.



Dinner tonight was at Java Jack's again. I couldn't resist a sweet potato carrot soup laced with interesting spices as a starter, followed by veggie lasagna with a Caesar salad. Very nice.

---

Tomorrow I'll be headed to the south.

I still don't know when my ferry will be leaving; at this point it sounds like it could be late Monday afternoon. Of course that's assuming that Hurricane Bill has exited the area by Monday morning. The current storm track still shows it hitting the eastern tip of Cape Breton Island at 9:30 tomorrow night and clipping the eastern edge of Newfoundland as a tropical storm at 3:30 Monday morning. Maybe that will allow the ferries to start running again Monday. I was on the second cancelled ship, so that means I will likely be on the second ship to leave here once Marine Atlantic resumes operations.

I'd like to be a little closer to the ferry, so I will start in that direction tomorrow. I'll be staying in Corner Brook, two hours from my current home, and a 3-hour drive to the ferry.

Canceled

I'm actually relieved. I was listening to the radio when I heard that Marine-Atlantic canceled all departures from tomorrow morning until Monday morning. I'm still hoping to get to Nova Scotia on Monday. They are not yet shuffling passengers; the agent I spoke to said they are making decisions on how to proceed now. When I asked how they manage to rebook 3 or 4 ferries worth of vehicles, she told me that they had stopped taking reservations for Monday and Tuesday, and that hopefully all vehicles would be accommodated quickly. I'm not holding my breath.

When I called the B&B in Sydney to cancel for tomorrow night the owners told me that they were waiting for my call. I had let them know that I would be coming in from the ferry when I made my reservation.

The wind is howling now, but the rain has stopped for a bit. It's time to walk again.

Watching the fog...

...roll in and out

It's a gray, rainy morning here. As I sit looking out of the window, I can see a spit of land across the harbor. Just a minute ago that land was completely engulfed in cloud.

The rain has been cycling between light rain and heavy downpours. I was ready to move, to head out to walk, and the heavy rain started again. Hmmm... I think I'll sit for a little longer. I can happily read for a while, and chat with other guests who are also waiting out the rain. I think there will be walking in my day at some point, probably wet walking.

I have a good rain jacket with me, rain hat too. The jacket is in my room, but my hat and umbrella are in the car. That's not too smart, is it? Just a short dash through the rain will get me the rest of my rain gear.

---

Marine Atlantic has posted warnings about possible ferry delays between 8pm tonight and 8am on Monday. I just phoned for an update, and was told to call at 10:30 tomorrow morning for an updated boarding time. When I told them that I'd be on the road at that point in time they suggested that I call at 7am.

The word I got this morning is that the departure times are under control of the captains (as they should be), and that it would be a delayed departure as opposed to an outright cancellation.

Colors of the day

From blue skies to the yellow-brown color of the Tablelands, an amazing day...

It was a dry day, a day of sunshine and moving white clouds, a day (probably) packed with too much activity. After all I needed to get some wandering done before the sun disappears behind water once again.

I started with a hike up Gros Morne, the second highest mountain on the island. I went up with the thought that I would turn around at the rock gully instead of sliding up the scree slope to the top of the mountain, and that's exactly what I did. Up, up, stopping to capture images, to chat with other people, to enjoy being surrounded by mountains. I even had a short conversation with a chipmunk who insisted on playing a game of hide and seek arounnd a tree trunk. Oh! and I saw two moose off in the distance – a mama and her calf. And here I thought I was going to be one of the few people to visit Newfoundland without meeting one of the many moose who live here!



When I finished my Gros Morne jaunt, I hopped in the car and headed for a repeat of the Tablelands Trail. It's an hour's drive from my home away from home in Rocky Harbour to the Discovery Center and Tableland trail outside of Woody Point, slightly less from the Gros Morne trail. It's really too bad that I couldn't just pedal across the South Arm of Bonne Bay... how about a bicycle that converts into a pedal-powered boat? That would be so much more efficient than driving around all of the water.

It was well worth the drive though – it satisfied my curiosity, my urge to see the Tablelands in bright instead of dim light. I still find it amazing to see how the color of rocks changes so much under direct sunlight. Rocks that appeared reddish on that misty morning just two days ago lit up with a yellow-orange color this afternoon. The rock is peridotite and is thought to come from the earth's mantle.



At one point I stopped and tilted my head back to take in the wispy cirrus clouds. I'm sure the clouds weren't standing still but they also weren't visibly moving across the sky. A funny thing happened as I was standing, looking up. I almost felt lie I was moving, floating, instead of standing on a patch of very solid ground. What an interesting feeling!

I left the B&B at 9 this morning, and returned just afer 6, tired and hungry (in spite of snacking all day!) but happy. I walked to Java Jack's and picked up a sandwich for dinner. A very nice veggie wrap hit the spot – after I showered off the sweat of the day.

Overdoing it on a good weather day felt like a good thing to do, especially with the high possibility of a wet day tomorrow, and with Hurricane Bill planning to visit Atlantic Canada soon. Rover is right, yikes!

---

As of right now, Environment Canada is showing the storm reaching the Atlantic Coast of Cape Breton Island at midnight Zulu time on the 24th (9:00pm local time), and reaching the east coast of Newfoundland at noon Zulu time (9:30am local time) on the 24th. (Remember, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are half of a time zone away from each other...)

I'm scheduled on the 4pm ferry on the 23rd. Will it leave? I don't have a clue! I might make it to Sydney as planned Sunday night, or I might be sitting in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland waiting for the seas to subside. Only time will tell.

If you're curious, and if you're reading this entry while Hurricane Bill still lives, click to jump to the Canadian Hurricane Current Conditions page.

Hurricanes and ferries

Yikes! Did you know that there is a hurricane wandering around in the Atlantic, possibly heading in our direction? Environment Canada published a pretty simple statement, saying "...Hurricane Bill expected to impact Atlantic Canada on Sunday...".

That statement really doesn't say much does it? But you do know that we're scheduled on a ferry back to Nova Scotia late Sunday afternoon, don't you?

Oh! don't tell Denise. I don't want her to worry.

If you happen to have any pull with the weather wizard, could you please ask if Hurricane Bill could be pushed away from the Maritime provinces?

--- Rover

Jumping north, heading south

Was today a normal single day, or was it several?

I apparently headed in the wrong weather direction this morning. It was dry when I pulled out, heading to the north to find a very small provincial park called The Arches, just past the northern edge of Gros Morne. Dry, and then wet, rain, trucks flying past me on a two lane road. I guess my speed limit ride was much too slow for the truckers. Their vehicles kicked up an amazing amount of water as they flew by me.

As I turned into The Arches Provincial Park it was almost as if a spigot turned off. The only moving water was in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, lapping the bottom of a triple arch sitting just past the edge of land. I watched in fascination as a young boy (who appeared to me to be a teenager) climbed on top of the arch, scaling the almost vertical rock face and giving his mother what appeared to be an unpleasant surprise. Even more interesting was his path down from the top of this rather large rock formation.



After playing with my camera for a bit, I headed to the south. Still dry... I pulled into the parking area for Western Brook Pond, the starting point for the hike to a fresh-water lake living in a fiord. Even though I wasn't planning to take the boat tour, I followed the 3-kilometer trail in, hoping for a good glimpse of the glacial feature. I could barely make out the vertical sides of the fiord from the parking lot, and as I moved closer the clouds dropped. Given the low-lying clouds and the lack of visibility, I was surprised at the lines of people waiting for the 1PM departure. Ah, perhaps the boat travels close enough to the walls to see the beauty.

Yes, this boat tour originally was on my list of things to do this week. My lack of interest in sitting still on a boat for 2 hours steered me away, as did the reports I heard that passengers were expected to stay seated. My camera expects me to be able to jump up whenever an interesting image appears...

As I walked toward the lake the air felt more and more water-laden. By the time I reached the end, I had the feeling that I was walking through solid mist. My camera was protected, stashed in my pack. As I got closer to the car, some irregular ponds sitting on a very green background caught my eye, time for some camera play. I really should have left the camera where it was... Even looking at the small images visible on the back of my camera, I saw images flecked with water droplets. Funny...

It was wet, but it was still beautiful.

At that point I was thinking about skipping my next planned walk, a coastal walk near Green Point. My car automatically turned into the parking lot though. I headed out once more, still wearng my rain jacket, and with my camera hidden away from the mist. Within 5 minutes the air was dry, and there was blue in the sky. Oh! Time for some camera play. It was a beautful walk along a narrow path above the rounded tumbling rocks of the beach. There was green growth to the east, sparkling with small ponds. Between me and the big water to the west there were white remnants of trees, big branches. I walked the path, occasionally jumping down to the rocks to get closer to the water. As I turned to return to the path, I saw a mountain biker heading south along the trail. I watched him rolling, and then he stopped to chat, asking me what camera I was using. Ah, another photographer! We stood and talked for a while, then he continued rolling and I finished my walk.





Just a bit further down the road, I turned into Lobster Cove Light. PJ – my new mountain-biking-photographer acquaintaince – was standing there gazing at the water. We talked some more, then it was time for me to walk just a bit more, time to wander closer to the water, to look at the bright green seaweed under a bright blue and cloud-painted sky.

---

Dinner tonight was at Java Jack's, just a short distance down the road. Pan-fried cod accompanied by potatoes and vegetables from the restaurant's garden was a good choice, yum!

Conversations with my fellow guests at the B&B provided good end-of-day relaxation.

---

Tomorrow? The forecast is for a good weather day. All I need to decide now is which hike will pull me in.

Walking through raindrops

Maybe sleeping with the window open isn't a good idea. I woke up (again) in the wee hours of the morning to the sound of rain. It was still drizzly during breakfast. I thought about where to head, talked to my fellow B&B residents about what they were planning to do, and then headed a long way around Baie Bonne Bay, East Arm, and South Arm to the southern section of the park.

It was still a bit wet when I arrived in Woody Point, a good time to head inside the Discovery Centre. I spent a bit of time there, reading the exhibits, watching a film about the park, and talking with one of the rangers about the moose in the park. I talked with him for quite a while, fascinated by the size of the moose skull and antlers that were sitting on the table in front of me. There was a much smaller skull sitting next to the moose skull; it turned out that the smaller head belonged to a bear.

The exhibits and explanations of the geology of the area was even more interesting.

Time to move outside! I headed out to hike the Tablelands trail, one of the few places where the earth's mantle is exposed. There was green growth below, red rocks above, with a low sky of gray, wisps of lighter clouds highlighting folds in the hills. For my walk out and about half-way back there was mist in the air, and then a light rain started. Other than trying to keep the drops of water off of the filter on my camera, it wasn't too bad. Oh! the weather wizard won the drops of water battle, and when the rain increased I stashed the camera in my pack.

My hope was to also walk the Green Gardens trail, but when I pulled into the parking lot at the trailhead it was not only wet but the area was shrouded in fog. Hmmm... maybe another day. I was hoping to do both trails today since that area of the park is a good hour from Rocky Harbour. I may go back if I have time; Green Gardens is on trails wish list, and I think I'd like to repeat the Tablelands trail in different light too.

Another good day, even though my wanders on two feet were a bit shorter than I'd hoped. The weather forecast calls for clearing tomorrow morning, with good weather continuing through Friday. Fingers crossed...

Watch out for moose!

The first advice I received on arriving here was not to drive at night. Apparently moose are often on the roads, and a moose-vehicle collision would not be a pleasant thing. These big animals are not native to Newfoundland. A pair was introduced to the island in 1904, and according to information on the Parks Canada website, the population is estimated at 125,000 to 150,000 moose. That's a large number, especially of an introduced species for which there are no longer any predators present on the island.

There are many signs on the highways warning of moose/car collisions. I'll be sticking to daylight driving.

Fog and butterflies

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain pelting against the windows. Good thing it wasn't time to get up yet...

Hey – Rover here... I told Denise that we needed to share playing with words today. So anytime you see slanted writing, that's me!

After Denise woke up in the middle of the night to listen to the rain, I reset her alarm clock to give her a little extra sleep. I thought that would be good for her. Oh! good for me too – I didn't mind more sleep, as long as we still had plenty of wandering time, and we did. We slept until almost 8 o'clock. That's really, really late for Denise. See, I knew she was tired.

Ah, that extra sleep felt good. It was an oatmeal kind of morning, a warm start on a still-drizzly day. The skies were gray and there was water in the air. I decided to stick to my plans to drive the Port au Port Peninsula, a triangular shaped piece of land juttng into George's Bay. What I saw of it was beautiful. I stopped for a few photos, drove a bit further, and then... the fog rolled in as I was heading up a rather steep hill. I have to admit I'm glad that I was driving today and not pedaling a Denise-powered cycle. If it wasn't for the lines on the road I don't think I could have seen it at all (at that point). I could still see white lines on either side of the pavement, and a yellow line in the center, leading me forward. I drove just a bit further, hoping that the fog would lift. It didn't, and I found a good place to reverse directions. It was time to head back to the highway, to continue my drive to Gros Morne.

My camera and I stopped for a chat with some alpacas who lived along the road. They have such expressive faces.

I had to help with directions when we got back to TransCanadaHighway 1. Denise was a bit confused by our choice of heading either east or west, knowing that we were heading north. I told her to follow the signs for the eastbound side of the road. TCH 1 runs across Canada, from the west to the east, and this section of the road runs from Port aux Basques to St. John's (in the east). It does snake around a bit, and we followed it to the northeast until we hopped off of that road in Deer Lake.

After turning off of TCH1 in Deer Lake I just had to stop at the Newfoundland Insectarium butterfly house. I wandered through the bug part of the exhibit first, marveling at the size (and fuzzy legs) of some tarantulas. I must have spent a full hour wondering at the beauty of the butterflies. According to one of the staff there, the butterflies were quiet because of the cool temperatures. Quiet was fine with me as I tried to capture their images. It's a good thing that my macro lens jumped into my bag!



Time to head for Gros Morne National Park. The light rain stopped, the beauty continued. There were many tempting views. And yes, I did stop at a few, usually at a handy roadside turnout.

Rocky Harbour beckoned, and I arrived at my home for the next five nights, Wildflowers Country Inn. When I walked into my room I was sure there was a mistake. I expected a single room, but it's more than that. One small room with a king-sized bed. Next to it, a room with a sink that is more of a sitting room than a part of a bathroom, a room with two comfortable chairs and a table. Toilet and shower tucked away in another room. Nice!

Fingers crossed for decent weather... I have at least four days of hikes and wanderings in my head – including a boat ride up a fiord. One of the hikes is quite long; I'll try to pick the best weather day for that one.

Drop dead gorgeous

My first impression after driving away from the ferry? This place is drop-dead gorgeous.

The road climbed up from the water, through rolling hills with occasional shining pools of water, small lakes or ponds, on one side of the road, the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the other. As I drove further the water disappeared, replaced to trees, green, rolling hills.

I ended my drive in Stephenville, with plans to start tomorrow with a drive around the Port au Port Peninsula just west of here. Fingers crossed though; the weather wizard is predicting rain for tomorrow and showers for a good chunk of the week.

How wet will I get?

What time did you say it is?

My job today was to remind Denise that she needed to change her watch by 1/2 an hour. Did you know that Newfoundland has its own time zone? Today we moved from Atlantic Time to Newfoundland Time. It's the only place in Canada with a half-hour difference in time zone, and we don't have any of those funny time zones in the United States either.

Now all I need to do is to remember to tell Denise to switch her watch back when we bounce onto the next ferry.

--- Rover

Floating

Another early start... breakfast, then off to the ferry. The target floating away time was 10AM, with a requested arrival to wait in line time of 8:30. Yes, you know me well, I was there just before the requested time.

Vehicles lined up by size, parked, waiting... Drivers and passwengers wandering, chatting with others who were also waiting, listening to occasional announcements, sharing, waiting. We rolled aboard a bit late, ferry pushing out at 10:30.

I boarded, parked, and asked the ferry staff member who was helping, “you're not going to have us back off of here, are you?” He laughed. No turns on this ship – we drove in the front, and we'll drive out the back. Straight in, straight out. Phew!

I walked the decks outside on level 7, then repeated my circles around the deck on level 10 – the level shared with the off limits bridge. It was so nice to have a place to walk.

Speed wasn't apparent; at first it felt like we were crawling. And yet, the MV Atlantic Vision is the fastest ship in the fleet, movng at 27 knots per hour, which translates to 31 miles per hour or 50 kilometers per hour. Hey, that sound's fast, doesn't it? Given our sailing time of 4+ hours, we certainly weren't moving that fast for the entire time. It was probaby the combination of moving slowly out of the N Sydney harbor and flipping the boat around to park in Port aux Basques with stern to land (so we could all drive forwards to exit the ferry).

An end to the water passage of the day...
In Newfoundland...

Heading east

It was (as expected) a driving day, a day that started once again with breakfast and conversation. As a starter there was fresh fruit salad topped with a small scoop of green apple gelato. The taste? Subtle, and very enjoyable. That was followed by french toast and more fresh fruit. Ah, that was my kind of breakfast!

I headed east, then southeast, east, northeast, the east some more until I hit the causeway to Cape Breton Island. Then northeast again, except for temporary reversal of direction coming off of Kelly's Mountain. Funny, I stopped at a look-off at the top. It was so hazy that I didn't even pull the camera out, but I did notice a green bridge across a section of Bras D'or Lake that was down, and back to the west. Little did I know that the road I was on would loop back, down, and go across that bridge. I'm fascinated by bridges, and I would have happily stopped to share the view with my camera. Nope, not going to happen. It was a two-lane bridge, no shoulders, no pedestrians allowed. Do you ever want to ignore the "no pedestrians" rules?

The road was far enough inland that I couldn't see the water most of the day. The scenery changed from farmland to rolling forested hills, ups, downs, I caught a glimpse of the water as the road edged around and down, and then a sign jumped out to make me smile. Danger, watch for blowing snow. Hmm... no snow today!

I knew that the connection from mainland Nova Scotia to Cape Breton is referred to as a causeway, but somehow that didn't click for me. I kept thinking bridge. The connection is mainly a land connection, finishing with a short bridge section that swings out to allow passage for boats. That passage is the Canso Canal, a structure that was completed in 1955. The causeway supports wheeled vehicles and trains, and the canal allows passage of the same ships that travel the St. Lawrence Seaway.

I stopped in Baddeck to stretch, to walk a bit, to take in some views of Bras D'Or Lake.



The end of the road today wasn't too far past Baddeck, just under an hours drive. My home for the night? At the Harbourfront B&B in North Sydney, up the hill from the port. As I sat on the back porch this afternoon, I could see a ferry docking, nose lifting, unloading.

The sight of the ship pulled me toward the harbor, to walk, to explore. I wandered into what appeared – from a cradle to hold a ship - to be a repair facility. What caught my eye there? piles of rusted parts. chains, buckets, gears. Even rust can be beautiful.



Tomorrow? A ferry beckons, the MV Atlantic Vision. Please add your wish to mine for a quiet sea!

Evening colors

The tide was in, there were wisps of clouds in the sky, smooth water in Wolfville Harbor, and the sun was edging downwards. Magic!

I was walking just after dinner without a camera when I saw the clouds reflected in the water. My immediate thought was that if I went back to the B&B to grab my camera that the magic would disappear before I returned. I thought that maybe I should just enjoy the sunset. It was a fleeting thought.

I tried to capture the magic. Reflections, a sunset, a clicking camera, and oh! mosquitos too. I'm very glad I ran back to get my camera.

A different view

Hey! Denise told me she would share the writing, so now it's my turn to play with words.

I had a chat with Denise this morning before we headed out. I can't believe she even thought about hitting both Cape Split and Blomidon Provincial Park in one day. Not enough time! I guess she didn't really think it was possible either, because I didn't need to argue with her. Phew!

We started by walking through the Wolfville Farmers Market, an every Saturday morning occurrence. Oh! we're not cooking on this trip, but there were some good baked goods there in addition to the wonderful looking fresh vegetables. Denise picked up an orange chocolate chip scone for a mid-day energy boost. We shared it after our first hike; that was a nice treat.

Next we went to Blomidon Provincial Park. In case you wonder what attracted Denise to the park, here's a description from the park's web site:

Rising majestically from the shores of the Minas Basin, Blomidon Provincial Park is renowned for its spectacular views. Blomidon's 759 ha (1,875 acres) include 180 m (600 ft.) high cliffs, a variety of habitats, striking natural features, abundant wildlife -- and the world's highest tides wash its shores.

I bounced while Denise hiked the Jodrey Trail. It was mostly in the woods, with occasional look-offs allowing visions of Minas Basin in the Bay of Fundy. I could probably have bounced along the very edge of the cliff but it's a very dangerous place for a person to walk. The look-off points were actually wooden decks with railings around them, some with an older fence in front of the deck where the ground had eroded.

Sometimes walks in the woods are good. You know Denise though, she likes to be out in the open. After we finished our hike we headed for the beach. The tide was out pretty far, and there was (relatively) hard red sand to walk across. There were small rocks covered with fibers of bright green seaweed, so pretty against the red background. Walking on the beach here was much different than walking in the mud at Hopewell Rocks. I know Denise is thinking of stopping there, but I would be very surprised if we go home that way.

It was a good walking day, with a visit to the Acadia University botanical garden a good finish to our wandering.

--- Rover

Morning...

...conversations and good food

A restful sleep, morning, time for a good B&B breakfast. As Pam explained, breakfast this morning started with desert – a crepe wrapped around banana slices, topped with a light caramel sauce, and surrounded by berries and a scoop of gelato. Yum! The main course was hard-boiled eggs in a tomato-based sauce, baked. I have to admit I've never had hard-boiled eggs prepared that way – and they were very good.

I sat for a while, chatting with my hosts and with the other guests who chose an early breakfast time.

And then... time to head out to enjoy a warm sunny day.

New places...

Off the ferry, through immigrations, on the road, rolling north and then east...

The two-plus hour drive from Yarmouth to Wolfville took me down roads I traveled last on a bicycle, past the point that I turned to the south on my first visit to Nova Scotia three years ago and onto new-to-me roads. The views were of rolling fields, distant hills, trees, green beauty.

Home for tonight and tomorrow night is In Wolfville B&B. I had a wonderful conversation with hosts Gordon and Pam when I checked in, a good start to this adventure's B&Bs.

Tomorrow? I have a strong suspicion that there are more places I want to wander than I have time. That's a good problem to have, isn't it? I'm headed for the water, to Cape Split, or Blomidon Provincial Park, or maybe, who knows, maybe both. Then there are the botanical gardens at Acadia University. I wonder if there is time to play in all three places. I suspect not; only tomorrow will tell.

---

A welcoming entry to In Wolfville B&B...

Cat prancing

Early morning, driving to the dock... I arrived at Portland's waterfront to see a sign for The Cat right in front of me. But oh! Where is the ferry? My first thought was that I had the wrong day, that the ferry didn't run out of Portland on Friday mornings. I know better than to worry, and it absolutely was the right morning.

Ah, the sign has an arrow pointing to the left. I turned, drove a little further, and there it was. Sitting, waiting for vehicles and people, back end yawning wide.

I arrived at the requested time of 6:30 for an 8AM departure. The first half hour was a good time to chat with the other drivers standing outside of their cars, waiting. And then, it was time to move. Rolling onboard, looping around the inside of the boat. Up, up, turn, turn, ending with my bright blue car heading slightly downhill, pointing toward the back of the boat. (Or am I supposed to call it a ship? At what point does a water vehcle change from a boat to a ship?)

I grabbed a seat in the back of The Cat. From my memory of my last jaunt to Nova Scota on The Cat, the back is a smoother ride. Makes sense since that's where the power is, pushing back. No bouncing, just a swaying feeling (and this on a day that appears to be a quiet ocean day). Not to worry, I did take Dramamine this morning, I have a stash of crystallized ginger in my back – which my mom tells me is good at fighting (reversing?) nausea, and oh look! just like an airplane, there are just-in-case bags tucked under the seats. So far, so good...

There's a narrow deck at the back of the boat, a place to get a bit of fresh air, and to watch the wake rolling to the horizon. That's the only outside spot. There are windows all around the people areas, but oh! it would be fun if we were able to stand on the top of the boat. I know, I know, it's better than a plane. I can walk around, I can pop out to fresh air. If I were so inclined (and I'm not), I could even do some gambling. Nope, that just not in my list of activities, doesn't fit!

Some interesting information about the great body of water The Cat is crossing:

The Gulf of Maine is a 77,000 square mile semi-enclosed sea bounded to the south and the east by tall land forms called “underwater banks” that rise to form a barrier to the North Atlantic. The landward edge of the Gulf of Maine runs from Nova Scotia all the way to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Underwater valleys plunge to depths of 1,500 feed (500 meters).

It's a long ride – 200 miles, a distance that we are scheduled to cover in about 5 ½ hours. At the other end, entry to Canada, and then a drive to Wolfville, my home for the next two nights.

a short first step

Today - a first step, a relatively short drive.
Tomorrow - traveling across a large body of water.

It's time to wander. I jumped from home to Portland late this afternoon to protect my sleep. The ferry is scheduled to leave at 8am, and line-up-to-board-the-ferry time is 6:30. I know, I know, it's only a two hour drive. But I'd much rather have a relaxing evening, a good sleep, and a 15-minute morning drive.

Rules of the blog

There's really only one rule - no worrying allowed!

I hope to write most days, and all of my homes away from home are supposed to have wireless access. But you ever know, do you? There could be tired, no words days. There could be no access days.

My rule for everyone who is watching over my shoulder? Read, enjoy my writing, enjoy Rover's writing (yes, there will be contributions from my little red travel companion), and please don't worry if there are occasional days without posts.

Chatting with the weather wizard

Fingers crossed...

I gave in to my curiosity and checked the Environment Canada forecasts for Wolfville, Nova Scotia and Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland this morning. I'll be staying in Wolfville for the first two nights of my wanders, and in Rocky Harbour for five nights starting next Tuesday.

The forecast? It looks more than acceptable at this point in time.

Did I say Wolfville? I did, but Kentville is the closest town with a posted forecast...

Closer...

...getting closer! Oh! The last time I wrote I was counting the weeks, and now I am counting the days. Soon...

I've been rambling around the house, and I see that Denise hasn't started gathering things together for our wander to the north and east. I thought I'd help her a bit, to remind her of things that shouldn't be forgotten. What things? Well, I started by telling her that she should start wearing her RoadID now, one less thing to forget. She's really good about grabbing it before she heads out walking or riding, but a couple of times lately she actually got out to the road in front of our place and realized she wasn't wearing it. You know what? She listened, and she's wearing it now!

I'm leaving notes around for Denise, or I'm pulling things out and putting them where she'll trip on them. That way she won't forget anything important.

---

While waiting for our adventure...

I headed out early yesterday with Denise. She told me about some big dog sculptures that she saw Friday night on her bike ride. I don't always ride with her when she heads out for exercise, but it looks like I should have joined her on Friday. Lucky for me that she didn't get enough of the dogs on Friday, so I jumped into her camera bag before she headed back for a second visit.

Denise is practicing for our trip, so she had me pose on one of the big dogs. It's a photo of me though, not of the big dog - so I've included a picture of my view through the dog's dog-bone too.




That's a really nice photo of me, isn't it? If you'd like to see more photos of the big dogs, you can find them in Denise's gallery, Dale's dogs.

---

I think it's OK to start getting excited about our wanders now. It's not too far away...

--- Rover

Ping!

One more "getting ready" task done...

I don't want to rely on my cellphone for this trip. Yes, it is traveling with me, but calls from Canada are not on my plan, and they are international calls. I could change my cell plan to lower the cost of those calls, but I suspect that cell phone coverage may be spotty.

I was going to pick up a pre-paid calling card. Before I did that I went googling, and I came up with Pingo. The per minute call rate is reasonable, and the service gets good reviews. Done!

Oh, you're right, I do like the name.

Lost and found

I've been wandering through the guide book provided by the Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism office. It's titled LOST AND FOUND, and shares the words "Take this opportunity to explore this mysterious land. Let go of your expectations. Prepare yourself to be lost, and found, in Newfoundland and Labrador."

I like playing with words, and the lost and found phrases that introduce each section of the guide have been jumping off the page at me.

---

From the Newfoundland Labrador 2009 Travelers Guide:

Is it possible to feel at the same time... lost and found? Getting lost... For the traveller, not the tourist. Lost: track of time Found: a whole new time zone Lost: map Found: perspective Lost: my inner tourist Found: my inner traveller Lost: stress Found: peace Lost: myself Found: myself