Dibbo's Canadian adventures

The summer holidays had finally arrived and the first of our big adventures during the 8 week break was to discover as much of Eastern Canada as we could in 2 weeks. The decision was to do a bit of a loop taking in Quebec, New Brunswick, PEI (Prince Edward Island), Nova Scotia and then head down into the States as far as Boston before heading home. We packed lightly, threw a tent, sleeping bag and an esky in the car and took off for our first stop, Quebec City.

We liked Quebec City in the winter so came back to find that we arrived at their "summer carnival". Lots of outdoor performances and people everywhere. We stayed in a small motel, that Jenny discovered on Wotif

Saguenay/Lac Saint Jean

The next day we headed north to the Quebec region of Saguenay passing through heavily forested parklands with 'Beware of Moose' signs and discovered the first of many spectacular lakes surrounded by softwood forests. The plan was to drive around Lac St Jean (about a 200km trip) and stop at the sights, camp out and generally get into the tourist bit. We found however that we were definitely in the heart of French speaking Canada. Not many people understood a word we said (and vise versa-even with our very own French linguist on board) but we muddled through having a few laughs at the difficulties. One caravan park that Jenny walked into and asked for a tent site was met with a stare and silence. Jenny skulked out of the office and said "its your turn to ask at the next one". Which we did and found a great spot at the Desbians camping park, complete with tree lined site, beach, sunset, red wine (for the adults), mosquitoes and a roaring log fire.

The next night was spent in Chicoutimi after the circumnavigation of Lac Saint-Jean. We had a very enjoyable dinner at the lookout overlooking the city but woke the next day to thick fog. Our days exploration started with a very interesting look through the museum where we observed the history of the logging/pulp industry in the region and the rest of Canada. We then drove down to St-Simeon to catch the ferry across the Saint Lawrence then into New Brunswick. Very lucky with the ferry, last car to fit on otherwise a 2 hour wait until the next service.

New Brunswick

By the time we crossed the St Lawrence and poked around some towns like Riviere-du-loop and Edmunston it was time to look for a camp site. We found the perfect spot overlooking the Grand Falls and had a great time exploring the falls, setting up camp, sitting back with a few beers and chatting to the other campers. These chats and other encounters with Canadians showed to us that the people in each province are very different. We were amazed at the fluidity that NB people swapped from English to French during a conversation. NB is the only Province that is completely bi-lingual where the schools and even the homes speak in both languages. Next day we headed further south and east through Hartland with the longest covered bridge in the world then through some interesting towns (populateions starting to thin somewhat compared to Ontario) such as Mactaquac then on to Frederickton, the provincial capital, with a population of a mere 50,000! As we got closer to the Atlantic the dominance of adds for seafood, especially lobster, increased so we headed for the coast to check out the beaches and find lobster. Landing in the coastal town of Shediac we were led to believe the camp ground was 200m from the beech so we pitched the tent and headed for the salt water (which we have not seen for 7 months) only to find that it was 2kms away. The beach though was pleasant but the sand was brown.

The weather wasn't kind to us in Shediac with some overnight rain and foggy in the morning but we planned to have a rest day here. On this day the big lobster feast occurred washed down with ice cold beer and very FRESH bread. It turned out very hot today so we went back to the beach for a swim and to toss the frizbee Jenny bought at a dollar shop. The place was packed! It was amazing to see so many people on a small beach with brown sand and no waves. Such a contrast to Forster!

Prince Edward Island
Up and away early on to Prince Edward Island (PEI) and stopped at the information centre in NB to take a picture of the bridge spanning the 13km wide Northumberland Straights dividing PEI from the mainland. Had a brush with the law on the bridge as I didn't see any speed signs and assumed it was still 100km/hr until the policeman going the other way threw a u-turn and pulled me over. A little sweet talk in my best, most nervous Aussie accent got me off the hook and on we sailed. PEI is a very small island which you could drive around in about 4 hours non-stop. It is also thinly populated with lots of farms interspersed with dense forests. The cleared land used for crop or dairy cattle shows rolling green meadows running down to touch the ocean with only a scar of dark brown cliff face separating the two. If I had been to the British Isles I would say this is what it looks like. We traveled through this picturesque countryside to the Anne of Green Gables museum. This museum is on the site where L. M. Montgomery spent time with her relatives holidaying in PEI. She says she got most of her ideas from this farm. We checked out the house and barns, restored to the period, did the stroll through the haunted woods and lovers lane, checked out the cemetery where Lucy Montgomery is buried then headed to the north coast to check out the National Park and find a camp site. Traveling along the northern fringe of the island revealed long whiter beaches, small fishing villages nested in front of sandy bluffs and colourful lighthouses dotted along the coast. The PEI National Park spanned a large proportion of this coastline and we chose a great spot to camp only to find that it was closed for campers. Gave up looking for a site in the National Park when speaking to some Canadian travelers who told us of a couple of excellent places to stay on the east and south east coats. We settled for a drive over to Panmure Island Provincial Park and found a great camp site a short walk to the beach. Our campsite preparations were very organised by this stage. Alex and I put up the tents, Jenny fussed over the bedding, everything else fell into place with all helping to set up. Beers were cooled in yesterdays iced water and new ice was added to the esky. Dinner this night was chicken and salad wrapped in a tortilla. Desert each night was usually toasted marshmallows over the open fire.
Next day we decided to head to the ferry at wood island about 45mins away then across to Nova Scotia. But we had read that the lighthouse that first received the SOS from the Titanic was at Cape Bear just down the coast tucked aroung the corner a bit out of our way so we planned to get up a little earlier to check it out. The ferry left Wood Island at 6:30am then at 8:00am so the 8:00am was chosen. I checked the time on the mobile phone and at 5:15 we all got organised and left. Once in the car however we all noticed that we had in fact got up at 4:15. The phone time is set automatically depending on what time zone you are in and it moved forward an hour to Atlantic Time. Anyway we got to Bear Island, took some pics and headed to the ferry thinking maybe we can make the early one. As it turned out the ferry left a little later than its scheduled time and we made it on board for a breakfast with the truckies. The special was bacon, eggs, toast, potatoes and coffee.

Nova Scotia
Fog country! Dropped into the information centre at the Canso Causeway, heading to Cape Breton Island and our friendly assistant told us that fog is apart of the landscape until at least midday. Then, if it is a good day, the sun burns it off and your right. Not good news as we made our way to Alexander Graeme Bell's museum, then onto Sydney! Yeah, Sydney is a small city in NS. And it has a Pitt Street in downtown Sydney though not quite as busy as the one in Oz. Took our picture in front of the Sydney sign, stocked up on supplies, the fog had gone at this stage, and headed to Louisebourg. On the way to Louisebourg we checked stayed the night at another camp ground and hit the Historic Fort of Louisebourg in the morning.
At this stage I should mention that Alex had started collecting photographs of number plates from different provinces and US states. This had become a passion for Alex, and me. We found the best source of new number plates in the car parks of tourist information centers or historic sites. Finding Texas or Alaska had been a bonus on this trip.
Louisbourg was fantastic, we stayed in the fort for the morning then headed to the Cabot Trail thinking that the best time to see the sights of one of the worlds best drives was in the afternoon given the reputation of the foggy mornings in NS. As it turned out the weather was very king to us and we had 2 days of beautiful weather which coincided with some spectacular scenery and some interesting events.
We drove in an anticlockwise direction aroung the trail, starting at St Annes Bay where we took a small ferry cutting off 60kms of the trip saving on backtracking. Lots of small fishing villages, steep cliffs and great views of the Atlantic and beaches. Made our way to Meat Cove which was spectacular and had lunch on the headland. Then headed to Cheticamp and stayed in the national park campgrounds with the intention of going back to the skyline trail in the morning to find some moose!
Jenny explains: "Alex and I had an interesting experience whilst we were away. We were staying in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park and had decided to go for an early morning bushwalk. Chris had heard from the park ranger that the best time to sight moose was early in the morning or late at night. Off we set on our 10km walk at 6am, Chris almost running ahead of us with excitement (and the camera). A few minutes into the walk the first moose had been sighted - a female (nowhere near as majestic looking as the males because the male have racks). Photos were taken and then off Chris went again. The next minute Alex and I looked up and there was a male running straight for us. He obviously didn't see us and we certainly hadn't seen him until he was almost right upon us. He came to a sudden standstill (thank heavens), looked at us very closely (he was only about 3m away from us) and then ran off in the opposite direction. Let me tell you they are very big animals and the racks are also very big!!! "
After our moose incident we headed down the Ceilid Trail out of Cape Breton and down to Halifax. Arrived in Halifax in time to find a motel (across the harbour from the downtown area) and catch a ferry into town, have a look around, and have dinner. We chose to eat on the waterfront which had a variety of restaurants overlooking the harbour which reminded us very much of Sydney Harbour. Next day we woke to rain so, after exploring the Halifax Citadel, the Maritime Museum with the Titanic memorabilia, and to the cemetery to visit the graves of the Titanic victims, we headed off back into New Brunswick to discover the Bay of Fundy.

Back to New Brunswick
Jenny had been really keen to get to Hopewell Rocks where you can see interesting rock formations on a coastline that has huge tidal differences. We arrived at the site and it was still raining! Undetered, we put on wet gear and with 2 umbrellas, headed down to the rocks. We weren't disappointed in the spectacular and bizarre scenery. Even though it was raining, and blowing a gail, we had fun and got some good photos. Then, dripping wet, we got back into the car and, headed to Saint John giving up on the idea of staying at Fundy National Park. We put in some miles and headed for the border with the hope of staying at Boston tonight. We reached the border town of St. Stephen where the chocolate factory, shop and museum was. Filled up on chocolates, Jenny and I made ourselves sick, Alex was much more reserved and breezed over the border arriving in Boston at a motel we booked from a tourist brochure.

Boston
Caught the subway into the center of town from our motel and started exploring. There were a number of companys offering trolley tours so we took a 2 hour trip around town checking out the sights and gaining valuable history. Paul Revere, Boston Tea Party, 'Old Ironsides' etc. Topped this off with a guided walk around Beacon Hill, the excessive old money area of town. Then a wander through the park, also checked out the Old Granary Burial Ground where all the famous Bostonians are buried dating back to the 1600s. Finally pulled the pin at about 1pm and headed back to the motel to pick up the car and take the long drive home. Which we did on Hwy 90 all the way to Niagara, a quick stop here to pick up some duty free, then home at about 2am.

# posted by Dibbo @ 5:26 am 2 comments