I had planned and hoped to get an early start from Charlottetown. Partly this was in order to catch the 11:15 ferry at Wood Island to Caribou, N.S.. However, I failed to get going quickly enough by a margin of about 15 minutes. This proved to be a benefit. The next ferry was at one o'clock. The ferry terminal proved to be a relatively pleasant place to wait with sunny skies, ice cream and scenery to help pass the time.
My plan for Pictou had been to visit the Hector, a replica of the ship that first brought Highland Scots to the area and then carry on. However, because of missing the ferry, by the time I was done with the Hector (less interesting than it sounded partly because I know too much about the subject for me to accept the conventional version of events put forward by the museum) it was about 4 in the afternoon. I could have carried on and found a bed in New Glasgow, but owing to a glitch in the Nova Scotia guide to accomodation, I couldn't phone the B&B in New Glasgow. As I was heading to the tourist information office to find out the answer to my question (area code 902 as it turned out) I passed the Willow House Inn, a B&B I had read about in my Lonely Planet Guidebook.
It was a building built circa 1840 according to one the signs on it. It also had a sign saying "Vacancies". It is a cosy, eccentric place run by Jimmy and Debbie who clearly love the place and their job. I got a warm welcome and an excellent room at a very reasonably price. The building is absolutely charming with two sets of back to back staircases. In addition, everything of serious note in Pictou was within easy walking distance of the place giving me the chance to explore the lovely town of Pictou.
The town obviously had some serious wealth in the 19th century judging by the presence of many fine buildings from that era including a former U.S. consultate. Actually, the presence of a consultate suggests the importance of the town back in the day.
All in all, yesterday rocked! Pictou is a place to visit. If you do visit, you can do far worse than the Willow House Inn.
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Sunday, 10 August 2008
On a restful day
I have just spent a fairly restful and rather touristy day here in Charlottetown. Last evenings lobster was succulent, but I think it would have been better with melted garlic butter instead of regular butter. Then again, just about everything goes better with garlic.
I slept in quite late, before going downtown to take the Harbour Hippo tour. This is taken in an amphibious bus allowing the tourist to get both the town and harbour tours in one. What they don't say is that Charlottetown has a remarkably dull harbour. No commercial traffic to speak of, no wrecks, and nobody drowned. Nothing to laugh at at all. About the most interesting things to see were the cormorants. Oh, and the ketch rigged yacht whose home port was Venice. (Since returning home, I have discovered that it was the Jancris, a 56' Mikado ketch.)
I also took in Province House, Founders' Hall and Beaconsfield House. Lunch was at the only brewpub on the Island. They have a very good brown ale.
I must get back to the motel in order to give Leonardo a good oiling. There has been a fair bit of rain, so he deserves a bit of attention. I only hope I have a spare rag.
The weather has been fairly sunny today, though rain clouds have been visible every now and then. Yesterday started off quite rainy but turned quite nice.
I phoned my uncle Julian up to get his professorial opinion on a couple of historical matters. The first was the Battle of the Restigouche. He more or less agreed with me that the Parks Canada presentation was substandard and biased. The second question related to my biking from Moncton in the Bay of Fundy watershed to Shediac on the Gulf of the St. Lawrence. The distance is only about 25 km and the land isn't very high. I was curious to know if there had been any attempt to build a canal from the Bay of Fundy to the Gulf. Apparently there had been a private venture to do so during the 1880s or so, but the company collapsed before the canal was even remotely completed.
When Julian found out I was in P.E.I. he asked me to come and stay with him. When I pointed out that it would represent two days of biking to get to him and another two days to get back, he offered to drive two hours to pick me up and then return me to my starting point. I politely turned him down, as I felt that having someone drive for eight hours would probably defeat the ecological side of my trip.
I bought some lobster stickers to affix to Leonardo today. I think I will put one opposite the cockle shell.
I slept in quite late, before going downtown to take the Harbour Hippo tour. This is taken in an amphibious bus allowing the tourist to get both the town and harbour tours in one. What they don't say is that Charlottetown has a remarkably dull harbour. No commercial traffic to speak of, no wrecks, and nobody drowned. Nothing to laugh at at all. About the most interesting things to see were the cormorants. Oh, and the ketch rigged yacht whose home port was Venice. (Since returning home, I have discovered that it was the Jancris, a 56' Mikado ketch.)
I also took in Province House, Founders' Hall and Beaconsfield House. Lunch was at the only brewpub on the Island. They have a very good brown ale.
I must get back to the motel in order to give Leonardo a good oiling. There has been a fair bit of rain, so he deserves a bit of attention. I only hope I have a spare rag.
The weather has been fairly sunny today, though rain clouds have been visible every now and then. Yesterday started off quite rainy but turned quite nice.
I phoned my uncle Julian up to get his professorial opinion on a couple of historical matters. The first was the Battle of the Restigouche. He more or less agreed with me that the Parks Canada presentation was substandard and biased. The second question related to my biking from Moncton in the Bay of Fundy watershed to Shediac on the Gulf of the St. Lawrence. The distance is only about 25 km and the land isn't very high. I was curious to know if there had been any attempt to build a canal from the Bay of Fundy to the Gulf. Apparently there had been a private venture to do so during the 1880s or so, but the company collapsed before the canal was even remotely completed.
When Julian found out I was in P.E.I. he asked me to come and stay with him. When I pointed out that it would represent two days of biking to get to him and another two days to get back, he offered to drive two hours to pick me up and then return me to my starting point. I politely turned him down, as I felt that having someone drive for eight hours would probably defeat the ecological side of my trip.
I bought some lobster stickers to affix to Leonardo today. I think I will put one opposite the cockle shell.
Saturday, 9 August 2008
On resting in Charlottetown and thoughts on the trip so far
I am in a Charlottetown internet gaming joint and I have used their connection and equipment to upload a number of images into earlier posts.
Charlottetown is very nice and I am optimistic that I will be able to A. get some serious resting in, and B. find some lobster to eat. The previous point is relevant as I haven't had a proper rest day so far.
I travelled through some Acadian areas of New Brunswick. I was surprised at just how firmly they wish to be Acadian with no doubt about it. There are more Acadian flags and other symbols displayed per capita than Fleur de Lys in Quebec. This extends to decorating the telephone poles in red, white and blue and the Stella marine.
While I was in Bathurst, I spent some time sunning myself on the beach.
Shediac is grossly overun with tourists and people trying to make money off tourists. However, that did me the license to pose with Shediac's giant lobster. I got some Chinese(?) tourists to take my picture.
Anyway, I can't think of anything else to write at this point, so I think I will head in search of lobster. Cheerio.
Charlottetown is very nice and I am optimistic that I will be able to A. get some serious resting in, and B. find some lobster to eat. The previous point is relevant as I haven't had a proper rest day so far.
I travelled through some Acadian areas of New Brunswick. I was surprised at just how firmly they wish to be Acadian with no doubt about it. There are more Acadian flags and other symbols displayed per capita than Fleur de Lys in Quebec. This extends to decorating the telephone poles in red, white and blue and the Stella marine.
While I was in Bathurst, I spent some time sunning myself on the beach.
Shediac is grossly overun with tourists and people trying to make money off tourists. However, that did me the license to pose with Shediac's giant lobster. I got some Chinese(?) tourists to take my picture.
Anyway, I can't think of anything else to write at this point, so I think I will head in search of lobster. Cheerio.Friday, 8 August 2008
On leaving New Brunswick
I am in Cape Jourmain Nature Centre, about to get on the shuttle bus to P.E.I.. I saw P.E.I. for the first time last night after supper. I was sitting on the beach in Cap Pele looking at the sunset when I noticed land on the distant horizon. It was a very special moment as I could see rain squalls, a rainbow and a beautiful sunset.
I am now two provinces down with three to go. Each time I change provinces it will be (or has been) over water.
Sorry. The writing of this blog entry got interrupted by the shuttle bus arriving. I am now in P.E.I. at the Greenvale Acres B&B. The Confederation Trail makes for wonderful biking, especially after the indifferent biking on New Brunswick roads. It is, however, less scenic than some of the roads I was on in New Brunswick.
Getting back to my point about crossing from province to province over water, it seems a mite odd that it is the reality of this trip. If I weren't going by P.E.I., three of the provinces would be connected by land. However, given the sequence and the layout of the provinces, I guess it is only a bit odd that I crossed from Quebec to New Brunswick over water. Or possibly not. The two main crossings are in essence Edmundston and Campbellton of which the latter must be reached by water owing to the Restigouche River. I am not sure what it means, but it feels like there is something different about changing provinces by water rather than by land. I suspect that there would be something about liminal experiences and the like.
In other musings, I read a few weeks ago that farmers in some parts of the U.S. are finding it difficult to get day workers (pickers and the like) because it costs the day labourers too much in gas for them to get to the fields. The writer speculated that the high price of gas could wreck havoc in the lives economy of the rural poor who are more dependent on cars, etc. than city folk.
Why do I write this? Well, biking in northeastern New Brunswick, I saw a lot of houses and low-end economic activity that suggested that the people of the area weren't that rich and had drive significant distances to get to services and/or work. I wondered how high gas prices would affect these people. Compounding the question was the fact that the gas prices seemed to be lower than in Quebec. Given that the Irving families pretty much own the province and that they made their start from the gas industry, I speculated as whether the Irvings might decide to look after their subjects or simply exploit the buggers for all they are worth.
The train was 90 minutes late. This was probably better than it had been a few days before when I suspect it was three hours late based on when and where I saw it. It was one of the new "Rennaissance" trains and therefore quite modern and a little mystifying. The seating areas were raised slightly above the walking area. In addition, the seats were three across rather than the four across I was expecting. Very comfortable. From my impressions of the Via Rail website, there are both the Rennaissance trains and the old stainless steel trains operating on the Ocean (Montreal to Halifax) run. I must admit that I had been expecting the stainless steel trains.
The B&B I am staying tonight is a mite eccentric but very reasonable.
I am now two provinces down with three to go. Each time I change provinces it will be (or has been) over water.
Sorry. The writing of this blog entry got interrupted by the shuttle bus arriving. I am now in P.E.I. at the Greenvale Acres B&B. The Confederation Trail makes for wonderful biking, especially after the indifferent biking on New Brunswick roads. It is, however, less scenic than some of the roads I was on in New Brunswick.Getting back to my point about crossing from province to province over water, it seems a mite odd that it is the reality of this trip. If I weren't going by P.E.I., three of the provinces would be connected by land. However, given the sequence and the layout of the provinces, I guess it is only a bit odd that I crossed from Quebec to New Brunswick over water. Or possibly not. The two main crossings are in essence Edmundston and Campbellton of which the latter must be reached by water owing to the Restigouche River. I am not sure what it means, but it feels like there is something different about changing provinces by water rather than by land. I suspect that there would be something about liminal experiences and the like.
In other musings, I read a few weeks ago that farmers in some parts of the U.S. are finding it difficult to get day workers (pickers and the like) because it costs the day labourers too much in gas for them to get to the fields. The writer speculated that the high price of gas could wreck havoc in the lives economy of the rural poor who are more dependent on cars, etc. than city folk.
Why do I write this? Well, biking in northeastern New Brunswick, I saw a lot of houses and low-end economic activity that suggested that the people of the area weren't that rich and had drive significant distances to get to services and/or work. I wondered how high gas prices would affect these people. Compounding the question was the fact that the gas prices seemed to be lower than in Quebec. Given that the Irving families pretty much own the province and that they made their start from the gas industry, I speculated as whether the Irvings might decide to look after their subjects or simply exploit the buggers for all they are worth.
The train was 90 minutes late. This was probably better than it had been a few days before when I suspect it was three hours late based on when and where I saw it. It was one of the new "Rennaissance" trains and therefore quite modern and a little mystifying. The seating areas were raised slightly above the walking area. In addition, the seats were three across rather than the four across I was expecting. Very comfortable. From my impressions of the Via Rail website, there are both the Rennaissance trains and the old stainless steel trains operating on the Ocean (Montreal to Halifax) run. I must admit that I had been expecting the stainless steel trains.
The B&B I am staying tonight is a mite eccentric but very reasonable.
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
On good weather at last
I am in Bathurst, New Brunswick, after two days of good weather. Very sunny but not too warm. I went swimming in the ocean near Dalhousie yesterday. I am not sure when was the last time I swam in the sea. For a while, the last time I knew I did was in the Mediterranean in 1987! However, I have just remembered that I swam with dusky dolphins off New Zealand in December, 2002, so it doesn't seem that bad.
From Campbellton to Bathurst, I have been following Highway 134 to the South. Looking at the map last night, I noticed that from the train station in Moncton, I will be taking the 134 North to get to Shediac.
In case I forgot to mention, I will be taking the train from Bathurst tomorrow morning for Moncton. This will give more time in Gros Morne.
The biking has been pretty good in New Brunswick, partly because of the good weather but also because the 134 is the old highway. Highway 11 is parallel to it and thus absorbs most of the through traffic. The scenery is very nice if unspectacular.
Right now, I am feeling very confident about my biking ability. Part of me thinks this trip will be a piece of cake! The paranoid side of me is waiting for the other boot to drop.
All for now. I am going to check out the train station and look for a bike shop. Bye.
In case I forgot to mention, I will be taking the train from Bathurst tomorrow morning for Moncton. This will give more time in Gros Morne.
The biking has been pretty good in New Brunswick, partly because of the good weather but also because the 134 is the old highway. Highway 11 is parallel to it and thus absorbs most of the through traffic. The scenery is very nice if unspectacular.
Right now, I am feeling very confident about my biking ability. Part of me thinks this trip will be a piece of cake! The paranoid side of me is waiting for the other boot to drop.
All for now. I am going to check out the train station and look for a bike shop. Bye.
Monday, 4 August 2008
On the road again
I now have the time to write more extensively about the last 72 hours or so. The bus ride from Montreal to Le Bic went very smoothly with never a moment of doubt that I would make the connection in Quebec City: the same bus went on from Quebec City to Le Bic. Only the driver changed! 
Pascale meet me at the bus stop and drove me back to her place where I extracted Leonardo from the barn, sorted my gear, changed into biking gear and printed out my information from my data-cache. After bidding them adieu, I rolled off on my way. Suddenly, it hit me, Newfoundland was at the end of the road I was traveling. I let off a loud yeehheee!!!
The elation didn't last too long. As I whee'd down the hill to the St-Lawrence, I ran into a blast of very cool air blowing from the East off the river. All that afternoon, I fought the stiff wind. Fortunately, there was very little rain in with the wind or else it would been monumentally unpleasant.
In addition, I found I had left my map case in Montreal. I improvised one with a zip-lock bag that I will hope will last until Newfoundland. I tried looking the bike shops in Rimouski, but no luck. Maybe in Moncton or Charlottetown.
I took some photographs in Sainte-Flavie of the signs pointing to the same thing in different directions, namely Percé and route 132 East. Up the right hand branch of the 132 was Mont-Joli, and my bed of the night. Mont-Joli is a run-down industrial town right next to some tourist towns such as Sainte-Flavie and Grand-Metis. The hotel was something of an anachronism. It felt like a low end early 20th century hotel. Very comfortable, mind you.
The next day started not too badly but it eventually began to pour in a serious manner. Fortunately, I don't think I missed much scenery. The Route-Verte took me off the 132 at times. Near the end of the day, I turned off a side route in Lac-aux-Saumons onto what I thought was route 132. After about 1 km, I noticed that I hadn't been passed by much traffic and not even one RV. I wondered if I might be on the wrong road, but dismissed that thought as it didn't fit with my sense of the geography of the area. I then noticed the RV's on the road on the other side of the lake on my left. I simply hadn't reached the 132 again.
I spent the night in a B&B run by a former head of the Quebec milk producers. He said that he had started the Tour de l'Ile for a number of years starting in 1988. The B&B also housed a restaurant that specialized in crepes Bretons. These were a feature of supper and breakfast and very good they were.
Today was relatively free from rain and wind. Most the ride was following the Matapedia river down from Causapscal to the Restigouche. The Matapedia is in a canyon of possibly glacial origins (feel free to correct me, Papicito). It is heavily treed and well salmon'd as evidenced by the number of fishermen and the presence of a bald eagle. It was quite beautiful but I was glad to reach the Restigouche and more open country. It was also time for lunch.
After lunch, I visited the Parcs Canada Battle of the Restigouche Historic Site. It covered a little known but interesting post-script to the Plains of Abraham. Unfortunately, it made the battle seem more important that it was. It was also created by a francophone as it made the English seem like bad guys and gave too much weight to the French chances to begin with. The short version of the event was that in 1760 the French sent a small fleet of merchantmen guarded by one small frigate to try to support French efforts to retake Quebec City. It left France too late, and found that the Royal Navy had beaten them to the St-Lawrence. The fleet tried to hide in the Baie des Chaleurs while they sent someone to walk to Montreal for more orders. The British eventually found the fleet and sent a proper squadron of warships (three ships of the line and two frigates). The battle was something of a foregone conclusion from the word go. The only hold up for the British was trying to find the deep parts of the Restigouche for their ships. While the presentation was fairly interesting, it was needlessly biased and limited. I wonder what my uncle Julian, a naval historian of both the period and the region, would make of it, or possibly made of it. On the plus side, I was intrigued to find out that the MiqMaq word for moose is pronounced rather like "Diam" which is also the French word for a type of deer.
Time for bed.
Anyway, my watch is now set to Atlantic Time and I am in a hostel that is part of an old lighthouse in Campbellton, New Brunwick.
The elation didn't last too long. As I whee'd down the hill to the St-Lawrence, I ran into a blast of very cool air blowing from the East off the river. All that afternoon, I fought the stiff wind. Fortunately, there was very little rain in with the wind or else it would been monumentally unpleasant.In addition, I found I had left my map case in Montreal. I improvised one with a zip-lock bag that I will hope will last until Newfoundland. I tried looking the bike shops in Rimouski, but no luck. Maybe in Moncton or Charlottetown.
I took some photographs in Sainte-Flavie of the signs pointing to the same thing in different directions, namely Percé and route 132 East. Up the right hand branch of the 132 was Mont-Joli, and my bed of the night. Mont-Joli is a run-down industrial town right next to some tourist towns such as Sainte-Flavie and Grand-Metis. The hotel was something of an anachronism. It felt like a low end early 20th century hotel. Very comfortable, mind you.
The next day started not too badly but it eventually began to pour in a serious manner. Fortunately, I don't think I missed much scenery. The Route-Verte took me off the 132 at times. Near the end of the day, I turned off a side route in Lac-aux-Saumons onto what I thought was route 132. After about 1 km, I noticed that I hadn't been passed by much traffic and not even one RV. I wondered if I might be on the wrong road, but dismissed that thought as it didn't fit with my sense of the geography of the area. I then noticed the RV's on the road on the other side of the lake on my left. I simply hadn't reached the 132 again.I spent the night in a B&B run by a former head of the Quebec milk producers. He said that he had started the Tour de l'Ile for a number of years starting in 1988. The B&B also housed a restaurant that specialized in crepes Bretons. These were a feature of supper and breakfast and very good they were.
Today was relatively free from rain and wind. Most the ride was following the Matapedia river down from Causapscal to the Restigouche. The Matapedia is in a canyon of possibly glacial origins (feel free to correct me, Papicito). It is heavily treed and well salmon'd as evidenced by the number of fishermen and the presence of a bald eagle. It was quite beautiful but I was glad to reach the Restigouche and more open country. It was also time for lunch.After lunch, I visited the Parcs Canada Battle of the Restigouche Historic Site. It covered a little known but interesting post-script to the Plains of Abraham. Unfortunately, it made the battle seem more important that it was. It was also created by a francophone as it made the English seem like bad guys and gave too much weight to the French chances to begin with. The short version of the event was that in 1760 the French sent a small fleet of merchantmen guarded by one small frigate to try to support French efforts to retake Quebec City. It left France too late, and found that the Royal Navy had beaten them to the St-Lawrence. The fleet tried to hide in the Baie des Chaleurs while they sent someone to walk to Montreal for more orders. The British eventually found the fleet and sent a proper squadron of warships (three ships of the line and two frigates). The battle was something of a foregone conclusion from the word go. The only hold up for the British was trying to find the deep parts of the Restigouche for their ships. While the presentation was fairly interesting, it was needlessly biased and limited. I wonder what my uncle Julian, a naval historian of both the period and the region, would make of it, or possibly made of it. On the plus side, I was intrigued to find out that the MiqMaq word for moose is pronounced rather like "Diam" which is also the French word for a type of deer.
Time for bed.
Anyway, my watch is now set to Atlantic Time and I am in a hostel that is part of an old lighthouse in Campbellton, New Brunwick.
On leaving Quebec, province thereof
I am just about to cross the Restigouche to Campbellton, New Brunswick. I don't have much time, so I will simply say that the weather today has been the best so far. Of course, given the fact that yesterday saw record rainfall, that's not hard. But I made it!!!!
One province down, four more to go!!!
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