onto Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia

From Cape North and Meat Cove, NS

Well spell check got me again. It changed most of my spellings of Kathadin to Katherine. I was really talking about the Kathadin Stream Campground and CLimbing Mt. Kathadin! And my Panorama Shot was the Kathadin Bowl!

Anywhere I am in Canada now so I am working in Metric. 1.6 km = 1 mile, 1 gallon = 3.8 liters, 70 ºF = 21.1ºC and humidity is humidex. Once I crossed the border Interstate 95 became Transcanada 2. So I travel about 110 kph (65 mph) now. It gives one the illusion you are getting places much faster!

When I woke up I took a nice hot shower. It felt really nice on my sore muscles. Good to be clean. Stream baths only work for so long! I eat a granola bar and hot tea for breakfast. I spent the morning straightening up BEYOND. Getting rid of lots of brochures. Putting all the dirty clothes in my laundry bag under the back deck. Washing the kitchen. Then I found a water spigot and filled BEYOND’s water tank. SHe holds 12 gallons. Then I spoke to guy from Quebec who had questions about BEYOND. He was telling me to go to PEI (Prince Edward Island) and then take the ferry further out to the Madeline Islands. I spent so much time in ME that I think I will save them for another trip. I drive into Fredericton which is about 10 km from the Mactaquac. On the way I stop at a farmstead for local green beans, cucumbers and tomatoes. THe man give me directions to a propane place. There I fill my tank. (4 gallons) At the bank $100 US gets me $99.94 Canadian so almost 1to1. Then off to the supermarket where I buy produce, Mooselips (Muselix), milk, cream and some local smoked Atlantic Salmon, raisin bagels etc. When I get to BEYOND I make a peanut butter , raisin bagel and drive East on Route 2.

I am in Canada so I am listening to Bruce Cockburn, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and the Crashtest Dummies. Soon I am getting sleepy. I am tired from my climb. I see a sign for Fundy Provincial Park and turn South. I find a pretty lake and stop for a swim. Then I drive down an autopath (Canadian for one-way gravel road) It was lined with lots of blooming wildflowers and peeks of the Bay of Fundy.

I got a campsite and made a creamed salmon pasta, steamed green beans and big salad and an English Imp Ale for din. I ride my bike around and look at the Bay. The tide is high. Alma, NB at the bottom of the hill has the worlds highest tides, at 15 ft. I ride of to the outdoor amphitheater to see the evening show on the endangered Leopard Frog but it is in French tonight. In Canada everything is written in French and English. I was listening to Canada Radio one and Quebec is still trying to become an independent country and they were debating the pros and cons. Anyone want to comment? I personally enjoy the mix of French and English that I hear and see all around. I know the issues are much more complex but as a visitor I enjoy the mix. I tried to understand the Frog lecture but I wasn’t getting much and she wasn’t showing many visuals. SO I rode around more and watched fireworks down in Alma. One of the rangers tells me that mostly people drink and shoot fireworks at night in Alma. Not much else going on. I visited the Nature Center which has very nice exhibits of locally flora and fauna.

I ride to the community fire pit. No individual fires in this campground. There are a bunch of people there singing and playing guitar. I join in and we sing Counting Crows, Green Day, then an old one Hotel California ( they were much younger than I)Turns out The Eagles are playing on Sat, night down the road in Moncton. People are very excited. I heard on the radio one guy spent $10,000 in tickets and food, booze etc. for himself and 18 of his friends. The other folks are from Moncton and some have been to Mt. Kathadin and we talk about the climb and The States. Then the rain comes pouring down and we scramble to put out the fire and I ride back to camp. After I dry off I crawl into bed and fall asleep to the rain.

In the morning I have another hot shower. Glorious! I am usually a night shower person but it was raining hard last night and I was tired. After Mooselips with leftover cream and hot tea I pack up and drive through Alma and into Moncton. It’s pretty big and seems to have a lot going on. Lot’s of peel in all the outdoor cafes eating lunch in the sun. There is free WIFI in downtown but I can send out! Dang. I try a few places around town but no luck. All the other signals I see are password protected. So I find a gas station and fill the tank at 1.26.3 a liter. Instead of $75 it was $89. So I find my way back to Route 2 and drive to Amherst and now I am in Nova Scotia. THe internet says there is a disc golf course just outside of town. I follow the directions into a farm driveway and behind the barn. No sign of a course. The farmer comes over and says the course was taken down and moved to a competition last weekend and the guy is coming later to put it back up. Can I come back tomorrow. I really like Canada because most people are very polite and friendly. The enjoy having a conversation and are always happy to give directions or recommend a place to eat. I mention that I am going to Cape Breton to see how the logging is going on my stepmother’s property and he says that mills have stopped buying logs. The market is really down.

I thank him and call to tell Pippa about the log price. My father answers and we go over details of his joining me next week in Newfoundland and the sailing trip in the Virgin Island he and my brother’s family just finished. Sounds like they had a great time. They even sailed to Anagada, an island I haven’t visited. I would have enjoyed that trip as well. Sounds like it was warmer than our Christmas sail from St. Pete to Key West. And the return trip in the teeth of a big cold front!
I pass Pugsley’s Pharmacy which makes me laugh at the thought of getting medicine from a member of the Adams Family! I am traveling on a small coast highway called the Sunrise trail. It’s very pretty and winds along the coast. I stop in the village of Pugwash. NS at at the Atlantic Jewel Cafe that has WIFI and good seafood chowder. I spend the afternoon eating chowder, drinking tea and updating my travelog and loading photos. I am still sore from Katadhin and the owner has climbed it and wants to see my pics. We have a great conversation about climbing and Newfoundland as he as spent lots of time there and gives me some good hints of places to see and stay. They are setting up for a music night and I drag myself away because I have a ways to drive and it’s Friday night of a three day weekend.

I cruise along the coast through scattered rain stopping once at a liquor commission store for some locally brewed Propellor Pale Ale from Halifax, NS. I finally find the campground just before dark and they are full but then they decide they can squeeze me beside a picnic shelter! I told you folks were nice up here. THe campground is totally full but unlike the US there are no radios blasting. Everyone is walking around or riding bikes and I get a few funny looks as I am not in a campsite, as I make a big salad, more green beans, salmon pasta and the last of the Imp beer. Then the rain comes again and I get caught up in organizing the music on my computer. I have about 6000 songs and I run the computer down to nothing working on it! Then I curl up with Anywhere but Here. It’s an interesting book about a restless mother and daughter and their struggles to create a life for themselves. I realize that the decaffeinated tea I had was not decaffeinated and now it’s midnight and I am wide awake. I will read until I sleep! I often wake up still holding a book. Told you I was hooked.

I wake up to more rain. The forecast was way wrong! I am beginning to worry that I am being loved and showered by the rain god! This morning I go back to bed for another half hour and then have Mooselips with almonds n milk and hot chocolate. I dump my waste water. Then I drive out to the beach. Because of the ocean currents the water here is as warm as North Carolina. I was going to swim but it’s raining and the water is a thick red color but quite warm. It doesn't appeal to me so I take some pics, talk to some folks form Montreal and pick a few raspberries. I drive into the town of Pictou which is very Scottish looking with tartans everywhere and old brick and stone buildings. There is a Sat Craft Market and I have a conversation with a couple of artists and am really drawn to some framed “pebble art” They are very minimal. The artist uses found stones to create simple scenes. They had a very chinese feel to them. I was tempted to buy one but it’s a long road home! Maybe I will buy one form home on the internet She has a web site at: www.pebbleart.ca


Check out her work. I think you will like it. I wandered through the rain along the waterfront to a reproduction sailing ship The Hector and on to a Lighthouse and Maritime Museum. THey had a wonderful series of information panels that where made like sails and set in little brightly painted dories. THey were really great. I spoke to Bill who was building cabinets in the museum and he told all about their plans and showed me what they had so far. He sent me across the way to see the lobster hatchery. It was really cool. THey had huge tanks full of baby lobsters that they give the fishermen to release over the lobster beds. It’s a great program. I wish they would do the same in FL for the lobsters and stone crabs! Maybe the grouper as well! Bill tells me that the tourist bureau can book me a campsite down the road. I drive over there as I am worried about it filing up before I get there. They say it’s an extra $6 ouch! THey check and the campsite has lots of open sites so I chance it. I drive back and find a pub. I have fried pepperoni and a Keith’s lager draft. Followed by fish and chips. The pepperoni is a local favorite and it mild and served with a hot sweet mustard. It’s very good and goes great with the lager. The fried Haddock is really great! Very fresh and the chips have the skin on the way I like them. An excellent lunch!

Alma, New Brunswick and Pictou, Nova Scotia

I stop on my way out of town at a road stand for a pint of raspberries and then drive on to Cape Breton. I stop at the Whycocomaugh Provincial Park and there are plenty of sites. They give a site by myself way up at the top of the hill with a nice view. THe rain has stopped but it’s very overcast. I ask about Caleighs or Kitchen parties but the lady says there are none this weekend. Hard to believe on a Sat holiday night! Too bad as I was hoping to hear some fiddle music and maybe dance a bit. I was here once with my mother and father and my mother got us an invitation and directions to a Caleigh and it was great fun. They are community dances with a fiddle band and people dancing contras and traditional Irish and Scottish folk dances. There is a huge tradition of music here. I see from the literature that there was a huge Caleigh all last weekend. Oh well. Next visit! I make salmon risotto and a salad for dinner and drink at Propeller Pale Ale from Halifax, NS. It’s better than the Keith’s I had at lunch. Much more flavor. I am listening to the song Famous Blue Raincoat. Chris and Patrick put at least 4 different versions on my hard rive. Thanks guys. It’s a nice sad song. They gave me lots of single songs. I had fun cataloging them all.

I am listening to music on my hard rive and put on Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting and sure enough it’s a tribute to WIllhelm Reich. It begins “I still dream of Orgonon. I wake up crying. Your making rain, and your just in reach.” I never realized that. Pretty cool!

In the morning the sky is gray and it’s drizzling rain so I go back to sleep. I wake up late and eat the rest of the risotto with a cup of tea. I walk down to take a shower and it’s just cold water. And too cold for me. I shave and do my teeth then drive west and north to Inverness where there is an Art Center. It’s Sunday at noon and the Arts Center opens at 1 pm but they are having an opening this afternoon starting at 2 pm and please come. Cool! I go down t the beach and take a long walk. The rain has stopped but the sky is gray. There is one person swimming and the water is pretty warm but I collect stone and sea glass. There is a huge variety in the colors and patterns of the stones. Lots of sea glass. More than I have seen in years. I also pickup some driftwood. There is been so much rain that I am thinking I might want a campfire one of these nights. I haul my finds back to BEYOND and have the rest of the salmon with cheddar, triscuits and cucumber for lunch. Tomorrow is a holiday so I stop at the supermarket for a few things and then go to the Art Center for the opening. The show is Rock, Paper, Scissors and the is a nice variety of work. Quilts, Paper dolls, paintings, stone sculpture, hooked rugs, rock and paper sculptures. It is a very good show and I enjoy and watching all the people.

Art shows are always good places for people watching. There is one woman who is of Native (Eskimo) descent who comes in with a flock of kids. She sets down a cube and places an almost teen age girl with an elaborately painted face on it and puts a fancy head net, hat and stole on her. I guess she must be part of the show. The woman is very attractive and wearing very high platform sandal that maybe bring up to 5 feet. She is tiny but full of energy, with all these beautiful kids orbiting around her and the gallery. Then I see what looks like a couple of aunts and a grandmother and it’s a one woman circus. The kids are energetic but very well behaved and it’s a great fun to watch then interact with the art and the people. Everyone seems to know them, except me. After a while I drive North and then realize that I have passed the area where my stepmother’s property is located so I turn around and head south. I stop in Inverness again and ask two local character if they know Melrose Hill. They don’t seem to exactly but one is try to be helpful and says he will help me find it. He gets in the van and asks for a favor. He is pretty drunk and I realize he wants me to buy him booze. They obviously won’t sell to him. He has the money and has been trying to help me so I get him his bottle of Bacardi. He pops the cap and has a slag and then tells me to drive south. We stop at a store and go in and the owner looks at my map and give me an idea of where I need to go. It’s a ways south so I give the drunk his bottle and thank him for his help and drive south to Mabou.

I have a faint scan of a topographical map of the area that my stepmother has marked the location of her property. I can almost read the place names. I find the first road and then see a sign for one of the places named. I am looking for a turn that goes to the top of the mountain and a radio tower. It soon starts to rain and the clouds obscure everything high. I try a dirt road and come across two farmers who send me to Melrose Road. I am looking for Melrose Hill so it makes sense. Only there are a few side roads but none are named. I try one road but it gets too muddy. I don’t want to get stuck way out on a Sunday night. Tomorrow is a holiday too. SO I drive back to the main road and I can see a sign for the town at the other side of the mountain so I decide to try form that side. I get over there and it’s getting dark , none of the roads over here are marked either and my fuel is getting low. I have spare fuel on top but now I am back on the road to Inverness so I drive in and get more fuel. $100 to fill up, Ouch! I ask the gas station owner but he doesn’t know how to get to Melrose Hill. He suggests I park down by the beach for the night and try in the morning. That makes sense to me. Plus I can go to the pub! There are some campers there from Sydney. They tell me a good place to camp Tuesday night before I catch the ferry. The wife grew up here but can’t remember how to get to Melrose Hill. They are having haddock and chips and it smells great so I have an order and a couple of their own brews. The owners wife comes in with a parrot on her shoulder and some Staties and we all have a conversation. Then the owner announces closing and tells me to just drive to the end of the road by the pub and there is the beach and a camper there already. I park on the other side and listen to the wind is whistling in the straps on top. The van is rocking a bit. It’s getting windy enough that I decide to keep the top down. I finish Anywhere but Here. It was a good read. I fall asleep to the van rocking in the wind.

I wake up t the sound of rain and go back to sleep. I finally get up at 8:30 and drive to the other beach to see if the washroom (canadian for bathroom) is open. Nope. So I eat the raspberries I bought the other day and make a cup of hot chocolate. Still nobody to open up so I drive up the hill to the tourist bureau and it’s open. The young man in attendance has no idea of Melrose Hill but his map shows a few more road than mine. He does not sell them though. On my way out I turn on my computer and there is a wireless signal so I put in my email. Then I put Steely Dan on the box and drive off in search of Melrose Hill and I get on one road that soon turns to soup so I back out and go around to where ai was last night. I find a road that is going up in the right directions and is even with more rain falling and lots of water running down I am able to get up it. It’s too narrow to turn around so I keep going and finally I hit an intersection with a string of power lines that should go to the radio tower. I have been looking with my binoculars from the bottom but no sign of it in the clouds. I turn and there is a sign on a fence for a blueberry farm. YES! The next property to my stepmother’s is a blueberry farm. I drive up to the top of the hill and there is the radio tower and the abandoned house that are right next to her property! I have arrived.

I try my cellphone and get a signal so I call Pippa and tell her I found it. She says to look for the remains of a fallen schoolhouse that is on her property. I walk down the road and it’s very still. There the rain is misting and the trees are covered with moss in all colors of green. I walk back into the trees and I can see where the logger is going to bring his road in. It goes just above a clearing that is full of knee deep grass and purple wildflowers. I am now soaked up to my knees and go back to the road and up the other side to where the last of the school house is rotting away. Then I walk into the blueberry field and it’s full of huge ripe blueberries. We all know how I love blueberries! I grab a handful and scoot back over the fence. I walk around some more and take pics then walk back up the road to BEYOND. I head down the other direction where the road is much better but about 4 times as long. Finally I reach the main road and now I can see which road those farmers where directing me too. Not named of course. I drive back towards Inverness and no w the sky is clearing and I can see the radio tower back on top. I stop and the Glenora Distillery. They are just about to give a tour. But the sky looks like it’s clearing and I took the tour last time I was here. I check the pub but no live music so I head north for Cape Breton Park. As I get to Cheticamp the wind really picks up and I hear it straining on of the windows in the van so I roll them all up tight. I am really hanging onto the steering wheel to keep her on the road. I can some motorcyclists who are struggling and finally pull off. The sky is almost clear now with clouds on the mountaintops. I can see cloud bows forming up high. It’s incredibly beautiful right now.

Inverness, NS my stepmother's property and Glenora Distillery

I drive into Cape Breton National Park and it very mountainous with very twisty roads. I stop and hike down the Skyline trail to where it overlooks the sea. But the wind is blowing too strong to go out on the point. When I walk out from the trees the wind almost blows me almost off my feet so I retreat. I walk back up to the van with a couple from Toronto. They see their first moose off by the side of the path. The I continue North. The rain starts again. I see a car stopped on the road ahead of me There is a big bull moose in the ditch and as I stop the other car pulls away and the moose crosses the road in front of my car. I drive to a waterfall and walk up to see it with a German couple from Boston. I wade up to the base of the falls and take pics looking up the falls and back at the others. They go back to their car and I decide to take a stream bath. The water is cold but I find a pool where I can get my whole body in and it feels good to scrub nd wash my hair. I run back to the van in my towel and rain coat. I think I startled a guy in another car! I put on clean clothes and drive North out of the park and on to Cape North. It’s pouring and gusting so hard I figure I should not have problem getting a campsite at Meat Cove. I drive out the gravel road until it ends. My campsite is amazing. Right on the cliff overlooking the sea! Too bad it’s so foggy. They were seeing whales everyday last week when it was clear and sun ny! I put my full rain gear on and there is just enough light to fun up to the top of Grass Mt. From there the wind tries to blow me off the cliff but I can my campsite down below and the sea is booming on the rocks and if it were clear I would be able to see for miles! I go back to BEYOND and keep the top down because the wind is blowing so hard. I make some hot pork and vietnamese noodle soup and it’s hot and wonderful. I start John Irving’s book The Fourth Hand and fall asleep to the wind rocking the van and the rain pounding on the roof.

Cape Breton National Park

Cape North and Meat Cove, NS

Tuesday Aug. 5
It’s still raining and very foggy. I make hot chocolate and then put on rain gear and and hike out to the lighthouse. I have a map and it’s an hour and a half walk. I am walking in the fog and there are a lot more side roads then the map indicates and I feel like I have missed a turn and have walked far enough. I go down one more very slippery hill and decide I have had enough. So I turn back. When I get back the camp owner tells me that another 10 minutes and I would have been there! Oh well. I am ready to head south anyway. I don’t want to miss the ferry to Newfoundland tomorrow morning. My tire is low again so i pump it up. Then I take a shower. 4 quarters for 12 minutes. There is no temp control but the water is hot enough to warm me up and now I am warm and clean. The fog is very thick and it’s drizzling. Perfect moose weather so I drive slowly and carefully out of Meat Cove and back to the main road which i take south. I stop in Ingonish, NS for a bowl of very tasty seafood chowder. Then I drive on in to North Sydney, NS. I find the ferry terminal at about 6 pm. They don’t have room to let me park before 2 am so I drive around until i find an internet signal. I look for a movie theater but it’s in Sunday and not showing a movie I want to see. I have the rest of the pork noodle soup for dinner with a Propeller Ale and then drive around until I find a Laundromat. It’s just closing. Drat!

I find a Tim Horton's/ Wendy’s combination. Tim’s is the donut stand of Canada. They are everywhere! I have a couple of donuts and a hot chocolate and watch lots of people coming into drink coffee and chat with friends. it’s like a small town coffee shop. Then I go out the van and read then sleep until 2 am. I drive back to the ferry and I check in but they are way behind schedule and still not room but the attendant points to a place on the side of the road just outside the gate and says I should be okay there. He will wake me if I oversleep. There are lots of trucks coming up but soon they are stacked up with their engines hut down waiting like me and I sleep until 6:30. When I wake they are letting cars in so I get in line and make hot chocolate and a peanut butter raisin bagel. I eat it and drink my cocoa while the ferry is loading. I end up on the second level and grab my pack with clothes and my book and head for the passenger deck. This is a big ship. 15,000 tons. You are not allowed to stay at your car so I have bought a recliner. They have cabins, bunk and recliners. It’s line an airplane sea but it has a footrest that comes out.

North Sydney, NS

I try to sleep a bit but there are some noisy kids. The ship wa supposed to leave at 8 but at 10:30 it begins to move so I take some foggy pics and speak with a Newfie who now leaves in Ontario and is a solicitor ( lawyer) for the Canadian army. He was posted at MacDIll at one point. We have a nice conversation oft interrupted by calls fro his office. They now he will be out of contact for about 6 hours and are calling about everything. I have left both phone and laptop in the van. He tell me about some good spots to visit in Newfoundland. The ship is moving finally and it gets too windy cold to stand on deck. We go down and talk some more. Then he goes off to take a last call and I walk around. I discover they have showers and free towels. I take a very long hot shower and really scrub up. It feels heavenly and I eat a meatball sub and watch the Newfie husband and wife entertainers in the bar. He is an excellent on fiddle, guitar and mandolin. She has a nice voice and he tells a ot of good jokes. I am getting sleepy so I go back to my recliner and it’s quiet so I sleep for about 3 hours. Then I walk around and they are showing movies.

I watch something called Evening which is good and then some of Spiderman 3. I don’t care for Toby Mcguire much. Then I got to the dining hall and have poutine. It’s a Quebec favorite. French fries covered in shredded cheese and gravy. It’s pretty good. I go to the bar and the same duo is playing. I have a couple of beers and god conversation with a young policeman Dillon and his girlfriend from Ontario. Then with the bartenders who are all from Newfoundland. One shows me some pics of the Avalon Caribou Herd which is about 5000 strong and roams part o the island or “the rock” as they call Newfoundland. Another named Dean tells me to go to Ces’s Fish and Chips for great food and to Trapper John’s Pub and get “screeched in” Screech is a favorite liquor in Newfoundland. It come from Jamaica. It’s the by product of rum and molasses. It too rum to be molasses and too molasses to be rum! My friend Eva’s family used to drink screech with lemon juice. Argh!
I’m not sleepy yet but don’t want to drink more. Due to the late departure and the fact that only 3 out of four engines are working the crossing is going to take 17 hours instead of 14.

I go back to the movie lounge and watch part of a stupid movie about two nerds inventing stuff for the government undercover agency. It’s bad so I go and take another shower. It’s noisy by my recliner despite the signs not to people are sleep on the floor. I find a quiet spot n the movie lounge and stretch out on the floor. I sleep for an hour. Then there is announcement that we are an hour out. I doze until the half hour warning. Then brush my teeth and watch us dock. Then we are called to our cars. Eventually we drive off and it’s 4 am pitch black and I am sleepy. I drive about a half mile find until I see place to pull off the road. I park and crash! Finally I am on THE ROCK! New territory! See you later.

I have loaded pics of New Brunswick and Nove Scotia.
http://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd