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Go West then go East
a travel blog by
rickandsuejohnson
Two years ago we visited the West coast after our visit to Ollie an Ang so this year it seemed only right to visit the East coast...........
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Up Hills and down Dales
Baddeck
,
Canada
We had three other couples around the table for breakfast this morning. All in 50's or older; a woman from Toronto – a lot have been, so it must be empty – a couple from Saskatoon, a couple from Niagara on the lake (presumably escaping tourists) and a bloke from Denmark who was in some way that we were unable to grasp, attached to the woman from Toronto. A pretty affable lot who came up with the original idea that we were escaping the congestion caused by the olympics. No one has yet worked out that in the 3 weeks we have been here, some one else may have suggested that before but we tried to answer it as though it was the first time!
Igonish to Baddeck
A grey, dank start to the day but still quite warm, we settled up with Gill who had moved here from California with her two donkeys, after falling in love with it while on holiday. On the road back to Mabou and then North towards the start of the Cabot Trail at Chéticamp. It soon started raining, not heavily just a steady drizzle which limited the visibility somewhat. We reached the coast at Inverness and then ran just inland until we reached the coast again at Chimney Corner. There were glimpses of a lovely coastline and a road stretching out ahead largely deserted thankfully, probably due to the weather. The rain had by now largely disappeared and the sun was making a watery appearance but just didn't manage to quite burn off the mist.
Rug Hooking
Just before Chéticamp, we stopped at Flora's gift shop – a real Aladdin's cave of a place where Sue watched someone hooking a mat. She must have enjoyed the work – she said they took her about 4 hours each and we noted that they sold for $10. Chéticamp itself is an interesting mix of new tourism based building and old fishing based building. Apparently, still a bastion of Acadian culture which is not surprising, given that there was no road link until 1949.
Back on the road again we stopped briefly at the information centre waiting interminably behind an indecisive couple booking accommodation with a park ranger before baling out on discovery that we could buy our park permits from a roadside booth just up the road.
From Chéticamp, the road dives inland briefly to cross the river before hugging the coast giving some spectacular sights. We had had some conflicting advice about whether to drive the route clockwise or anti-clockwise. Most of the pull-offs (and they are plentiful) are on the seaward side of the road, so in busy times it could be a problem accessing them but today this was not a problem with our clockwise transit.
Cabot Trail
Much of the route is carved through pine forest, sometimes broken with interesting rock formations. On the higher parts you can see over an unbroken wilderness of trees and on the parts running along the coast itself, you get to see bays and inlets, coves and beaches hills and cliffs in an undulating and continuous procession of pristine wilderness. The road misses out the apex of the island and runs pretty well straight across to the opposite coast.
Igonish to Baddeck
Here we met a low cloud base at times on the undulating route through the forests, limiting visibility at to 10's of yards. From this point on we had drizzle for the rest of the route. On hitting the east side of the island, we turned north and drove up a gravel track to a fishing village neatly tucked away in a natural harbour with a tiny entrance from the sea. I would not like to try taking a boat through that when there is a heavy swell!
About
Cabot Memorial
half-way back down the track, we stopped off at a place where Cabot is purported to have made his first landfall and established Britain's claim to the Americas. There is a monument to him and his son Sebastian, apparently born in Bristol.
Igonish to Baddeck
The weather didn't allow much viewing of the scenery on the eastern coast, although we did get some marvellous sights. At one of these a young ranger was braving the elements in her weatherproofs and explaining to passers by about the creatures to be seen near there. Couldn't help but think that Parks Canada might have come up with a gazebo or something as a little shelter for her. We had a nice chat with her about natural history as well as discovering that she would like to visit UK to see lots of castles.
Finally in to Baddeck at around 5 feeling ravenous not having stopped for lunch. We found a nice looking restaurant by the waterfront. The table we were first directed to had an air conditioning fan blasting away at foot level, so we moved further away from the window. For the first time since leaving the UK we felt cold so put on our fleeces and I tucked in to a nice French onion soup, followed by chicken in cajun sauce; Sue had garlic bread followed by chicken in a mango sauce. They were nice meals and just what the doctor ordered. I washed mine down with a nice Rickards Red while Sue thanked Dave for introducing her to Corona.
Our stop for the night was at the Auld Farm Inn, run by a Scottish husband and wife team who bought it in 2009. A lovely place but our room a bit on the small side.
written by
rickandsuejohnson
on August 13, 2012
from
Baddeck
,
Canada
from the travel blog:
Go West then go East
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Happy Birthday
Louisbourg
,
Canada
Blue jays
Rick has a cunning plan. We go to bed at 10pm and make sure we are awake at 6am for the next few days. This way he is wondering if we will feel less jet lagged when we get home on Friday.
I eventually staggered into consciousness about 6.15 am. Rick started writing the blog and I studied the map- so many different ways to go round the Bras D'Or Lakes to get to Louisbourg on the North East coast just south of Sydney.
We heard quite a racket on the deck just below our room and Rick reported several Blue Jays in dispute. It was impossible to move around the room without all the floor boards creaking (yes, they were ten times worse than at home) so I took his word for it.
Hummingbirds
As we prepared to leave 'The Auld Farm' a large number of hummingbirds swooped down to the nectar feeders just outside the lounge windows. It was fascinating to watch them. We were so close we could even see their tongues lapping up the syrup as they hovered, their little wings beating so fast and their tail feathers pulled in acting as brakes. They weren't as colourful as the ones we had seen at Kris and Dave's in Ontario but amazing to see.
More rain this morning and forecast to be on and off all day, so we decided to spend some time at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum run by Parks Canada before taking the most direct route to Louisbourg.. We could have spent more than two hours here. What an amazing man. So much more achieved than the invention of the telephone. Many of the theories of his inventions were tried, tested and developed at Baddeck, where he and his family had a summer home near the lake's edge. Quite where the house is we couldn't work out for the centre and grounds are modern.
Entry to Louisbourg
An hour and a half on the road brought us to Louisbourg and the entrance to the reconstructed fortress which is about two miles from the town. You are transported from the entrance with its small museum by bus. They run every fifteen minutes (you're not permitted to walk the mile long road to the fortress).
A prosperous fisherman & his wife
We had three hours to explore this amazing reconstruction of this former stronghold before closing time but could have spent more. The whole area has been rebuilt as it would have been in 1744 before we dastardly Brits got fed up with repeatedly deporting the inhabitants who kept insisting on coming back and razed it to the ground in 1768! The rooms in the houses that are completely finished are furnished and arranged as they would have been at that time and there are costumed actors to tell you about their life there. At 5pm, having watched the ceremonial firing of the cannon from the ramparts out to sea, we were bussed back to the park entrance.
A short drive back to the town and we checked in to the Stacey House B&B before heading for the nearby 'Grubstake' restaurant. Unfortunately we arrived just after the world and his wife so it was a long wait for service, much apologised for by our waitress. It was well worth it though.
Birthday meal
I raised my glass to the birthday boy who was tucking in to crab cakes with cajun mayonnaise, followed by sirloin steak. I had smoked salmon on brochetta with cream cheese and fillet steak. Replete and tired we headed back to our lovely B&B for day two of the experiment to counter jet lag.
written by
rickandsuejohnson
on August 13, 2012
from
Louisbourg
,
Canada
from the travel blog:
Go West then go East
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Bouncing along the east coast
Sherbrooke
,
Canada
Up at 6 and quietly finished the blog and read until 7. Down to breakfast at 8 with a lovely couple who emigrated from Germany 6 years ago to get a better quality of life. They are thoroughly settled and enjoying the move; Martine spoke some English before they left with a sister and cousin settled in England but Carl has had to learn from scratch. It seemed he had done a pretty good job; I'm not sure that I could have done that. Also at the table were a mother from Seattle and daughter from LA.
Fortress Louisbourg from other shore
We first drove down to the quay to see the harbour and fortress in the distance across the harbour, then down to the site of the oldest lighthouse in N America, now replaced with a modern beast. It gives an idea of how difficult it is to approach from the sea. The other side of that is it was easy to blockade by the British Navy with control of the seas. Wolfe landed further down the coast and cut off the garrison so they surrendered after 7 weeks.
After some debate as to the best route to take to Sherbrooke, we decided to go up to Sydney then along the Bras d'Or lakes to St Peter's canal then cross over the Canso causeway back into NS proper before heading south to Guysborough and along the South Coast itself.
Bras d'or lake
The trip along the huge expanse of the Bras d'Or lakes gave us many photo opportunities with some lovely lakeside communities and properties with stunning views. There were a number of stop offs from which to get a good perspective of the scene but no camera can capture adequately the majesty of the outlook.
Fishing boat off to work
Our first stop at St Peter's canal was very rewarding. The 800 metre long canal was dug to provide a sea access at both ends of the Bras d'Or lakes. There is a swing bridge at the northern end and a lock at the Southern end. The lock is unusual in that it has double facing lock gates so that it can cope with operating in 2 directions, whichever direction has the higher water level.
Fishing boat off to work
Apparently, the tidal range here is not too high at around a few feet. We saw a few boats go through and a yacht which meant the swing bridge had to be operated. There is no charge for the boats during normal operating hours so Parks Canada obviously picks up the bill for operation and maintenance. One of the boats was a fishing boat with long booms for his nets, presumably off for the cod and haddock.
Poor road on east coastal drive
After a quick lunch in St Peter's we were off and across the causeway to mainland NS. The trip along the south coast here was not only scenic but it is relatively untravelled and the roads are not as well maintained as others. Just after Guysborough, TomTom suggested we take a right turn down a gravel track but having fallen for that before we drove on – somewhat uncertainly – in the hope that the relatively poor map we had would take us in the direction we wanted. We were right and ultimately TomTom relented and gave us the route we wanted but not before an extended period of self-doubt. It was worth the effort; the views of the area uncluttered by the paraphernalia of tourism were wonderful.
Memorial to original discoverer of N America
At one pull off, we discovered a monument to Prince Henry of Orkney who may have discovered America at this point in Chedabucto Bay in 1398, some 100 years before Cabot. As we went past the driveway of a house, I had to do a double take – it couldn't be – but it was – a bald eagle getting stuck in to a meal.
Bald eagle at lunch
An about turn and some minutes later we were sitting in the car not 15 feet from this huge bird who was totally unconcerned as long as we left him alone with his meal. We watched for a few minutes and videoed him/her I wouldn't know how to start sexing a bald eagle, even if it would be a good idea to try.
Canadians learn roadworks from UK team
After about an hour and a half or so of being tossed about on the road in a manner worthy of a rodeo rider on a bronco, we got to calmer surfaces on our approach to Sherbrooke. On arrival, a rather stern matron enquired – 'Name?'. As this was about 6 and we must have been the last of the guests she was expecting tonight this seemed a bit odd but she seemed satisfied with my answer. 'Fill in this card with your name and address' – well she had those details when we booked but I didn't think she would appreciate me mentioning that. 'I think you have booked the chalet' – well I thought so too, so we were on a roll now.
Chalet
'The chalet is over there, you can park by it' pointing to a small house about 50 metres back down the road. We were dismissed – Sue asked about breakfast; 'Oh, the chalet is self-catering – if you want breakfast, you can get it in the cafe in town, over the bridge.' All the charisma of a porcupine on steroids; thank goodness we weren't staying in the house on a B&B basis. We got directions to a local inn for an evening meal only 5 minutes walk away and it was very pleasant and unpretentious with good service from a friendly waitress.
When we got back, the porcupine was mowing her lawn with her tractor. I switched on the laptop and tried to connect to the internet – only 2 in range and neither of them worked with the code that had been given on a card by the TV. I noticed she was emptying her grassbox near the chalet so tentatively went over and said 'excuse me' no response – again, louder. She looked up and removed an earplug, though it may have just been earwax. 'Which of Mabel or Sherbrooke 2 is the wifi to connect to?' I asked. Puzzled or slightly irritated or possibly both, she said 'neither – it is 'days ago'' – then helpfully offered 'the signal may be a bit weak in the chalet – by all means use the sun porch in the house.' Weak, WEAK it was non-existent and never would be anything else if it is based on a house 50 metres away; I don't think anyone should be allowed to advertise wifi unless there is 60% signal strength at the location stated!
The chalet itself is very nicely finished with the bedroom upstairs on a gallery. I don't think we shall have much problem waking early tomorrow as the window in the upper wall opposite the gallery looking towards the river has no curtain.
written by
rickandsuejohnson
on August 14, 2012
from
Sherbrooke
,
Canada
from the travel blog:
Go West then go East
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Stepping Back in Time
Musquodoboit Harbour
,
Canada
Sherbrook heritage village
Up and off for a great breakfast of French Toast and Sausages with Maple Syrup and coffee in the café on the opposite side of the river bank from the B&B, a stones throw away from Sherbrooke Village Museum. Yes, part of the village is now a museum. For those who know Shropshire, think Blists Hill Museum only several of the houses here are still privately owned and two still permanently occupied! Apparently when it was decided to preserve all these old buildings the government decided to turn it into a living museum and employ people to carry on ancient crafts such as smithing, printing and wood turning. Villagers in this part of town were permitted to remain in their houses, which would be maintained by the government until they either died or moved away. At this point the building and the land would no longer belong to them or their heirs. There are twenty five houses and shops which are furnished as they would have been around the 1860s.
Blacksmith
We spent a good chunk of time from our three hours on the site in the Blacksmiths watching him make intricate hooks. He makes and repairs all the metal fixtures and fittings within the village, supplies items to sell in the gift shop and runs workshops for school children to get 'hands on' experience of this craft.
Village street prior to tarmac
We worked our way around the Post Office, Print Shop, General Store, Wood Turners, Telephone Exchange and School Room. As we knew we needed to leave around lunch time and that the villages en route were few and far between, we headed for the Tea Rooms. Oops – big sign outside saying 'Sorry Folks, we're full. A large pre-booked coach party has booked from noon. Please come back at 1.00pm.' Oh well, there's bound to be something on our way to Jeddore Oyster Pound. An hour and a half later we arrived at Sheet Harbour. Hurray, a Pub/Restaurant!!!
So lunch was late. Not too far from Jeddore now. We pulled in to the Fisherman's Museum – sign said 'closed'. Not according to the advert in the 2012 tourist guide. Well at least it was on our route and we hadn't driven for miles to get there! Closed seemed a bit of a pattern on the East shore from Guysborough. We had passed several restaurants/cafés which were no longer open and becoming derelict. Houses too with many up for sale. About 40kms from Halifax there were suddenly other cars on the roads and shops and filling stations.
Bottom of the garden, Elephant's nest
Our B&B is lovely, right on the waterfront with its own little beach and deck jutting into the harbour. However, rearranging our luggage to meet weight restrictions for our flight was top on the agenda.
According to our hosts at 'The Elephant's Nest' in Musquodobit Harbour, the pub/restaurant where we stopped is the nearest east of here. There are a few local eateries not more than a few kilometres west, or the next best place would be in Dartmouth. As we plan to go there tomorrow we went to a nice little 'pub' a few kms west.
What can I say?
Rick had scallops and chip and I had clams and chips. I thought I should give them a try. They reminded me of experiences eating snails- rubbery texture just salty! We had tasted them in our Chowder at Halifax obviously the other fish ingredients pepped the clams up..
written by
rickandsuejohnson
on August 15, 2012
from
Musquodoboit Harbour
,
Canada
from the travel blog:
Go West then go East
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The End
Dartmouth
,
Canada
Long beach near Dartmouth
Well all good things come to an end and we were coming to the end of our sojourn. Our last day started early again at 6am before a lovely breakfast to set us up for the day. We were joined at the table by a pleasant couple (and ultimately their 14 year old son); wife born locally, husband originally British they were currently living in Toronto and on a househunting trip looking to live in NS. They may have some problems as their son didn't share their dream of a less cosmopolitan lifestyle.
the Quaker House
We had some time before our flight so took a leisurely drive along the coast to Dartmouth. We wanted to visit the Quaker house - a fine example of how people lived in early Dartmouth. And we thought we may be able to pick up some last minute souvenirs. The Quaker house was staffed by 'interpreters' in period dress and a tour of the house was given by an interpreter who explained the history of the place as we travelled through its rooms. Once again, you couldn't help but admire the stoicism of those early folk though it struck me again that we look at their conditions through modern eyes and we are generally much more pampered and less tough than they were, so trying to understand and look at their world is rather like looking through the wrong end of a telescope. The whaler's wives would frequently wave goodbye to their husband and if they came back it would not be less than 3 month's later and was often 3 years. Whale oil was the wonder fuel of the age, very valuable but dangerous to harvest, as any reader of Moby Dick will understand.
The ferry
Leaving the Quaker House, we trawled a few streets to see if we could find where the shops were. There didn't appear to be much at all in the way of a commercial centre such as we know it and we came to the conclusion that anyone who wanted to shop took the ferry to Halifax.
We discovered Dartmouth's secret on the way out - a huge new shopping centre built at Dartmouth crossing. I am sure locals have no problem negotiating the intracacies of the motorways intersecting here but it seemed to me a bit like a Telford town centre constructed between and around Gravelly Hill superimposed on the M5/M6 link at Jn 8. Thank goodness for TomTom. The shopping centre was a disappointment for us, being intended for serious shopping with boutique stores, clothes and shoe shops and all the other appurtenences of a town centre apart from a souvenir shop. But we did find a nice place for lunch so it wasn't a total waste of time.
And so to the airport. Car checked in and accepted, luggage checked in and accepted, then the queue for security clearance. Just for once, I happened to have the passports and boarding passes with Sue immediately in front of me. There was a female guard directing traffic to the desks processing x-ray & metal detectors etc. To say that this creature had had a charisma bypass would be rather like saying that Ghenghis Khan was a bit grumpy. Her communication skills had been honed to a point as sharp as the front of a London Transport double decker. She successfully seperated us by directing Sue to 'step on the mat' in front of her while her highly trained sensors located an appropriate place to send her. She mumbled to Sue 'go down there' and pointed somewhere vauguely in the direction of several desks. Despite not hearing because of her hearing loss, Sue gathered what was required and pointed out that she needed her boarding pass and I had it. The exasperated harridan muttered something that neither of us could catch; I thought she now wanted me to step onto the mat and moved forward to be told - 'NO', so I moved back obediently. (Never tangle with a Border Guard). She had successfully managed to confuse both Sue and me, which may well mark completion of page 5 of the border guards operation manual. 'Both of you go down there' she finally clarified at raised volume and slowed speech so that we imbeciles might finally grasp what was required of us. Still somewhat confused we got to a desk where we were duly welcomed.
The Islands
After a good flight, we approached Toronto over the islands. On landing we collected our bags and started the whole process all over again but compared with Halifax, it was a doddle. We just had time to grab a snack of nachos with beef and jalapenos with a pint before the cafe closed then settled down with our kindles for a couple of hours before our flight to Manchester.
We managed to grab some fitful sleep on the flight then stayed up 'till about 10 before going to bed. Jet lag was quite bearable this time so perhaps the plan worked!
written by
rickandsuejohnson
on August 17, 2012
from
Dartmouth
,
Canada
from the travel blog:
Go West then go East
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