rickandsuejohnson

The End

rickandsuejohnson — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

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!

Stepping Back in Time

rickandsuejohnson — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

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..

Bouncing along the east coast

rickandsuejohnson — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

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.

Happy Birthday

rickandsuejohnson — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

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.

Up Hills and down Dales

rickandsuejohnson — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

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.

Wine and Whisky

rickandsuejohnson — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Jubilee Inn

Well it's true to say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I'd noticed that there was a plaque from the Nova Scotian tourist board in the hall when we arrived for culinary services to the island and when we looked through the room folder we found that they operated a restaurant, though it wasn't clear whether this was just for guests. We were tired and thought we would give it a whirl. Our hostess, who wasn't around when we registered, asked us if we had booked. As we hadn't, she wondered if we would be ok without the four course menu and did we eat pork? She could prepare more vegetables and do us a stir fry in 45 minutes time. This was fine by us as even two courses can be challenging with the generous portions that are offered over here. The dining room was immaculate with white linen table cloths and pretty tea lights flickering on each table. Would we like to pop out to the local off licence or,if we had brought some wine with us we were welcome to use it. Rick hopped upstairs to collect the blackberry wine we had bought in Lunenburg. It was surprisingly a great accompaniment to the amazing food. We were brought a large serving platter with a bowl of rice flanked with tender pork, stir fry vegetables and king prawns in a light but flavoursome sauce. Would we like a dessert. There was Tiramasu or Pavlova – again wonderful.

What would breakfast bring? A huge platter of eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, muffins and fruit bread washed down with as much tea or coffee as we could drink. An interesting chat with our host and hostess a lovely couple. He was Nova Scotian by birth. They had met in Toronto while she was studying and had gone to Australia to join several members of her Chinese family who had already settled there. They were in Brisbane for some time returning eight years ago to be with his side of the family once her mum and dad were no longer alive.

Farmer's Market

On the road to Jost winery a short drive away. Purchase made and another brief drive to Tatamagouche Farmers Market, recommended by our hosts last night. By the time we got back to the car it was beginning to rain. As we drove on the Trans Canada Highway past Pictou along the coast towards Canso Causeway the rain steadily increased. We stopped off at the Tourist Office to pick up a detailed map having crossed to Cape Breton and headed on for another half hour to the Celtic Interpretive Centre at Judique, which we had been told was the first eatery on our route. Well heaven help them if they ever have a full house as they found it difficult to cope with ten of us in there. A half an hour after arrival we were presented with our snack. The first place this holiday where the waitress only got a 10% tip! The rain had stopped and the mists disappeared and we began to fully appreciate the beauty of this place.

Glenora Distillery

We reached the Distillery at Glenora at 3.55pm just in time for the last tour of the day! The 1st single malt distillery in N America and only one in Canada. In operation from 1990 the location was specially chosen, using the sweet, clear and untainted waters of the stream which flows through its heart.

Distillation flasks, Glenora Distillery

A walk through the fermenting and processing rooms ended with 2 samples for Rick (yours truly being the driver). Not much of a hardship as I'm not a whisky fan. If it had been cognac we might have had to toss for it!

A short drive to the Inn at Glendyer. A note pinned on the door – 'come on in. I've gone for supper at the Red Shoe Pub. You're in room 1. Make yourselves at home.

Red Shoe Pub

Well what more of a recommendation could you have. We had passed the pub on our way to the distillery and had, in fact, been recommended it by our host at Murray Harbour on PEI. Great place. Good food and, according to Rick, a good beer too! The music, to be performed by one of the Rankin family (the sisters own the pub), wasn't due to start until 10pm. With a long drive on the Cabot trail in the morning we decided to call it a day and sample the Rankins on Google. The CD might be waiting for us when we get home courtesy of Amazon!

Canadian Tyre at last

rickandsuejohnson — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Victoria Street

Last few hours on PEI. Specifically Charlottetown with a compact, historic centre that has been largely well cared for and unspoiled with modern shopping centres in the suburbs. Strangely, there appeared to be no conflict unlike Summerside. A small city currently of about 60,000 – similar to Shrewsbury. I have no idea what the population was in 1864 but my favourite story about the Charlottetown Conference is that the circus was in town that week and as the Canadian delegates had invited themselves, there was insufficient lodging in town because the Maritime delegates and the circus had already booked it all so they had to stay each night on the ship that brought them. It seems that play was just as important as work because after each days hot air, there was a banquet & dancing to the small hours! Politicians seem to have changed little.

One of the major concerns I had for the wellbeing of the Maritimes community was the absence of a Canadian Tyre – how can any society flourish without one in reasonable proximity? I had not seen one on arrival in Halifax or since. I am delighted to report that there is one in Charlottetown, at least.

Lt Gov House

We paid a visit to the Lieutenant Governor's residence, a pleasant house in a nice spot overlooking the bay. It is still lived in but free guided tours were available by waiting outside for the next tour on the hour and half hour and the young lass who showed us around spent rather more than the allocated 30 minutes so had a large group waiting after us. Apparently Prince William & Catherine stayed there last year; a slight difference to our B&B and I expect a slightly different price.

In the grand Hall, Lt Gov House

Speaking of which, we met our fellow guests for breakfast, a girl from Quebec Province who had cycled from there and was planning to cross on the ferry from Wood Island before cycling round the Cabot trail in Nova Scotia. I asked what colour her helmet was so we could look out for it (it's white & purple); we'll hoot as we pass her. There was a lovely family from Toronto with a 14 year old son with his arm in plaster following a soccer accident – it is a vicious game. Apparently they love the BBC output and are particularly fond of Top Gear.

With Charlottetown having about half the island's population, it is perhaps not surprising that the main attractions of PEI can be summed up as Historic Charlottetown, fictional Anne of Green Gables, wonderful scenery and spectacular and apparently very warm beaches. If you are not into beach holidays and there is probably a limit to how much lovely scenery you may want to take in; it is not an island in which to spend a lot of time. Although outdoorsy types looking for a new place to play will undoubtedly enjoy spending time here.

Landmark Cafe

Before leaving the island we went into Victoria and had lunch at the Landmark Café; apparently it is famous according to our guidebook and difficult to get in. This is understandable, an unassuming place serving wonderful food; we had a most excellent tuna salad washed down with pink lemonade. And it was not too pricey!

Back to the Confederation Bridge and the rather hefty $44.25 toll, albeit for both trips; I suppose an 8 mile bridge costs a lot to build & maintain.

And so to our overnight stay in Wallace at the Jubilee Inn. A large house overlooking Wallace Bay conveniently close to Jost vineyard that we hope to visit tomorrow. Our room is quite a pleasant one with an en-suite, rather quirkily having a spa bath in the bedroom itself. Let's just say that the décor suggests that there have been no recent trips to Canadian Tyre!

Lighthouses and a Lobster Supper

rickandsuejohnson — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Cape Bear Lighthouse

From Murray Harbour we took the coast road to Cape Bear to see the lighthouse and take in the view towards Cape Breton Island. Apparently this lighthouse was the first to pick up the distress signal from Titanic. A little further south on the coast road which meanders along the shore with pretty views of harbours and inlets to the Wood Island Ferry Terminal.

Wood Island Ferry

A service operates between here and Pictou on the Northumberland shore of Nova Scotia and we arrived just as a ferry was loading. We parked at the bottom of the lighthouse and watched her sail before heading for Point Prim and PEI's oldest lighthouse. A stroll along the beach with its brick red sand before a short 20 minute drive along another section of Trans Canada H/W 1 to Charlottetown. We parked at the Confederation Landing Park by the harbour ($1.75 per hour – up to $9) on the waterfront and looked for somewhere to have a drink and a bite to eat.

Where to start??

We settled on the Gahan House, the only micro brewery in PEI, and shared a plate of Nachos with pulled pork and dips washed down with a sample tasting of their range of beers. These were served in cute little tankards – a great idea and more than welcome in the searing heat of the afternoon.

Province House

Next stop Province House where, to quote the guide, 'in September 1864, 23 leaders from the British Colonies of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada (now Ontario and Quebec) began the discussions that led in 1867 to the creation of the Dominion of Canada'. We were shown a short film about this in relation to the characters and the progress of the discussions before wandering through the rooms on the first floor, including the Legislative Chamber.

Peakes Quay Restaurant, Delivery

A quick look at the shops on our way to the Aloha Tourist Home just a stone throws away from historic Great George Street. The houses on Sydney Street are all older properties too with plenty of on street parking. After a short rest and change we walked back to the harbour and ended our day with a wonderful lobster supper on a deck overlooking the water.

Green Gables

rickandsuejohnson — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A quick call to wish Neil a Happy Birthday but he was working, so we left a message. Then down to a lovely breakfast of scone followed by sautéed diced potato with omelette made with lardons and mushrooms which set us up well for the day.

LM Montgomery was married in this room

First call of the day was to New Park Corner to visit the house of Lucy Maud Montgomery's aunt Annie Campbell. Sue has been reading a biography about Maud and the first few Anne books lately so wanted to see a few of the places she had read about. Maud spent much of her childhood with her cousins here and was married in the house in 1911. You can see the lake which inspired 'the Lake of Shining Waters' of Green Gables and the rooms are full of memorabilia associated with the author's life. A quick look at LM's place of birth in New London and then on to the Green Gables Heritage Place.

'Green Gables' reconstruction

You can walk in the grounds where the Macneill homestead (now demolished) was sited go through the 'Haunted Wood' and up to a reconstruction of the 'House of Green Gables' as described in the first novel. In between the two locations is the cemetery where Lucy Maud is buried.

LM Montgomery's grave

Sue enjoyed seeing the places that she had read about but said that the Green Gables reconstruction wasn't very much like she had imagined it to be.

We had thought of driving along the coast road from Cavendish through North Rustico and the front at Covehead Bay but this is now National Parkland and a park entry fee is charged from June to September. As we weren't planning to stop, we decided to take the more inland route along highway 6, to Mount Stewart and across to Georgetown. A small town with some tasteful suburban commercial development.

Waterfront working properties, Georgetown

The centre appears to be still a working fishing port, although still apparently small scale. There doesn't appear to be much commerce in the centre itself, containing many pretty clapper-board houses painted in many differing colours but all contributing to a lovely scene. Obviously the local area hasn't escaped the general economic situation and there were a number of houses that could do with a bit of tlc, which is a bit sad. After an unlikely approach, we came upon a former railway station that had been moved to a position by the harbour and spruced up a bit.

The Clamdiggers, Georgetown

With a deck set out with tables by the harbour edge it was a fabulous position to site a restaurant called the Clam Diggers. We couldn't resist and went in and chose a table on the outside deck – nearly choked when we saw the price list but ordered the pasta of the day; linguini with mussels, haddock, lobster, and clams in a tomato and cream sauce. It was absolutely superb and in a lovely setting.

Back Garden, Country Charm

By this time we were due at our B&B so we made for Murray River. A lovely evening was spent chatting with Glenn & Joan at the Country Charm Inn.

Round the Rocks and Over the Bridge

rickandsuejohnson — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

lower beach shoreline , low tide cf B

We were back at Hopewell Rocks just after 9am and headed for the beach access just short of the shore area where we saw the Sandpipers the previous evening. Only a few people around at this point and we wandered along what had been the ocean floor a few hours before in amongst the wonderous rock formations.

Flowerpots, low tide

It reminded us of our visit to Flower Pot Island on the Bruce Peninsula with our Canadian family four years ago. These structures were sandstone though and flanked by large expanses of mud as the tide continued to recede.

View from Lookout, Hopewell Rocks cf C

As we headed back to the cliff view points a couple of hours later it was just past low tide and more and more people were arriving. A good idea that we had come so early!

Confederation Bridge from NB

Just before Prince Edward Island we stopped off at the information point before the bridge on the New Brunswick side. This had been on the advice of Elaine at Innisfree. Apparently the views of the bridge are more spectacular. We stopped for a sandwich and watched the hummingbirds swoop to the syrup feeders then climbed the viewing tower to look across the Northumberland Strait to PEI and marvel at this 7 mile bridge connecting it to New Brunswick.. It was difficult to see much as we crossed the bridge due to the metre high concrete barriers on either side.

Waterside development

First stop Summerside on our way to Kensington for our over night stay. A bit of a disappointment. To my mind the outskirts of the town were typical anodyne but characterless outer town shopping centres without even a nod to its history. Apparently very few of the old properties remain after a devastating fire in, I think the tourist office said, 1906. I suggested walking it, thinking that the streets would be narrow. They were the exact opposite with very little shade apart from in a small but pretty park. The houses that are left fall into two categories – well looked after or not looked after at all.

In need of tlc

I say a disappointment as I was expecting something a bit prettier. By now it was nearing 3.30pm and very hot so we headed for The Home Place Inn. After a shower to cool off we went down to the bar to order supper. We shared Oysters Benedict and then both chose Maple glazed Pork. We finished with coconut pie (again shared) and Rick had and Irish coffee while I had Blueberry Tea (Tea with Amaretto and Grand Marnier). The Tea was amazing!

Rocks, Fossils and more tides

rickandsuejohnson — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Woke to the predicted rainy start to the day. An excellent breakfast with a lovely family from New York. They loved that the house was Victorian and said that they were very into historic houses; they currently have a house from the 1920's that they are renovating and this is their second old house. They suggested our place may be older, so I said – a bit. We were discussing renovation problems when they asked about the age of our place and were amazed that it was over 300 years old and fascinated when I explained about the timber frame and brick infill.

Ottawa House

Having dragged ourselves away from the table and loaded our car we drove to Ottawa House, formerly the residence of Sir Charles Tupper a former member of the legislative assembly of Nova Scotia and one of the fathers of the confederation, ultimately becoming Prime Minister of Canada briefly. The house has had a chequered history since then, serving as an hotel for a while before falling into disrepair before being saved by the community as a museum. It is interesting in its own right as a house with e.g. the original electric wiring. It has also been used to house items from various eras and exhibits on Shipbuilding and rum running which took place here.
From here it was a difficult decision about which route to take to Joggins. As it was raining with quite a mist we decided against the coastal route which would take us past Cap d'Or (apparently a very pretty route with some fabulous views over the swirls and eddies of the fundy tides). We needed to be at Hopewell Rocks for the high tide at 4: to do this we needed to be at our B&B to collect the entry coupons at 3. This meant leaving Joggins by 1 according to our calculations.

Fossil on beach

We were looking to do a tour of the rocks there and they run every hour on the hour so needed to be there for 12. The coastal route would have thrown everything out of kilter so we chose to do the quickest route. To our surprise, TomTom came up with a quicker route than using the motorway. What we didn't know until we hit it was that 13 miles of the route were over a gravel road, some of which was not in prime condition so caution had to be exercised. We only met one car on this route. At one point we had to cross a rickety rackety single track bridge with a wooden plank base that had seen better days. I half expected to see a troll emerge and challenge us but was rather busy concentrating on the couple of planks that looked decidedly dubious; I was glad of the large wheels on the Dodge. We arrived at Joggins in good time, as promised by TomTom but with the car looking as though it had been travelling on the Dakar rally in a monsoon.

Tree trunk fossil

Our tour was an interesting, if very short introduction to fossils on the cliff faces of the area, now designated a UNESCO World Heritage Centre as the best place in the world to see carboniferous period fossils. The Centre on top of the cliffs built in 2008 houses excellent displays to allow you to make the most of your time there.

With the clock ticking we grabbed a quick lunch in the cafe and then hit the road. We rolled in to Innisfree the B&B just after 3 and were shown to our room then given a quick briefing by Elaine on how to make the best of the time we had at the Rocks. The tickets she gave us gave us a discounted entry to the Hopewell Rocks Centre with a 2 day entry so that we could go back and see everything at low tide.

View from Lookout at high tide cf C

We followed Elaine's suggestion of going to the main lookout and taking a photo of a high tide for reference. All we could see was sea up to the base of the cliffs. A little further down we were able to see the sea swirling around some tall rocks just away from the main cliff. These rocks with flat tops and trees growing there are the 'Flower pots'.

View from look out high tide

The average tidal range at this point of the bay is about 12 metres (!) so when we go back for low tide, there will be a lot more visible. At the lowest point of the centre, you are on a level with the beach itself and apparently when the tide is out, it can be 3.5km out – rather like Weston s mare and when it comes in it comes very quickly.

Shoreline lower beach high tide cf B

We were lucky enough to be able to see a small group of semipalmated sandpipers flock and swirl each time they thought they detected a threat. It looked a bit like starlings as they prepare to roost for the night. Just as we were about to leave, a ranger pointed out to us a bald eagle flying over some trees in the middle distance – a lovely moment.

Back to the interpretive centre, there were some excellent displays on how the rocks all came about; when you look at the vast timescale over which that is, the emergence of humans is incredibly recent.

Off to Broadleaf Guest Ranch about 12 km down the road from Innisfree at the recommendation of Elaine. Not easy to find - we had a couple of goes at it. There was a sign saying the place was just ahead – several hundred yards further on there was no sign of it so we turned round, convinced it must be just after the sign and when we got to the place turned in only to find it was the cemetery! No probability of food there then. Back again to the amusement of a couple of locals standing on their porch watching the world go by. Finally some way later, just when we were beginning to give up hope, there was a sign to Broadleaf Ranch and we turned in. No sign of much other than ranch hands so carried on up the drive past a large barn to discover a low building behind with the word RESTAURANT on its roof. It was not very prepossessing and had we not been recommended probably wouldn't have taken it further. Inside though it was very nicely laid out and we were made very welcome. The menu looked good; Sue opted for Atlantic Salmon with maple and chef's spice recipe and a green salad washed down with a blueberry ale. I went for a lobster and breadcrumb crusted haddock with fries and green vegetables washed down with a Moosehead Red. The meals were both absolutely fabulous. Which goes to prove you can't always judge by external appearances.

Back to Innisfree and a very welcome bed!

Mud and Tides

rickandsuejohnson — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Chimney

First stop the chimney next to the Wolfville town library – strange but true! The chimney is all that remains of the local dairy, long since demolished. As it has for many years been an overnight roost for the aptly named 'Chimney Swifts', it was saved from demolition by the local community. The swifts spend the day entirely on the wing, catching insects and only land at night to roost. They have retractable hooked claws and barbed tail feathers which enable them to cling to chimney brickwork and roost vertically. They migrate from Peru to the cooler Nova Scotia climate to breed and feed on the plentiful summer insects. When it starts to get cold and the insects die off they head on back to sunny Peru. Either they were having a lie in today or they had chosen a different roost for the night - there was no sign of them.

Mud Creek

A short way on from the chimney we reached the waterfront where the low tide had revealed vast mud flats and salt marshes. Interpretive boards explain the movement of the tides, why the Minas Basin is so unique and how the land has consequently been shaped. The movement of the tides, strong currents and (in winter) icebergs have all helped to carve the land and estuaries here. There is also a Tidal Bore here – River Severn eat your heart out!

'Evangeline' Longfellows heroine v the dastardly Brits

Half an hours drive brought us to Grand Pré and the site which commemorates the deportation of the Arcadian men who refused to swear allegiance to the British crown during the struggle between the British and the French for territory in North America. Evangeline is the heroine of the poem by Longfellow whose lover Gabriel is deported and she has become the symbol of remembrance of this act in Acadia.

WW2 Observation Tower

We kept to the more circuitous coast road and stopped for a sandwich and much needed drink at a roadside take-out doing a roaring trade before skirting Truro and hugging the coastline again, this time the north shore of the Minas Basin. More spectacular views, particularly from the WWII observation tower at Cobequid Interpretation Centre. We passed Five Islands which, according to Mi'kmak legend, were created when their deity, Glooscap, hurled rocks into the basin as he was annoyed when the giant beaver dammed it.

View over Estuary from restaurant

Arriving at Parrsboro we freshened up in , yes, the Gabriel room, at Evangeline's Tower B&B. Afterwards we walked down to 'Bare Bones' where we had seared scallop linguine with roasted vegetables in a pernod cream sauce washed down with a Corona for me and Propeller Porter for Rick. The end to another wonderful day.

Along the Bay of Fundy

rickandsuejohnson — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Boat repair yard

A poor wifi signal so we texted Zoe a happy birthday. The mist was still present when we went down for breakfast and met our fellow guests at the table. The couple we met on the ghost tour last night from Halifax, a couple from Toronto visiting family and a French couple from Angers. We had an interesting chat with them all. We were assured that the mist would burn off late morning and so it proved. Having checked out and loaded the car, we walked into town again to get some supplies, get cash from an ATM and visit the open air market. ScotiaBank whom we tried first didn't work – we got all the way through the menu but no cash! Our second try at Royal Bank of Canada succeeded in delivering the goods.

Ghost tour

The market was wonderful and very busy. There was one stall just selling blueberries. Perhaps no surprise as the Annapolis Valley is alleged here to be the Canadian capital of blueberries. I don't know if the rest of Canada is aware of this.

Annapolis Royal is one of the oldest settlements in Canada, being settled by Scots in 1629, although they were forced to leave as part of an Anglo French treaty 3 years later. A fact conveniently forgotten by the Acadian francophone community who believe they were first in 1632 as Port Royal. It was taken by the British in 1710 and renamed Annapolis Royal after the then Queen. It was the capital of Nova Scotia until 1749 when Halifax took over. Looking at it now and comparing it with what has become of Halifax, I think the good citizens have had a narrow escape. From 1710 to 1755 all went well with francophones co-existing with anglophones but with the French building forces at Louisburg and the ongoing struggle against the French, the Governor was concerned about the loyalties of the local community. He demanded that the acadians sign an oath of allegiance to the King and when they refused they were surprised that they were all deported. They seem to be still surprised today and much is made of the expulsion of Acadians in 1755. It is true that it was immediate and they had to leave homes and possessions overnight and they were packed off in dreadful conditions to the southerly states of the mainland and to France but I can think of worse treatment of foreign nationals in recent times. And after the 7 years' was ended, they were allowed to return to the area, if not the actual homestead(because someone else was now living there). According to the French perspective, Britain hijacked their colonies (which is not entirely accurate anyway) and this has resulted in a large anglophonic section of Canada strangling their beautiful language. I can't help wondering that if the boot had been on the other foot and France had held sway over an anglophonic minority, would their constitution have accepted two official languages as Canada has? I suspect – NON. Canada may well have remained a departement outre mer for some considerable while with any ideas of self determination being suppressed until well into 20th C and French would have been the only official language. Britain may not have been an ideal coloniser from a colonist perspective but it seems to me that we were considerably more tolerant than many contemporary powers.

Encampment, The Fort

Annapolis Royal is rightly proud of its place in history and its historic assets but seems to be managing to keep a perspective that allows it to be part of the modern world. Certainly it has not allowed the kind of vandalism that took place in Shrewsbury town centre in the 60s. There is a wealth of old timber buildings that are still being used today rather than being museum pieces.

We wandered back via the fort where there is a re-enactment group in period clothes under canvas for the weekend.

Entrance to the Habitation, Port Royal

We drove across to the spit that protects AR to see the re-creation of the original habitation for the area at Port Royal. This was a commercial venture for trading with the local Mi'kmaq and de Champlain designed a fortified habitation in 1605 with a view to spending winter there. De Champlain left in 1607 to found Quebec and the outpost was raided by a party from Virginia in 1613.

The Common Roon, The Habitation

Apparently a bloodless affair, they took everything, burned the habitation and left the French there to face a winter without shelter. Fortunately the local Mi'kmaq took them in. The reconstruction in 1940 followed the original foundations and is kitted out as it would have looked at the time.

View from the Look Off

On to Wolfville with a short detour to Scots bay. On the approach, there is a fabulous 'look off' with parking on the right and a wonderful view over the Minas Basin and the Annapolis Valley. Opposite the look off is a cafe selling the most wonderful ice-cream. Sue had a Chocolate one and I had a vanilla, toffee and caramel with large chips of milk chocolate. They were just what the doctor ordered on what was by now a very warm afternoon.

The beach at Scotts Bay

Driving on to Scots Bay, we found a turning on the left just after the church, called Wharf road leading down to a shingle beach with a good parking area and picnic tables. The view here was into the Minas Channel and thence the Bay of Fundy down which the mist was beginning to creep again.

Finally into Wolfville and our stop for the night at the Gingerbread house. A lovely room at the back of the motel-style extension.

In to town for a lovely meal in nice surroundings at the Library Pub washed down with a delightful St Ambroise IPA for me and tasty apricot ale for Sue.

A hooker initiate and ghosts

rickandsuejohnson — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Dawn at Goodwin Hotel

A bright sunny start and breakfast over, Pat (our hostess) showed us how rugs were 'hooked'. 'The Goodwin' has any number of them – wall hangings, seat covers, rugs and mats. Pat is a self confessed addict. She recommended a workshop on our way to Annapolis Royal where you could try it out and buy the canvas and wools.

Houses on stilts

First stop Bear River. The winery tour turned out to be at noon so we retraced our steps to the village and downed a cool drink before heading for a First Nations Workshop Centre. Lonely Planet doesn't mention that it closes on a Friday – oh well! Back to the winery which uses solar energy and a gravity feed to produce its wines (some award winning). After our tasting Rick bought a Baco Noir red. We were there for about 40 mins before leaving for Annapolis Royal.

Delaps Fall

A beautiful coastal drive on Highway 1 having had a go at rug hooking in Clementsport. Even on a sunny day the sea mists swirl around the coastal waters. A bite to eat at Annapolis Royal and we headed for Delaps Cove trailhead (2 kms on a dirt track off the highway towards Port Royal). We took the Bohaker Trail. The car park has free really accurate maps and the 2km pathway took us out to the coast and back via Delaps Cove falls. The falls weren't particularly spectacular at the moment as our hostess at 'At the Turrett' explained; there hasn't been much rain for them this summer. Posy and Simon her two Border Terriers, made us really welcome and were ready to take any amount of fuss we cared to give them!

Ghost tour

After a great evening meal at a pub by the market square we headed across the road from our B&B to Fort Anne and a highly recommended Ghost Tour of the adjoining cemetry. More of the fort tomorrow but if you get the chance and you're in Annapolis Royal be sure to take this tour. Our guide told us stories related to the history of the town from its foundation in the 1600s by French Settlers to the present day by means of the incumbents of the graveyard. The tour starts at 9.30pm sharp and by this time the sea mists had rolled on to the shore which added to the atmosphere of this fascinating lantern lit tour.

History lessons

rickandsuejohnson — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Cooper's Inn

Woke at 6am to hear movement in the room above and muffled but not muted conversation. After a little while a shower started, then more movement that continued until 7. I don't know what they were doing but it wasn't playing dominoes. About 6:30 the shower started again and was still going at 7 when we got up. A peek out of the curtains told us the shower was external and actually heavy rain!

After a good breakfast, we were pleased to note that the rain had pretty well stopped, so started to pack the car in preparation for leaving after a visit to a couple of nearby museums. Between loading the suitcases and loading the hand baggage, the heavens opened and it tipped down. We waited for 20 minutes but it didn't ease so decided to cut our losses, made a dash for the car and hit the road.

Wool mill

We headed for West Pubnico but saw a restored woollen mill as we went through Barrington; as it was only light rain by now, we stopped and went in. A fascinating working re-creation of taking wool from the raw fleece, through carding spinning and dying to fabrication. The mill was in use until 1965 and at its height employed about a dozen people with power provided largely by water turbine. It has been restored though much of the original equipment had long gone. Apparently a power loom was found in the attic room in pieces as originally provided but without assembly instructions.

Acadian Village

The recreation of a typical acadian village of the start of the 20th C at West Pubnico was quite fascinating. Unsurprisingly the majority of the visitors were francophone and as most of the presenters were fluently bilingual, we stayed anglophone. But it was interesting to pick up bits of conversation. Each house in the village had a history and a particular function and the presenters in each house were living the life.

Smith, Acadian Village

The blacksmith was smithing, the boatbuilder was building boats and the fisherman was making lobsterpots and mending nets. There was no electricity or running water, the beds had chamber pots and there was no bathroom.

Dory Maker, Acadian Village

There were no tarmac'd roads and transport was by pony and trap or boat. It was sobering to think that only 100 years ago in my grandfather's childhood, this way of life was common outside towns. We have come a long way in that time. It is easy to think that it was a simpler way of life but the romance dies when you think that by-and-large there were only 2 states – working and sleeping.

'Pumpkin' in the Acadian Village

Working was largely unassisted by machine and sleeping was often on straw mattresses, although most adults had the luxury of feather.

By now the rain had stopped altogether and with the temperature rapidly rising, we set off for Eglise St Marie at Church Point. An extraordinary building it is the largest wooden church in North America.

St Mary's Church

Built between between 1903 and 1905 by local volunteers entirely of wood and is huge. Made to plans by a French (naturally) architect who designed it in stone but built by a local artisan.in wood which was relatively plentiful.

St Mary's Church interior

It doesn't look as though it is made all of wood until very close inspection but it copes with the storms hereabouts well enough, although in a good storm, the chandeliers swing about a foot apparently. It is a very attractive building, not too fussy, busy or pretentious. Painting the exterior in 2 coats of paint requires 1500 litres and the inside 1800. With the price of paint today, I don't fancy that bill!!

The Goodwin Hotel

Finally on to our rest for the night at Weymouth and the Goodwin Hotel. A lovely old place run by a family for the last 42 years. Mum does everything but the cooking while her 2 sons do that. We decided to eat in and were glad we did. On the menu was a surf and turf with scallops. It was one of the best meals we have had washed down with a lovely tasty Joost Cabernet Sauvignon.

Twilight

Before retiring we were able to catch up on our blogging, not having been able to do any last night at Shelburne – although advertised as WiFi, the signal wasn't strong enough.

Peggy's Cove and onwards

rickandsuejohnson — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Peggy's Cove

A leisurely start and off again, this time though in the pouring rain which had suddenly swept in. We quickly visited the Fairview Lawn Cemetery where 121 Titanic victims are buried and headed off to Peggy's Cove. By the time we arrived the rain had stopped and, despite the guide book's warning to be prepared for the world and his wife to be there it was relatively deserted. We were glad that we had taken Mike's advice. With a stiff breeze, the sea was pounding against the rocks so we gingerly walked around to take in the lovely views of this pretty little fishing village and the seascape.

Swissair 111 memorial

We bought a couple of pasties to eat en route and headed out towards highway 103 stopping briefly at the Swissair Flight 111 memorial just outside the village. The countryside is so pretty here. It is densely wooded with fir and birch trees and dotted with lakes both large and small. Now and again the highway hugs the shore line itself. There are so many little sheltered inlets that the only way you know it is the sea and not a lake is the presence of seaweed on the shore line. Strangely there aren't any pull offs to speak of. In the end we stopped in a mail box layby to eat our pasties – not very PC but necessary.

Ship on quay at museum

We got to the Lunenburg County Winery around 3pm Rick tasted and I, having volunteered to be the driver, sniffed. We bought a blackberry wine and headed into Lunenburg itself. We caught sight of Blue Nose II. It is being lovingly restored and will, according to the website, be offering harbour cruises (Lunenburg and Halifax) for Summer 2013. The original Blue Nose, a racing schooner built in Lunenburg, won the Fisherman's Trophy five times between 1921 and 1938. She became an icon - not only Nova Scotians as her image is on the Canadian 10 cents piece.

Knaut Rhuland House

A quick visit to a late 18th century house, now a museum and again with costumed guides where we learned about the original settlement and how it prospered before the final two hour drive to the lovely Cooper's Inn in Shelburne.

Halifax explored

rickandsuejohnson — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Clocktower

A lovely warm and sunny day, so a 20 or so minute walk into Halifax to see the oldest church in North America with a piece of debris from the Halifax explosion embedded in a wall. The Halifax explosion was in 1917 when a French vessel loaded with TNT and a Norwegian vessel with relief supplies were manoeuvring in the port and collided creating sparks which ignited flammable liquids on the French deck.

St Peter's Church

The flames quickly got out of control and when they got to the TNT set off the largest pre-atomic bomb explosion. 2000 people were killed instantly and over 300 acres of Halifax were flattened.

Province House

On to Province House, the seat of Provincial legislature. A lovely Georgian sandstone building where we enjoyed a free half hour guided tour filling us in on all the elements we might have otherwise missed.

By now it was midday and feeling thirsty, we headed down to Alexander Keith's Brewery. We went for the double tour; a guided tour of the brewery together with a harbour trip on the sailing boat 'Silva'.

Alexander Keith's brewery tour

The brewery tour was rather quirky with costumed guides taking us 'back in time' to Mr Keith's time. With over-enthusiastic overacting for my taste, I found it interesting but OTT and light on detail. The tasting was for two of the brews and although for good volumes, it would have been nice to try a small amount of all 4 brews prior to choosing which to sample in quantity. I tried the ruby and IPA and found both a bit light, thin, acid and flavourless. It tasted to me like sparkling water that had had any life chilled out of it; a huge disappointment after the wonderful craft beers I had sampled the last week. As we exited we were surprised to note that we had been inside for 1.5 hours.

Abord Silva in Halifax harbour

A quick bite of a wonderful seafood chowder from a harbourside eatery and we were due on 'Silva'. Once out of her berth, we hoisted sails and sailed gently round the island in the harbour and under the suspension bridge for 1.5 hours. It was very pleasant but didn't compare with our trip on Barnaby in NZ, although it was a great way to see the harbour.

HMS Sackville

A couple of berths along was a corvette similar to the one in which a certain Cockshutt matelot spent many enjoyable hours bobbing along in the Atlantic between 1942 and 1945. I knew it was small but until you see it in the flesh, you don't realise how small. I would hesitate to cross the solent in one, never mind the Atlantic. We had hoped to see the WT office in which he had spent his time but sadly it wasn't possible.

Not far from here is the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. No admission fee after 5 on Tueday – open to 8. There is a marvellous exhibition on the 'Titanic'. Not simply the tragedy itself but the aftermath which is often overlooked. Apparently, even in death class was respected with first class passengers meriting a wooden coffin while second and third class passengers got a canvass sheet!

Lower Deck

We aimed to have a beer and meal at the 'Lower Deck' , a pub recommended by Mike, Ollie's boss. Our guide book misplaced it but determination allowed us to find it in the historic buildings area.

Lower Deck

We had a lovely meal but being owned by the same group as Alexander Keith's Brewery, it stocked the same beer and I was sad to find that even with food, it still left me disappointed.

Back uphill to our B&B via the No7 bus – we had had quite a long day and some walking!!

Arrival in Halifax

rickandsuejohnson — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Up at 6am and in the lobby to catch the shuttle bus. Some consternation when someone shouted as the driver accelerated out from the hotel – the rear door had swung open and one of the cases had dropped out. Quickly checked in and through security - this time I had my palms swept by a magic wand , I guess to check for traces of something non kosher. A quick Ice Cap and bagel and forty minutes later we were boarding.

The bright red Dodge

Even though we were 30 minutes late in taking off (waiting for a dog's paperwork to accompany him) we arrived on time. Having picked up our lovely bright red Dodge, Rick took to the highway and we headed for Downtown Halifax. He had noticed that, unlike Ontario, drivers weren't turning right on a red light. Was Nova Scotia different to Ontario? He chanced it and a quick text to Ol and a referral to the guide book seemed to indicate we were ok. Maybe we'd just seen cautious drivers!

Citadel

Tom tom got us safely across the $1 dollar MacDonald toll bridge and up to the Citadel Hill National Historic Site. At the end of the Napoleonic wars we Brits decided that the old wooden forts defending our strategic points against the French in North America should be replaced by more permanent and sturdy structures. The present star shaped fortress to defend the deep harbour of Halifax against possible attack from the French stronghold in Louisbourg on Cape Breton was begun in 1828. We arrived at the start of a guided tour. Our guide was dressed in the uniform of a garrison soldier of the period. The fort is run as it would have been at the time with students playing various parts. The enactment included a firearms drill and a cannon was fired.

Marker, Hydrostone district

The views from the walls over the harbour are well worth a visit even if you're not interested in history. It was 5.30pm and check in at our B & B being up to 6.00pm. After a quick break we headed on foot to Hydrostone market and supper at the Little Europe Bistro a great end to our first day in Nova Scotia. This area was completely flattened in the explosion of 1917 and there is a memorial to those who died in the little square in front of the restaurant.

Lovely castle and a sad farewell

rickandsuejohnson — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Casa Loma

Ang had to cook some champagne cup cakes for a friends wedding shower taking place at 1pm in Toronto, so we were up fairly early and on the road shortly after 11. Ang dropped us off at the York Shopping Mall and Ollie, Sue & I took the subway 6 stops south leaving a short walk to Casa Loma. I say short but it was all uphill and some of it was quite steep! Still it was easy going back.

Grand Hall Casa Loma

Casa Loma was built by a wealthy financier Henry Pellatt who introduced electricity to Toronto. It took 300 men 3 years to construct from a start in 1911. So it is not strictly historic but rather a realisation of a romantic dream and no less interesting for that. Most of the furnishings were sold off when it was put on the market to pay off Sir Henry Pellatt's debts following a period of bad calls. We only spent about 3 hours there following an audio guided tour but you could spend a lot more. The views from the top of the tower were spectacular and while not exactly an uninterrupted view of the lake, is possibly better than the slum area it apparently overlooked when built.

Fountain Casa Loma

There aren't many people who would solve the problem of two properties separated by a main road by building an 800 foot long tunnel and using it to provide a huge furnace to give central heating to both properties. Apparently the furnace consumed 800 tons of coal per year. Bearing in mind that summers in Toronto are hot, so minimal amounts would be needed for hot water then, this means around 120 tons per month or 4 tons per day during the winter months!!

The formal gardens are not grand but they are beautiful and the whole place very nice indeed.

A short walk back to the subway and another 6 stops and several blocks walk in high heat and humidity saw us to the edge of Chinatown. We had been looking for somewhere to slake our thirst even being tempted to go in to a dive that looked as though it may have been on the police watch list; once entered swiftly exited.

3/4 party

Ang had trouble with the traffic but managed to park up and meet up with us in a McDonalds. It was a refuge at least and easily identifiable. Ollie had wanted to visit BeerBistro since Ang had got him a book produced by its owners based on cooking with beer; we therefore headed in that direction for our evening meal. The beer list is extensive with tasting notes and the food has recommended pairings.

Happy diners

The meals were very good and the pairings worked well though Ollie and I each had another beer to finish off.

Marina

As we didn't have to book in to our hotel 'till late, we drove down to the lakeside by the city centre airport and walked along the front in the crepuscular light. It was absolutely lovely and a great way to end this section of our holiday.

Inukshuk

Ollie dropped us off at the hotel at about 10pm and we said our sad farewells. It had been a wonderful week, we had done a lot and spent a most enjoyable time with Ollie and Ang which suddenly and predictably seemed too short. It was hard to break away but poor Ollie & Ang had an hour and a half's drive back to Waterloo, we just had to get ourselves sorted for the morrow and a 6am call to catch the 7am shuttle to the airport, and crash.

A Day in London

rickandsuejohnson — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Lunch with Nyhout family Windermere Manor

Off to London for a rendezvous with Kris, Dave, Jackie, Val and Ang's Nana and Papa at the Windermere, where Ol and Ang are to be married. We travelled the scenic route thinking that the journey would be smoother as the hotel is North of London but this is road repair season. Three stops (one for ten minutes) meant a bit of a delay in arriving so after a great leisurely lunch we went to see the banqueting hall, ceremony venue and grounds. We can see why Ang and Ol chose it – roll on next May!

The party Split and we girls headed off to a bridal shop in downtown London for Ang to try on some dresses. Back to join the boys in Timber Drive and the Nyhout's legendary welcome with Kris producing appetisers at a drop of a hat and drinks all round as we watched the Olympic opening ceremony. Dave set to with the barbecue, though as black clouds gathered, we ate inside before rounding off the evening with a couple of games of 'Telestrations' (rather like Pictionary).

Heavy rain overnight swept the humidity aside for the morning and we girls headed off to another bridal shop which Ang knew stocked a dress that she had seen on-line. Least said but tissues were used by all of us before we returned home for lunch. Back to Waterloo with a stop at the Bay for Ang to buy a gift for a friend's Wedding shower on Sunday. Steph joined us after supper and we watched a film while Ol booked us an airport hotel for our final night in Ontario.