Friday, July 1, 2016

2016 Trip to the Canadian Maritimes. Third Leg: PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

We have now headed to New Brunswick.  We drove thru the west portion of it to get to Prince Edward Island; our next destination.  We stayed in our first Walmart on this trip in Frederickton, New Brunswick.  Manager very friendly and said we could stay a week if we wanted. No can do!  Off to PEI.
 
To get to PEI you need to go over the Confederation Bridge. It is 12.9 kilometers long (8 miles). 
 
We are going to be staying in the town of Cavendish.  Cavendish is famous for "Ann of Green Gables".  Traveling across PEI is done on smallish roads that run amongst farms, villages and lush fields.  PEI is famous for its potatoes and there are field after field of green potato plants.  
 
Beautiful multicolored Lupin is also prevalent in PEI. The countryside is just beautiful.  Green fields, beautifully manicured lawns and homes.  Lots of beautiful white church's with small cemeteries next to them.  Lots of sea views with red sand beaches, lobster boats, traps and buoys. They are famous for their Malpeque oysters too.
 
 
We arrived on Canada Day, July 1.  Their equivalent of our 4th of July.   It is also my birthday.  Canada helped me celebrate my birthday! 
 
Rustico Beach was nearby and we all went up there to enjoy music for Canada Day.  We found some old lobster traps here for sale for $10 Canadian.  We should have bought them.  They were selling them in Maine for $55 American!
 
Kent went back for fireworks.  The rest of us were party poopers.
 
Next day we found a lobster pound and bought some for dinner.  They were $9/lb Canadian ($6.50 us).  Wow they were good!  Kelli bought clams and made a great chowdah!
 
We went to a Ceilidl!  Pronounced "Kay-Lee".  It is the celtic word for gathering.  In this part of the country church's, community halls and homes post signs on the road that a Ceilidl is happening tonight.  Locals are really into music and dance and gather to sing, fiddle and dance.  There has to be something to do on those long, cold and dark winter nights (besides sex)!
 
On the far east side of the island is a beach called Red Point and another beach called Basin Head (voted PEI's best beach) known for its "singing sand".  We went to both.  The singing sand must have been on voice rest....we didn't hear anything.
 
On to Nova Scotia. We are going to start at the far northern section called Cape Breton Island.  Our campground was in North Sydney and it was fantastic.  We had made reservations in January and we were placed in the best spots they had.  We were overlooking Bras de Or Lake,
really an inland sea.  Beautiful. 
 
 
 
We hit some rainy weather here but were able to fit a 3 hour cruise out to Bird island to see Bald Eagles and Puffins.  The tour guide was not happy that so many bald eagles were making Bird Island their home.  The eagles chase away the Puffins and more people want to see the puffins than eagles.  Oh well.
 
 
 
Next town was Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Scott and Monica joined us for a few days.  Went golfing with them and got attacked by black flies and no see ums.  We need to learn to carry insect spray every where we go!  We are averaging about 4 new bites a day. 
 
We went to the picturesque village of Peggy's Cove.  Spectacular day.  We were treated to a Scottish Bagpiper.   So we got to experience a wee bit of Scotland in New Scotland (Nova Scotia).

 
 


 
We also went to Mahone Bay and Lunenburg

Lunenburg is a UNESCO site.  It dates back to the 1700's and they have 4 blocks of 18th and 19th century homes.  It is also the home of the Bluenose II.  The original Bluenose was built in 1921 and was a fishing/racing schooner.  The first one to the dock gets the good prices.  She won every race for 17 years!!  We missed seeing her. She was in Halifax.
 
We next went to the other side of Nova Scotia to Digby (Scallop capital of the world) and Annapolis Royal.   The oldest Canadian settlement is here,  Fort Anne.  Also the oldest French settlement of Fort Royal. 
 
The scallop fleet was in the harbor and made for a pretty site.
 
Lots of cannons at the port testifying to the many skirmishes that happened in the distant past.  We had to have a bit of fun with them.
 
 
The Canadians have decommissioned lighthouses in this area.   To encourage their continued existence, they sold them for $1 Canadian IF they are continually inhabited/used.  Here is one in Digby, NS.   Can you see Patty and Kelli waving at you?
This lighthouse owner sold hot cocoa and coffee and the clam digging was free to the person willing to get muddy.  The guys didn't do to well in the "digging" business but very well in the "hamming" it up business.
 
Just by luck, we met a lobster boat at the dock and bought more lobsters.  Got them for $6.50 Canadian...so about $5 American.  Best price yet.  Also bought some clams for $3.00/lb Canadian.  Had to learn how to "purge" them of sand and grit and then steamed them up for linguini and clams and chowdah!!! 
 
The Bay of Fundy has the largest tides in the world.  Depending on the month the tidal change can be between 37 and 52 feet!!  We hit the 37 foot tides.  The lobster and scallop boats sit on the ocean bottom at low tide!  Quite something to see.
  
   
 

Onward to Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick to see Flower Pot Rocks and the incredible tide change in the Bay of Fundy. This part of the Bay of Fundy has the greatest tide changes in the world. The park pass is good for two days so you can see both a low and high tide.  It didn't disappoint.  Quite impressive.

We should have taken the kayak tour at high tide.  So if any of you head this way, don't miss out like we did!
 
 
On to Saint John, New Brunswick.  Like many small towns in this area, St. John has been really hit by loss of industry.  The poverty level around here is pretty high.  Tourism is helping a lot and they are revitalizing some of their older buildings into restaurants and pubs.  They have a nice downtown market but we couldn't buy much since we cross the border tomorrow.  Of course we visited a brewery, when traveling with the Kirby's you must try out new brews.
 
Time to leave Canada and go back to the U S of A.
 
 
 
 

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