Halifax to Bridgewater

After a long sleep and a good sleep in, we headed for Peggy's cove and Lunenburg, luckily we only had to go 165km so we were in no rush at all.
The drive to Peggy's cove took us back through the city and out to the coast,
We arrived at Peggy's cove to a few more people then we where use to, I guess the nice day had something to do with that, we looked around the town and then drove to the end of the road and walked to the light house and walked around on the rocks, and as we walked more people turned up. This is believed to be to most photographed places in Canada, but you have to wonder why really as it is only a town of 60 people and a point with a light house on it. The rocks at the point are different, they are granite that has been grounded down by glaciers so they are all rounded and not sharp.
From Peggy's cove we drove along the coast to the memorial for the Swiss air flight that crashed into the sea just off the coast here.
The coast line was amazing and not being half asleep we found it more enjoyable.
We next arrived in Lunenburg parked the car and walked around and looked at the Bluenose II and the other ships that were there, although the area around the water front is a UNESCO world heritage site, it was alright and as usual most of the things were not open as it was still the winter season, well that day the temperature got to 30 degrees if that is not summer what is.
The bluenose II is an exact copy of a ship build in 1921 to race for a trophy for fishing boats, the new boat takes people out on tours and is a very nice looking boat, and so famous in Canada it is on the 10cent coin.
From Lunenburg we headed to Bridgewater and the B&B we where staying in, as we drove onto Bridgewater there was a frigate sitting in the river rusting slowly and it turns out it was brought to either turn into a restaurant of sink for diving on but it is the only one of it's kind now so the government has brought it back from the guy. And the ships name is the HMCS FRASER, now that is odd.
We found the B&B talked to the owners for a bit about some of the things we had seen in our travels then went looking for food,
After dinner we headed back to the B&B and talked again to the owners about NZ before headed to bed.

Catch up St John's to Halifax

Well if you have been reading and keeping up to date with things, yes we are getting behind.

Where to start, i guess St John's is good. Well we left St John's about a week ago now, from St John's we drove to Grand Falls Windsor stayed there, not much happening there, the big news in the town was the closure of the paper mill.
From Grand Fall's we had the whole day to reach Channel Port aux Basques, unfortunately we also got a rainy day, we looked at different things drove as slow as we could, but still ended up getting to the ferry at about 6.00pm still over 5 hours to waste.
On the way we did stop at stephenville and got lunch, we were planning to drive to the end of the headland to look but with the rain it was not worth it.
We had lunch sitting inthe car at the beach, we then drove along the water front tothe harbour and then headed out of town, we had to drive through the edge of the air port, it was huge turns out it was a US air force base until the early 80's that explains the size of the air port.
We also drove down roads that looped back to the main road and found some nice places.
Just before the ferry we headed out to the light house to have a look then headed to the car park for the ferry.
We boarded the ferry early which was good and headed straight to bed as we had a long day coming.
Well sleep did not happen as much as we had hoped, the boat rocked and also the constant sound of the motor, we got off the boat in north Sydney at 6.30 in the morning with our next stop being Halifax.
We were planning on driving down the eastern side of Bras d'Or Lake, but since we were so tired we drove down the main road, we crossed back over to the main land and headed for the turn off to drove down the coast.
Although the drove was good we were to tired to really enjoy it, and the fact that we could not find a toilet when you needed one did not help.
Finally we arrived in Halifax at about lunch time so checked into the hotel and went into the city centre to have a look, we walked around the fort and then walked around the water front and the shops. the fact that we were so tired did not help so we decided to go back to the hotel and get some sleep.
But on the way we went to Fairview cemetry to see where the victims of the Titanic were buried, something a bit different.

St John's

We have finally crossed from one side on Newfoundland to the other, we arrived in St John's with rain and lots of wind.
We decided to drive up signal hill, and hoped not to be blown away, after a quick walk around we looked in Cabot castle a small building on top of the hill that was the spot that the first signal was sent across the Atlantic and also the first place to get the mayday calls from the titanic.
We then headed into town and found our B&B, it was very nice there was a note on the door as we entered saying where our room was, and it was a nice room. It was still early so we headed out to cape spears, a 15 minute drive from the centre of town but you fell like you a in the middle of nowhere, again it was a bit windy but I headed out and walked around the point and stood on the most eastern point of north America, there use to be two large guns here in the war and the tunnels and gun tubes are still here, i then walked up to the light house before returning to the car.
After a rest back at the B&B, we walked into George St, this street has more pub's per capita than anywhere in north America, not bad for this place.
The next day we awoke to much better weather so decided to head back up signal hill in the hope of getting better pictures although the weather was nice there was so fog out to sea.
We then headed over the hill to Quidi Vidi harbour a small harbour about 2km north of st john's harbour, from there we keep heading north to the top of the Avalon peninsula and drove a metal road to the top, from the we followed the road back down the coast looking at so ice bergs along the way.
Once we got back into St John's we went to the room, it is a big building onthe hill that is built where the old fort use to be above the harbour, inside there is a museum and art gallery, after that we walked along the harbour edge and then though town and looked in the shops, we then headed back into George St to find something for dinner.
In the morning we headed down for breakfast and talked to the other people that were staying in the B&B as well, they were a family with two from Ganger and the other from PEI, they were very nice and the people from Ganger even said we could stay with them for the night instead of the motel in Grand Falls Windsor.
We left the B&B and decided to head back to Cape spears for a look as the weather was so nice, and we were not disappointed the weather was amazing, we walked around the point and up to the light house and took lots of pictures of an ice berg that was washing against the coast.
After about an hour we started on our way to Grand Falls.

twillingate to bonavista

The road from twillingate to Bonavista was good, we followed the coast around until we got back onto the main highway then traveled until the turn off to Bonavista.
Again we followed the coast out to the end of the peninsula where Bonavista was.
The town of Bonavista was a lot bigger than most of the towns we had seen, it also had a crab processing factory in the middle of town so was a bit of a smell from it.
Again we headed out to the light house to have a look before heading to the B&B we where staying at. After settling in we drove around town and had a look at the old building from the 1700's & 1800's they also had the biggest wooden church in north America. We went to have a look at the Matthew a replica of the boat that John Cabot sailed to Newfoundland in about 1497, but as usual the place was closed we are use to that around here.
We had dinner and then went back to the B&B and talked to the owners for a bit before heading off to bed.

Deer Lake to Twilingate

We spent the night in Deer Lake in Lake view B&B one of the flashest B&B's we have stayed in on the holiday. In the morning we talked to the owner after breakfast and then got on the road to twillingate, the drive was not really the most exciting as we were drive along the Trans Canada highway which runs through the middle of Newfoundland. We turned off the main highway and again found ourselves travelling through lots of little fishing villages along the way.
One of the strangest things we have seen is the lots of piles of wood cut sitting on the sides of the road where ever we go, everyone seems to go into the bush and cut down there firewood and stack it on the side of the road.
The town of twillingate was bigger than we thought it was going to be, The town is actually at the end of about 3 islands all connected by causeways.
We drove around and found the lighthouse and a good view to see the ice berges, there seemed to be a constant flow of people coming out to look.
We checked into the motel and then got dinner in a small dinner, i think we were the odd ones in there because everyone seemed to look it us.
After dinner we watched the sun set and took lots of pictures before heading back to the motel and bed.

Rocky Harbour to L'Anse Aux Meadows

After breakfast we headed north from rocky harbour to St Antonys and on to L'Anse Aux Meadows the place were we where staying, as we drove north up the coast the ice flows got bigger and bigger until the ice went from Newfoundland all the way across the 9 Miles to Labrador, the ice was amazing we had never seen so much and was much more impressive than the Ottawa river frozen.
There was lots of little fishing villages as we headed up, we also stopped at different spots to check out the views and look at the remains of a ship wreck from 1917. Sarah was hoping to see a moose again and she got to see one with in the first hour, we were also told to look out for Caribou on the flat areas, but we did not see any on the way up but saw some on the return trip back down to Deer Lake.
As we drove up the 400km to the top the amount of snow got more and more.
We got to the top and went to St Anthony and had a look around the town and then drove out to the light house and looked out to the Atlantic Ocean and also to see if there was any ice burgs floating down the coast but there was not.
We then drove the last 50km to L'anse Aux Meadows and to the bed & breakfast where we were staying. we then drove around the area and looked at where the vikings used to live if you can do that with about half a metre of snow on everything, it turns out if we had been here a week earlier we might have seen the polar bear they had, talking to the b&b owner there get polar bears regularly and they are normal tranquilised and then flown back across to the other side of the ice flows.
We watched the sun set and then had an early night.
In the morning we walked across the snow over to the sod huts that where below the visitors centre, although they where half buried under the snow you could see the scale of them. As well as the parks huts there was also ones from Norstead, which is a village where in Summer they have people dressed and working like the Norse would have years ago. We decided not to walk to the visitors as the snow was to deep, after a bit of a walk we got back into the car and started the drive all the way back to Deer Lake, the 5 hour drive did not seem to take to long so that was good, and also the weather was the best we have seem since we left home.
On the way back down we took a detour to Trout river pond, the area heading into it was different, we drove from sea level up to 300m and back down in about 3km. on the way there was a large mountain with snow, and lots of ski marks, so when we saw two people starting to walk to the top it all made sense.
Although the trip back was long, it was worth the drive to go to the meadows to see it.

Into Newfoundland

The ferry arrived into Channel-Port-aux Basques at 6.30 in the morning we got off and found a Tim Horton's and got a coffee and something to eat and then drive back into the town to have a look before we started to head north to Rocky Harbour.
The road north was better than I had figured it would be except for the fact that it had started to snow, so that made it a bit more interesting, we drive for about an hour and the decided to stop and get another coffee from a petrol station, we then drove to Corner Brook, This was a lot bigger place then we thought it was going to be. We drove out the the entrants to the harbour along the capt cook trail, yes this area was where the man cut his teeth with the whole sailing thing before he ventured to New Zealand.
After driving out and back we got something to eat and then carried on towards Rocky Harbour, we headed north until deer lake where we turned back out to the coast, the area from deer harbour thought to Rocky harbour was really nice, it followed the edge of the harbour and drove around lakes until we got to the visitors centre for the Gros Morne National park, as usual the centre was closed but they had booklets so we got one of then and then headed to Norris point before going over the hill and into Rocky Harbour the the bed and breakfast we where staying in. We sorting our stuff out and then headed out to find something for dinner, we decided to try Moose burgers, very nice. we then headed back to evergreen b&b and talked to the owners for about three hours about Newfoundland and the things we might see the next day.
We headed off to bed with the hope for good weather.

Louisberg and around Sydney

We got to sleep in this morning as we had the whole day to waste before we caught the ferry at 11.30pm. After breakfast we headed out of Sydney and headed to Louisberg in the hope that we could get there to look as everything has been closed, we arrived at a gate and guard house and the man gave us a booklet and told us where to park and have a good day.
After parking and putting on warm clothes we walked around the fort of Louisberg and all the houses that are there, the area is just amazing, and the fact that it was rebuild in the 60's as a government program to give the locals jobs after the fishery's died. We walked around for about 2 hours and looked at all the different buildings, and then talked to one of the parks Canada people how said the the rebuild area was only a quarter of the original fort.
From Louisberg we drove around the coast to Glace bay to look in the miners museum, if we had rang the day before we could have gone into the mine but we were not worried so just looked through the museum. From the we carried on around the coast and looked at the old WW2 gun emplacements for the entry to the Sydney harbour. It turns out the this was one of the big spots for the convoys heading to England in the second world war.
We then crossed over to North Sydney to where the ferry was to leave from and drove around the coast, stopping to watch the ferry arrive, we then carried on around the coast before returning to north Sydney to get something for dinner.
We then decided that we might as well go to the ferry and line up, we checked in and then went into the building and watched a movie before heading out to the car until the boat was loaded, we ended up at the front of the boat, park the car and then went and found our room, checked out the boat and then went to bed as the ferry arrived in port-aux basques at about 6.30 in the following morning.
Even though we had a long day it was a very good day.

Port Hastings to Sydney

We headed out of Port Hastings and up the western side of Cape Breton on the way to Cheticamp our next stop for the night.
The drive up the coast was really nice and we managed to get good weather which made it even better, We drive through small community's and off the main road and on some gravel roads headed north.
The drive did not take as long as we figured it would so we decided to drive 40 minutes inland and go to Baddeck, the place where Alexander graham bell holidayed and moved toand was buried when he died, we went to the historic site and found that the place was partially open so we wondered around and managed to go into a closed area so got told to go the other way. We discovered that Alexanders wife had a boat called "Kia Ora", we thought that was really neat, we then fueled up the car got some Timmy's and then headed back to Cheticamp.
We found the place we were staying checked in and asked the owner about seeing moose, as is was one of the things Sarah wanted to see in Canada, The owner said to head into The national park and drive around 20 minutes to the lakes and wait for the sun to set. Al thought we could see signs of moose we did not see anything so headed back and watched the sun set from one of the lookoff points on the road.

The next day we got back on the road with stop at Tim Horton's for a wake up and then headed into the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, we covered the same ground as we drove last night but still stopped and took lots of pictures from all the good spots.
The area is amazing you drive along the coast and then head up to about 450m above the sea and head inland, and due to the time of year into snow covered roads and trees.
We stopped at the last stop that we got to the night before and what did we see on the other side of the road but a moose, a rather big moose, it looked at us and then headed into the trees, so Sarah got to see her moose so she was happy.
At the top of the Cabot trail we headed off to Meat cove, it was alright but not really worth the time to drive it, i guess it would be better in the summer.
From there we started headed back down the coast towards Sydney.
The drive back down was good with some really good spots to stop and take pictures.
We got back to the highway and found our way into Sydney and our hotel, checked in and then went for a bit of a drive to look around.

PEI to Cape Breton

Well for the second day on Prince Edward Island we thought we were going to get snow but we woke up in the morning and headed to East point this time as we headed east the weather got better. We arrived at the light house and had a look around and I also discovered that I have chipped half one of my teeth off eating peanuts, Bugger.
From east point we headed along the top of PEI towards Cavendish, the home of Ann of Green Gables.
We arrived at the site to snow but did not let that slow us down, we walked around the grounds and looked at the house.
The strangest things were back up the road from the house there was a small amusement park and lots of tacky shops and a Ripley's believe it or not!!!!!!
We figured we had come this far so we headed to the beach as well, if it was summer it would have cost us $7 to go to the beach, what is it with that.....
We then headed back to Charlottetown and went to dinner at Boston Pizza before heading back to the hotel.

The next day we left Charlottetown and headed back toward Confederation Bridge and paid the $42.50 to leave PEI, free to enter but you pay to leave, got ya there.
We found the first Information centre that was open as we drove into Nova Scotia so headed in a had a look. We then headed along the coast towards the beginning of Cape Breton, we drove through at place called Tatamagouche where a tv program called the week the women left was filmed, it is a serious where the women go on holiday for a week and how the males survive doing everything.
We then headed to Pictou and stopped down by the harbour and looked at a boat called Hector, it was a tall ship replica of the ship that brought the first settlers to this area from Scotland.
The drive towards Cape Breton was really nice with lots of trees everywhere as we headed down to the causeway that connected the cape to the mainland.

Our April Holiday

WE are off on holiday for most of the month of April, so we have decided to head up to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.

We left home on Good Friday and headed for Riviere-du-loup, unfortunately we had to go though Montreal and yes the traffic was crap as is usual, once through we got back to cruising in the new car with cruise control.
We made a Detour at Levis and got some pictures of Quebec City from the other side of the river before getting to Rivier-du-loup.

The next morning we headed for Moncton only another 550km's once we got into New Brunswick the roads were amazing and really good to drive on, we made a stop at Grand Falls and looked at the big water fall, and then continued on to Moncton.
We got to Moncton and checked in where we stayed and then drove into town to have a look around and also see the river that has the tidal bore in it, unfortunately the bore did not happen till 12.30 in the morning.

We woke up to snow lots of snow, but not one to let this hold us back we headed to Shediac the lobster capital on the area, snow everywhere, we then followed the coast around until the bridge to Prince Edward Island.
The bridge is 12km long and when it is windy you can tell it is that long.
We decided to head for West point and then follow the West coast up to the most northern tip on the island, but the weather got the better of us, we figured it would be better to turn around then get caught out in a snow storm. So we back tracked and headed for Charlottetown and the hotel for the night.
Hopefully the weather will better tomorrow so we can look around some more.

Warmer weather

Well it is finally starting to warm up here, which means nice warm days and rain.
The Ottawa river is almost back to normal, Brown water but not frozen. We are getting ready for the warm weather and being able to go and do some more site seeing as most things have been closed for winter.