Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick

A sic hour drive brought us to Fundy National Park where we stayed for two days. The park is beautiful, green, and plenty of trees unlike a lot of the private campsites that try to crowd in as many RVs into a space as possible.

The main reason to visit Fundy Park was to visit the Hopewell Rocks. The whole Fundy region has the biggest tides in the world rising to as high as 50 feet at times. The Hopewell Rocks are the result of glacial and ice age geological effects. The huge tidal changes in the area have carved and separated these rocks from the cliff faces. These are also referred to as flower pot rocks because of the vegetation that grows on the top of the rocks. The high tides wash away any growth in the lower parts of the rocks.

We went at low tide in the morning - we went down 98 steps to the ocean floor and walked around the rocks. John was frustrated that he could not photograph the formations without people milling around. I thought that provided a good perspective to the size of the rocks.

We then went back at high tide - now we had to watch from the observation deck as the entire beach area was now under water.

The tall one to the right looks like a standing bear1

The neck narrows as it gets eroded and finally breaks away

Many of the low lying rocks get covered in kelp

At high tide: you can see the kayaks down where we walked earlier in the day

New moon was two days away and the tides were higher than usual. Here it has come up 40 ft.










Chalk this down to another wonderful experience.

Two weeks in Newfoundland - Part 3 of 3

August 20 - 28

We left St. Anthony on the 20th and the second day saw us in Tors Cove about 10 mi south of St. John's Newfoundland.

The campsite was once again a gravel surface with hardly any trees. However, the site was atop a cliff and the view of the Atlantic Ocean from there was beautiful. It was so nice to be able to sit out there and take in the scene even when it was shrouded in fog.

Here we met two couples from Murphy NC - our first interaction with someone else from our home state. We spend a pleasant evening sitting around a pit fire and chatting.

View of St John's Harbour from Signal Hill

We had a good time in St. John's. We visited Signal Hill. This is where Marconi waited to receive the first transatlantic wireless signal in 1901.

More importantly it also served as a defense site for the harbour from way back in the 18th century to World War 2.

The view from here is again breathtaking particularly as the fog gently rolls in.

At the eastern most point in N. America.  A bad hair day for sure!

Cape Spear Lighthouse is a five minute drive from downtown St. John's. It has two lighthouses -the older one is now a museum and the relatively newer one is a functioning lighthouse.

Cape Spear juts out into the Atlantic and has the dubious distinction of being the eastern most point in North America. So of course, we had to have this documented.

Just in case you doubted me.

     


                       

View of harbour from restaurant downtown

A few more pics from the area:

As always I cannot resist photographing sunrises or sunsets.
This is sunrise, taken through the RV window on our last day before heading back east to take the ferry.









We had planned to visit the Bonavista peninsula just north of St. John's. I had heard that the puffins congregated very close to the shore in a town called Elliston. Unfortunately, John was under the weather for a few days and so we relaxed and stayed in. It was then time for us to head back east to Port aux Basques to take the ferry back to Nova Scotia.


In the meantime, Irene was threatening to head our way. We crossed over on Sunday. The crossing was very smooth and uneventful - just the way I like it.  We decided to stay in North Sydney for an  extra day to allow Irene to go by. We got some heavy rains and strong gusting winds until mid morning and then things quietened down.

Waiting in line to board the ferry back to Nova Scotia

In the meantime, Irene was threatening to head our way. We crossed over on Sunday. The crossing was very smooth and uneventful - just the way I like it.  We decided to stay in North Sydney for an  extra day to allow Irene to go by. We got some heavy rains and strong gusting winds until mid morning and then things quietened down.

So.... was Newfoundland worth it? Absolutely, inspite of many rainy days. The land is ruggedly beautiful and the people are friendly. If you are an outdoor type of person, there are lot of hiking trails to explore. I would not have missed the icebergs for anything - see my previous blog. However, I was disappointed at missing out on the puffins and the boat tour we took cheated us out of seeing any whales as the operator decided to not ventur too far out into the bay that day. John was disappointed at not finding any fresh fish to buy straight from the fishermen. We spent quite a bit of time in every place we went, trying to locate local fishermen - to no avail. I ate mussels at every opportunity and gave the Cod a miss - as far as I am concerned it is a very bland fish that even my South Indian pickle failed to improve the taste.

Well, until we get to New Brunswick.

Two weeks in Newfoundland - Part 2 of 3

August 17 - August 19

The drive up to St. Anthony was breathtaking despite the mist and the constant drizzle of rain.
The secondary road 430 was a pleasant surprise. Though a two lane road, it was of decent surface and hardly any pot holes - better than some of those roads leading to Chicago!!!

The drive itself took us about 4 hours with the highway hugging the western coast, We had a view of the Gulf of St. Lawrence the whole way and at one point we were at the closest approach to Labrador. But for the mist and fog we should have been able to espy that piece of land.

View of St. Anthony town from the top of the bluff

St. Anthony or Santhony as the locals refer to it, is bigger than any of the towns in Gros Morne. It has a fairly large size hospital - to give you an idea.

We visited the first Norse settlement in Lans aux Meadows - rather disappointing to me - but John found it interesting. Saw our first and only Moose while there - we could barely see it from the visitor cneter, grazing out in the distance. But, at least, I can now say I have seen a Moose - for what it is worth. All along the highway I saw signs asking us to beware of the Moose but I think they were hiding from us.

A bakeapple berry that I picked

On our way to Lans aux Meadows we saw some folks picking berries in the peat bog. So we stopped and decided to do the same. They were picking bakeapple. Actually the story goes that the french asked "baie q'appelle" meaning 'what is it called' and this morphed into bakeapple and the name has since stuck. These grow low to the ground on wet bog and does a number on ones back. We picked a few to say we had done it and I promptly bought a jar of bakeapple jam rather than try to make my own. Life is too short eh?

another view of the town

just in case you thought we were not actually there

You might have heard of the Peterman Iceberg? Well, the harbour at Santhony had big chunks from this ice island floating in the harbor. We were two weeks late - or we could we have seen the big ice island itself as it went past St. Anthony.
Ok; no more words, just look at the pics. AWESOME!!!!

Two weeks in Newfoundland - Part 1 of 3

August 12/August 13

John taking photos from the top deck

Arrived in N. Sydney about 2:30 pm only to find out that we could not wait in the terminal area until our 1:00 am boarding time. So there we were in the parking lot of Canadian Tire two streets away. It is blazing hot and humid and we are tired from the long drive. But waiting is more tiring. I u to catch up on some work while John took a nap.

In retrospect, a 3:00 am crossing was a bad plan on my part. By the time we landed in Port aux Basque on the other side, we had been up for more than 24 hours. Even the short naps we took on board did not help very much.

sunrise over the atlantic

The cats did not enjoy the trip much either. We had to leave them in the RV which was three decks below. We were not allowed to go below 

to check on them during the trip. When we got back to the RV (once we were docked) we found all three of them huddled under the sofa in their hideouts.

First glimpse of Newfoundland 

We disembarked at 11 am on the 13th and drove for 4 hours to Rocky Harbour in Gros Morne national park.


If you look at the map, you see just one main highway (TransCanada 1 also known as TCH 1) going from the ferry terminal at Port aux Basques directly northward to Deer Lake and then swinging east to St. Johns.

We are not sure how good the secondary roads were going to be.  One option is to leave the RV in Rocky Harbour and drive the truck to St. Anthony but we are not very keen on leaving the cats behing for 2 or 3 days,


August 13 - August15

Driving on TCH 1 to Gros Morne

Rocky Harbour is a small place with small buildings nestled among the slopes of the mountain.  Architecturally there was much to be desired. There were several "chalets" touted as the best place to stay and enjoy the area and these looked more like two room sheds to me. The economy is mainly dependent on tourism and cod fishing.

The Newfies (as they are called) have a very interesting accent. In some ways it is very similar to the high tiders from downeast NC but they have more of a lilt to their talk. They say Oye for I; boot for boat; but cod is caud and haddock is hoduck.

Not much to do here unless you are the hiking/trekking/mountain climbing type. It is ruggedely beautiful.
Rained two out of the three days we stayed here.

This did not bode well for a good tour

We did take a boat tour to West Brooke Pond to see the fjords.  The whole trip started off very inauspiciously. We had reserved our places the day before for the 1pm tour based on weather reports. The day of the tour we went in at 11 am to pay for our tickets only to find that the lady had failed to put our names down the previous day. She then had the audacity to claim that she did not remember us from the day before and the 1 pm tour was all booked up. I was so upset with her for not just failing to write our names down but for not accepting her faux pas. Nor did she have the decency to apologize. We ended up buying tickets for the 4 pm tour knowing fully well that we had missed a good window of opportunity as far as the weather was concerned. There was a 50% chance of rain that afternoon.

did i glimpse a bit of the sun or is it wishful thiking? 

We had to drive for 26 km (a little more than 15 miles, park the car and hike for 3 miles to get to the boat ramp. As we walked we tried to not get any more upset than we were  - the whole place was smothered in fog. Was it even worth walking up there, we wondered.

while we waited for the boats, the sun came out, the fog cleared up and we had a most gorgeous afternoon after all.

Western Brooke pond was at one time a salt water pond that was connected to the gulf. But now it was cut off from the gulf and is a self contained body of water. It is actually bigger than a pond - more like a lake.

 The cliffs on either side are awesome with lots of water falls and interesting textures to the rock surface.

At every turn I thought the scene was prettier than the previous one.

We had a great time and were very glad to have not let that incompetent lady spoil our afernoon.

Tomorrow we leave for St, Anthony. We decided to take the RV and the kitties with us.

Grand Falls, New Brunswick

We arrived in Grand Falls (or Grand Saulte), New Brunswick on Monday.
It is the only city officially bilingual city in New Brunswick; as per their tourism brochures.

Statue of Malabeam

The falls and gorge are the main attraction. The story goes that about 300 Mohawks killed the chief and abducted the chief's daughter Malabeam. The Mohawks threatened to kill her but if she were to lead them to her village, they would spare her life and get her married to one of the Mohawk warriors. Malabeam agreed and had them tie up their canoes to one another so they would not get separated. In the dark of the night she led them over the falls and to their death thus saving her tribe and village from certain annihilation. In the light of day, her tribe found the bodies of the 300 Mohawks, but there was no sigh of Malabeam. She is said to tread the water at the bottom of the falls on moonlit nights.

View from Malabeam Center - right downtown

The city is built around the falls. It is sort of a surprise to see the falls right in the middle of the city.

We took a two hour guided walking tour of the falls and the gorge. A very sweet bilingual college student was our guide. It was her second tour since she started this job and was very tentative. Plus English was not her first language. It took me a while to figure out that she was referring to father when she said 'fodder'.  

At the first lookout station

The walk was very good but also made up for lack of exercise for the last few weeks.The weather forecast predicted a high of 72 and when we left that morning my cell phone indicted the temperature was 49 deg. So I dressed warm and within the first 15 minutes of our walk I was wishing that I had on something lighter. 

The dam - not very impressive

Halfway down to the gorge 

John coming down the last of the 250 steps

At one point we had to climb down 250 steps to get down to the bottom of the gorge. John wanted to know if there were fewer steps going up than going down. By the end of the climb up I was wishing the same. However, I would not have missed it for anything. The scenery was beautiful and at every lookout station I thought the falls looked more stunning than in the previous one.

We left Grand Falls, New Brunswick yesterday and made it into a campsite in Pictou, Nova Scotia. I say, made it into, because we made the mistake of not checking the route chosen by the GPS and as a result we went through an hour of hellish drive through rain sodden unpaved 20 mile stretch with what seemed like potholes every bit if the way. 
I never thought our brown Toyota truck could look any browner but when we pulled into the campsite and got out we saw that it was caked in mud from bumper to bumper. I should have taken a photo of it. By the time I returned from registering at the office John had started washing his precious truck.

We will be in North Sydney, Nova Scotia (a 3 hour drive from Pictou) today and have reservations for the 3:00 am Ferry Saturday morning (Aug 13) for Newfoundland. We met 3 to 4 other campers in Grand Falls who had just come from Newfoundland and raved and raved about it. So we decided it would be foolish to miss this opportunity. John promises that if we do not get the time to visit PEI this time, we will come back to NS again. Never in my dreams did I think I would be able to visit Newfoundland and I am so....  excited. Can hardly wait.

Two weeks in Quebec and lots of pics

Bonjour Madames et Messieurs.
Comment ca va?

We have spent the last two weeks in Levis just across from Quebec city on the southern shore of the St. Lawrence river. We have had a nice time visiting Quebec city and its surroundings. See pics at the end of this posting.

The Ferry terminal is about 8  minutes by car from the campsite and the ferry ride itself is a mere 6 minutes.
So we took the ferry several days into the city. I loved the old city with its narrow cobble-stoned roads and sidewalk cafes.
We took the funiculaire up to the Dufferin terrace and visited the Citadel and the Plains of Abrahams - a renowned battle site which has now been made into a very nice park and greenway. The Citadel is a working garrison and so we could visit it only with a tour guide. Our guide was a young architecture student from Belgium working here for the summer. We came across several foreign students working in the US for the summer when we were in Michigan last year. Anyway, the guide and I had a nice chat about Belgium beers.

We saw a very good exhibit on Rome at the Musee de Civilization and an equally excellent one on Ballet Russes at the Musee de la Beaux Arts de Quebec.

A day trip to Ile d'Orleans was very pleasant. Ile d'Orleans is a small island between Quebec city and Levis that is spanned by a bridge from the QC side. The island is very pastoral and agritourism is the big attraction. We drove around and stopped at several galleries as well as at the Chocoletier. I was thrilled to get some raspberries from a roadside stand. I would have loved to pick my own but John was not interested in either doing it or waiting while I picked my own. The berries were delicious and we just ate the last of those a day or so ago.
We also stopped at a fromaggerie and was scandalized at the price of a small piece of cheese.
Well, for that matter, everything in Quebec is very expensive. Gas is over $4.50 per gallon and there is a tax of 13 to 15% on everything including parking at the museum as well as on entrance tickets to the museum.

On the way back we went by Chute de Montmorency (the Montmorency Falls). The brochure boasts that it is higher than the Niagara Falls; it was not as impressive though because it is not as wide.

This did not prevent us from enjoying our stay here. We loved having our morning coffee at one of the cafes soon as we got off the ferry. After walking all over the city, we would stop at one of the cafes to enjoy a nice cool beer.

The weather has been very pleasant. A few 80 deg days, but mostly in the mid to upper 70s with lots of sunshine. We have had two days when it rained throughout the day and I spent the time indoors on my computer - a good way to work "work" without feeling contrary about it.

We leave for New Brunswick tomorrow morning. We will be at Grand Falls for 3 days and after that, we are not sure exactly what our next stop will be.

Au Revoir

On the ferry approaching Quebec City

Closer view of Quebec City from the ferry

Boy! this cleat is way bigger than the one needed to tie our sailboat to

Views of Quebec city:

Looking up at the funiculaire as we wait for it to descend

Vist to the Citadel

the guard houses are empty when the GG is not in town

Chateua Fontenac in the background

Very British! and yes there is a second one on the other side

Dufferin terrace with statue of Champlain; Starbucks in the corner - but I preferred the cafes

One of our many ferry crossings; had a pleasant conversation with the little girl and her dad

This is what I love about this city - reminds me so of Paris

through the ferry window as we prepare to head back to Levis

Ile d'Orleans

In the garden behing the gallery of a 70 year old artist

Same gallery and house with back yard overlooking the river

One of many vineyards we visited

driving around the island

Parc de la chute de Montmorency

view of the falls from the cable car taking us up to the top

From the walkway above the falls