Visiting family in Halifax and Exploring Nova Scotia

Well we have left Maine in the US and rode to St Johns New Brunswick, what a yucky place that is, the most interesting thing about it is the Bay of Fundy with the big tides, its an Irving town which means pulp and paper mills. We caught the ferry from Digby to Nova Scotia and rode up to Halifax where Libby and Kellen and the twins live now. (my niece)

We love Nova Scotia and that coast line, there are so many towns along the water they go on forever, what fun we had exploring them. Libby and Kellen live in a lovely place, very pretty and private and it was nice to see family and have some home cooked meals again. The girls are adorable and were so happy to see us, it was nice that they could tell us where to go in the area. We all took a trip into Lunenburgh for lunch one day which was a lot of fun, the girls went in the ocean jumping the waves, they are nuts it was cold. Lunenburgh is so colorful, the pictures you see at the travel agents for once really do depict the actual beauty of the town, they are so vibrant with color on all the buildings. If you have never been to Nova Scotia/Cape Breton or PEI you really must it is absolutely beautiful and this was a perfect time to come as the season has not really got into full swing until July 1st.

We went to show and tell at the girls school to tell them about our round the world trip, it was so cute, we are so big with our gear on, especially Trev of course, they all got to try on the jackets and see the bike etc. it was fun, Cryus could hardly contain her excitement, there teacher said that she would follow us around next year when school is back in.

We took a ride out to Peggys Cove, one of the most photographed places in Canada, Trev was glad he has digital as he took so many pictures. We had lunch at a cafe serving great cornish pasties (memorable) and coffee, visited the site of the Swiss Air Flight that crashed in 1998 which was very sad, you can still feel the sadness there. We then went into Halifax which is a really nice city, not too big and they have a great waterfront area there also.

We could spend a whole month just in this area there is so much to explore, from Peggys Cove to Lunenburgh and all the towns in between, each has there own uniquness about them and they all seem to have a marina, its a way of life for these shore dwellers they all seem to have some kind of boat, either for fishing or lobsters or just pleasure and they are all such friendly people too. The houses are very old and most dont have proper foundations and are in need of a lot of work but somehow they all seem very loved and tidy, these Nova Scotians must be a very proud people. When we entered Nova Scotia and stopped to fill up on gas this guy in the car behind us got out and shook our hands and welcomed us to NS, pretty cool. It dose feel different here to the west coast, its hard to explain but it seems like everyone would just drop what they are doing to help you out, it feels very friendly, very soft, warm people, like one big family.

Onto Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail, it was quite a long ride up but what beautiful scenery, we went for dinner at a pub called "The Red Shoe" which is owned by The Rankins. We heard that there would be celtic musicians there that night and sure enough there was a fiddlist and a pianist, so fun, playing Natalie McMaster tunes, the place was packed and the energy was great. Half way thru the locals put on a dance for us of traditional dance right there in the pub, the dinner was superb too, one of the younger Rankins even turned up later that evening. We ended up at a B&B that night on a working red angus ranch run by an old guy called Isaac, he was very interesting and had lived in the area all his life, he took us on a tour in the morning of his farm, I loved it, Im weird, i love the smell of cows, it brought back so many childhood memories growing up on farms in England!! He mentioned that there was a tribute to "The Man In Black" being held that night at the local theatre so we went over to that too, it was great fun, hanging out with all the locals listening to Johnny Cash tunes. Next day we headed up to the Cabot Trail however it fogged in so we really didnt get to see much, we had to travel really slow as we could hardly see in front of us but what we did see as the fog lifted was a MOOSE standing on the side of the road, pretty spooky, they told us that they come out early in the morning and late at night but this was mid day?

Cape Breton is very much like England, lots of working farms and rolling lush hillsides, still lots of colorful purple and pink lupins everywhere too, so pretty.

Caught ferry from Caribou NS to Wood Island in PEI only 75mins long and then we rode the scenic route for a while, this island is very pretty and lush also, lots of farming and lobstering going on, very tidy houses, not many people around, very spread out areas, lots and lots of potatoes growing, another great spot for cycling. We headed to Charlottetown and booked into another B & B right in town, dumped all our bags and the bike and went into town for dinner at another great Irish Pub, 5oz tenderloin wrapped in bacon with baked potatoe for only $4.98 what a deal. We were told that there was a show in town ``The Story of Buddy Holly`so off we went, it was another musical that is playing for the month of June, it was great, really hi quality performance. Funny thing with the place we stayed was as Trevor was going up the stairs with the bags he said to the guy running the place, ``so wheres the ghost`` he said, how did you know, his name is Foster he lived here in the early 1900`s, great. We both actually sensed someone in the hallway upstairs, i heard something in the night and I had a crazy dream too, who knows. The part i didnt like was when the guy told us he dosnt like catholics as hes a prodestant, glad he didnt tell me that until breakfast the next morning. They have a 9 year old daughter and they said she has been talking about this ghost since she was 2, also other guests have mentioned him and his wife before, creepy. Cool thing this 9 year old has already published a book called À Collection of stories from beyond the hills of my mind, by Hannah MacDougall, what an inspiration. Her mother said she has been writing stories since before she could even write.

Left Charlottetown this morning for New Brunswick off to the Gaspe Penninsula.

Not a day goes by where we dont get stopped on this journey to talk about what we are doing and where we are going, people are so excited to here about it. We get side tracked talking to people too who are also very interesting, this is one of the best things about being on a bike and travelling, the people you meet. I have always wanted to visit the East Coast and it hasnt disappointed me at all, i really will have to come back another time to continue exploring here.

until later

Carpe Diem (thats happens to be the name of the B&B that we are at tonight!)

chenty