Day 53 – Robinsons, Newfoundland (Sunday, June 28, 2015)

I attempted sleeping on the ferry in a lounge chair but it was rough. I may have got a few hours at the very most. At any rate it was a lot less than normal nights in poor sleeping positions.

I had breakfast on board just after the ferry had docked.

We disembarked at Port aux Basque at 7am Newfoundland time and were immediately greeted with unique Newfoundland landscape.   In retrospect (I am now writing this in Rocky Harbour) I realize now that Port aux Basque is worth visiting.   I was interested in getting some miles in before crashing early to catch up on sleep.

I had lunch at a road side restaurant near Jeffery’s NL and learned from the local people that there aren’t many places ’til Corner Brook. So I resigned myself to staying at my original destination, Midway Motel and Lounge.

The day was good for cycling. It started cool but a nice tail wind picked up from the south bringing with it (I guess) the warmest day of my trip. I found the heat sucking the energy out of me.

As it turned out the Midway Motel (Robinsons, NL) was closed and the property was up for sale. When I arrived I was tired from lack of sleep on the ferry and quite hot so I pitched in the rear and crashed. Corner Brook was another 110 km I had no other place to go.

At about 7pm the owner came by and we chatted. I explained my situation and he was more than happy to let me stay. Apparently even when the motel was open he had reserved an area at the rear for cyclists passing through. (See the comment below.)

Day 52 – North Sydney, Nova Scotia (Saturday, June 27, 2015)

Today was a bit of a challenge.  I had to make 143km with unknown hilly terrain and a 13km head wind.

I ate grocery food in the hotel room and was on the road by 7:40am.

Despite the hills I was happy to make Beddeck by noon and spent some time exploring the town and visiting the Bell museum. Although Bell seems like a nice fellow with a good family he seems more like an influential tinkerer than a real scientist. Regardless we likely need more people like Bell who muck around and leave a lasting legacy.

Of all the places on Cape Breton I like the waters and surrounding hills of the Bras D’Or Estuaries the best. I can understand why it would have attracted a guy like Bell who had the good fortune of being able to live just about anywhere.

After Beddeck it was heads down riding the remainder 55km or so to North Sydney.   The climb between two parts of the Bras D’Or Lake was the steepest long climb since British Columbia. It was the first time since BC that I had to use the first chain ring.

I was satisfied to arrive in North Sydney before 6pm. I grabbed something to eat at Subway and spent the time before boarding the ferry at 9pm to do some bicycle maintenance. I replaced a broken spoke and patched a tire on the lawn of a museum.

I am currently on the ferry to Newfoundland. We left North Sydney harbour about 20 minutes ago. Now I have time to spend in a big chair trying to get some rest before I start bicycling again tomorrow.  Wish me luck.

Day 51 – Port Hastings, Nova Scotia (Friday, June 26, 2015)

I woke to my alarm at 4:48am, packed up my tent and was on the road by 5:30am determined to make the first ferry to Nova Scotia. I arrived at the ferry dock almost 1 hour before the departure but I had enough time to eat breakfast of muffins and fruit that I had bought the day before.

The ferry arrived in Nova Scotia about 7:30am and I set off toward Pictou.   At the fork near Pictou I decided not to visit Halifax in favour of a direct route to Sydney.

Highway 104 in Nova Scotia was hilly but otherwise not especially interesting. At one point I decided to take a secondary road running parallel in hopes to get a sense of countryside. But while the road was quiet it was poorly maintained and wove around like a snake and I ended up returning to the main highway.

I ate and stayed at the Heartstone Inn in Port Hastings for the night. Ideally I would have liked to have gone another 20-30km to shorten tomorrow’s distance to Sydney.  The weather and the wind were favorable but the people at the information booth could not confidently assure me there was any suitable accommodation for some distance. The Heartstone was a pretty good place; better than the hotel franchises and had a clear view of the channel between Cape Breton and the mainland.

Day 50 – Northumberland Provincial Park, Prince Edward Island (Thursday, June 25, 2015)

In the morning I met Steve, the host of Victoria Inn B+B.   He informed me about the latest history of the unique town of Victoria, a town which I just stumbled on, and pointed me to the best route to take both on the island and on Newfoundland. He suggested that I travel west through Charlottetown, on to the Wood Islands, and take the ferry to Nova Scotia. I didn’t even know there was a ferry.

After breakfast I set off. The weather was excellent and the wind favorable and I made Charlottetown in good time.

I approached the downtown off the main road as Steve had suggested and spent time eating a lunch (of store bought food) in the park by the water on the southwest corner of the city.   After lunch I passed a historic building constructed for tourists like me. I am intrigued by the history of the cities I visit and like to imagine what it would have been like for struggling pioneers years ago. But outside the building there was a notice “Closed on June 25”.

Not deterred I carried on toward the harbour doing my best to find directions to some history. After all I heard a bunch of guys got together to sign some important papers here in 1867. I ended up at a marina restaurant where the waitresses first directed me to the information center, and from there I found the location of Providence House.

Providence House as it turns out was closed for renovations.   I can understand that they may want it fixed up for Canada Day. I’ll make that presumption. But I was disappointed. It’s likely the most significant Canadian place in my trip since I have by passed all the capitals. Regardless of the reason it was closed I couldn’t help but think that Canada has all grown up. Its history is becoming more irrelevant.  It is a cynical thought. The country that now exists is the legacy of those guys who took the risk to act on their dream.

The cathedral which was also on the list of places to see was closed ’til 12:40pm. It wasn’t really important to me. Just added to the list of places that were coincidentally not open on the day or the time I happened to by riding by.

On the positive… the art gallery and the open outdoor spaces in downtown Charlottetown were quite nice.

Traveling from Charlottetown to the Woods Islands was uneventful. I followed the main road since the secondary roads didn’t lead me to where I wanted to go. The road was good, but hilly with buildings sparsely scattered.

I arrived at the information center by the ferry at about 4:30pm.  Had I known a ferry left at 4:30pm I would have hustled and made it to Nova Scotia.   Instead I settled on buying some food at the cafeteria near the ferry dock and, enduring mosquitoes, camped at the nearby Northumberland Provincial Park.

Day 49 – Victoria, Prince Edward Island (Wednesday, June 24, 2015)

Today was another 200km plus day.
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Miramichi was the absolute worst place for mosquitoes on my trip.   I hear they like some people more than others. At Miramichi Campground swarms would follow me and drive me mad while kids were playing happily in their shorts and t-shirts.

It rained during the night but stopped a few hours before dawn. I got up at about 5:30am to take a washroom break and made the error of leaving the tent open.   When I got back I estimate there were 200 mosquitoes inside the tent. My attempts to kill them to get a bit more rest woke me up entirely. Thanks to the pests I packed up my tent, shook off the rain, and got on the road in great time.

Nature served up just about perfect weather. It started quite wet but by mid morning the sky was partly cloudy and I was comfortable enough to cycle in my shorts for the first time in days. The weather was within just the right threshold of comfort.

I started off following highway 11 from Miramichi Campground because it appeared by far the most direct route. Because there are no stops or restaurants on the main highway I was forced to take highway 134 which turned out a much better alternative.
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Traveling on 134 (and later 133) exposes the small business and homes of New Brunswick. Unlike Quebec, the  Acadian Peninsula of New Brunswick doesn’t go out of it’s way for tourism. There are practically no restaurants, or rest areas. Scenic areas which would have been promoted in many other places are left undeveloped.

From then on I continued to take the secondary highways determined to find scenic gems or trails but nothing that I saw held a candle to the Route Verte in Quebec,  or the Waterfront Trail in Ontario. It is as if the people of New Brunswick are too busy surviving to enjoy life – or something more sinister.

Generally everyone I talked to in New Brunswick was friendly. Even when their first language was french they went out of their way to be helpful. I notice that when I nodded hello in New Brunswick I seemed to always get a friendly nod back. (I had forgotten to mention that this was not true in Quebec. When I nodded I would often get a cold response as if I should have nodded in French. I even tried to nod differently – more subtly, with a French accent – but nothing seemed to work. And on rare occasions when people responded as I expected I immediately assumed that they were visiting from some other province.)

A few interesting things that happened today:

1. A large fly flew into my mouth. I immediately caught it in my tongue and spit it back out minus the wings as the occupants of a passing car watched with interest.
2. Because of the lack of restaurants I bought real food and discovered it was pretty good. Six muffins, four blueberry scones, two oranges, two apples and five bananas.
3. At 1pm at a critical fork I thought it would be nice to visit Prince Edward Island. PEI wasn’t on my original itinerary and it suddenly occurred to me that there was no good reason, after coming all this way not to see it.  Since touring PEI meant at least an extra day I immediately called Ann for permission. She said it would be ok only if I rode twice as fast the next day so off I went to PEI.

I arrived at Confederation Bridge at about 5:30pm and had to wait almost an hour for the shuttle to take me to PEI. But now I find myself at Victoria Village Inn (a nice Bed and Breakfast) after eating a great supper at the Landmark Cafe in Victoria PEI.

Apparently the host at the B+B, Steve, teaches at the Culinary Institute of Canada in Charlottetown so I am looking forward to a great breakfast. I am told breakfast is at 8am so I can sleep in (don’t tell Ann.)