Nova Scotia part 2 - Cape Breton

I spent the night in Antigonish at a campground which was nice as there a lit of kids playing. You could see that the teens congregate together as well and they just stood around for the most part, but at least they socialized.

It has been interesting that I haven't seen any other cyclists in NS. They must be cutting NS short or something.

I peddled about 120 km to the town of St. Peters that had live music. And there was a provincial campground almost in town. The campground was on the edge of the ocean and had a lighthouse there. The next day about 20 min away was a surfing competition and they had a warm up party at the campground with a few very talented fellows playing acousticly. Since there was no lights on the road to town I decided to forgo the in town music and hang out there at the gathering which was about 3 campsites down from where my tent was.

The next day I was up bright n early and on.my way to Sydney. I was not making great time with an average spead of about 13 kmh it seemed. It took about 7 hours to travel 85 km. I did stop in a little town of big pond to visit Rita McNeils Tea Room where I had a large bowl of chowder. I do not recommend biking on a full stomach of chowder, your body gets confused and tries to process food while trying to power your legs.

So I get to Sydney and find out that the ferry doesn't depart till Monday at 5 pm and it was Saturday. Sigh.

So I killed time visiting various places and biking around oh and working on my French. Sun night I get a call that the ferry was delayed it wasn't departing till 3am Tuesday morning which meant it would not arrive in NL till Tuesday evening which would be hard on my schedule.

I did catch part of a chef after party. I guess there was a large food competition in Cape Breton and they were meeting for drinks at the pub next to the hotel I was staying at.

So the day of the ferry arrived which was mostly a.sit n wait n kil time day. I went over to north Sydney about 5 pm and waited some more. The ferry finally started boarding and I was on.about 4am. Where I promptly found a couch to curl up on.

I learnt the next day that that ferry was the only one for that week as it was going to go help out the other ferry run as one of the ferries was down. It made amazing time at it had a tail wind and was running full out. We arrived about 4pm which made it an 11 hour run, not the 12-14 we were told.

The ferry had a full dining room and an excellent buffet at an ok price considering we were a captive audience.

I cheated and got a ride to st. Johns with a couple from Ontario. They were really nice and pet me pitch a tent on their campsite.

The next day they decided to stay there and we did the O'Brien's whale n puffin excursion. Alas we didn't see any whales but we did see a lot of puffins which are quite interesting and awkward looking birds. After which we went to cape spear.

I did not realize how much of an impact or involvement that  the area around st. Johns had with WW1/2. They had battlements around the harbour and it was an active port for the escorts that protected the convoys of ships that where crossing the Atlantic.

There is so much to explore I hope I have enough time to see it all.

So far I have been "screeched in" so I am now an honourary newfie, I have discovered that they play fantastic music EVERY NIGHT. I have visited "the Rooms" which is their museum and seen a few of their crazy streets. I also took pictures of the harbour.



Location : 27-61 Bannerman St, St John's, NL A1C 1S2,

Leaving Halifax

Leaving Halifax was pretty easy, I hopped a ferry to Dartmouth and then followed the highway. The new stretch was pretty flat and had decent shoulders for NS. But the old highway was hilly which would have been okay but it was very hot n humid even for NS they tell me.

I spent the night in this quaint little town called Sheet Harbour. It's a gem of a small town and the people are extremely nice n fantastic.

I went out for a drink at the only restaurant open n met a couple of guys there. In fact the only other customers. They had been their since 11 am and had been drinking. They both grew up there and had moved to Vancouver and sine they were both back in town so were catching up. The one fellow was Jody and the other Hillary and both were extremely gay.

The following day I peddled to Sherbrooke it's also a small town. On the way there a couple at a corner store told me of the living museum. I had planned on biking another 20 km past Sherbrooke but thought it might be nice to check out the museum. What is cool about the museum is they literally cut the town in half and then made half the museum. What is also interesting is that it's a producing museum which means that the people that spend their day reliving the olden days also create products for the museum,, the gift store, town and on request. The build boats, furniture from would the blacksmith still builds hinges, hooks etc as needed. And the best part to me is the photography place that captures your photo on glass. So cool. It's the only place in Canada that does it. I think possible in North America. I was there too late to get a photo that day so I waited till the next day and got a coil photo taken. I alas had to bike in the heat of the day but I trekked on to Antigonish.

Location : 12-14 Bannerman Rd, St John's, NL A1C,

Halifax n the Citadel.

My full day in Halifax started with a walk to the right of the hostel, just because. Where I found a great little bakery / diner and a bike shop. I had 3 places I wanted to explore, the citadel, the marine museum and Peggy's cove. I doubted I'd get to Peggy's cove but the other 2 should be doable.

Well the citadel is amazing architectural accomplishment. It is so well fortified that no one ever attack it. If you were to attack you would need to climb this steep hill where they would should grenade like canon balls at you. If you made it to the rope there was a drop of 20 feet into the ditch. Where you would have more canons and archers tacking you on from all sides. Then you'd have to scale another 20 ft wall to enter the compound.  What I forgot to mention is that the hill is riddled with little tunnels designed to plant explosives in the hill and blow up the enemy as well.

Oh and the canons on the hill can take out ships in the harbour. In fact the entire harbour is protected by a network of batteries, martelos and block houses.

What intrigued me is that there are tunnels that ran from the citadel through downtown Halifax and to the warf. There is an island that has a military fort on it and the entire island is riddled with tunnels. There are stories that a tunnel runs from the island to the citadel under the ocean. It's possible as many of the tunnels in the island are below sea level.

Well I never got to the marine museum as I spent the entire afternoon wandering the citadel.

So minor change of plans I went back to the Keith's brewery and RFID the tour. Wow is what I have to say, it was an experience. It was the best beer tour I have ever been on and it surpasses any wine tour ad well as an experience. They have a old tavern that would be fantastic as a place for a wedding or other events.

I finished the night off by visiting the warf where I listened to some street performers then stopped in at the lower deck for a quieter evening of music.

Location : 20 MacMaster Rd, Port Hawkesbury, NS B9A 2A9,

Halifax

I was soooo stressed by biking here. The highway has a little stop of a shoulder and there are 4 lanes of traffic just whizzing by. I had to give up biking and walk my bike on the gravel shoulder. At 6am the highway was quiet but not at noon not so quiet.

At the airport I biked off the highway and discovered a bus goes downtown AND takes bikes. Score.

I am not sure if it.was a Sunday or what but Halifax didn't wow me as a place yet. I did meet a lot of friendly people which was awesome.  And perhaps that is what I will take away from Halifax.

I did go to a pub last night that had an an amazing cover band. They played more folly rock music and some maritime music that the droids could easily sing along to. Image a very humid city, in a pub with no a/c. Now fill the pub till your shoulder to shoulder with everyone else. It was a very hot place.I was surprised that they had that big of an event for a Sunday. I guess they normally hold it outside but it decided to rain.

Today I am exhausted and tired. I could sleep away the day but there are things to see n do. Weird that yesterday I was ok all day and it caught up to me today.



Location : 2188 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS B3K,

Road kill

I have to say that I never seen this many dead porcupines before. I think I have seen 50 today at least

, which makes me wonder how many live ones there must be in NS.

So going back a couple days, I did spend a day in Charlottetown where I walked around, saw a parade, ate a yummy breakfast, caught a little of the blues n jazz festival and went on a ghastly tour of downtown. It was quite entertaining. The guide was dressed in period costume and knew his history really well.

Yesterday I woke up early and peddled 62 km to the ferry where I just made it in time. Another minute and the ferry would have left without me. Once I got to NS the sun came out and it really got hot in a hurry. 20 km down the road I hid out at a restaurant/information centre. It was another 65 km to Truro with nothing really in between except what they called a mountain. Dreading leaving I decided to do it and left at 4 pm. I actually did really good time and arrived in Truro at 7:15 where I promptly found a pub n some grub and a beer. I also met a really nice fellow named Ashley and his fiancee also named Ashley.

At 2 ish I found a park and had a sleep till 5 ish. Where I got up and started the last stretch to Halifax of 100km.

Oh I saw a really cool highway it was red. I have never seen red pavement before.  I also saw 3 black hens wandering around Bible Hill first time for that too. Another first was in Cornwall PEI where I saw a tractor in a drive-thru.

Location : Veteran's Memorial Hwy, Hardwood Lands, NS B0N 1Y0,

Road kill

I have to say that I never seen this many dead porcupines before. I think I have seen 50 today at least

, which makes me wonder how many live ones there must be in NS.

So going back a couple days, I did spend a day in Charlottetown where I walked around, saw a parade, ate a yummy breakfast, caught a little of the blues n jazz festival and went on a ghastly tour of downtown. It was quite entertaining. The guide was dressed in period costume and knew his history really well.

Yesterday I woke up early and peddled 62 km to the ferry where I just made it in time. Another minute and the ferry would have left without me. Once I got to NS the sun came out and it really got hot in a hurry. 20 km down the road I hid out at a restaurant/information centre. It was another 65 km to Truro with nothing really in between except what they called a mountain. Dreading leaving I decided to do it and left at 4 pm. I actually did really good time and arrived in Truro at 7:15 where I promptly found a pub n some grub and a beer. I also met a really nice fellow named Ashley and his fiancee also named Ashley.

At 2 ish I found a park and had a sleep till 5 ish. Where I got up and started the last stretch to Halifax of 100km.

Oh I saw a really cool highway it was red. I have never seen red pavement before.  I also saw 3 black hens wandering around Bible Hill first time for that too. Another first was in Cornwall PEI where I saw a tractor in a drive-thru.

And today I was at the half way point between the north pole and the equator.

Location : 4-8 Beech St, Elmsdale, NS B2S 1H2,

PEI Cavendish Beach

So while I was waiting for the shuttle I was swarmed by these really small flies that bit, and by swarms I mean they were all over me. I immediately thought of the song "Little Black Fly" which goes like this... It was early in the spring when I decided to go work up in the woods in North Ontario, the unemployment office they aente to the little apatity and the survey crew, and the black flies always a black fly no matter where to go, I will die with the black flies picking my bones in north Ontario.

So I digress. I met a fellow cyclist as we boarded the shuttle who had similar bike plans as me so we hooked up for a day of cycling. The island boasts a bike trail also from an old railway line so the first 40 km wasn't so bad. Alas the last. 20 km I drank 3 litres of water in the 33 degree Sun going up and down these blasted hills. If the goal wasn't to go enjoy the beach in the afternoon I would have hid out and biked in the cooler evening.

We did a fairly quick tour of the GreenGables property and then headed for the beach. It's what they called white sand but had lots of larger red rocks in it. The water was warm but wavy and murky. So walking in the water was challenging as these rocks kept on getting in the way and hurting my feet. So far Parlee beach still rocks but I was surprised that this was also a warm water beach.

I guess there is a beach called Singing Sand as the white sand squeaks as you walk on it some place in northern PEI.

It was a good thing I didn't wait till evening as they had some small rain storms come through. I would not have enjoyed the bech. 

We heard great music coming from.the.way back so started heading back. Unfortunately we lost where the music was coming from and it became dark.  We ended up sleeping on a nice gentlemans lawn.

We biked back to Hunter River where I had the most amazing cinnamon buns. It was here where Ashley headed off as she was much faster than I was and I was slowing her down. Being 20 something and a toothpick probably helped some plus she had biked completely across Canada from Victoria at this time.

So I peddled up one hill to go go down and up another. I took photo's to illustrate. Eventually I made it to Victoria By The Sea and then to Argyll Beach. It was nit as nice as I was expecting with almost not beach and what was there was all rocks. And it was very windy, but it was scenic.  It was here as I was packing up that Ashley pulled up. Heading on I new she would catch up to me.

So PEI has a variety of towns such as Toronto, Kingston, Cornwall etc. That are common to Ontario.

I was surprised how hilly PEI is, isome how thought it would be flat but it is anything but.  Now each hill is not that long compared to a mountain pass, but they do wear me out.

Charlottetown is a nice city the downtown is quite dynamic and full of life. I had difficulties finding accommodation as there are 2 big events on this week. One being the jazz festival.

I dud bump unto Ashley twice more in Charlottetown and we were to meet for beers at the brew pub but we never did. As soon as I left my room it started to rain and didn't let up till morning. I couldnt complain as this was the first real rain they had all summerit just sucks it happened on my trip.

I tried out the brew pub and enjoyed their meals and beach chair beer.

Oh! I had the most aggressive chipmunk ever. He kept on checking out my bike and trying to eat my cookies.

You can see by the laundry photo how windy it was along the south coast. And I waw the most amusing truck, it had a giant potato on the back.

Something I have never seen anywheres else was a tractor going through a drive-thru.

Location : 204 Hillsborough St, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4X1,

Life's a beach (or 3)

So the ride from Moncton to PEI bridge wasn't to bad although the heat and me don't get along. I should have started out earlier. I stopped in at Shediac and got a picture with the lobster. And then I went to possibly the best beach in Canada.

Parlee beach is an ocean beach where the water was 23 C, the water clear, small waves a great sandy beach with no rocks. Whe wind was calm and the life guard told me that weather rarely hits the beach due to its location.

It is better than beaches in South Carolina even which is saying something!

As I was getting close to the Confederation Bridge I stopped for a pop at this shack along the very rural highway and I was stund at the # of people who stopped there for bite to eat. It was a steady stream of people and they all knew each other. It was really novel to listen to them talk about going out mackerel fishing.

I did get a couple of pics showing the length of the brdige.  At the info centre on the NB side you call and get a shuttle over. The bridge looks fine for biking so I don't know why no biking.

The bridge is an amazing marvel of engineering, to think a 17 km long bridge through an ocean channel where massive iceflows are a problem.

This area is very proudly Acadian as you can see from.the power posts and flags. The day after I cane through was Acadian day which would have been fun to see.

And as the sun was setting my feet touched down in our only island province.

St. John NB to Hartwell Rocks.

St John feels like a fishing town and the tide here is a amazing. So they call it the reversing falls, but in reality its a reversing flow of water. Can you imagine a large river of water having its flow stopped and reversed such that it actually flows in reverse? That's what happens here. It's an amazing show of the power of tides.there some rapids and whirlpools that show.

Oh I didn't get a chance to go to it but there is a whirlpool near St. Johns. I also didn't walk in any caves here either which I wanted to, I must have missed the turn.

But the road to Hopewell is pretty with a few stretches along the coast. There is a beautiful park call Fundy Park that you could spend a lot if time in exploring. I alas passed through them.

I did try a lobster roll which wasn't that fantastic and clam chowder that was also mediocre.

At Hartwell Rocks it was amazing... Yes I am using that word a lot. You can walk along the beach and walk through and around these massive rock out croppings.  And the tide here is huge. On average its a 12m vertical change and it can be upto a 16m change. The tide will rise by upto 2-6m an hour! When most tide changes around the world are measured in a couple of feet that makes this truly cool.

Also very common along here is covered bridges.

In Moncton I found a cool brewery pub called the PumpHouse which is worth checking out for the beer and the food. Plus it has the coolest draught dispenser, 2 fire hydrants!



Location : 330-344 Noel St, Moncton, NB E1C 4G9,

Freddy town (Fredericton)

It was mostly overcast and a bit foggy when I arrives here. I wasn't in town long but I did bike a bit of downtown and the river.  Downtown is quaint and lots of history. Alas I had to skip.the history. I did visit the lighthouse and the world's largest pin hole camera. At least I suspect it is the largest as I could walk in it. 

Oh in Woodstock I had deep fried pepperoni which seems to be a maritime delicacy.

Location : 330-344 Noel St, Moncton, NB E1C 4G9,

Over the hill

So the day from Edmundston to Grand Falls was wet, cold.and miserable. It is the worst day thus trip. I even quit early at 4 found a warm supper then camped and slept till.morning. I was so cold, wet and miserable. I wanted to give up.

It was a mildly hilly day with a moderate criss wind. Just enough to notice and throw rain at me. I barely did 75 km.

The next day was overcast and threatening but didn't rain. It was a very hilly day and a very strong head wind that fisted to 60 on occasion. But I did make it to Heartland. The bridge here is very cool and crazy long. It's a good hike to get across. I stayed at the only BnB in town and ate at the only restaurant. The restaurant had amazing meals all homemade so not you McDs fare. But the price was quite reasonable. I had a squash bisque that came with a prostito bread. The lobster club had a home made pomergranite dressing on the salad. I finished the meal off with a maple bread pudding that was also yummy.

Oh when I went through Grand Falls they had the falls turned off! How rude!

Location : 79-109 Waverley Ave, Moncton, NB E1C 7T8,

C'est pleut! (It is raining)

The trip from Rivière Du Loup to Edmunston was a mix of cloud and Sun. The day was gorgeous as it wasn't to hot.  There is an old railway that runs to Edmunston which has been converted into a gorgeous trail. The first half is all up hill at a gentle incline of 2%. The second half is all downhill at 2% and the 3rd half is generally flat.  It must be the gravel trail that slowed me down as those km seemed rather long. It took me the day of biking to make it to the little town on the North side of Edmunston called St. Jacque.

I did meet some nice people on the trail. One gent from Germany was biking the trans-canada trail. And another couple strangely enough from Cochrane who now live by Quebec City were doing a small excursion down to Edmunston. It is sadly funny that they left Cochrane for the same driving reason that I have. They were hounded by bi-law enforcement over the stupidest of things.  I have the same issues myself.

But back to the trail. It winds along through the forest through and by many small towns. It also hugged a very long  big beautiful lake.  There are many places to stop and rest as well as tent. I was surprised that there were way-stations that you could stop at and eat.

So this must be a very very popular trail.

I was happy to finally reach NB and did a little dance at to border. The town of St. Jacque has a nice provincial camp ground next to a beautiful botanical garden. It was late so I just peeked at the garden.  The town was funny. There was a Tim Hortons, a small convenience grocery store, a couple of lunch type restaurants, a single pub and a sex shoppe. Yes of all things. And there wasn't even a liquor store.

So I stopped in at the pub and met many many nice people and pushed my donations to over $240.

Location : 382-392 Connell St, Woodstock, NB E7M 5G5,

South side of the River

Its been a few days since I have last posted.  I left Quebec City heavy hearted as I enjoyed my time there greatly. After a slow start to the day and a bike tire replacement I was off and cycling about noon.  A short ferry ride to the south side and then another great biking path.  The first hour was very hot and hilly with a good head wind to boot.  Then the trail joined the highway, the wind shifted to my rear and the my progress increased.  The ride along the south side of the river was as pictureque as the north had been. I had seen storm clouds building so when I reached Mongagmy I hid out under a covered patio of an icrecream store where I met a couple of guys, one who spoke English and had lived in Calgary.

We chatted for quite awhile till the storm broke where he and his friend departed.  It rained for a while and I was starting to debate what my evening plans should be... should I stay here, bike on and if I did how far.  The rain ended at 7, and I decide to trek on. I made to a nice camp ground in l'Islet Du Mar for the night.

When setting up tent I was next to a bunch of other cyclists, but no one was there.  In the morning I chatter with them and they were from the Niagara region and were biking to Newfoundland but at a different way then I was.  My destination today was Riviere du Loup, and with a cooler mostly cloudy day I made gret time and arrived in Riviere du Loup about 2:30.  I even chatted along the way with a few other cyclists who were on their way to NL.  2 young ladies from Kingston and another gent who was heading a little east of Riviere du Loup.

I had heard mention of a town called Tadoussac by Alex in Trois Rivieres and then from another traveler so thought I'd take a detour to Tadoussac to see the whales and what made this place special.  Alas I missed the ferry I think so had to wait till the 6pm ferry ride.  I had stopped in an information centre and thought that the ferry went directly to the little town,. it actually goes to one 35 km down the road.  Well the road is a very mountainous highway that goes up and down, in fact Ste Simion the down was built on the side of the mountain. I arrived in this town about 8pm and had decided to take a bus to Tadoussac, this little detour was becoming an epic adventure in itself.

What I had hoped was just a quick hop over to see the whales, had gotten very complicated.  So here I was with it getting dark, and no idea where on the mountain roads this bus station was and even exactly when the bus departed.  I didn't want to be stuck in this little town all night if I could avoid it.  It turns out that the bus was at the restaurant so I doubled up my efforts to peddle as I really REALLY didn't want to have the bus pass by me when I was that close.  I was in luck as the diver wasn't leaving for another 10 min,

The driver allowed me to throw my bike on the bus as is which was great and off we went.  The road as I mentioned above was very windy and pitch black out so I was very happy I didn't decide to take on this short 35 km ride.  Especially sine this was supposed to be a short segway from my trip.

The hostel in Tadoussac is very nice, all the hostels in Quebec have bars attached to them, and this one had a patio.  So it was very lively. They initially didn't have any rooms available so I was going to tent it as they also had tent spots, but a bed opened up so I crashed there for the night.

The next day I booked my whale watching trip and then made breakfast in the very chaotic kitchen and went for a hike up a hill with a gal from the hostel.  It was a very nice view of the city.  I went out on the Zodiacs on the choppy water.  The river is massive.  Its hard to imagine there is that much water flowing to the ocean.   I learnt that the choppier the water the less whales you see, and alas that held true.  Out Zodiac did see the whales but only as blips. which was a little disappointing, but still a fun afternoon on the river.  There is even fjords along the river, its that big!

So today I have booked my bus.  It sounds like I need to break down my bike.  I sure hope I don't for a single stop....    so I will wait till the last moment before I break it down.  It won't take long to do, it takes for ever to put it back together again in comparison.  So its now noon and 2 hours to the bus.  Time to go pack up my tent and then perhaps a short walk in town and along te bay before the bus arrives.

Quebec city last day

Yesterday I took a different tact to the day. After going back to the hostel and dealing with a room change I found the book Oz, and spent a little time working my way through the first paragraph. I succeeded mostly after an hour. Yeah! I found a nice pub where I had sangria and realized I needed company. It's ok being by myself but I really enjoy being with others.

Next on my non list was to visit outside the walls and I went up to the pains of Abraham. They don't look like much, but that's what is amazing about them. They hide the citadel, a massive fortified military city on the top of the hill. 

After a tour of the area I wandered back to the hostel, had a shower and it now early evening I went to the hostel pub to see what it was like.  It took a while, but I did have some small conversations in French, learned a new card drinking game and made some new friends.

Once the hostel pub closed at 11 we went to another pub in Quebec in what I called the entertainment area and visited. A lady from.England joined us so alas my French skills got a breather. It was interesting to me that earlier in the day I noticed a need and later in the day it was fulfilled.  Given a really late return to the hostel I also started off late today. But I did have an amazing pastry for breakfast and got some photos of the fêtes which I will post below.

I now have to prepare for tomorrow's departure and try to see a little more of this great city.

Oh I also purchased a small French book to read... Key words are that it's small and I hope easy to read as its a age 8-10 book. And musical spoons - caron l'écouyer. And as promised many more photos below.

Enjoy.



Location : Boulevard Henri Bourassa, Quebec City, QC G1J,

Québec

One of goals was to learn a French while I was here. To really become part of a place I think that's important to immerse yourself into the culture. What I have learned is that I know a lot of French nouns but lack verbs, adjectives and adverbs plus I can't construct anything but simple sentences.

Now there is a method to my madness as I would like to visit here at Christmas. And by then I would like to speak reasonably well in French such that I don't have to use English.... Much. EasterEgg: There is a certain someone who if asks me about this will be very happy.

So back to the city. It's so old and majestic. Even though it's touristy you still have a variety of stores. Banff for example is dedicated to tourists and so looses its culture. Vieux Montreal also looses some of its history because it's so tourist focused. If I lived there, other than to eat or drink there isn't anything there. No clothing stores for example. Now Montreal is great its just that the old city has lost its place.

To make my time here even more busy is that there is "le fête de le nouvelle-France" going on which us like stampede but. with the old culture... Pirates, merchants, ladies, etc. So yesterday while wandering I discovered    this and spent most of the day at one of the venues. Where I listened to 8 hours. of folk music en francais. Ate lots of cheese. They have so many many great cheeses here. We are very deprived in Alberta. I also drank beer and had what I call the original bubble tea which has 2 shots of screech, some other stuff and. bubbles (picture below). Oh someone said to add more pictures so I took a bunch on my phone which I will add to this post.

There is so much to say about this place that it's hard to know where to start. The people are friendly and willing to talk in English. If you look lost someone will stop to ask if you need help. The streets in old Quebec are amazing as the twist and got at angles to each other. They also have hills. In otherwords no cookie cutter architecturally controlled subdivisions like we have as we love to have everything aesthetically pleasing and in doing have nothing left.

The food here has been great. I have been nibbling so I haven't had any large meals as I want to try so much.

Oh I now have 4 spare tubes that will fit my bike. Yeah! Now what to do with all of the ones that don't...











Location : 100-132 Rue Bell, Quebec City, QC G1K 9C7,

Location : 325 Rue Saint Paul, Quebec City, QC G1K,

Where's my breakfast?

I was a little worried about leaving Montreal but it turned out to be surprisingly easy. I just had to follow the road 138 / bike path - le route vert 5. Literally all the way to Trois Rivière. The road was almost completely flat and the first part was mostly shady, which was good as it was scorching hot 32 degrees. The last half was open and I think I got some heat stroke, well my face was burnt.  And I did have Sun tan lotion on.

About 2 I stopped and. Found a wee strip of gras next to an IGA that was shady. So I slept there. I did have some comments by passing customers as it was close to the entrance. But not knowing the town I didn't want to try and don d another place.

I was in a token called Louiseville and the sign said 21 km to Trios Rivière. So dreading the heat but also dreading biking in thunderstorms that were threatening I carried on about 4pm.

Thus turned out to be a giod thing as the last 11km took for ever... I know I was exhausted but it was almost 7 and I.still wasn't there. I think Trois Rivière is a large town and a collection of villages. Also I think the distance wasn't to the city centre but to the edge some place.

So it was almost 7 and I had been taking a 10 min rest when a car stopped and the gent driving asked me if I would like to have dinner with them!!! He lived a block from there so I said sure. I had to overcome my urge to decline as I hate to be a bother.

His name is Alex and I have forgotten most of their names. The dog was Gaga (he plays a part later in the story).  He was having a little bit of a party he told me.  When we arrived he said I could set up my tent in their yard and then asked if I wanted a shower before supper. I can assure you that after a day biking you are covered with dirt n grime so I didn't hesitate in saying yes. There is nothing better then the feeling of being clean, nothing.

2 of his friends were Frank and Steve, his girlfriend, his older son, baby son Arthur and one other friend were there.

After supper we had some beer and. They offered that I could sleep on the floor, and help myself to what ever for breakfast. Alex I guess sailed around the world and new how much he relied in others hospitality so wanted to reciprocate.

I guess Alex and one of his friends is famous for doing something dumb. Using climbing ropes the tied them to a rail way bridge and jumped. 

I am not sure who video taped them but they made the news and had to file reports with the police n railway as it was private property. He said he was very stressed by the experience.

Oh his dog always a pure bread ling haired German Shepherd. Very big and very big suck. Alex had been training home for the police and demonstrated the obstacle course in the backyard. That dog could jump a full high 6ft fence!

So at last I curled up on the floor and Gaga kept me company all night. I hardly woke even though there was a.baby and activity during the night.

I never set the alarm as I thought after yesterday's ride I needed my sleep. Yesterday I was up at 5 and on the road by 6. Sadly totally I was up by 6 and on the road by 645. The night before leaving Montreal I bought bagels n cheese which I had for breakfast while I was packing up at Alex's. Not even thinking about it I left it on the table. A couple minutes later I came back to find it gone and a very happy dog who was just going back for a piece of cheese he left behind. I guess it was a good type of cheese!

Actually the cheese was good. Very firm but quite salty. So I had to cut it thin. I know if one kid who might resist eating an entire block because of this.

So day 2 of biking was cloudy but still warm, the road wasn't as flat and had some hills. The country side of both days is amazing if you take 138. And unlike my ride through the mountains were I thunk I saw 1-2 bikes there were at least 100 a day on the road mostly passing me... Ah well, they were all travelling prety light.

I had a flat tire around 1 where I discovered that yes I packed list of tires but they were either for my mountain bike or they had the wrong valve stem end on them. I was not impressed with my self. Oh and the first tube of glue had evaporated, but I did manage to patch it.

Day one was about 140 km and day 2 was about the same. On day 2 I just focused on each next town. The towns are all 8-10 km apart although many of them are extremely small. You can tell when you are in a town or village because the church is massive it's bigger then the cathedrals in Calgary!

So by focusing lion each next town I actually made it to Quebec about 8. Where my patch job on the tube gave out and the tire started leaking. I pumped it up 3 times then decided it wasn't worth it. I was reasonably close to my destination but was at the part I needed to guess at. It was getting dark... Dusk. And I remembered biking into Vancouver last year at 1am through some pretty skanky neighbourhoods. So I called for a taxis.l, I know I know I wimped out.

The ride would have only cost $17 but to a traffic jam and then a long round about it became $25. Still worth it.

After another refreshing shower and an invite by my roomies to joy. Them for a beer I went to find them.

Vieux Québec is amazing amazing amazing. But easy to get lost as well. They said they were at the fountain. Which I eventually found and immediately tripped and fell in a little bitty step. Smashing both knees my wrist and my elbow and dropping my camera. What a way to end a day...  Sore and exhausted from my ride and now bruised and battered.

Needless to say I never found my roomies, but it did then downpour which added more fun as I was carrying my expensive camera. Eventually I found a pub had a beer and then with help of the bartender made it back to the hostel.

Bon nuit!

Location : Joseph Samson Tunnel, Quebec City, QC G1K 8Z2,

Location : Unnamed Rd, Quebec City, QC G1J 5L7,

Vieux port et Montréal

Yesterday I biked and walked around the old Montréal area. It's a very beautiful area with lots of shops and eateries. I spent the afternoon drinking sangria and a patio and enjoying the ambiance.

I have to say the ladies of Montreal really know how to dress. They all tend to drrss up even when just going out for a stroll. Also there is a lot of biking here with dedicated bike lanes.with concrete dividers even on many places. What is also interesting is that about half the ladies on bikes are wearing dresses or skirts. Something you rarely see in Calgary.

Well I have just left Montreal, it's 730 and its 22 out already. I am already sweating a lot. But I may be lucky and reach Trois Rivières today... I do see a break this afternoon if I can find a park.

Montreal - day 1

So day 1 was interesting, I walked again around St. Catherines st. as well as walked up to Mont Royal. I also caught the tail end of the fine arts museum. Very nice exhibits alas you don't get to experience much when you arrive 45 min prior to closing. But it was free to I still got my money's worth.

I did find a Montreal smoke meat pizza but it wasn't as good as the last one when I was here 18 years ago. The bartender Sam was very sociable and had his own Caesar recipe which had horse radish, olive juice and Dijon mustard in it.

I did meet a panhandler who I gave a little coin too but if her story was true she needed food for her puppies. I just realized the only photos I took are on my SLR so no photos of yesterday to share.

Back at the hostel late in the evening I met another fellow. He is from india and is a bee keeper. What makes story interesting is that he used to be a beekeeper in Berwyn a VERY small town near Peace River, Alberta. A town I visited every weekend one year as I had a GF who lived there. His name it turns out is Quentin John Henderson. It was a shock to meet another Quentin but that we had something also extremely rare in common was even more a astonishing.

The bartender Sam had given me a few pub recommendations so on my way there I met 3 damsels in distress, they were lost and even more surprising is that I could help them. They were from New York and were there to have fun. They were looking for a place called Ches Pierres. I new the street they were looking for. My pub was closed but I later walked by  the club they had gone too which is a strip bar.

What I have found as interesting is that many couples seem to be entering n leaving these establishments. In Alberta it's usually only men and the rare female who visits them. So what is different out here the people or the establishments...

So today is another very hot day. I have biked down to old Montreal via the docks. It's a beautiful place worth visiting again and again. Oh the bartender said that he has regulars who fly in to Montreal as it has such a vibrant night life, especially on St. Laurence st.

My breakfast (at noon) is now doe so time to explore.

Departure

<p>There is nothing like getting home at 4 am and packing after a lot of beer so you can leave at 4:30 am for the airport. Unlike last year I am so unfocused this trip.

The flight was nit to bad and I did manage a little sleep. Not nearly enough! When I arrived I called greyhound and my bike did arrive. Yeah!!! So hopped on a bus and went to get it. The one downside to shipping a bike is that it takes a while to put it back together. The bike needs to fit into a bike box for travel.

So far getting around Montreal has been fairly easy. I biked to the hostel and parked the bike there. The rooms are air conditioned so are really comfortable. After settling in I got some ideas for what to do here. I guess yesterday was the last day forthe "Just for laughs" festival. So I walked over to that and had a great time, web though I know so little French. I wonder if Shaw will open an office here... Probably not but would be great for me to learn French.

This morning I stopped at a restaurant for brekkie, wow they served me quickly. Very shocked! Plans for tiday are to get a little stand for my camera then walk up Mont Royal and check out the arts museum. It's supposed to be free today.

The New :West" aka Biking from Montreal to St. Johns NL

I have been way to quiet on my latest epic adventure of biking eastward from Montreal to St. Johns Newfoundland.  I am departing July 28th (in a few days) to Montreal where my bike should hopefully be waiting me.  I shipped it by bus last week.  

The past 2 years I have biked to Vancouver from Calgary, and each year I did a ride in Jun with the Ride to Conquer Cancer as both a fund raiser, but also to test my capabilities.  This year I didn't, which should prove interesting once I get to Montreal.  Part of that was I hate asking people for money, and the other is that I have not been as mentally focused as the past 2 years.  

But back to this year, the ride is about 2,700 km in length, it will cover Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in that order. Below is the itinerary for the trip and below that is the list of places I will be visiting and for each province is a link to the bike route I will be following (or I hope to be following).

I am estimating to be riding 100km a day on average, but based on the past 2 years that's usually closer to 120 km.  Alas I've not factored in that I have not been biking anywhere as much as I did to prepare for those rides, AND I am planning on taking my camera with me (which weighs almost as much as my trailer loaded) as it is an epic ride and I've never been east of Montreal before.

Enjoy my journey with me and lets see what interesting encounters befall me this year.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Trip Distance: 2700 -> 3200 (@120km/day = 23 -> 27 days biking)

Itinerary

July 28^th

·        Arrive in Montreal, get bike

·         

July 29^th

·         

July 30^th

·         

July 31^st

·         

Aug 1^st

·        Depart Montreal: 141km to Trois-Rivieres

Aug 2^nd : Trois Riveriers

·        Arrive Trois-Rivieres

·        Depart Trois-Rivieries: 148 km to Quebec City

Aug 3^rd : Quebec City

·        Arrive Quebec City

Aug 4^th

·         

Aug 5^th

·        Depart Quebec City: 380 km to Grand Falls, NB

Aug 6^th – 7^th

·         

Aug 8^th

·        Arrive in Grand Falls

Aug 9^th

·        Depart Grand Falls 99km to Hartland

·        Arrive in Hartland (covered Bridge) 120 km from Fredericton

Aug 10^th

·        Depart Hartland, 76 km to Mactaquack

·        Arrive in Mactaquack Provincial Park

Aug 11^th

·        Depart Mactaquack Provincial Park: 27 km to Fredericton

·        Arrive in Fredericton, NB

·        Visit Farmers Market  in Fredericton

·        Depart Fredericton 113 km to Saint John

·        Arrive in Saint John, NB

Aug 12^th

·        Depart Saint John 50 km to Saint Martins

·        Arrive in Saint Martins

·        Depart  Saint Martins 76 km to Alma

·        Arrive in Alma

Aug 13^th

·        Depart Alma 16 km to Cape Enrage

·        Arrive in Cape Enrage

·        Depart Cape Enrage 32 km to Hopewell Rocks

·        Arrive Hopewell Rocks “The Rocks Provincial Park”

·        Watch Time come in… NEED TIDE CHART FOR THIS DAY

Aug 14^th

·        Depart Hopewell Rocks 41km to Moncton

·        Arrive in Moncton

·        See: Magnetic  hill

·        Depart Moncton 31 km to Shediac

·        Arrive Shediac

·        See: Giant Lobster

·        Enjoy Beach

Aug 15^th

·        Depart Shediac  90 km to Bridge (Borden-Carleton)

·        Arrive in  Borden-Carleton

·        Depart  Borden-Carleton : 21 km to Victoria

·        See Play

Aug 16^th

·        Depart Victoria, PE

·        Arrive in Green Gables  39 km

·        Visit Green Gables

·        Depart Green Gables 12 km to New Glasgow

·        Arrive in PEI:  New Glasgow

·        Eat Lobster

Aug 17^th

·        Depart New Glasgow

·        Arrive in Charlottetown 40km

·        Visit Historic Downtown and the place of confederation

·        Take Ferry to Pictou

·        Arrive in Pictou

·        Depart Pictou: 148 km to Halifax

Aug 18^th

·        Arrive in Halifax

Aug 19^th

·        Do a Tour of Peggy’s Cove

·        Depart Halifax:  418 km to Cape Breton

Aug 20^th

·        Travel

Aug 21^th

·        Travel

Aug 22^th

·        Travel

Aug 23^th

·        Arrive in Cape Breton

Aug 24^th

·        Depart Cape Breton:  71 km to Cheticamp (start of Cabot Trail)

·        Arrive in Cheticamp

Aug 25^th

·        Depart Cheticamp: 210 km to North Sydney via Cabot Trail

·         

Aug 26^th

·        Arrive in North Sydney

·        Take Ferry to Argentia, NL

·        Arrive Argentia, NL

Aug 27^th

·        Depart Argentia, NL to Cape St. Mary : 68km

·        Depart Cape St. Mary: 139 km to Cupids

Aug 28^th

·        Arrive in Cupids

·        Depart Cupids: 3km to Brigus

·        Arrive Brigus

·        Depart Brigus: 73 km to St. Johns

Aug 29^th

·        Arrive St. Johns

·        Visit Cape Spear

·        Become a “Newfie”

Aug 30^th

·        Take day trip to Bonavista : 310 km

Aug 31^th

·         

Sept 1^st

·         

Sept 2^nd

·        Travel HOME!!!!! From St. John NL

·        Aprox $400 for flight + tax.  3.5 hrs

Sept 3^rd

·        …. Monday before working.

Quebec

http://goo.gl/maps/y0AU

Montreal to Grand Falls: 690 km

-          Montreal

o   Airport shuttle which leaves directly from the bus terminal. Visit this website for more information: http://www.autobus.qc.ca/anglais/horaire

o   Greyhound

§   GARE D'AUTOCARS DE
MONTREAL INC
1717 RUE BERRI ST
Montreal (e), PQ H2L4E9

Telephone Numbers
Main: (514) 843-4231
Customer Service: (514) 842-2281

o   Staying at HI-Montréal 1030 Mackay Street

-          Trois-Rivieres:  141 km

-          Quebec City: 148 km

o   Stay in old Quebec city

o   Crepes places Informal is the one to visit, not the Formal one. (Old Quebec City)

o    

New Brunswick

http://goo.gl/maps/Udsa

Grand Falls to Confederation Bridge (Borden-Carleton PEI side):  640 km

-          Grand Falls : 398 km

o   Nice Falls, biggest East of Niagara Falls

-          Hartland  : 99 km

o   The longest covered bridge

-          Mactaquack Provincial Park : 76 km

o    Great place to stay at Mactaquac Provincial Park

-          Fredericton : 27 km

o   on a Saturday morning for farmers market. Have Samosa’s there.

o   Kings Landing (historical village)

o   Art Gallery – really impressive for small city.

-          Saint John:  115 km

o    Reversing Falls

-          Saint Martin’s : 50 km

o   High and Low Tides

o   Some caves accessible at low tide.

-          Alma : 76 km

o   High and Low Tides

-          Cape Enrage : 16 km

o   Light house

-          Hopewell Rocks : 32 km

o   HopeWell  Rocks –(provincial park) be there just before low tide.

o   Hopewell Rocks (at low tide – see http://www.bayoffundytourism.com/tides/times/)

-          Moncton : 41 km  (152 km direct from Saint John)

o   Magnetic Hill (in town)

-          Shediac (Near Moncton - east): 30 km

o   Near to PEI… Parlay Beach – much nicer then beaches in PEI.  White sand, warm water

o   Giant lobster!

-          Borden-Carleton - Confederation Bridge: 90 km

PEI

http://goo.gl/maps/nuR5

Borden-Carleton (Bridge) to Charlottetown :  109 km

-          Visit beaches on NB side. (locals go)

-          Victoria : 21 km

o   Play House, 20km from bridge

o   Must visit, small quaint town

-          Green Gables: 39 km

-          New Glasgow : 11 km

o   lobster dinner http://peilobstersuppers.com/

o   Lee Weiss knows Erin & Mike Forrest

-          Charlottetown: 38 km

-          Ferry to Pictou, NS

Nova Scotia

http://goo.gl/maps/vxcr

Pictou, NS to North Sydney, NS (take ferry to Channel-Port aux Basques, NL): 911 km

-          Pictou

o   Visit on way back from PEI, really cool hotel train cars converted.  Really pricey

o   Take Ferry from PEI

-          Halifax: 165 km

-          Peggy's Cove: 50km

o   Beautiful Light house

-          Cape Breton: 418 km

o   Fortress Louisburg

o   Leave by Ferry to NL

-          Cabot trail (ride it): 71 km

o   If you do the Cabot trail you’ll have to bike through Cheticamp, they have whale watching tours if you have the time

-          North Sydney: 210 (via Cabot Trail)

o   take Ferry to Newfoundland à Port aux Basques or à St. Johns

Newfoundland

http://goo.gl/maps/em9j

From Argentia to St. Johns: 282 km

·         Ferry from North Sydney to here is 14 hours

·         http://newfoundlandandlabrador.ca/

·         Argentia

·         Cape St Mary's: 68 km

o   birdwatching again

·         Cupids : 139 km

o   the largest British flag at the very first permanent British settlement

·         Brigus : 3 km

o   a kind of hole fishermen used to catch their fish

·         East Coast Trail (http://eastcoasttrail.ca/) along the East coast starting a little to the North of Saint John's

·         St. Johns: 73 km

o    Icebergs! http://icebergfinder.com/iceberg-map.aspx

o    Don't forget to apply for a newfie in St John's: http://www.screechrum.com/screechin

o   Where to apply: http://www.georgestreetlive.ca/25-bars/ at bars Christian's Bar, Trapper John's Museum N' Pub.

·         Cape Spear : 150 m

o   the most East point

·         Bonavista

o   Take a Tour!!!! à birdwatching - puffins