Days 38-41 Nova Scotia

Travel Route to date as far as Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

Tuesday, July 31^st

Today was pretty much “take care of business day”.  Very soon after we had purchased the Chevy HHR, the brakes were screeching, and there was such a rattle it was driving me crazy.  I took it two times to a local mechanic, and he could not fix the rattle, but swore the brakes were fine, and the screech was “normal”.  Well, as we were traveling, the brakes were getting worse and worse.  I could hear it from the front of the motorhome!  Norman, evidently, has a hearing problem (or in this case, a hearing blessing) and could not hear a thing.  Lucky him!  Thinking about how much car driving we soon would be doing, and how much twisting, turning, mountain driving is entailed, I figured it would drive me crazy, not to mention it could be dangerous, so I made an appointment at a nearby Chevy dealer for service. 

  Good news!  The mechanic said it definitely was NOT normal, and that my husband really needs a hearing aid!  After about 4 hours waiting around, we had blissfully quiet brakes, a new battery, and a quiet car!  Yeah!  We no longer will wake up the campground squeaking our way in at night!

We then got our very very dirty RV washed at some “shine and something” place, and off we finally went, all clean, quiet and ready for Newfoundland! 

  We drove several ours to Arm of Gold Campground in Syndey, NS which was very near the ferry terminal that we would be leaving from on Friday night.  We arrived about 5pm.  There was hardly anyone there, which was great. 

Wednesday, August 1^st

We watched the weather, and it looked like rain was finally in the forecast, so we had to make some decisions.  The drive around Cape Breton Island, we understand is breathtaking, and there is hiking and golf, so we decided we would wait and do that on our return to Nova Scotia in a few weeks.  I would like to take a boat tour to see Puffins, but again, the weather was iffy

Norm and I decided to go to the fortress Louisbourg, another UNESCO site in Canada, and deemed its most remarkable. It is a fantastic re-creation of Louisbourg in 1744, the year preceding the first of two attacks.  After the second attack the formidable fortress was razed, thereby ending France’s hope of a North American Empire.  In the 1960’s, archaeologists took up where the imperialists left off, and rebuilt 1/5 of the structures to replicate life before the siege.

As we walked in we were greeted by two costumed French soldiers asking what we wanted, and where we were from.  When Norm said from Boston, they warned him not to repeat that, or he will be sent to the gallows!   

We then entered a small home of the 1700’s that was used by the fisherman who were there to fish for cod.  They explained how in Nova Scotia the cod fishing at that time was so lucrative, that people would come from Scotland and Ireland to make their fortunes.  They convincingly described their life in the present tense.  They thoroughly answered many questions in total character. 

Soldiers preparing for the musket drill

Opps! One of the rifle's misfired!

Norm and I enjoyed a tour that lasted 1 ½ hours that explained many facets of life at that time, the history of the fortress, and tidbits of info such as the pine bows over some of the doorways signified to the illiterate ( which were the majority ) that this was an inn or restaurant for the public.  Fascinating.

After we enjoyed a military drill including musket fire and a cannon blast, we saw nails being made by a blacksmith, and lace being woven. We then strolled in and out of the different buildings and spoke with many of the townspeople and soldiers, all in authentic period costumes.  There were even numerous children there playing games of that era – all in period costumes.

Children playing in the streets

 For lunch we stopped in an 18^th century inn and had an authentic lunch of haddock, root vegetables, and potatoes.  Lunch also included either pea or vegetable soup.  It was served with only a massive spoon and a towel to wear to protect your clothing, as was done in that era.  The tableware was made of a rustic pewter.  This lunch, for $14.99 was incredibly delicious!  The fish was cooked perfectly!  When we finished lunch, it had started to rain, so we viewed a few more buildings and reluctantly left.

What a great day!

Thursday August 2 – (day 40 )

Today was another day of taking care of business.  The motorhome was clean, so today was a good time to take a few pounds of dust off the car, get haircuts, and do the laundry.  By the time that was all done, it was time for dinner.

While Norm was outside cooking, it seemed like everyone in the campground “came out of the woodwork”.   We were invited over to a neighbor’s fire during which we got a lot of info about Newfoundland.  One little tidbit we got (an important one) was that there are quite a few places there with BOIL WATER notices!  What the heck!  Newfoundland?  The land of blue sky and crystal waters?  Well, I have got to tell you, being a minor “germophobe”  I was a little upset! After my bout with bacteria in New Zealand and the ensuing years of underlying illness, I am just a little freaked out.  We will stock up on bottled water, but I have not quite figured out how to keep the RV from becoming contaminated.   UGH. 

Friday, August 3^rd -  Crossing day

Well, today is the day I have been looking forward to for many months!   Newfoundland!  How exciting is that!  We have everything cleaned, and since we discovered we had to turn off the refrigerator for 16 hours, I had to put stuff in coolers and save what I safely could, and toss anything questionable. ( (paranoid germophobe, remember?)

We didn’t have to be at the Ferry terminal until 4PM, so we had time to go to the Cape Bretton Miners’ Museum in Glace Bay. 

We watched a fascinating 30 minute film of the history of Cape Bretton Island’s mining industry, then Sheldon, a retired coalminer of 29 years, took us down into the mine while explaining the horrific life these poor men and families endured for so little money!

Sheldon the tourguide
It was dark,dirty,damp, cramped and disgusting down here! 

 These poor guys would be gone from their families (which size averaged from 7-17 children) 14 hours a day (they were not paid for the hours  it took for them to actually get all the way down into the mine) and do such incredibly hard manual labor for 17 cents a day, then out of that, have to not only pay for their equipment, but also for the blasting powder they would use!  They would have to haul 6000 lbs of coal, just to break even for the powder each day!

Their employer would rent them their houses, sell them their food and clothing, and arrange it so no one could work more than a couple of days a week!  They were always in so much debt!  How could they feed all those mouths?  If they became ill (a lot developed Black Lung) or got hurt on the job, they would have to send one of their children, older than the age of eight, down into the mines to work!   I was fighting back tears, listening to this.  I have never been real fond of unions, but I do feel a little differently now.

We were taken down into the mines.  As we entered the dark, damp confines of the mine, the roof got lower and lower – down to about 4 feet high.  These men would shovel coal, while breathing in all that dust and carbon monoxide (he demonstrated how the canary would be used) often on their knees, and sometimes, when the ceiling was only 3 feet high, on their bellies!  They would only get paid by how many pounds of coal they sent up to the top.

As we crouched along many damp tunnels (it was only 52 degrees and the ground had lots of puddles) we came upon  a replica of the “pit ponies” (Shetland) that they used to haul the coal, and spoke of how many of them also contracted Black Lung.  They actually had a stable underground so most lived most of their lives and died down there. 

He told us many fascinating as well as horrifying stories about their way of life before the mines were eventually closed.  One anecdote was how they would love have the rats down there, and feed them so they would stick around, because of their keen sense of impending danger.  When they took off, so would the miners!

We were so glad to get up out of the mine, and to actually stand up!  We could not imagine how much their backs and necks hurt  after a full 10 or more hours down there (they would walk with their neck tipped to the side so as not to hit their heads on the beams)!

What a terrific tour!  When we meet older folks around here who say they were miners, I can tell you, I have an incredible respect for them!

About 2PM we went back to get the RV which we left at the campsite and drove about 15 minutes to the Ferry terminal.  Along the way we stopped at a liquor store so Norm could stock up on a great local India Pale Ale that he discovered here.  We listened to a great local band, and waited about 2 hours before they allowed us to board the boat. 

In we go!

We had the buffet dinner with a lovely young couple coming back from their honeymoon in Florida, who live and work in Newfoundland.  They informed us of some hikes and answered lots of questions.  They personally ignore the boil water thing.

Found these in the room......(vomit bags )
This was not confidence inspiring

We had reserved a deluxe room months ago, and it was so great to have a change of scenery.  Except for the fog horn blasting every 10 minutes  (or was it two ?) it was lovely, but we didn’t get as much sleep as we had hoped for.  I love hotels and since this trip started this was my first opportunity.  Thank goodness our bed in the Motorhome is really comfortable.