Day 43 - Blomidon Provincial Park

  

Wednesday July 24, 2013

The weather is once again overcast with periods of rain.  Last night we were advised by the gentleman at dinner ( who owns the local Outdoor gear store, so in our book is a credible source ) that if was overcast, hike the Blomidon trails and skip Cape Split.( Both are known for their spectacular views) because it would be socked in with fog.

So off we went with our gear and picnic lunch, and headed to the coast, and to Blomidon Provincial Park as advised, to do some hiking.

  This is during a full moon period,
and tides are running 3 feet below sea level at low tide.

Unfortunately our hike took too long, and we did not return at high tide.
Note the dark water mark on the pier to see just how high the tide got.
It went from low, to high and back down this far in 4 hours!  Wow!

Norm hiking along the beach at Blomidon Provincial Park.
Note the red cliffs. 

 We stopped so I could take a picture of fishing boats left high and dry at low tide.

The Bay of Fundy  is said to have the world's highest tides.  What that means is that there is a 50 foot difference in the height of the tide from low to high.   This is five times higher than typical tides on the rest of the Atlantic Coast!  The water drains right out of the harbor and comes back in on a rush of water, almost like a mini tsunami reaching 3 feet in height, creating with it, whirlpools and rapids!  There are all kinds of "tidal bore" adventure activities in the Bay of Fundy, which I really wanted to do, but as vacation time nears its end, and the weather "unsettled" at best, I will just have to miss that adventure this time.

Where we want to hike is socked in the fog!
So eerie! But beautiful

 As we continued on up the mountain, it got foggier, and foggier.  By the time we reached the top, we could hardly see past the hood of the car.  Darn! No views here!

We drove back to the bottom and climbed down to the beach to take advantage of the low tides while we were able walk the beach and marvel at these amazing red cliffs. There were many signs warning people to watch the incoming tide carefully, because at this particular place, it rises VERY quickly, perhaps trapping folks.  Not good.

 Norm had the great idea to keep an eye on a large rock that was about 15 feet from the water's edge.  Well, within 10 minutes, the rock was underwater! That information suggested we not dawdle any longer, and get off the beach. This tide is REALLY fast!

We stopped and spoke with a number of people, some of whom were Rock Hunters. They shared their stories of local rock hunting, and how they create jewelry from the agates, jaspers, quartz and other crystals that abound at this beach.  They shared where the best rocks are found, but Norm didn't seem too interested, so I will have to add that to my Bucket List of things to do. I would love to find a stone and have it made into a piece of jewelry.

Future jewelry from the trunk of
a Rock Hunter 

Norm and I walked the beach and marveled at how fast the tide actually does come in here, and how easily the careless could get in serious trouble being stranded.  We thought we would drive up the mountain try to hike to see the fabulous views of the Fundy Bay again.  The fog must have cleared up there by now.....  well, no it didn't, but we were very determined.  We thought that if we hiked through the woods for several miles, then come out at the coast, perhaps the fog would have lifted by then.

Believe it or not, this is a "look-off".  All we could
see was white!

 

We trudged along, sometimes in the rain, anxiously awaiting that first, and highest, look-out.  We found the platform, but beyond it was an endless white.

We continued on, stopping at each look-out, seeing nothing.

When we reached the end of the trail -  TA-DAH!  The sun was shining, and the air was clearing! Figures!

The fog is beginning to finally lift, but I didn't have
the energy to climb back up the mountain to see
what we imagined would be a phenomenal view.

People sure love their gardens around here!
This yard was completely filled with lilies. 

I was able to take a few pictures, then we headed home, a couple of disappointed hikers. I am told the view we missed was one of the best of the Province!

Day 42 A Gastronomic Delight

Tuesday July 23,2013

In order to head to the western side of Nova Scotia, we had to pick up and move on once again.  This time to Highbury Gardens Family Camping Campground, in Kentville, located at approximately the midpoint of Nova Scotia.  This was one of our longer drives, taking about 5 hours.

Our route from July 12th to July 25th 

  In the recently purchased  guidebook “ Exploring Nova Scotia – 400 Unique Adventures and Activities” we learned that this area, Wolfville in particular, has some really wonderful restaurants.  It had been quite a while since we have had a meal out, and not since we left home had we had a true “dining experience”, so we were more than thrilled.   After consulting my ever-dependable website Trip Advisor, we sought out the #1 restaurant in the area which was Front and Central in Wolfville. 

The delicious scallop dish at
Front and Central, Wolfville, NS

We were in heaven!  I started off by having my first alcoholic beverage in over two years which was a gin concoction with beet juice, orange nectar, and a few other strange ingredients I had never heard of.  Beets?  It had to be good for me, right? 

What made this lovely little place special was that they specialized in smaller plates, and suggest you share and order several so you can experience the many exotic flavors.

I had a Spring Vegetable Salad.  Sounds ordinary enough, doesn't it?  Well, it had asparagus, carrot, turnip, peas, goat cheese, parsley, mint, pea tendrils? Crispy quinoa, carrot top, almond pesto and lemon vinaigrette. Gluten free, too.

Norm had the Chive Gnocchi with oyster mushrooms, kale, truffle oil, ricotta, maple and ginger gastrique ( I don’t know what that is, but it sounds like it might hurt ).  We also shared the mussels, scallops pictured above, and finished it off with Vanilla Ice Cream with blood orange infused extra virgin olive oil, pomegranate balsamic vinegar, ( these were from the Liquid Gold oil and vinegar company I previously told you about ) with Malden sea salt.  It sounded very strange, but folks on Trip Advisor raved about it, and we were interested because we had tried these oils in a store.  We certainly wished we bought them, now! It was soooo very good. Worth the spare tires we are now sporting around our tummies!

We talked with the people at the table next to us for quite a while, and the manager spent a lot of time conversing as well.  We had a great time, and a fabulous meal. Three hours later, we headed back, very contented!

Days 38 - 40 Some Laughs and some service

Friday, July 19^th 2013

As we drove from our lovely campsite in Cape Breton Highlands National Park and left new friends behind, I felt that sadness that I experience whenever we leave a particularly wonderful place knowing I  will never return. 

Leaving Cape Breton behind us on a gloomy day

We headed about 3 hours back down the Cabot Trail heading to Hyclass Ocean Campground  in Havre Boucher, Nova Scotia, not far from the bridge on the land side of Cape Breton Island.   This campground  was a pleasant surprise.  Although the campsites were uncomfortably close, it was, in fact right on what appeared to be a bay, more than the ocean.

 

 Laundry was definitely number one on the agenda!  There were no facilities in the state park, so we had 5 or 6 loads to do. 

RV's are really crammed in here

After we set up “ camp “ I immediately headed out in search of the washers and dryers.  Or should I say “washer” and “dryer” as in only one of each.  One.  For a large campground! Oh, this should be interesting.  I quickly grabbed some clothes and claimed the coveted machine.  After two loads, someone came by this 6 x 8 little building hoping to do their own wash. As much as my inner beast thought “ Beat it!  I got here first! “  I offered to let them do their two loads before I did more.  I was taught to share my toys.  We spent the afternoon on our computers, constantly getting disconnected and frustrated.  I was constantly running back and forth to the laundromat.

Saturday July 20^th

Finally, 30 minutes away in Antigonish they were having another Farmer’s Market.  We have gone to a couple since leaving Halifax, and we have not found  the fresh organic vegetables we had hoped for.  In Cheticamp there was one lady that must have pulled her under developed lettuce and swisschard from the ground, weeds and all!  We were desperate, so we bought nearly all she had, and the weeds turned out to be quite tasty.  So when we heard about the one in Antigonish, we were all over it!  Still no luck! So we had to resort to the local supermarket to get what we needed.  

When we returned, the weather had turned extremely hot.  Our thermometer  read 98 degrees, but the humidity was only 35 percent.  I never believed it when people said 100 degrees didn't feel hot if the humidity was low.  After all,I figured, if you put your head inside your oven, it’s HOT, isn't it? Even without the humidity!  But now I am re-thinking that. Inside the RV the air conditioner was struggling to keep cool until the entire campground lost electrical power.  We lazied around outside where there was a lovely, but strong breeze.  We strolled down by the water, wading, wishing we had put our suits on to swim, since the water temperature felt like it was probably in the high 70’s.

Party's just "happen" up here in the Maritimes.
If you play, people will come.  People came, and
the party went on until after midnight.

After dinner and a strong rain shower with the sun out ( weird ) the people in the camper right next to us had a “gathering” .  Earlier they had invited us, but we had no idea that this was going to be as large as it was.  They had a fire going, rope lights strung around, and there must have been 20 people all sitting ; drinking whatever and enjoying the music while talking with what appeared to be friends.  They were all very welcoming. 

We learned that here in Nova Scotia, they still to this day have “ Kitchen Parties” which is a very casual event that families and sometimes a few close neighbors would gather in the kitchen ( which is usually the largest room ) and play music and maybe dance.  Music is HUGE here.  It is taught by the older generations to the younger, and boy do they have talent! 

Sunday July 21^st 2013

We managed to get the best campsite in
Whiddens Motel Apts. and Campground 

When we went down the very steep hills of Cape Breton last week, the brakes of our car were acting strange, and the front end was shaking.  Last year, we had discovered a repair facility that was able to fix things that our local Florida shops could not seem to repair in several attempts, so we had great faith in this one particular place. We knew we would be due an oil change at this point of the trip, and assumed we would get service done as we drove by.   We had made an appointment to service the car in Antigonish, and camp reservations at Whiddens Motel Apts and Campground . 

Cape George Lighthouse

 We waited for a fabulous, wide site to free up while I packed us a picnic lunch, to take with us on this nice, scenic drive around Cape George that was said to be very beautiful. There were hiking trails as well, so we grabbed a map, our gear, and headed out.   The road, we sadly discovered, was mainly inland with only glimpses of the beautiful coastal area, so we were pretty disappointed in the trip.

Monday we brought the car to the dealer and they brought us back to the campground where we did some chores, and just relaxed on a beautiful day. 

"Run for your Wife"
at the Antigonish Theatre Frestival

 By the time we got the car back, the day was pretty shot, but I had managed to get tickets to what we learned was a fabulous comedy called “ Run for Your Wife “ playing in the local college theater, which people came from all around ( even Newfoundland ) to see.  We went  that night and very much enjoyed this lively comedy. The acting was phenomenal. 

  

Days 35 - 38 Lots to see and do on Cape Breton Island

July 16th to July 19th, 2013

I must admit that we are struggling to remember what we did on these days.  It is amazing when you do a long vacation like this, and everyday is not filled with action packed fun, that you can actually forget where the days went, and how you spent them.  This is really scary because being of "senior" status, we may not have too many days left!  They just slip away unnoticed.

I do, however, remember playing for the first time (and Norm his second) on the beautiful golf course Le Portage here in Cheticamp ( I tend to remember where we spend $100 ). It was a hot and sunny day with swift cooling breezes, the course was in perfect condition, and the views of the surrounding mountains, albeit hazy, were very nice.

Thursday evening we went into the town of Cheticamp and saw a musical play performed completely by a very talented group of young people, ages ranging from an adorable 6 or 7, to mostly high school age. The play was mostly in French, but it didn't matter.  They sang, danced, and several of the performers played multiple instruments.  It was two hours of non-stop fun.!   We think it must have been a comedy,because the audience was laughing a lot.

Very talented kids in this french musical

                                                   










                                                                        Watch this               video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj149BSucko  if you would like to see the talent from this very small community. I chose to put a link to youtube because of the lack of "space" allowed on this blog site. The video may take a minute to come up, and it is about a minute and a half long.  Enjoy.

Nice, relaxing pool after a hair raising bike ride!

  If you keep the momentum going, these bikes
just fly over rocks!  My shock absorber on the front of the bike
can "float" up to 6 inches! This bike is 12 years old and
I still love it! Like riding a Cadillac!

We also went on an 8 mile hike/bike  to the Salmon pools, which began very close to our campsite.  This is the only trail within the park that they allow bicycles, and because of all the rocks, we can’t imagine it is often used by bicyclists.

We had an invigorating bike ride bouncing over the intimidating rocks, followed by a 3 mile hike, stopping to admire the pools and waterfalls.  Boy, there is something about brooks and ponds that just calm my sou!l.  The stressed feelings that I might never had been consciously aware of, just melt away.  Interestingly, oceans never have the same effect on me.  Norm just thinks I am weird.  Maybe you do too?

Norm, always climbing to a high point!

Ahhh, I love a chair at the end of the trail.
They have set these Adirondack chairs and the
end of each trail.  Nice! 

We decided to leave beautiful Cape Breton Island a few days early because we felt we saw and did as much as we wanted, or were capable of doing.  There we plenty more hikes here, but we felt we could do them elsewhere with different scenery.  

Map of our recent travel route - July 1st to 19th

Here's a map of Nova Scotia, and here is a rough layout of our major travel stops.  We have taken many side trips along the way, but this gives you a visual of where we have been so far.

B, C, D    June 30th to July 8th -  Halifax Nova Scotia area   ( Woodhaven RV Park )
                           daytripping to Peggy's Cove, Lunenburg, and Pleasant Bay
E              July 8th - July 12th - Port Hood, NS on Cape Breton Island  ( Sunset Sands RV Park )
F              July 12- July 19th - Cheticamp NS  ( Cheticamp Campground in the National Park )

Days 33 and 34 Driving the Cabot Trail

Sunday July 14^th

We may not have seen a moose, but we saw a great sunset!
Note the sun in the middle of the picture sinking into the sea

Today was another perfect weather day.  Boy, I could love these  temps in the high 60’s with light, gentle breezes!  Norm went to play golf, at Le Portage Golf course. 

  He had a great day, and said it was probably the nicest course he has played in a very long time.  The conditions were ideal.

 I stayed back and reorganized the RV and cleaned.  I also took a nap to recharge for the next big activity.  Important stuff! 

After dinner we went up the road to view another sunset, hoping to see a moose, but had no luck.

Monday July 15^th 2013

The weather, again was glorious so we took advantage of it to make the all day trip around famous Cabot Trail.  The sunshine was bright, with temperatures in the upper 80’s, but it was unfortunately quite hazy, which made photographing the mountains difficult. My pictures do not do them justice.

 We stopped at most lookouts ( there were dozens ) to take pictures and drink in the incredible vistas, and to marvel at the numerous cyclists grinding their way up the extremely steep mountains carrying bulging packs of gear on the sides of their bikes! None of them looked too happy, I noticed. 

   

If we had a smaller RV, we could have this view, too
Meat Cove Campground

I made Norm stop at most gift shops, but  

perfect souvenir is as allusive as the moose, but it's just as fun hunting for it.

Perhaps we will find a souvenir in this
Sears store!

     

We have, however, found two ornaments to add to our collection to hang on our Christmas tree adorned exclusively with travel mementos.  On some trips we don’t go to any gift shops, but we can always find a refrigerator magnet that I can hang a pretty ribbon on, or a key chain if need be. When we decorate the tree each winter it gives us the opportunity to remember all our trips together!  Pretty soon we will need a bigger tree! What a nice problem to have!

Waterfall seen at the end of the trail

We  took a short  hike to view a waterfall, and continued on our way, stopping at John Cabot’s Provincial Park for another picnic lunch.  We continued on, exploring most of the dirt roads that appeared to lead to the ocean or perhaps, if we were lucky, an “overlook “. 

By the time we had reached Meat Cove at the very northern most point of Cape Breton Island we were beat, and the trip felt more of a drudgery than a pleasure, so we took time out and found a spot on the beach where there was a bit of shade where we both took a quick power nap atop a lot of hard rocks.

Norm snoring up a storm lying on a bunch of hard rocks.
This is hard work, vacationing!

After an ice cream cone at the local shop, we left totally energized with our nap as sugar surged through our blood, ready to continue our journey ( which included a very long ride home).

We stopped and had diner at All Aboard Restaurant back in Cheticamp, and listened to
the fellow Norm met back in Mabou playing
the fiddle.  Tonight he was on the piano. Clever guy. The music was pleasant, but the meal, unfortunately, was not. Even the baked potato was terrible. How do you mess up a baked potato?  

Little fishing fleet in North Harbor

Below is the route we took around the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island

Day 32- Skyline Trail hike in Cape Breton Highlands

Saturday July 13^th

Today we took advantage of the most perfect weather.  Not a cloud in the sky, and temperatures in mid to high 60’s.  There is one particular trail here in Cape Breton Highlands National Park that everyone says you must do.  The “Skyline Trail”.  It is 5.7 miles along a very high ridge.  We were going to do this hike on a guided tour to see the sunset, but since the day was so perfect, thought it best to see the views in full sunlight.

A view from the top of Skyline Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park

This is a hike with “overlooks” but it felt that without heart palpitations and a lot of sweat, we weren't quite deserving of the views. Here one drove to nearly the top, and hiked from there. The groomed  trail was a little boring for the first several miles, but would open up to fabulous views of the twisting road, mountain ridges and ocean below.   Again, as we walked, we encountered few others, nor did we see any animals, either.

We reached the outermost point of the ridge and the view took our breath away! The steep mountain ridges plunged straight into the sea.  One could also watch the cars twisting and turning on the Cabot Trail below us.

Another view from the trail

It was a long hike, at least more than we are used to, and again my feet ( and other parts of my anatomy ) were dragging.  It does not help that my hiking boots weigh 4 pounds as I trudged along.

On the way back we stopped at various lookout points and saw whales  and bald eagles, which is always a treat.

Norm spotted Minke Whales off shore

When we got back to the campground we found about 20 large motorhomes with Florida license plates!  They were a caravan from Great Outdoors RV Resort from Titusville, Fl.

 They will be here for 3 days, then moving on to Newfoundland.  Perhaps they will sight an iceburg.  We heard on the news the other day that there are more iceburgs this year, right now, than there has been in the last 10 years.  We contemplated going over to see them since we are relatively “close” but it would be just too expensive for the off chance that we might see one.