Friday, July 14, 2006
WiFi at the Ferry Terminal
After more than a week without Internet access, the campground on Cape Breton had intermittent WiFi access -- to a 56K modem. However, the connection kept dropping, so I could not post. Today is our ferry trip from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. Unfortunately, the ferry is two hours late, so we are parked in the holding area. Fortunately, the ferry terminal has high speed access, so I will be able to post this message after all.
We have been in Canada since Thursday, June 29th. The weather has been either rainy or sunny, and frequently changes from one to the other more than once a day. We joined the Winnebago caravan on Friday when our first activities were a get-acquainted meeting and a nice dinner in St. Andrew, New Brunswick. There are 19 paying RVs on the caravan (one couple cancelled at the last minute) plus the paid “hosts” and “tail-enders.” We have finally figured out that Carol and I are not the youngest couple – that distinction goes to a middle school special education teacher from Minnesota who retired five years ago at age 51.
The first full caravan day, July 1, was Canada Day. A bus tour of St. Andrew during the day included time to watch the local Canada Day parade, lunch at the huge Fairmont Algonquin Hotel, and harbor seal feeding at the local marine center and aquarium. It rained that evening during the fireworks display, which we were able to see part of from the RV park.
On Sunday, we drove to St. John, New Brunswick -- not to be confused with St. John's Newfoundland, which we will visit later on the trip. There were no organized activities that afternoon/evening, so Carol and I drove the CRV to tour part of the (Bay of) Fundy coast, including several stops in a nice coastal park known as the Fundy Trail. Monday was a group sightseeing day in St. John. Everything along the coast is influenced by the Bay of Fundy, where there are tide changes as great as 60 feet in some places. Today we saw the Reversing Falls (actually reversing rapids), where the water flows upriver creating big rapids, followed six hours later by an outflow creating rapids running in the other direction. In addition to visiting the downtown area and seeing the New Brunswick museum, we visited a fortified blockhouse where -- as was the custom in that time -- a fake cemetery was installed on the most vulnerable side in hopes that an enemy would not attack through a cemetery.
On Tuesday, we drove from St. John to Moncton. En route, we stopped at Hopewell Rocks and (since it was low tide) walked among towering rock formations on a wide muddy beach. (Tomorrow morning, Carol and I will return at high tide in the CRV to see the view when the water level has risen by over 50 feet and there is no beach left.) Today closed with a group steak dinner at the campground. Wednesday was a "free day," so we grocery shopped, got haircuts, and did a little sightseeing on our own.
Thursday was a short drive from Moncton to Debert, Nova Scotia. En route we stopped in the small town of Springhill where we visited a nice museum dedicated to local singer Anne Murray, then toured a former coal mine just outside the town. We had dinner with the WIT group at the RV park's recreation room, followed by a show for us by the local pipe and drum corps.
Friday morning we boarded a bus for a short trip to a riverside restaurant where we had a huge buffet breakfast, followed by an opportunity to view a "tidal bore" -- a wall of incoming tide (about 6" to 8" this morning) created when the tides shift in the nearby Bay of Fundy and water flows in as the river is still trying to empty from the last tidal change. The rest of the day was free, so Carol and I again got in the car and did some sightseeing in the surrounding area. The highlight of this sightseeing day was the full size mammoth statute near where a skeleton was discovered several years ago.
On Saturday we had a very short travel day to Hammond Hill, about half an hour outside Halifax, Nova Scotia. En route we purchased gas, then got the RV washed (for $30) by a high school group that was running a money-raising car wash. This afternoon we went as a group to the Nova Scotia International Tattoo -- a 3-1/2 hour show featuring military bands from Canada, Great Britain, and Estonia, singers, acrobats, and an obstacle course competition. So far, this is probably the highlight of the caravan and something we would not have seen if we were traveling on our own. We had a nice group dinner this evening after the tattoo before returning to the campground. Unfortunately, during the tattoo I chose the wrong menu option from the digital camera and deleted about 70 photos from the last week.
Sunday was rainy. We had an afternoon/evening sightseeing tour which included a trip to picturesque Peggy's Cove (which was very foggy) and its most-photographed lighthouse in the world. We then returned to downtown Halifax for a group dinner and an evening
boat tour through Halifax harbor -- the second largest natural harbor in the world which was used as a staging area for North Atlantic convoys during both WWI and WWII. It was also the site in 1917 of the largest manmade explosion before the atomic bomb when a collision in the harbor started a fire on a French ammunition ship -- over 2000 killed, 8000 wounded, a third of the town destroyed, and windows broken over 60 miles away in Truro.
Monday was sunny. Our tour today included a short visit to the cemetery where about 150 victims of the Titanic disaster (mostly crew members and third class passengers) are
buried; the downtown Citadel, an elaborate British fort; a fine buffet lunch; a trip to the Maritime Museum; and free time to shop in the historic district. The Maritime Museum included a Titanic exhibit. I was intrigued by the third class menu for April 12 -- following decent sounding breakfast, dinner, and tea (which was a full meal), supper consisted of gruel, cabin biscuits and cheese. First time I've ever seen gruel on a menu -- I think of it as something from Dickens.
Tuesday was a long (250 mile) driving day to Bras D'Or on Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Unlike mainland Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island features some big hills and a lot of lakes. Yesterday, Wednesday, we rode a bus to Fortress Louisbourgh, a restored 1750s fortified city. The rain en route to the fortress gave way to sunshine shortly after we arrived, and other than a little mud in the city, it was a nice day to visit. We had dinner this evening served by a local group in a church recreation hall where we ate with members of the other WIT caravan that is staying tonight at the same RV Park. (Their caravan is shorter, and does not include Newfoundland).
It's hard to get good weather forecasts, the televised forecasts here are not very localized. Nevertheless, it sounds like we will have at least some rain today -- surprise, surprise. It's a free day before tomorrow's 5-1/2 hour ferry trip to Newfoundland.
Taking a chance on the rain, Carol and I will did a 250 mile driving tour around Cape Breton, the northern part of which has a rugged, rocky coastline. We saw a moose cow grazing by the side of the road and a half dozen people swimming in the choppy, cold waters of the North Atlantic. Dinner tonight with the WIT group in the campground’s rec hall.
It seems unlikely that I will have WiFi access any time in the near future. I will update again the next time I do. We are having a great time and hope all our family and friends are doing well.
We have been in Canada since Thursday, June 29th. The weather has been either rainy or sunny, and frequently changes from one to the other more than once a day. We joined the Winnebago caravan on Friday when our first activities were a get-acquainted meeting and a nice dinner in St. Andrew, New Brunswick. There are 19 paying RVs on the caravan (one couple cancelled at the last minute) plus the paid “hosts” and “tail-enders.” We have finally figured out that Carol and I are not the youngest couple – that distinction goes to a middle school special education teacher from Minnesota who retired five years ago at age 51.
The first full caravan day, July 1, was Canada Day. A bus tour of St. Andrew during the day included time to watch the local Canada Day parade, lunch at the huge Fairmont Algonquin Hotel, and harbor seal feeding at the local marine center and aquarium. It rained that evening during the fireworks display, which we were able to see part of from the RV park.
On Sunday, we drove to St. John, New Brunswick -- not to be confused with St. John's Newfoundland, which we will visit later on the trip. There were no organized activities that afternoon/evening, so Carol and I drove the CRV to tour part of the (Bay of) Fundy coast, including several stops in a nice coastal park known as the Fundy Trail. Monday was a group sightseeing day in St. John. Everything along the coast is influenced by the Bay of Fundy, where there are tide changes as great as 60 feet in some places. Today we saw the Reversing Falls (actually reversing rapids), where the water flows upriver creating big rapids, followed six hours later by an outflow creating rapids running in the other direction. In addition to visiting the downtown area and seeing the New Brunswick museum, we visited a fortified blockhouse where -- as was the custom in that time -- a fake cemetery was installed on the most vulnerable side in hopes that an enemy would not attack through a cemetery.
On Tuesday, we drove from St. John to Moncton. En route, we stopped at Hopewell Rocks and (since it was low tide) walked among towering rock formations on a wide muddy beach. (Tomorrow morning, Carol and I will return at high tide in the CRV to see the view when the water level has risen by over 50 feet and there is no beach left.) Today closed with a group steak dinner at the campground. Wednesday was a "free day," so we grocery shopped, got haircuts, and did a little sightseeing on our own.
Thursday was a short drive from Moncton to Debert, Nova Scotia. En route we stopped in the small town of Springhill where we visited a nice museum dedicated to local singer Anne Murray, then toured a former coal mine just outside the town. We had dinner with the WIT group at the RV park's recreation room, followed by a show for us by the local pipe and drum corps.
Friday morning we boarded a bus for a short trip to a riverside restaurant where we had a huge buffet breakfast, followed by an opportunity to view a "tidal bore" -- a wall of incoming tide (about 6" to 8" this morning) created when the tides shift in the nearby Bay of Fundy and water flows in as the river is still trying to empty from the last tidal change. The rest of the day was free, so Carol and I again got in the car and did some sightseeing in the surrounding area. The highlight of this sightseeing day was the full size mammoth statute near where a skeleton was discovered several years ago.
On Saturday we had a very short travel day to Hammond Hill, about half an hour outside Halifax, Nova Scotia. En route we purchased gas, then got the RV washed (for $30) by a high school group that was running a money-raising car wash. This afternoon we went as a group to the Nova Scotia International Tattoo -- a 3-1/2 hour show featuring military bands from Canada, Great Britain, and Estonia, singers, acrobats, and an obstacle course competition. So far, this is probably the highlight of the caravan and something we would not have seen if we were traveling on our own. We had a nice group dinner this evening after the tattoo before returning to the campground. Unfortunately, during the tattoo I chose the wrong menu option from the digital camera and deleted about 70 photos from the last week.
Sunday was rainy. We had an afternoon/evening sightseeing tour which included a trip to picturesque Peggy's Cove (which was very foggy) and its most-photographed lighthouse in the world. We then returned to downtown Halifax for a group dinner and an evening
boat tour through Halifax harbor -- the second largest natural harbor in the world which was used as a staging area for North Atlantic convoys during both WWI and WWII. It was also the site in 1917 of the largest manmade explosion before the atomic bomb when a collision in the harbor started a fire on a French ammunition ship -- over 2000 killed, 8000 wounded, a third of the town destroyed, and windows broken over 60 miles away in Truro.
Monday was sunny. Our tour today included a short visit to the cemetery where about 150 victims of the Titanic disaster (mostly crew members and third class passengers) are
buried; the downtown Citadel, an elaborate British fort; a fine buffet lunch; a trip to the Maritime Museum; and free time to shop in the historic district. The Maritime Museum included a Titanic exhibit. I was intrigued by the third class menu for April 12 -- following decent sounding breakfast, dinner, and tea (which was a full meal), supper consisted of gruel, cabin biscuits and cheese. First time I've ever seen gruel on a menu -- I think of it as something from Dickens.
Tuesday was a long (250 mile) driving day to Bras D'Or on Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Unlike mainland Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island features some big hills and a lot of lakes. Yesterday, Wednesday, we rode a bus to Fortress Louisbourgh, a restored 1750s fortified city. The rain en route to the fortress gave way to sunshine shortly after we arrived, and other than a little mud in the city, it was a nice day to visit. We had dinner this evening served by a local group in a church recreation hall where we ate with members of the other WIT caravan that is staying tonight at the same RV Park. (Their caravan is shorter, and does not include Newfoundland).
It's hard to get good weather forecasts, the televised forecasts here are not very localized. Nevertheless, it sounds like we will have at least some rain today -- surprise, surprise. It's a free day before tomorrow's 5-1/2 hour ferry trip to Newfoundland.
Taking a chance on the rain, Carol and I will did a 250 mile driving tour around Cape Breton, the northern part of which has a rugged, rocky coastline. We saw a moose cow grazing by the side of the road and a half dozen people swimming in the choppy, cold waters of the North Atlantic. Dinner tonight with the WIT group in the campground’s rec hall.
It seems unlikely that I will have WiFi access any time in the near future. I will update again the next time I do. We are having a great time and hope all our family and friends are doing well.
