July 26, 2013 Cabot Trail

7/26/2013

Today we had a bus tour of the Cabot Trail.  Cabot Trail is a road that circles Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.  Most of it is very scenic. We traveled almost 200 miles.  It was a long, but interesting day.   The day started out with rain and fog and we were afraid that we would not see much, but before we got to the scenic part the fog lifted and breaks in the clouds appeared and it turned out to be a lovely day.  We have really been blessed with remarkably good weather so far. 

Cabot Trail is a fairly new highway (built in the 1980’s or 1990’s).  John Cabot did not go around the peninsula, but he did land here in the 1400’s.  We saw the cove he described in his journal.

The guide on the bus was a native of the area and very knowledgeable and a very good speaker.  At one point we were along a river and there were a few fly fishing.  Atlantic salmon come into the river to spawn, but unlike Pacific salmon they do not die after spawning, they go back out into the ocean and return yearly to the same river to spawn. The only kind of fishing allowed is fly fishing.  Boats and flotation devices are not allowed.  There are also trout in the streams.  There is only one kind of salmon in the Atlantic—Atlantic salmon.

Early in the day we visited a rather unusual museum.  It largely features the work of a Dr Elizabeth LeFort. She spent most of her life hooking rugs.  Her work is spectacular.  I really don’t know to describe it, but they are works of art as you may be able to see in the attached pictures.   A lady at the museum led a tour, explained the details of the art and also demonstrated how to hook rugs.  Many of the ladies doing it dye their own yarn, etc.  It is one of those things you have to see to believe.  She would draw the design on burlap, color the yarn herself, and some how put the colors in the right spot, even when she was working on very large pieces and could not see what she had done.  Hooked rugs are very, very, labor intensive and people are not willing to pay what they are worth.  Young people are not taking it up.  The Acadians started hooked rugs in this area of Cheticamp.  Some came here after the expulsion from Nova Scotia.  The soil was poor so they took up fishing.  The guide said 97% of the people in the area speak French.

We also toured a beautiful Catholic church.  It could seat 2,000 persons in a town that had a population only a percentage of that.  It was a rather plain looking old stone church on the outside with a tall steeple that could be seen for miles from land and from the sea.  The inside was very beautiful and as ornate as many Catholic churches.  It was built in the late 1800’s.  It still has a pipe organ with a handle on the side that some one has to use to pump the bellows to provide the air for the organ.

Some of the time, we were very close to the Ocean.  Part of the time near the Gulf of St. Lawrence, part of the time near the Atlantic Ocean., and part of the time by both.  We traveled through The Cape Breton Highlands, the first national part in the coastal Atlantic area.  We also went over three mountains, which are not as impressive as the Rocky Mountains, but nevertheless very pretty and steep. The tallest was only 1400 feet high. I was glad that I wasn’t driving the bus.  There were a lot of sharp turns and steep grades.  These mountains are not part of the Appalachians, like the hills in Quebec Province.  This land mass was once part of Scotland.  That is why a number of Scotch and Irish settlers came here or had summer homes here.

We had lunch at a small restaurant along the way and stopped for ice cream at the Keltic Lodge/golf course/spa in the afternoon.  It is one of only 3 hotels operated in Canadian National Parks.  The guide said that if you played 18 holes on the course and walked it you would have walked 8 miles by the time you finished.  There were wonderful sandy beaches mixed in with jagged rocks, all natural.  It was an area called Middle Fork (I think).  It was exceptionally beautiful.

One of the main industries is fishing for crabs, as well as lobster.  On the way back to the RV park we stopped and got come snow crab.

Tomorrow we travel all of 10 miles.  We will be close to the ferry, which we take to Newfoundland on Monday.  Internet connections may be very poor after Monday.  Accommodations may be poor too.  We stay in one park 3 nights with no services. (dry camping without our generator).  We are going to go back to Baddeck to see the rest of the Bell Museum and we will do house keeping chores like laundry and grocery shopping.  Pray for calm seas for Gordon.

St. Peter's Catholic Church, steeple is so high it
can beseen from north, south, and the seas

hand pump organ at St. Peter's Church

Hooked Rug Demonstration

Lefort Rug (may have 30+ shades of brown)

US Presidents until John Kennedy.  Lefort could stitch 55 stitches a
minute; it took 60 stitches/sq. inch.  She could complete a rug
this size in 5 to 6 months.  She hooked 6 hr/day, 7 days a week
Large rugs like this might have 8 miles of yarn

Pictures don't do the Cape Breton Highlands National Park justice

Another view of Park

example of the fog we had in Halifax

Halifax area

July 23-24, 2013

July 23, 2013 Halifax area

Today we had a bus tour of the area.  Gordon always likes bus trips, because he can see more.

First stop was Peggy’s Cove.  Peggy’s Cove was and still is a small fishing village.  It has less than 25 full time residents.  It was made famous by a Finnish painter William deGarthe, who married and settled in the village.  He then spent the rest of his life painting traditional oil paintings of the sea and the village.  The artist decided to make a sculpture in the granite rocks in front of his house.  He went to Italy and learned how to sculpture, then returned and worked on his sculpture. 

Peggy’s Cove is a very small cove, with a very small entrance.  It is almost solid granite  (large rocks “erratics,”  which were left behind by receding glaciers. The soil is so bad, that the few trees in the area are stunted.  Rocks are covered by lichen.  Crashing waves and wind have polished the rocks.  Buildings are built on beach stone and incorporate the granite rocks.  There are two stories for its name.  One is that the larger bay is called Margaret, and small cove on the bay is a diminutive (Peggy) of Margaret.  The other is that a young girl called Peggy was the sole survivor of a ship rock.

While here, we took an hour boat ride out of the bay.  We looked at the lighthouse from the sea.  Then we dropped some bait in the water and went to the closest fishing village to Peggy’s Cove (this is what I thought a fishing village should look like).  On the way back we stopped near where we dropped the bait.  We hoped to see lobster and fish eating the bait when they dropped an underwater camera.  Unfortunately, the camera did not work.  After our boat trip, our guide gave us a brief tour of the village.  We had time to shop.  At 1:00 PM we went into the Southwestern Restaurant and had lunch (seafood chowder for me, fish and chips for Gordon.  I choose gingerbread for dessert; Gordon chose apple crisp.  Both came with ice cream.)  While we were shopping it started to sprinkle.  Our final stop was to view the memorial to Swiss Flight 111, which went down with no survivals about 10 miles from the cove.  

After lunch, we went back on the bus.  It started to rain heavy to light the rest of the day and night and the fog rolled inland.  The guide told wonderful stories about the residents of Peggy’s Cove as we drove into Halifax and wonderful stories about Halifax as we drove around Halifax.

Our next stop was the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site of Canada.  Men and women were in costume (kilts for the military) and told the history of the citadel.  Exhibits explained things as well.  It is in a star shaped fort, sunk into the ground, high on a hill.  Halifax was founded as a military site and civilians were brought in to support the troops.  The defenses for the fort were never breached.

Our final stop was the Fairview Lawn Cemetery, which was the burial site for many bodies recovered after the sinking of the Titanic.  Although a port in Labrador was closer, Halifax was the place where all bodies were bought, because there was a train here that could send some bodies to families.  Temporary morgues were set up.  Bodies were embalmed.  Bodies too damaged were buried at sea.  It was devastating for the sailors that recovered bodies.  Some were so touched that they put up special monuments.  Many bodies were never identified. One was a two year old boy.  He was given two different names before DNA was used in 1990 to give him his real name  Bodies were too deteriorated for DNA to be used all bodies in the cemetery and  you need DNA of descendents with whom to match DNA.  Quite a few Titanic artifacts are in the area. 

One interesting event occurred after the movie Titanic was filmed.  The name for the male lead was taken off a monument in Fairview Lawn.  J. Last Name (I forgot) was a worker on the Titanic.  Jack, played by Leo De Caprio, was a fictional character.  After the movie, young girls came to the cemetery and left flowers on the grave and expected to see the actor paying his respects.

July 24, 2013

Today we had breakfast provided by staff.  Then Gordon and I headed into town.  First stop was an RV store, then a place downtown to buy my makeup foundation, and then on to the waterfront to visit the Maritime Museum.  There were displays about all kinds of boats, a special exhibit about the Titanic, and a special exhibit about the Halifax explosion that occurred in 1917.  

We learned about the explosion yesterday.  Today we had pictures and statements from survivors.  A naval ship was loaded with explosive materials and I don’t remember what the other one was.  Both were in the harbor.  Both were seen by the other and were headed for a head on collision.  No one yielded until the last moment.  The naval ship signaled a turn; the other ship turned the opposite way.  The second ship did not quite clear the naval ship and sparks flew.  The naval ship caught fire.  People rushed to the shore to see the fire.  Men on the boats got in life boats, reached land, and fled as fast as they could.  The naval boat exploded.  The damage is second to the damage caused by one of the nuclear bombs on Japan in WW II.  All of the buildings in a one mile radius were totally destroyed.  All the windows in Halifax broke.  Two thousand people died.  Some survivors were picked up and blown ½  to 1 mile away from where they were standing.  Many people were blind (so many rushed to windows to see the fire).   The community, the governments, and international support were incredible.  A great deal of help came from Boston.  One company in Massachusetts donated domestic goods for those who lost all and even built a housing neighborhood and stores out of stones that would not burn.  Today the Halifax donates their best Christmas tree to Boston to stand on the Boston commons.  After lunch and a grocery stop, we went home and rested.  We have a very long drive tomorrow with two sites to visit along the way.  We hope to make it in time for wagon master treat of margaritas and Mexican snacks.

 View of  cove from boat shop

De Grathe sculpture

  Cove from boat                                                 Peggy's Cove Lighthouse in background

Titanic Monument inn Fairview Lawn Cemetery

   Flight 111 Memorial

   Oldest house in Peggy's Cove

  Built about 1812.  Scottish Dormers

Diagram of citadel

 
 At  Citadel (kilt represents
on of regiments that was assigned to
citadel)

July 25, Thursday
Today was a travel day.  It rain until we stopped in our RV park for the night.  The first 95 miles were all 4 lane interstate, which was nice.  We stopped to see parts of two museums.  We may go back and see the rest of them on our return trip from Newfoundland.  The first was the Museum of Industry.  It was built on the site of a coal mine.  There used to be many, many bituminous coal mines in the area.  The museum started with the labor intensive jobs the first settlers had, who had to do everything on their own.  Then there were several exhibits on steam engines.  One was a old train steam engine built in England in 1824.  It was taken apart and reassembled in Canada.  It is probably the oldest surviving steam engine in N. America.  Then we saw a steam engine used to pull boats to dry dock.  It operated from about 1860 to 1990.  There was a machine shop run on by a steam engine from one of the mines.  Then we moved to the era of electricity, which we saw very quickly because we still had a lot of ground to cover.

The next museum was close to our campground--the Alexander Graham Bell National Museum.  It was packed.  We did not get to see as much as we wanted and will probably go back on Saturday.  Saturday is a travel day and we only travel 10 miles.  We had not realized Bell was deeply involved with teaching the deaf to speak (like his father and grandfather) or that he developed an airplane (which was not widely adopted, but some the features of the airplane were his) and a hydro foil boat.

At the campground we had our usual travel meeting.  Tomorrow we have a bus trip on the Cabot Trail.  We ended the meeting with margaritas and Mexican snack foods provided by our leaders.

Tall Ship, Halifax Harbor

Probably oldest steam engine in N. America (1824)

Museum of Industry

Cavendish Prince Edward Island to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

July 16, 2013
We drove from Cavendish, Prince Edward Island to Hilden, Novia Scotia today.  We mostly saw rolling hills and fields of crops.  We are close to the Bay of Fundy, where some of us are going to river raft up the river on the tidal bore.  That is when the tide comes in and forces a river to run backward for a while and in the process creates fairly large waves which gives an exciting ride.  They have very high tides here.

I wrote a few notes on things to mention:

*The bridge between New Brunswick and  Prince Edward Island is nine miles long.  It cost us $59. to cross from Prince Edward to New Brunswick (Caravan reimbursed us).  That is the two way toll.
*A Canadian dollar is worth just a penny or two less than a dollar
*Gas is costing us about $5.50/ gallon ($1.39/liter)
*Food and wine prices are higher in Canada than in the USA.
*The furniture in the Anne of Green Gables house is period appropriate, not original
*A few people on Prince Edward Island learned how to domesticate silver foxes.  For a few years, people made fortunes, because  the 6 people breeding them, agreed not to sell breeding stock. Eventually, one individual sold a pair to a nephew.  He started selling breeding stock.  Once everyone could afford a fox fur, prices plummeted and World War I started.  After 1914, most people stopped raising foxes, because it cost more to sell them than it cost to raise them.  Foxes were let lose on the Island.  Silver fox fur is beautiful (silver on black).
*The past week we have enjoyed a lot of seafood--oyster grilled on the grill, lobster, scallops, cod, mussels.
*Electricity on Prince Edward Island is a lot more expensive than in Quebec Province, where it costs 4-6 cents/kilowatt.  Islanders are putting up wind turbines.
*Farmers on Prince Edward Island are required to rotate crops in a three year cycle, because potatoes, the money making crop, takes too much out of the land.  It is rotated with a grain crop and a grass crop.
*At a couple of nature centers we have used an decomposing toilet.  Human waste is allowed to naturally decompose and is used in some way.  No water or chemicals are used in the process.  One center even collected rain water, which they piped to the bathrooms for hand washing.

July 16, 2013

We left Prince Edward Island in  morning and recrossed Confederation Bridge.  We traversed a corner of New Brunswick and then entered Nova Scotia.  Dinner tonight is at a local volunteer fire department, a delicious barbequed pork chop meal served only to visiting RV caravans a few times each summer as a fund raiser for the department.  Later we ask a fireman to tell us about his brigade and he gives us a tour of their equipment.

July 17 – Hilden and Tidal Bore at mouth of Shubenacadie River

I went into town and hiked in Victoria Park with two other women.  Some kids with parents were playing in the water below the falls.  Later in the afternoon, we heard kids were jumping into the pool beneath the pool.  After hiking, I met Gordon and another couple at a Farmer's Market.  Gordon and the other couple had toured a local museum that had some beautiful needle point/embroidery.  Then we went out to lunch and home.

waterfall in Victoria Park                                           Dead Dutch Elm Trees carved into figures.  The city has several of these.

In the evening, I joined 12 others for a rafting trip in the Bay of Fundy.  Here is what our wagon master wrote:

(Perhaps the most unusual tidal bore in the world, at least from an adventure point of view, occurs daily on the Bay of Fundy.  We get a close-up view, very close up, of high tide this afternoon when we don bright yellow raingear and lumber over the bulging sides of a Zodiac river raft, sit on the edge, grabbing tightly on a thick rope attached to the sides. 

Connor pilots us a short distance into a narrow bay as we await the arrival of the bore tide.  “Giggle waves” is what Connor names our first experience over the tide, a mere few inches high.  As the bore tide rushes into the narrowing Shubenacadie River the water piles up on itself and the waves become higher. 

He drops us off at a sandbar in the middle of the river.  It looks wide enough for a hundred standing people but, amazingly, it soon shrinks and seawater begins to swirl over our feet.  We climb quickly into the Zodiac before the sandbar island disappears beneath Hot Chocolate water, frothy and richly reddish brown.  “Hot” might also apply, or more aptly, “warm” as the water is probably in the mid-70s. 

We move in the direction of the tide, frequently doubling back to ride the waves.  At submerged sandbars the water piles up to several feet and we plunge through the waves that engulf the rubber boat and spray showers over our heads, down our backs, and into our boots.  Good thing the water is warm.  The bore tide moves at a speed of ~10mph and as we propel the six miles into the ever narrowing channel the waves get higher and higher.  

Just after the last sandbar-induced rapids we reach the old dilapidated railroad bridge and the newer auto bridge.  Here, at the high perch marking the edge of the railroad bridge is the rest of our caravan group, watching us with cameras in hand.  About half took the wild ride and the other half watched, probably both happy with their choice.

On the way back we pass our second Bald Eagle nest and more Bald Eagles perched atop riverside trees.  Connor tells us the eagles are waiting for low tide to scoop up any stranded fish on the vacated mudflats.  Dark as these waters are, it is surprising to learn that fish adopt the muddy river.  Back at the origin of our bore tide ride, the hot showers are welcomed, as is the real Hot Chocolate and maple-flavored cookies.

Shari’s photos are shown below, all taken in calm water as the turbulent sections of the river are not accessible from a land-based viewpoint.

 

Day 19 – July 18 – Grand Pré

(Bert, Wagon Master)  While most of us remember fragments of Longfellow’s Evangeline story, few of us recall the real story behind the Acadians expulsion from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia 1755-63.  We learn much of that history today through exhibits and an excellent professionally-produced dramatic film at Grand Pré National Historic Site.  French-speaking, yet attempting a neutralist position between the French and British armies, the Acadians were caught in an impossible position.  Both armies demanded loyalty to them only.  Ultimately, the British distrusted the Acadians to the point that they forcefully removed them from the lands and homes the settlers had worked so hard to create and build.  The British army confiscated the Acadian’s possessions and farmlands, burning their homes, and shipping them to New England, the English colonies, New Orleans, France, and even South America.  Over 10,000 Acadians were deported, many of them dying in transport or becoming refugees without a country.

 
  Grand Pre Memorial Church to Acadians

Acadians in fields

Information poster

 

Acadians building dype to claim marsh land      Surprise Lobsters for supper

July 19, 2013
We stayed in an RV Park at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.  We had a surprise dinner of lobster.  The next day we had rain--the only sight seeing day with rain so far.  (It has rained, but only at night.)

  Our first stop was Port Royal Habitation.  The Habitation is a reconstruction of one of the first European settlements in North America, founded in 1603 (older than Jamestown and Plymouth).  We had a costumed interpreters describe the history of the place and describe life in the settlement. It is the exact dimensions of the original and it was reconstructed using methods used in the 1600's.  It was only occupied by men. It was used primarily for fur trading, but fields were cultivated near Fort Ann?Annapolis Royal.  French were the first settlers.  It was later captured and burned by people from Jamestown who took everything usable. It was not rebuilt.  Here the there was good rapport between the First Nations people and the French.  The French, with Indian help, grew the the first cereal crops.  The leader  formed  the Order of Good Cheer to occupy men throughout the winter.  Each day a different gentleman organized a special activity for the benefit others.  It might be a hunting party, play, special meal, etc.  The winter survival rate was much higher once the club was established.   The Habitation was really well done.

  From upper level where furs                              Dining area.  Govenor and gentlemen at center table in front of fire.

were stored                                                             Craft men on trestle tables on the sides

Exterior of Habitacion.  Inside was a square, 2 stories high.  

Next stop was the Historic Gardens.  It is billed as a showcase of gardening methods and plant species.  Some gardens were themed (Rose garden, native grasses). We saw a recreation of the English Govenor's Garden, Knot Garden (intricate patterns of interlocking hedge work), reclaimed marshes, innovative gardening techniques of the future, etc.  It drizzled off and on while we were here.

                                                              recreated arcadian house with house garden

Next we went for lunch at a German Bakery down the road.  The two chefs were married and from the East German area of Saxony.  Saxony is where Lucy's mother's family originated.    They came in the 1990's in response to an ad for German  Chef's to work in a German restaurant in Canada.  The owner did a poor job managing, and the restaurant went bankrupt.  The couple's neighbors worked with them to get the equivalent of green cards.  After 2-3 years they had their cards and started the restaurant.  We just had soup, sandwiches and blueberry crisp (or something like it) for lunch.  I would have loved to come back for a German supper.  The menu sounded so good.  Instead we bought apple kuchen for breakfast.

After lunch we walked Ft. Ann or Annapolis Royal.  It is the largest National Historic District in Canada.  In 1605 it was settled by a small group of French Explorers (the same group as the Habitation) two years before Jamestown, Virginia and three years before the founding of Quebec, and 15 years before Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Massachusetts.  There was a 150 year struggle for control of our continent.  This area changed hands between the French and English.  The French constructed one of four forts on this site.  In 1710 the British captured Port-Royal and renamed it Annapolis Royal to honor Queen Ann.  The fort was named Fort AnneIt remained captial until Halifax was started in 1749.  Ft. Anne is now the oldest continuously-operated National Historic Site in Canada.  The star shaped fortifications are among the country's best Vauban earthenworks.

officers' quarters, now has exhibits                     Grist Stone brought in from different area

 example of one of needlepoint tapestries           Diagram of earthenworks and layout
completed by residents depicting history           At one time there were more than 70 buildings
Ft. Anne.  Queen Elizabeth has a few stitches    in the fort and the town of Royal Annapolis was flourishing
in it

c

Cemetery dating from 1600's  but there               Oldest building on site, the powder magazine.

are no monuments left from that time  

We went home after our trip to Ft. Anne.  Then after a rest we toured the only operated tidal turbine in N. America.  It was built as a prototype in the early 1980's during the oil crisis and is still running.  It was built in the Bay of Fundy because of the very high tides.  Other tidal turbines have been built in the area but have not been successful.  Scotland has a successful tidal turbine.

July 20, 2013
We had only a 89 mile drive today.  Most of us left late and stopped at Kejimkujik National Park.  Gordon and I hiked a couple of 2 KM trails. along the river.  It was very scenic.  The road was very curvy and had no shoulders.  Overall, it was a tough, short drive.  

To make things interesting, lots of little things are affecting our trailer.  The shower curtain has cracks (thank goodness for duck tape), two more drawer slides broke (we thought we had replaced all of them twice, but these two were the originals),  a blind cord broke (I keep it up with bungee cord).  We entertained some tent campers when we hooked up Saturday.  The hitch on the truck was higher than the one on the trailer.  For some reason, the jack would not raise the trailer any higher.  Eventually, we placed boards under the front tires of the truck and it lowered the back enough that it worked.  Gordon had the hitch and ball lined up on the second attempt, but it took us 2 to 3 times longer than usual to connect.

We had a LEO last night (Let's Eat Out).  We went to an excellent  restaurant and really enjoyed our meal (seafood of course).

Sunday, July 21
Today is Ella's birthday.  She turned two today.  I hope she had a good day.

The only thing arranged for today was a tour of the fish museum.  It was very interesting.  The first hour was a guided tour and then we were on our own.  Cod fishing used to be the main method of livelihood here.  Several different methods were used.  Initally, men fished off the side of sailing boats with just a jig line.  Then dories were sent from sailing fish and dropped line with multiple hooks.  The dories formed a circle around the boat.  Finally trawlers with front or side nets were employed.    It was so successful that the cod salting industry failed, because of over fishing.  Lobster fishing is now the number one occupation followed by scallop gathering.  Tourism has to be important too.  In the 1920's this area was important for rum running during prohibition.  The term "real McCoy" is a liquor running term.  McCoy was a rum runner.  He never diluted his liquor.  If you purchased liquor from him it was the "real McCoy." 

After our tour, we went home for lunch.  Then we walked downtown (all down hill), listened to a concert in the park (fold music, mostly from Scotland and Ireland), checked out the shops, and finished looking at exhibits in the museum.  Tomorrow we to to Halifax (only a 50 mile drive).  I hope to get some laundry done.

 Exterior of museum                                               relief map showing currents from Labrador, St. Lawrence River & Gulf Stream

 wood carving of largest cod ever caught        items fishermen used when fishing with jig from sailiing boats

 dory with fishing items                       sailing boat used for fishing                  more boats & museum

performers at concert