Halifax NS Day 15 Oct 1

Well, I stand corrected. It does not continuously rain in Nova Scotia. Or yesterday was the exception. I believe the direct Nordic translation of Nova Scotia is Noah Arkia. We were headed from the most terrible camp ground in the world or at least the Northern Hemisphere to a KOA in Halifax. And what a difference it is. This is really a nice place with attractive sites and friendly, helpful staff. Of course, they have WiFi here. Every time I talk of WiFi , Faye thinks I am talking to her. I guess its close, WiFi, Wifey. Dirk thought he would return the hospitality by fixing the Wifey. He had determined through Hocus Pocus that the repeater station closest to our site was not working. Within minutes of letting them know, a sprightly 70 year old roared up in his golf cart to look at the problem. ( it seems that only 70 year olds are allowed to drive golf carts at KOA locations). ( see day 8). Dirk and the sprightly 70 year old swopped techno talk for a while and then he roared off again, cape flying in the air. The drive here was uneventful and uninteresting. Had we done some research(thanks to Pam Brown for the lead), we would have found that we were passing Lunenburg, home of Bluenose II schooner that had just been re-launched ( original in 1963 ) The schooner is found on the Canadian dime and achieved this status by beating those dreaded Americans at sea. Hockey and sailing. This is too much!.

Lockeport NS Day 14 Sept 30

And it rained and it rained. Today was supposed to be a scenic drive down the coast . We did manage to see a delightful church complete with its parishioners. Yes we arrived just as the Sunday morning service was about to start and caused some consternation as we maneuvered the white behemoths in the parking lot all the while dodging the incoming faithful. But everyone was very nice, if not curious. This church, St Bernard (named after the famous Swiss dog with the barrel under his chin - this however has not been confirmed ) took 32 years to build. I don't have an explanation for this impressive productivity, but as soon as I can access the Internet I will do some research. Which leads me to comment on the campsite we occupied last night, quite clearly the worst we have encountered. No WiFi, uneven sites, rundown buildings. Nova Scotia is clearly not the wealthiest of the Canadian Provinces but a little paint is surely not beyond the reach of management. To complete the day of "uglies", we visited a lighthouse that Colleen and Faye designated as the most unattractive we have seen. I am not sure what exactly constitutes an attractive lighthouse ( t think they all have a light ? ) but I'll go along with it. It was that type of day.

Digby NS Day 13 Sept 29

It rained all night and it did not let up all day - and today was Ferry day. Instead of having to travel several hundred miles up the New Brunswick coast and then down into southern into Nova Scotia, the ferry ride is 49 miles across from St John to Digby and takes 3 hours. ( check the blog map) With 20 mph winds I knew that this was going to be fun. We lined up and waited for the Ferry to arrive. Could ALL these vehicles get into this tub. Try 1X18 wheeler, one enormous tour bus, several RV's and dozens of cars . This made Noah look like little league. It seemed he would lose the content as well as the rain contest. It poured. We finally got going. Would you believe that Starbucks made it onto the Acadia Princess. Is their no end to this capitalist - we immediately bought 3 talls , dark roast. ( What is it with this "Tall/Grande/Venti" thing. So bourgeois)They should have put out the "rough roads" sign This time they meant it. Be still my beating heart. What was that noise. Should I tell the captain that we were scraping the bottom. If not we had hit a considerably large object, like a whale. How come they were not handing out life vests. Oh well, the locals seem to be relaxed - still watching the golf. Maybe we were not going to sink after all.We completed the epic voyage and made our way to Jaggers Point, our overnight campsite. I kept my life vest - may need it on the way back.We got an explanation on our beer purchases from Hugh Brown, a genuine Canadian."You can buy beer and liquor at the LCBO and you can only buy beer at the Beer Store, but you can't return your empty wine bottles to the LCBO where you bought them! For that you have to go to the Beer Store" !! Thanks for that Hugh , I think

Cobscook Bay State Park and on to St John NB Canada

Room with a View

Dinner View at Cobscook

Early morning at Cobscook

Colleen & Dirk's Rental RV on left(for P&M)

Outside Cobscook, 24 ft tides...

Much mirth between the girls but wont share?

Canadian Highway

Cobscook State Park Day 11 Sept 27.

Time to hit the road again after a good stay at Bar Harbor. Our destination is Cobscook State Park, about a 100 miles north. This is a "dry" camp site. No WiFi here. We may be lucky to use smoke signals, After all this is northern Maine. Part of the road up here was really rough but no "Rough Road" signs. i guess they feel it could be worse. These are hardy people in this neck of the woods ( is that not a crazy expression - "in this neck of the woods!" Whose neck?We arrived about 1:00 pm No Ranger Bob to meet us -I think tight State Budgets have caused man (and woman) power to be curtailed. ( there is an honor system in place so envelopes are provided to deposit your payment. The daily fee is $19.26.I will easily and conveniently find that 26 cent coin in my pocket)So we set off to find a site. This is really a scenic park with many sites overlooking Whiting bay. This was our choice, a truly beautiful spot. We had dinner watching the moon cast a bead of light across the water . I hope the photograph Dirk has included does justice to this beautiful place.

 

St Johns New Brunswick Canada Day 12 Sept 28.

After the great day and evening at the CobCook site, we were reluctant to leave. This truly is a beautiful park. As we sat around drinking coffee Faye looked admiringly at the Star bucks thermos cup I was using. However we soon discovered that the cup did not come with instructions and was far to technologically advanced for Faye to deal with. You had to lift the spout over, turn the cup 180 degrees and lift. Maybe after a little training ......Well all good things come to an end and we took off for Canada. The Border crossing did not present any problems as we had thought that the mounds of frozen meat and fish we were carrying could be a problem but the border officials could not have been nicer. It could of course have been my charming disposition! We were running short of Charcoal Brickets and singularly the most important provision, Beer . We stopped at a really nice Supermarket. To our surprise, the supermarket did not carry beer or Charcoal They directed us to a store called Canada Tire ! This must be a first. We were going to purchase beer in a tire shop Meanwhile back at the ranch Faye and Colleen could not resist adding to the so far empty basket. On checking out we seemed to have discovered a technical break through. The check out lady directed me to swipe my credit card in an upwards motion rather than the US standard of downward This discovery could reduce the number of swipes you make when using your credit card. On to buying the beer with tires. As for the Charcoal, this is now apparently "out of season". What self respecting male considers 30 F a reason for not cooking out. You cook out in all seasons. I am starting to lose confidence in our northern neighbors .Ok, now what about beer . Well now it appears accents got in the way and we are now directed to a Liquor Store. Another weird thing. To buy beer you have to go into another room that is colder than Antarctica. You have to grab beer, any beer, and exit lest you freeze to death. With all this weirdness, how do they beat us at Hockey..We arrived at our camp site that is more or less like a parking lot - what a transition.Tomorrow the Ferry adventure. Standby for more weirdness. A sail boat possibly with Eskimos ready at the oars?

Bar Harbor Day 10 Sept 26

We woke up to a grey, overcast sky but not enough to deter us. Today was guided tour day and we were going to ride Olly'sTrolly come what may. But first we were going to take a recommendation from Luke and have breakfast at "Cafe This Way" in Bar Harbor. It certainly was worth the early start to the day. Thank you Luke for another good choice.. The tour started with a trip around Bar Harbor and given the history of all the wealthy people who came to the Island and built "cottages", read big houses. The wealthy certainly made a contribution to the development of Bar Harbor and the surrounding area but none more so than a Mr Door who spent most of his fortune and life either buying or cajoling other wealthy people to donate the land that now forms Acadia National Park. We now enjoy this area in no small way due to his efforts. The tour also included a ride to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the tallest in the area but it was more like a VW than than a Cadillac due to the mist. It was a good day and we ended it with a meal from Joe the Lobster Man. We convinced Faye that no effort was spared to bring about a humane end to Larry the lobster so that we may have dinner.

Bar Harbor Day 9 Sept 25th

The Acadia National Park is served by an extensive bus system. We took the bus from our campsite to the Visitor Center, stopping at a few pickups along the way. At the Visitor Center we hopped on a connecting bus. There are several routes you can take, all of which either return to the Visitor Center or to the center of Bar Harbor, called "The Green"(cleverly named as there is green grass in the vicinity). The bus system is "free" Inside the bus their is a notice that reads "To keep it free please consider a donation" So if everyone donated, is this still free. These are waxing questions to ponder. We chose the "Loop" route, which as the name implies, loops around the island After a few stops, we hopped off at "Sandy Beach" and hiked to the next stop. For this time of year there were a good number of visitors, many who were foreign. It was a good day. At the entrance of the KOA office and shop, there was this sign: "Clothes. Take 50% off" Was this an offer or an instruction? Any way, I kept mine on.

Bar Harbor Day 8 Sept 24

Bar Harbor was the next destination and we left it to Marilyn the GPS to get us there. Mistake.!! At the slightest provocation, she will take you where brave men fear to tread. She decided that the route would include every back road between Pemaquid and Bar Harbor. Blondes have a way of their own.We arrived at the Bar Harbor KOA and were immediately met by the KOA Nazi. She had us standing in a straight line, credit cards at the ready and "no talking " . Oh those pesky customers. They can be so difficult. Imagine asking questions. The temerity of it all. We were then handed over to the guide who leads you to your site in a golf cart, normal KOA practice. Except in this case the guide was fortunate to be driving a golf cart because he would surely not be age and / or sight eligible for a auto. Thank goodness for our very own traffic co-ordinator Colleen took over and guided. Crashes into the nearby trees and RV's were averted. As is our habit, we took a walk around the park. We came across Joe the Lobster man. Maine is well known for its Lobster and everywhere you go you can find this delicacy. Joe the Lobster man made the mistake of telling Faye that the Lobsters demise comes via a pot of boiling water. She is now working on creating the Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Lobsters.Tomorrow we will start exploring Acadia National Park, the most popular National Park in the country.
PS, Explanation of RV facilities for South African readers. The RV has holding tanks for fresh water, grey water(shower basins) and black water(use your imagination). There is a control panel that displays the level of the tanks. We were particularly bemused by the fact that the black water tank gauge is graduated in thurds ie 1/3 2/3 3/3.