Nova Scotia & New Brunswick

After disembarking from the ferry on Friday, we drove a couple of hours before crashing and then finished the drive to Halifax on Saturday. Doug’s father actually lives in Lower Sackville. We stayed here until Sunday the 21^st. Doug flew to LA on the 15^th and returned on the 19^th. Fran hung around with Andy and his wife Susan. Susan and Fran walked every day and most days took Andy for a drive in the afternoon. One of the days we drove to Peggy’s Cove which is a really pretty and iconic spot.

The day after Doug got back his sister, Dawna Lee and her family came to the apartment for dinner and we had an enjoyable evening having pizza and ice cream and playing Crazy Eights with her and her husband, John, and their kids, Samara (10) and Seth (7).

We left on Sunday morning and headed south east to Kejimkujik National Park – the seaside adjunct and hiked to the shore which is beautiful. We saw many shore birds and over a dozen harbour seals sunning on the rocks. In the late afternoon we headed inland to the main part of the park and did a hike and camped at a trail head. We had hoped to canoe but the rain started so we postponed that. It rained all night but by morning it had stopped. We rented a canoe and went down the Mersey River until it got too shallow and then turned around and entered the lake for a little bit. It got quite windy so we didn’t hang out there too long. It was very peaceful on the river and the sun came out for a while showing off the beginnings of the fall colours.

It had been getting quite cool in Halifax with one morning at almost freezing (!) but Sunday it warmed up and it was actually kinda muggy. Monday we hit 24C (78F) and it was sunny as headed north again.

We began the drive to our last Canadian province on this trip: New Brunswick. We drove along the north shore of Nova Scotia passing through Doug’s birthplace, Middleton in the Annapolis Valley and nearby Windsor, which is the birthplace of Canada’s sport: hockey. It was a gorgeous day along a scenic road often near the water where the highest tides in the world take place: Bay of Fundy. Timing did not work out for us to stop at the interpretive centre but we have been to the Bay many times on the New Brunswick side.

Tuesday morning we got up early to see low tide at Five Islands Provincial Park but that was a joke as there is very little signage at the park and obviously we were there before any park staff arrived. A little further down the road, we stopped at Five islands Lighthouse Park and got spectacular views of low tide and the five islands, one of which has a round arch in it. Again Tuesday was lovely and sunny but cooler than the day before. We have not been impressed with the Nova Scotia tourism board; their guide books give little help in finding places referenced in their book or enough detail to allow you to make an informed decision about whether or not to make the stop. NFLD’s book was super helpful so we got spoiled.

We made it to Moncton, mid morning and Doug joined a former colleague from his Delcan Canada days, Serge, for lunch after which we headed to another former colleague, Hartley, for dinner with him and his wife – it was their 36^th wedding anniversary. We were overfed and had a nice evening. We slept in Tigger parked in their driveway that night.

Wednesday we made it to Fredericton where Fran joined some former colleagues from Cox & Palmer (formerly CHOM) for a nice lunch with seven lovely ladies. Later that afternoon, Fran caught up with our friend Rose Green, while Doug visited with another former Fredericton colleague, Bob and his wife, Yvonne. That evening we visited with a scouting colleague, another Bob, or a few beers.

New Brunswick was lovely with the beginnings of fall foliage and the sky was clear but the mornings were cold. It was 3C (38F) in Moncton and 7C (44F)! brrrrrrrr – time to head south! : )

So our Great Canadian Road Trip is over: