Our day today was mostly about travelling back to Nova Scotia, but this time to the north and Cape Breton National Park. Throughout the journey north we were repeatedly drawn to commenting about the incredible autumnal displays even though this is apparently still 'too early for the trees'. As we entered the park in search of our hotel for the next two nights we found ourselves stopping again and again to grab shots of the natural beauty around us.
On arrival at our hotel we were really pleased with the superb quality of the room and the location, our own private beach was icing on the cake of this delightful place, if you find yourself seeking accommodation in Cape Breton National Park then take a look at Lantern Hill and Hollow, specifically the white sands guest suite on the upper floor. On the recommendation of the owner of Lantern Hill we made the very short journey to Keltic Lodge for our dinner and some 'entertainment' for the evening. It was fantastic, we had some wonderful food and spent 4 hours talking and listening to a Dublin born singer called Fran Doyle, it was a wonderful evening and a great way to introduce ourselves to Cape Breton. The main image below is one that really grabbed the attention due to the straight line of colour change on a tree seen on the opposite side of a lake as we drove by. The smaller images below are not captioned as they are just more of the same, click the first to see larger views of this wonderful 'early' foliage.
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We awoke this morning to grey skies overhead but it didn't change our plans for the day. We made the short drive north from our hotel in Charlottetown to Prince Edward Island National Park which is a beautiful sand spit protruding into the Gulf of St Lawrence. Even though the wind was howling and the sea spray billowing up in the air we took a walk on the boardwalk, through the dunes and along the beach. We then travelled further into the park and did it all again on a different beach.
After leaving the park we took the Gulf Shore Parkway coastal road east calling in at numerous places along the way. We saw a guy kite surfing in St Peters Bay when we stopped to walk to the lighthouse there. No ice cream from the harbour store though as it (like many others now) is closed for the season. We stopped again at Greenwich just north of St Peters Bay and made a short hike along the shore to see the mussel beds, we had hoped to see the mussel farmers actually working but they were not out when we visited. We moved on to Shipwreck Point close to the town of Naufrage before enjoying a scenic drive all the way to the easternmost point of the island, aptly named East Point. Here the waters of Northumberland Strait meet the Gulf of St Lawrence and the resulting maelstrom throws waves in all directions, the main image below shows the meeting place with Northumberland Strait on the left of the shot and the Gulf of St Lawrence on the right. We had lunch in the cafe at East Point before following the coastline once more to Souris where we called in at the gift shop and ascended the lighthouse there. We then continued along the coast to Georgetown before turning west and returning to the British fish and chip shop in Charlottetown for dinner. It was a fantastic day on this beautiful island, but we will be leaving here tomorrow to make the long drive to Cape Breton Highlands National Park in the far north of Nova Scotia. There is no internet access in our hotel there, so there will be no update on the blog for 3 days, by which time we should have made the journey, explored the park, hiked the skyline trail and returned to the town of Sydney on the north east coast of Nova Scotia where, if time allows, I will update the blog on the wonders of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. We left New Brunswick this morning and headed north-east toward Prince Edward Island. After an hour driving and just before crossing Northumberland Strait via Confederation Bridge we stopped off at Cape Jourimain National Wildlife Area and stretched our legs. It provided some areas to view Confederation Bridge and a nice little 3 km hike to an old disused lighthouse.
After crossing the bridge we stopped again at the welcome centre and picked up a few maps, we also found another great place to get more shots of Confederation Bridge. We took a lovely drive across the island stopping for lunch along the way. Then we went to 'Green Gables' to wander the location that inspired L M Montgomery to create the little orphan redhead 'Anne of Green Gables' which Sarah loved when she was younger. From Green Gables we moved on to the Gulf Shore Parkway which hugs the northern coast of PEI and stopped off at viewpoints and beaches along the way, we took a paddle in the Gulf of St Lawrence and visited North Rustico Harbour before heading back to Charlottetown to our hotel where we will stay for 2 nights. The main shot below is of Confederation Bridge snaking across Northumberland Strait from its northern shore (PEI end) click smaller images below for captioned slideshow. We left our hotel in Halifax this morning and made the 3 hour drive inland to 'The Rocks' Provincial Park on the northern shore of the Bay of Fundy in beautiful New Brunswick. We stopped en route to have dinner in Moncton before making the final short leg to the park along a road surrounded by incredible autumnal colour. The Bay of Fundy has National Parks, UNESCO sites, national historical sites, provincial parks, and provincial museums and has the world’s greatest tides (recognised by the Guinness Book of Records) with a tidal range between 47.5 and 53.5 feet.
Known as Hopewell Rocks the park we chose has a number of short trails and a couple of beaches allowing us to paddle in the murky waters of the bay. We met a park ranger from Surrey in England and talked about the location and the difference in lifestyle between the UK and Canada. We did cheat a little on the hiking front by taking a short ride up a steep hill on the back of a golf buggy and sampled a tasty blueberry beer and hotdog to finish the tour of the park. We returned to Moncton for a steak dinner and hotel for one night as we will be moving on to Prince Edward Island tomorrow. The 'Sunburst' image below was taken by Sarah at the base of Hopewell Rocks. Click the small images below for larger captioned versions. Sarah and I headed out east for her birthday this year. After opening her presents a day early we flew out to Halifax, Nova Scotia on Thursday 25th September to begin our whistle stop tour of the area. Our first night was simply a case of settling in to the hotel in downtown Halifax (overlooking the harbour) then walking to a lovely waterside restaurant for supper.
This morning (the official birthday) we first walked up to Fort George which sits at the summit of Citadel Hill just a few hundred metres from the hotel, we looked around the battlements and saw some impressive displays from the guards there before walking back to the town clock which has stood for over 200 years. After that we drove for 30 minutes south for a short hike to Pollys Cove which is an idyllic spot just 3 km north of its famous neighbour, Peggys Cove. Both are equally worthy of a visit. Pollys Cove is undisturbed and entirely natural, huge glacial boulders sit perched where they were deposited by retreating glaciers. We had a wonderful time hiking through and around them, we found a perfect little cove with a white sand beach where we paddled in the freezing North Atlantic waters. While paddling we found shoals of fish, hermit crabs, anemones and sea snails and best of all we had the entire place to ourselves. After spending almost 2 hours wandering without disturbance from others we returned to the car and continued for the short journey to the incredibly picturesque village of Peggys Cove. The small harbour, lighthouse and gift shops were all heavily crowded with tourists who arrived by the bus load but it didn't detract too much from the wonder of this fantastic little village. While eating lunch in a restaurant overlooking the sea we saw a whale repeatedly surfacing and occasionally breaching just out of the window. After lunch we explored the rocks around the lighthouse and found some more stunning photo locations, the image directly below is my favourite of the day but we found many great shots during the day. At 4:30 pm we returned to Halifax and strolled on the boardwalk along the waterfront trying to make sure we didn't miss anything before we head out tomorrow for the next leg of our whistle stop tour. Click the smaller images below for larger pics with captions. Cecil and I set out to explore the South Ghost today, we set out with no real target in mind and just followed the trail, when the trail ran out we improvised with some fun scrambling up two steep rocky slopes. Ultimately we made a nice summit and covered 10 km in glorious sunshine. The last 2 km heading back to the truck was made at double speed to beat a huge storm that was moving in, we made it to the truck just as the rain arrived, a perfect end to a perfect day. The gallery below shows a few shots from the day.
I thought the birds were hammering the sunflower seeds that hang below the feeder because winter is on the way. This morning I found the culprit on the railing looking right at me as he enjoyed one of those delicious seeds, the short video below shows how he does it. We set out to find a little autumnal colour this weekend by returning to a less popular spot we have visited several times. Jumpingpound Trail has a good amount of Aspen trees along it's 12.5km length so it was likely to meet our needs as well as being quieter than the Elbow or Kananaskis trails on a weekend. Even though the snow last week killed the lower plants that normally provide the red and orange ground cover we saw some wonderful Aspens showing against a perfect blue sky. There are no captions in the gallery below as they are not needed, click any image to begin the slideshow.
I took Cecil on the 10.6 mile (17 km) circuit of Upper Kananaskis Lake today, we dodged the rain for the most part and gathered some lovely shots of this incredible location. There's no wonder Sarah and I still call this our favourite place out here.
It's hard to believe how time passes, the long winter, extended trips to the US and UK and some minor surgery have conspired to keep me away from the mountain tops for almost a year. I finally got out there again, choosing wisely to ease myself back into it. Mt Lipsett is a wonderful peak that overlooks Highwood Pass (the highest paved mountain pass in Canada) The summit views are, as always, beautiful. Click here to see the full report and pics.
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AuthorWe arrived in Calgary, Canada on 29th December 2011 to continue our journey. This blog is intended to keep our family and friends informed whilst we explore Canada.You can use the RSS feed below to stay updated. Categories
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The Shaman, West Texas
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