Bonjour , Quebec!

Its a funny thing...

 Before we left on this journey, when people found out we would be travelling through Quebec, they would say " but you hardly know any french! "  Even in New  Brunswick, a few people there were mildly surprised we would be travelling the roads less travelled through the province, before hitting up some of the bigger cities. This, I admit, made me slightly nervous. Which, in hindsight, is incredibly silly. I've travelled through Paris and Belgium and managed fine on my limited grasp of the french language... why should Quebec be any different?

Much to our collective relief, it isn't, and perhaps even better. There are some places in Quebec, along the Gaspe peninsula for instance, where english is hard to come by, and one campsite in particular where we struggled through my french to find enough words to enquire about the price and availability of a campsite, ( quel est le prix du camping pour un nuit? )  only to be told at the end of the conversation, " your french is good. "  The test has been passed, the fear abated. Welcome, to Quebec.

We spent our first few days in Quebec exploring the Gaspe peninsula, a myriad of small towns dotting an extensive and very nice shoreline, before slowly making our way up to Baie St Paul. It's lovely here, a beautiful town full of galleries, a huge church in the center, ( Rob played a gig here last year with his bandmates.) and a most excellent microbrewery. The campsite we stayed at here, Balcon Verte, offered a fantastic hilltop view of the city, and thanks to the offerings of a fellow camper, some really good croissants for breakfast!

From Baie St Paul, we meandered oour way up through Taddossac to Saguenay national park, through Stoneham and into Quebec city.

Quebec city, is amazing. Huge , historical, and very beautiful. We toured through old town for one very hot afternoon, perusing the shops and admiring the architecture before stopping in at Sacrilege bar, for a pint of Cheval Blanc and a rest on one of the nicest patios in Canada. We also stopped in to visit Bernard, the proprieter of a jazz bar that Rob met through one of his bandmates last year, and caught up on some of the stories and tales of Quebec city, and the jazz bar itself. ( Bernard has owned this establlishment for the last 40 years... )

Onward from Quebec city, we stopped to catch our breath and do some hiking through La Mauricie national park, and then it was off to Montreal for a couple days of exploration, shopping, viewtop lookouts, and catch up with our friend William, whom we would like to thank along with his lovely lady Marie, for the excellent dinner and fabulous company!!!!!

Montreal is a really great blend of old and new, with some amazing galleries, and spectacular views. We both are rather enamoured with the architecture here, and I especially love the winding metal staircases that lead up to so many of the apartments around the city...

One thing for certain, Quebec has made us want to become fluent in our french, and most defiinately come back for a visit!!!

  And so, our adventure continues, onward to Ottawa, and a completion of our tour of Ontario!

                 Until the next post, C & R.

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and revisiting New Brunswick.

A small confession here, we did spend the better part of  three days in Cape Breton before our journey to Newfoundland, and continued our travels through Cape Breton and the Cabot trail upon our return, but I thought I would do the whole of this part of Nova Scotia in one uninterrupted blog.

 So! We managed to get a fair amount done in those first three days before our break to Newfoundland. Spending our first evening at Battery provincial park, overlooking the Atlantic coastline and Bras d'Or lake, was a good way to relax before our business needs the next day.

Business needs , you say? In a manner of speaking, yes. We have, up to this point, traveled some rather rough roads, and in anticipation of Newfoundlands roads, ( they did not disappoint! )we decided to head off into Sydney for a much needed tire alignment, rotation, and oil change...

During this time while we awaited the completion of Sir Vanagons spa treatment, we took advantage of the loaner car the company gave  us and set off in search  of lunch and used book stores, both of which were aquired in short and satisfying order!

 Sir Vanagons spa day completed, we were off to do a trip through  Glace bay, and then off to Mira park for a few nights of camping and stray cat friend making, ( Rob had to restrain himself from smuggling him in the van with him, it made such an impression! ) before we were off on our 16 hour ferry ride to Newfoundland!

Returning from Newfoundland to Cape Breton was a much shorter affair, only a 6 hour ride, and at our 4am departure time, allowed us leave for a short nap and some dolphin watching  along the trip. Arriving once again in Sydney, we made our way to the nearest picnic park for a much needed 2 hour nap before starting our tour of the Cabot Trail.

We began our tour with a trip into the town of Ingonish, for groceries and various supplies before heading to Broad Cove for an evenings worth of camping, and continued on through the next morning, stopping in at Neils harbour, Pleasant bay, Cheticamp, and lastly Mabou, ( home of the Red Shoe pub, owned by the famous Rankin family. ) all along the way admiring the views and calm weather.

 Back out of the park, we camped out for an evening at Caribou - Munroes provincial park, before heading into Amherst for more supplies, and making our way back into New Brunswick and Kouchibouguac national park.Here, we found a most excellent, ( and cheap! ) campspot, nestled in the trees and right on the ocean, and being that we arrived on the first day of lobster season here... found myself wishing desperately for a big enough pot!!! Two glorious nights, two most excellent thunderstorms, ( there is something to be said for washing your hair in the rain... ) and we're off again. .. back to the Fundy coast to explore the Hopewell rocks. A beautiful hike, a sunshiney day, and a walk on the ocean floor... where once there was 46 meters of water, when the tide goes out, the island bases are exposed, and you are free to wander amongst them until the tide comes back to claim them 6 hours later. ( A very cool experience! )

Fredericton was our last big town stop in New Brunswick, a quaint university town full of culture, good  breakfast, scenic views, and good bookstores... and as I type this we are very near the Quebec border, at Sugarloaf provincial park. ( Mountain bikers take note... you should come to this park!!!!! Its defiinately catering to you... lifts up the mountain, killer trails and jumps... you know you wanna.... )

 And so, until the  next blog...

                     Carla, Rob, and Sir V.

On blogging, and Newfoundland

I have discovered, since beginning this travel blog of ours, that several things can make a blog difficult to write. One, is when  your computer battery is running low, with no means at that moment to remedy it, and instead of saving it and finishing it later, you blast through it to beat the battery. The other, is when the place of which  you are attempting to write about is so vast, so alien, you are rendered temporarily speechless, and rather inept at writing about the place in question. ...

Upon reflection of my last post, I felt that I had to write in a few more  details about Newfoundland, as this blog is as much for you to know what we are up to on our  trip, as it is for us to look back on and remember what it was that we did.

But how to put it into words?? As Rob likes to say, Newfoundland is " a rugged beauty. " And to be sure, it is. Giant ocean carved cliffs, low lying , wind swept barrens, stunted little pine trees, looking for all the world like mutated bonsai, only to be discovered that, in fact, some of these trees are indeed over 300 years old....

.. People out in the vast barrens and bogs, hunting for the tart cloudberry, ( also known as bakeapple, ) small vegetable patches on the side of the highway, miles from the nearest town, ( and lovingly tended to by people from miles around in the northern parts of the island, ....)

 Small villages and houses, haphazardly built up among the rocks and cliffs that dominate this island, seeming to sprout up from the ground itself, lakes and ponds, lined with rocks that almost look as though they have been placed by hand, forming a natural frame around the waters edges.

Gusting winds and fog, and if we were there at the right time of year, bergy bits and growlers.

I suppose, in essence, this short blog is more of a feel of Newfoundland, rather than descriptions of more of what we did there, but its really that part of it that I don't want to forget. And now that I have this small blurb committed to memories both mine, and the internets, I feel its safe to continue on the blogging journey.

 Thanks for reading, and continue on, for the marvelous adventure is not over yet. ...

               C & R.

Puffins, root cellars, and vikings! Oh my!

When last we left you, we were happily ensconced in the revelry that is St. Johns. A wonderfully colorful and busy city here in Newfoundland. From there, it was off to Tera Nova national park, and then onward to the Bonavista peninsula, and the village of Eliston, root cellar capital of Canada, and home to hundreds of Puffins!!!!  Puffins are very cute, small, ( 11 inches in height,) and look like tiny wind up toys when flying.  Well accustomed to tourists, the puffins did not dissapoint, flying back and forth from their nesting cliffs in the ocean, to our vantage point on the rocks only to land mere feet in front of us, and allowing for some excellent photo oppertunities.

 Having had our fill  of  puffin viewing, we ventured up to Twillingate for some most excellent coffee at the Crows nest cafe, viewed some minke whales in  the distance, and meandered our way up to Gros Morne national park for our first glimpses of this gorgeous place.

Gros Morne national park, is , in a word, Impressive. The landscape shifts and changes as you travel through the park, beginning with the Tablelands, golden yellow rocky mountains.. known as periodite rock, it lays deep in the earth and was pushed up to the surface by tectonic forces millions of years ago, to westernbrook pond, a huge glacier carved fjord with sides 2000 feet high. We took a 2 1/2 hour boat tour here, both informative and beautiful! We stayed at a couple of campsites in the park, Trout river, by the tablelands, and Shallow bay, near the other end of the park, and a personal favourite, with huge sanddune beaches and warm ocean waters.

Next up? pull out your battleaxe... its of to L'Anse aux Meadows, a tiny fishing village as north as you can get in Newfoundland. This place was amazing to visit, the first viking settlement in North America, ( 1000ad. ) and you can still see the grassy mounds in the earth where once there were sod  houses and a forge. They have reproduced replicas of what it would have looked like at the time near the actual site itself, complete with costumed and wild bearded actors who give you a thorough rundown on the history of the ancient greenlanders and icelanders led by Lief Erikson. ( My norse blood was singing a happy tune in this place... )

Last but not least, it was back down to Cornerbrook, and a happy night of camping with my aunt and uncle who happened to be visiting the rock at the same time as us, before we settled in  at Port au Basque for a couple nights of lazy camping before catching the 4am ferry back to Nova Scotia. ( Cape Breton bound! )

 We have seen so much on the rock during our three week exploration here... lighthouses, whales, moose in the fog, puffins, gorgeous senic views from lowgrounds to towering cliffs... its difficult to put it properly into words.....

 Thankyou again, to  Leisha, for making us feel at home, to the strangers at the Ship pub, for buying us a round and sharing in good conversation, to Big bear and Grey owl for making us laugh, to my Auntie Carol and Uncle Dave, for making us dinner and sharing a good night of camping, and to Newfoundland., for making this visit, I think, the first of several visits we will make to this awsome place.

Onward to the Cabot Trail, and a continuation of our Nova Scotian explorations....

 Until next time, C, R, & Sir Vanagon.