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Published: June 11th 2023
Marg offered to take us out to see some beaches within easy access of her house, although she did comment that as it was cool and cloudy it wasn’t really beach weather. We didn’t mind that at all! Susan wanted to cook us a lobster dinner this evening though, so before we went beaching we popped into the local seafood store a few minutes from the house. We asked for 3 live lobsters which would live in the fridge for the next few hours. I thought he’d put 4 in the bag and queried it, but he confirmed after a quick peek that there were indeed 3 lobsters in there.
Once they were safely stored Marg drove us over one of the suspension bridges to Dartmouth on the south side of the basin. We then headed to Lawrencetown Beach, about 30 minutes from home. As we got nearer the visibility deteriorated with mist hanging over the lakes and roads. Once we’d parked we walked over the sea defences to the beach to be faced with a bank of sea fog rather than the beautiful view Marg had hoped to show us. This area is known as a good place to
surf, and there were lessons in progress in the shallow water near the beach. The water was quite calm with only small breaking waves so I’m not sure how much practice the students would have managed.
We spent a few minutes searching for a couple of caches, and were lucky enough to find them, then drove towards Conrod’s Beach a few minutes away. The roads were quite smaller today, rather like the normal A roads in the UK, and as yesterday, wound between lakes and wetlands.
When we arrived in the small carpark overlooking a misty lake there was a fine drizzle falling, so coats went on. We walked to the end of the boardwalk snaking towards us to the beach (failing to find a cache on the way) to be faced with another bank of sea fog. After contemplating the wall of grey fog for a few minutes I headed off across the scrubland to find a cache hidden in a small tree standing by itself and sheltered by the dunes. I was successful! Susan and Marg didn’t fancy crossing the scrub so waited on the path, but by the time I returned to them the drizzle
had increased and they wanted to go back to the car rather than wait for me to look for another cache. Hard to believe, I know!
We carried on to Fisherman’s Cove, a lovely little community with a couple of restaurants and many cute wooden huts selling seaside souvenirs, clothing, pet ‘stuff’ and ice creams. We went into the restaurant and all order chowder for lunch. As Marg was driving, Susan and I ordered a beer and a cider respectively. I was a little surprised to find that my cider looked like cider but tasted like beer. We queried it with the waitress who took it away and brought me back a glass which had very similar looking contents, but this time tasted like cider. It was the first Canadian cider I’d had and would definitely have another.
We argued over who was going to pay for lunch, and on this occasion Marg won. We then explored the little huts and I bought Marg a Death by Chocolate ice cream, while I had a black cherry one. I’ve been rating the ice creams I’ve had over the last few days, all cherry flavoured, and this one was definitely
the best; previous ones have scored 6-7/10, but this one was a good 9/10!
Opposite the huts were a few marquees and advertising for a lobster fest. If only we’d known before we’d bought the lobsters for tonight! There was also a piper dressed in a kilt and sporran, with his bag under his arm. I must admit that I’m not a fan of bagpipes.
There’s a boardwalk here, taking you round a short loop of environmentally sensitive ground and giving a view of Lawlor Island, and further out, the North Atlantic Ocean to the south. Looking to the north-west, Fisherman’s Cove is backed by the skyline of Halifax in the distance; a quaint little town overlooked by high-rise and modern buildings, with huge container ships between. As we wandered around the loops we heard a bird that none of us recognised and which had a beautiful and distinct song. My Bird Nerd app told us it was a common nightingale, although the app did warn us that it was only accurate for North European birds, so maybe not! As we finished the loop a group of around 6 men, all dressed identically and with a couple of
photographers appeared. We guessed they were the male part of a wedding party, and Susan and I had a look around for the bride to advise her against making any promises and to offer her a lift to somewhere else. Anywhere else! Unfortunately she wasn’t yet anywhere to be seen. I did manage to bag another cache on the loop, although Marg and I failed to find the one at the nearby church.
The final place we visited today was Point Pleasant Park, a lovely park right next to the Halifax ship yards. Look one way and you see sea, green trees, trails, chipmunks and squirrels, while the other way you see massive ships, warehouses, shipping containers and fences. I must say that I noticed the strongest odour of cannabis so far as we walked along the path, and as we wandered back to the car a group of young men carrying supplies of alcoholic drinks passed us in the other direction. It seems like a party park!
We did manage to get a three more caches here, the last one being on the edge of the beach where we met a couple of women enjoying the view
The middle one's the cider.
Susan’s beer is on the left and Marg's water on the right.and who were quite interested in what we were doing.
Once home, Susan took charge of the lobsters while Marg cooked asparagus and potatoes to accompany them. A decadent dinner was soon on the table and enjoyed by all. Strangely, the 3 lobsters were indeed 4, and as David isn’t keen on them and had trout instead, there was a lobster left over which Susan took upon herself to devour. It was a delicious but quite messy meal!
As we had an early start in the morning to catch our 07:55 flight to Calgary I decided to have turn in fairly soon after dinner, leaving Susan and Marg to reminisce and chat in peace over a couple of glasses of wine.
We made it to the airport in good time, dropped Gwyn back to the car rental place and flew through security – apart from my tablet being swabbed for illicit substances, which of course weren’t present!
As I type this we’re part way through our flight which has been quite bumpy in places. We’ll be collecting a new car shortly after landing...
...ok, we’ve landed after a fairly uneventful flight. Apart from the two
girls next to me chatting constantly or snoring while they dozed, the turbulence and the hard and very fast landing there’s nothing really to report.
The faint smell of smoke was noticeable just before landing. Not because of a problem with the plane, but because of the wild fires that have been ravaging Alberta for the past few weeks. There are currently 77 active fires, with 23 burning out of control, 19 being held and 36 under control. As we left the terminal building I could feel the tang of the acrid smoke in my throat and the smell became stronger. There was a grey haze across the sky and down to the tops of the buildings.
We’ve crossed three time zones today, and although we were up at 05:30, took off at 08:00 and have flown for around 4½ hours, it’s now around 09:30 Alberta time.
We picked up our silverish coloured Toyota Corolla, 2021 with 59982 on the clock. We’ve called her Megan because her registration starts with ME6. We hit the highway towards Blackfalds, about 90 minutes away. Blackfalds is a small town with a population of around 10,500. The town used to be
called Waghorn after a postmaster, but was changed to Blackfalds in 1903 after a Scottish hamlet of the same name.
The highway is flat and wide, just like the surrounding countryside. There are far fewer trees and lakes here than we’ve seen over the last week or so, and the fields are massively hugely large! The flat landscape disappeared into the grey haze of the smoke in the distance. There are lots of large farms dotted along the highway, with substantial grain stores and thousands of bales of straw and hay. We also saw some cattle grazing, some Charolais on a beef farm and Friesians on a dairy farm. I spotted some miniature ponies too – cute!
We drove through the town of Red Deer which is known for being one of Canada’s most entrepreneurial cities. It hosts Gasoline Alley, a community with high growth and business diversity. The large Harley-Davidson store can be seen from the highway, although only one passed us as we headed north. However we did see quite a few large RVs (caravans) being pulled by the huge 4x4 trucks. When I say large, they dwarfed the trucks and wouldn’t have fitted into most
UK caravan parks. I guess as it’s Sunday they’re heading home after the weekend. We also saw an unmarked police vehicle with its lights flashing driving behind a car in the fast lane – it didn’t pull the car though, it moved quickly to the outside lane and took the slip road off the highway; we were hoping for a bit of excitement!
Shortly afterwards we pulled up outside the house of Marg and Warren where we’re staying tonight – yes, I only had to remember one name! Marg in Blackfalds is Susan’s friend Maureen’s sister – you will have read about Maureen a few days ago. Marg also loves crafts, and they live in a lovely home overlooking Centennial Park where geese and ducks inhabit the lake and surrounding ground. After a delicious sandwich we wandered round the lake, cooing over the goslings, and introduced Marg to caching – who’d have guessed?? The smoky haze is clearing, the sun is trying hard to put his hat on, and a couple of dogs were mating in one of the gardens.
When we got back Marg made me a pot of delicious tea, and Susan went for a nap.
I’m signing off for now. Marg’s daughter and her family are coming for dinner. Susan’s just up from her nap, and I’m going to relax and socialise.
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