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Published: September 9th 2010
Hartland N.B
Longest covered bridge in the worldSo Wecolme back to our amazing adventure. We left off last time when Rene and I were on our way to the Maritimes.
August 28, 2010 we rode from Riviere du Loup on to New Brunswick. Amanda had e-mailed us to tell us to check out a
place called Hopewell Rocks. We thought we would probably camp somewhere along the way and make it there the
following morning. On our way to Hopewell Rocks we took a little back road that took us along the river. In Hartland New Brunswick we came across the "Longest covered Bridge in the World". The bridge is 1282 feet long. What a cool and unexpected discovery. Well we got going after the bridge and there really wasn't a ton of stuff to see on the way, so we ended up carrying on and making it straight through to Hopewell Cape. Now we don't travel much in the dark, but sometimes things just work out that way and we found Hopewell Cape finally at about 9:00 pm. Found a campsite at a place called Chocolate River Motel and Campground. Since it was dark already and we were road weary, we set up camp, rode back
Hartland N.B
Side view of the Longest Covered Bridge in the World into town for some groceries and went to bed. Lots of mosquitos there and I spent the first 10 minutes of being inside the tent killing mosquitos before they found me.
August 29, 2010 we woke up early because the sun was shining brightly in our tent. We have abandoned the tent fly
lately as it makes the tent SOOOO moist and hot inside with it on. It is less physical coverage of course without the fly,
but no worries. No one seems to be too excited to look inside our tent. Anyway that morning we are off to explore
the Hopewell Rocks. Hopewell Rocks is on the Bay of Fundy and claims some of the worlds largest tides. 100 billion tons of water (can't even imagine that much water) fill this basin 2 times daily. It is the gravitational pull of the moon and stars and the unique shape of the bay that combine to create tides from 32 to 46 feet. The tide this morning was the lowest at 9:37 am and the highest at 3:41 pm. We spent virtually all day exploring the rocks. Some look like flower pots, others are caves and there is one
that looks like an arch. When we first got there at 9:37 we could walk a long ways, about 1.5 kms on the ocean floor. Walking in and around, over and under the rocks. Then at about 1:30 the park staff shoo'ed everyone off the ocean floor as the tides were on their way in and no one could be on ground level. For the next couple of hours we watched the tides rise and rise. It truly was amazing to watch how fast the tide was coming in. Tides the height of a four story building rise 6 to 8 vertical feet per hour. At 3:41 pm the tides had risen 36 feet!!! Simply astonishing!!! So incredible to watch and be part of.
After watching the tides we took off to check out yet another tourist site, called Cape Enrage. This is another
beautiful spot on the cliffs of the Bay of Fundy. Cape Enrage got it's name for the turbulent waters that pass over the reef. The lighthouse,there is one of the oldest in New Brunswick, there are some beautiful trails, a restaurant , you can go rappelling and gift shop there. Amazing views of the Bay.
We
Hopewell Rocks
Wedding Arch at lowest tide jumped back on the bike and were off to a little fishing village called Alma. On our way there we stopped at a
little winery. The couple that own and operate this little venture make great wine from blueberries and another
wine from ruhbarb. It was Yummy, so we bought a bottle of ruhbarb wine to enjoy with one of the fine gourmet meals
we make while camping.(tee hee) Off to explore Alma. Alma is just a couple of streets that have unique fishing
crafts and some resturants that serve great seafood. We were told by the wine maker lady that we should definitey
stop and have a bowl of seafood chowder from Harbour Cafe. She informed us this was the place the locals go to
eat. Well we were not disappointed!! The bowl of chowder was huge and had every kind of seafood we could think of
in it and to top it off a freshly baked bun with butter. Mmm, Mmm, Mmm. The boats in the Marina looked like they were stuck in the mud because the tide was out. No one going anywhere in those boats until the water returns. Looks so funny to see the boats
Hopewell Rocks
Flower pots at low tide all tilted in the muck.Back to our campsite for the night, to look at pictures and reminse about our day. When we got back we went to the washroom and there in both the men's and the women's washrooms were loads of folks, old and young washing reddish mud off themselves in the shower and with the garden hose. It seems that when the tide is low, the locals go mud sliding. I asked one of the young gals there, who was absolutley covered in this red muck, how it was and she excitedly told me how much fun it was. She said it was like slipping and sliding in chocolate pudding. AHHH--- I now know where the name Chocolate River comes from. Anyway, I was crazy jealous because that looked like something I would love to do!!! It sounds like I might even get a chance soon. When Amanda, Kyle and Natalie come to Nova Scotia, the Tates and us are hoping to go Tidalbore rafting??? It sounds like some sort of white water rafting adventure with some unique add ons because of the tides and mud. Sounds like crazy fun!!! We'll tell you more about that later. Fell
Hopewell Rocks
Standing on the ocean floor at low tide into bed again, exhausted from a fascinating day of adventure.
August 30, 2010. We headed towards Prince Edward Island. We rode along the Northumberland Straits towards PEI.
Another great ride with sea wind and salt air blowing in our hair. We arrived at the Confederation Bridge. This bridge
is awesome. The curved, 12.9 kilometre (8 mile) long bridge is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water,(not today though) and a decade after its construction, it endures as one of Canada’s top engineering achievements of the 20th century. It is soooo windy. Fun though. Over the bridge and there we were in PEI. Confederation Bridge is a toll bridge, but they don't charge anyone to come onto the island, they get you when you leave!!. PEI is a very interesting island. About 150,000 people inhabit this little island. It doesn't appear there are too many huge untouched spaces, but maybe there is more off the beaten path. It is an island with lots of dairy farms, red soil potatoe farms, beautiful red sandy beaches, miles and miles of coastline, tons of vacation cottages, loads of artists shops selling everything from plastic lobsters to fine crafted pottery,(Steve, you would never
get Sue off this island!!) rolling hills and HUGE unique wooden churches. Yes.. HUGE wooden churches. We can't imagine what it would be like it ever there was a fire in one of these churches. It would be gone in minutes. We took our time getting to Charolottetown, the capital of PEI and the place where our hostel is. Found our hostel in the downtown core. They were ready for us, so we unloaded our bags and got comfy. Another hostel in an old historic home. We settled ourselves in and went to investigate the sights and sounds of the city. Lots of old beautiful homes and of course a harbour,with a marina, a yacht club, resturants, and souvneir shops. Good thing we don't have room to carry stuff, because there are so many cool things to purchase. While we unloading our gear, we met one of the hostel neighbours. She told us she was having a birthday party for her 6 year old son that evening in the park and begged us to come. Her son, she said, had to have an emergency appendectomy 4 years ago and long story short,(we got the lonnnnng version) things went wrong and
Hopwell Rocks
Tide coming in he was in hospital for months on life support and the medical community thought he was not going to live. So this party was a special party and could we please come. Kinda awkward, but how could we say no. We did go for about an hour. We blew up ballons, played with the kids, sang happy birthday and excused ourselves. Did some more exploring and off to bed.
August 31, 2010 woke up to yet another bright sunny day. I can hardly remember the last miserable day we had. Our
plan for a day in PEI was of course to spend a day or so at the red sand beaches. Off we went to find them. The
young people at the hostel were very helpful and reccommended a couple of great spots. PEI it appears, is divided
into 3 main areas. The eastern portion of the island is called the KINGS, the central portion is called the QUEENS
and the North-west is called PRINCE. We started our day exploring the KINGS and went to a beach called St. Peter's
Bay. It was a beautiful beach with red sand. blue skies and hot sun. Doesn't always feel so hot
Hopewell Rocks
Higher and higher the tides come back in because of the
ocean breeze that always blows. We spent about 4 hours in St. Peter's and then off to the QUEEN's area to another
beach named Brackley Beach. This beach was much busier, but wonderful just the same. Came back to the hostel
after a great day of checking our PEI beaches, sporting some sun kissed skin. We didn't go to Cavandish or Anne of Green Gables. First of all, neither of us were ever really into the Anne scene and Cavandish beach is where all
the bus loads of tourists go, so we avoided that area this time. BBQ steak and salad for dinner, walk in the park,
visited with others from the hostel and to bed. Oh yeah--- we booked a cottage in Southport Newfoundland for 10
days. From the 3rd to the 10th we are hanging out in a cottage we found on Kiiji. It looked great on the
internet, hope it is?!?!?. We also booked our ferry trip over to NFLD as well. We sail on the 2nd at 2:00 am.
September 01, 2010. +35 today in the sun. Decided we wanted to see some more of the island, so we checked out the
Hopewell Rocks
Highest tide. 100 billion tons of water later!! communities in the PRINCE portion of the island and the towns of Kennsington and Summerside. Had great fish and
chips in Summerside. It was a great day for being on the bike, because as soon as we stopped the sun was burning
hot. Went to the mall for a couple hours or so to check things out and get out of the sun for a bit. I was really
getting sick of my clothes at this point, so we bought a couple of new shirts (Mark---Rene bought capris!!😊😊 and
feel all brand new again. Back to the hostel for the evening. When we got back we met Brian. Brian is from
Vancouver and is pedal biking across Canada. He was great fun. He had done NO training prior to leaving, is
borrowing a friends bike because he doesn't have his own and is biking across Canada as a dare. Crazy guy!! He
told us he goes about 100 km a day and this was his 65th day. Sat out on the lawn with him and some others for the
evening sharing stories and adventures.
September 02, 2010. We were required to be at the ferry terminal at 12:30 am
Cape Enrage
Lighthouse at Cape Enrage (or so we thought), so we needed to
go from Charolettetown PEI to North Sydney, Nova Scotia. Not so far if you have all day. We had already decided we were not going to explore Nova Scotia just yet, because Amanda, Kyle and Natalie are coming to Nova Scotia
September 16 for a couple of weeks,to spend time with Kyle's family and attend thier friends' wedding, so we
thought we would wait, spend a couple of days with the kids and our GRANDBABY!!!!! and then check out Nova Scotia.
We also really wanted to spend some extensive time in NFLD before the weather gets too cold. So instead of wandering around Nova Scotia, we purposefully drove back over the Confederation Bridge and through the north/central side of Nova Scotia. We decided since we had so much time until we needed to be at the ferry, we should stop in Antigonish, surprise Gail (Kyle's mom) at work and continue on. Gail had time for coffee, so we had a nice visit and a coffee with her and carried on. Over the causeway into Cape Breton and headed to North Sydney. We were at North Sydney at about 7:00pm and thought we
Cape Enrage
Cliffs at the Cape Enrage Site should just check out where the ferry docks and all that good stuff. We found the ferry terminal of course no problem. In the dock was a big ferry. We were curious as to where the ferry would be going because when we booked our crossing, there didn't seem to be any other crossings until the 2:00 am. So down to the kiosk we went and I asked this nice gentleman where that big ol ferry was a going. He replied back "well dear it's goin to Port Aux Basque NFLD" Well I said "we have a booking for the 2:00am ferry and if this ship is going earlier I wonder if it's possible to get on this ship (you see I am pretty smart, cause of all the other ferries we have been on they always tell us they can fit a motorcycle anywhere no problems). Hmm he says, tell me your booking number" So I rattle off the number and he calmly sincerely says "so dear, what date and time do you think your ferry leaves?" Now slowly, this conversation is becoming quite clear to me and also to Rene who is standing over my shoulder, his face
Alma
Boats stuck in the mud? going paler and longer as we speak. Well sir I say, I think we may have miscaluated our departure date. Hmm yes he says and there is this long pause. Somewhat panicked I then say "uh, so we are on our motorcycle and now we are wondering if you could possibly fit our bike on that big ferry somewhere". Another long pause then "let me see, oh it won't let me access blah, blah, blah. Just as I am willing to start begging, he says, oh here we are and you better get that bike going cause that ship is leaving in about 20 minutes". Rene finally takes his first breath in about 15 minutes I think and I am all apologizing and contrite. He laughs and says...don't you fret any cause this happens all the time". Well I think, it might happen all the time to others, but this is not cool from me. Another humbling moment. On the ferry we went and he was right, within 20 minutes we were starting our 6 hour crossing from North Sydney Nova Scotia to Port Aux Basque Newfoundland. Once we had a moment to stop to think about what had just
occured we had a good laugh and also a "thank you God" prayer, cause was this whole thing just coincidence!!! I think NOT!!
Anyway safely aboard the ferry--
We remain-------
In the Grip of Grace
Rene and Crystal
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sue
non-member comment
wowee
looks fanastic, we don't have any beaches but there was quite the tide outside our house last night - thought the rain would never stop :( How come there are no pictures of all the things I could/would buy if I was there???