Westward Ho!

 

Throughout our travels I've enjoyed the various styles of houses I've seen. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia has some very pretty brightly coloured homes with contrasting doors. I'm trying to talk Tim into painting our front door a bright colour! 

We did visit Green Gables, but left Prince Edward Island a few days earlier than planned due to the incoming storm. We had hoped to visit the Gaspé Peninsula, but decided to skip that, also due to stormy conditions. We are slowly heading westward - we're one time zone closer to home now, in Rivière-du-Loup, Québec. Such a pretty little town. Tim is out on a bike ride and I am sipping tea, cozy and warm in the trailer. 

We will be with friends later this week, and family early next week. The leaves are changing and there is a crispness in the air. Enjoy autumn, or spring, wherever you may be. 

Moving Along

 

There are so many wonderful sights in this grand country of ours. We are seeing but a fraction, and our hearts and minds are full. I’ve been keeping a daily journal of our travels and it’s becoming difficult to absorb all of our little adventures. 

Above is a sea stack at Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy where the highest tides in the world occur. It was fun to wander around them at low tide. 

It seems we have a few sunny days followed by a stretch of cloudy and/or rainy ones. Today is one of the latter. We hiked in the rain and then came into our cozy warm home on wheels for hot tea and some chocolate. Outside just now I hear thunder. 

Tropical storm Lee is headed our way and we can expect more rain and wind. We are keeping an eye on the weather forecast and can leave in a hurry if things look more serious. 

Tomorrow we are headed to Prince Edward Island for a couple of days. Maybe some biking (depends on the rain) and hopefully a visit to Green Gables. 

Have a beautiful day. 

Into the Past

 

Our ferry crossing from Newfoundland was smooth as glass - such a relief! 

We spent the day at Fort Louisbourg, another of Canada’s National Historic Sites. Parks Canada does a wonderful job of interpreting the past with knowledgeable guides and costumed interpreters who took us back to 1744 when the French controlled this part of Canada. 

Stories galore. 

All Sorts of Days

 

Rainy days, cloudy days, and a few sunny days that we appreciate all the more for their rarity. Unless rain pours down for hours, we manage some sort of walk or hike everyday. Under moody skies Trout River sat like a haven of peace when seen from the trail above the hamlet.

Today, in contrast, is sunny and warm with a cool breeze that hints of the season in waiting. We will be leaving Newfoundland on the Sunday night ferry and then exploring more of the Maritimes for a couple of weeks before heading home. 

I’m sitting outside the laundromat waiting for clothes to finish their cycles. Goldenrod waves in the wind. Bits of milkweed fluff sail through the air. It’s lovely.  

L’Anse aux Meadows

 

L’Anse aux Meadows lies at the northern tip of Newfoundland. I have been captivated by this place for many years, since high school when I first learned about the Norse people who came here around the year 1000 AD. Parks Canada has done a stellar job of interpreting the site. Beyond the history, I am enchanted by the landscape, low green hills that flatten into the sea with long reefs where white waves curl. 

This is the furthest point on our trip and tomorrow we begin the trek homeward. There is still much to explore in the Maritimes, and we will be taking our time. 

I was shocked when we drove into the little town of St. Anthony to buy some groceries. The skyline was dominated by a familiar and most unexpected sight - a cruise ship! The first day we went to L’Anse aux Meadows, a bus full of cruise ship passengers arrived just as we did. Sadly, many made a beeline to the gift shop and spent no time at all learning about the history of this place. 

With so many people visiting the park, the park hosts altered their usual routines and did not offer guided tours but were instead stationed at various points to answer questions. So we decided to return the next day and had a wonderful tour by an excellent guide who grew up playing on the mounds before excavation began in 1961. 

Twillingate

 

Hello from Twillingate, Newfoundland. So many interesting names dot the maps and signposts here. Twillingate, I learned, is an anglicized form of Toulinguet - so named by the French fishermen who travelled here centuries ago to fish for cod because the landscape reminded them of a similar shoreline in Their homeland. 

I confess that the less than summery weather is a bit of a trial and when the occasional warm sunny day appears, we take full advantage of it to hike a beautiful trail. 

The image above is the view from our campsite just now. Two humpback whales passed by yesterday, gulls soar with white wings flashing against the dark sea, and there is a delicious air of contentment. 

It’s been just over one month since left home and I will admit to homesickness. We speak with our children but it’s not the same as seeing them, and I think about my garden and miss my flowers. I am making an effort to fully enjoy all the moments of this trip for I know it’s a once in a lifetime experience. 

I also think about the terrible fires in our home province, not near to us, but dreadful nonetheless. Here we have too much rain, there not nearly enough. I pray for rain where it’s needed and for safety for all those in the face of the fires. 

We are perfectly comfortable in our little home on wheels. Today, after hiking, I indulged in a couple of hours of domesticity - making a pot of soup from vegetables bought at the local farmer’s market, baking date muffins, and concocting a pan of marshmallow squares for a special treat. 

Now as the sun sets and all the chores are finished, we will take a short walk and then settle in to read or perhaps watch a downloaded program on our computer.  

Thank you for reading  I look forward to catching up with all of your blogs when we get home - and there’s no definite date for that. Meanwhile, I wish you moments of loveliness to cherish. 

Cape Spear

The old lighthouse, a round stone tower with a wooden structure around the tower. 

Standing on the edge of land beside the Atlantic Ocean at Cape Spear, one is as east as possible in North America. A lighthouse stands here, still flashing its beacon after many decades, although the original buildings have been replaced. 

What was shocking to me after seeing a signpost elsewhere was that the tip of England, Poldhu, Cornwall, is much closer to us now than our home in the west of Canada. It made me realize how vast this country is, and how many kilometres we have driven. 

The edge of the continent