The World's Shortest Ferry Ride

October 6

We have arrived in Nova Scotia, "Canada's Ocean Playground." Specifically, we are on Cape Breton Island, at the port of Sydney. (Note: in Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton, at the port. Why the difference? I will save the question of the quotation marks for another day.)

Nova Scotia - New Scotland - is proud of its Scottish heritage, but the Scots were relatively recent immigrants.  The area was originally settled by the Mi'kmaq (who gave us the word wigwam), perhaps as far back as 10,000 years ago. The Vikings may have visited somewhat later. The French began arriving in the early 1600's and called it Acadia. Starting in 1755 the British began the Expulsion of the Acadians, as in Evangeline:

This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks . . .

After the American Revolutionary War, British Loyalists and former black slaves began arriving. Cruise passengers began arriving in in the 20th Century.

Our ship is greeted Scottishly

The Scots started arriving in the 1770's, and they left their mark. Gaelic is still spoken in parts of Cape Breton. Road signs are in English and Gaelic. Fiddling and step-dancing and ceilidhs are very popular here.

The cruise terminal in Sydney

Sydney is a city of about 100,000. It was founded in 1785. We have been to Sydney before, so we rented a car to see the countryside this time.

Our destination today is the Cabot Trail. The Cabot Trail is a scenic highway that follows the coastline of Cape Breton Island. It consistently makes all the "Top 10" lists of the most beautiful drives in Canada or in North America. The Cabot Trail makes a 185-mile loop and we were certainly not going to have time for that, so our goal was to drive to Ingonish and back. We had enough time to come and go, with a few stops, plus a little cushion so we didn't miss the ship.

There are two ways to get to Ingonish. You can drive around the foot of St. Anns Bay, or you can take the Englishtown Ferry. We thought the ferry might be more fun, though we were worried that it might involve some delays. We decided to take the ferry on the drive out to Ingonish and take the other route coming back.

If we turn to the left, the overland route will bring us around the foot of the bay to the opposite shore

If we turn to the right we will eventually come to the ferry

We turned right, and eventually came to a lookout point ("lookoff" in Canadian). What's that? Did they build a bridge?

Nope, there is still a ferry there and we just made it. Who knows how long we would have to wait for the next crossing. It must have to go all the way around that island there. (Actually, this photo and the next two were taken on the way back, but you get the idea.)

Wait. . . .It just goes over to where that other car is?

Under way? No, the ferry is still at the dock.

Two minutes. 

That's how long the ferry takes to make the crossing. Two minutes. It takes longer than that to drive down the causeway on the other side. Crazy!

There weren't many places to eat that were open this late in the season. We stopped at bakery/cafe called The Clucking Hen for coffee and a snack. Nice baked goods. Then we continued on along the Cabot Trail towards Ingonish. Ingonish wasn't much. We continued a little further and reached a toll booth at the entrance to a national park. This was as good a place as any, so we turned around and stopped at The Clucking Hen for lunch on the way back. Sandwiches with home-made bread.

I really wasn't that impressed with the Cabot Trail. Maybe the good part was the part we didn't get to see. I was expecting sweeping views of cliffs and ocean. We only saw a tiny bit of that. Much of the road stayed away from the coast and we saw a lot of boring trees and schlocky side-of-the-road tourist-oriented development. I hate to say it, but think this drive is over-rated. 

That being said, it wasn't all disappointing:

On the way back we missed the turnoff to the overland route and found ourselves at the ferry again. Oh, well. Ferries are always fun!

Here it comes!

Cheesy factoid:

Canadians eat more mac and cheese than any other country. (I tried to look up the spelling of mac and cheese and I found mac 'n cheese, mac n' cheese, and mac 'n' cheese. I would like to know the rule for this in case I ever have to write about rock and roll.)

Back on the ship we had a nice dinner and then saw a comedian named Tom Briscoe. He was very funny. Some comedians make fun of other people, and it is sometimes mean-spirited. Tom Briscoe is the kind who makes us laugh as he joins us in making fun of ourselves.

Tourist of Green Gables

October 5, 2015

Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

I have to confess that I've never read any of the Anne of Green Gables books, but if I had, I would have known that Anne lived on Prince Edward Island. No AGG marketing opportunity has been overlooked by the residents of PEI.

It's a really charming place. It's got history, Victorian architecture scenery, and a nice small-town feel. People are so courteous here. When they are driving they wait for pedestrians to cross the street. I think it's the law here, but the law doesn't require them to smile at you when they stop to wait for you.

 
PEI is the "Birthplace of Confederation." In 1864 the Charlottetown Conference gave rise to the creation of Canada three years later.

The city of Charlottetown offers several short walking routes, neatly packaged on a map you can get at the dock. The walks include historic walk, shopping walk, boardwalk walk, and Victorian Row.

We opted for a longer walk - a Volkswalk. Part of the walk  follows the Confederation Trail. It is a 470 km "linear park' or "rails-to-trails" route. It is also part of the Trans Canada Trail system. This is indeed a worthy walk.

We passed an agricultural research station/experimental farm. Eventually the trail leads to Victoria Park and the beginning of the boardwalk. You can see a lighthouse, the harbour (Canada doesn't have harbors), and a number of historic buildings, including Province House where the founding fathers met.

St. Dunstan's Basilica, 1913 (High Victorian Gothic Revival)

Inside St. Dunstan's

St. Paul's Anglican Church, 1896 (Gothic Revival)

Inside St. Paul's

Province House

Near the end of the walk we detoured into the central business district and we stumbled upon Cows Ice Cream - the best in the world according to Tauck. They had some tantalizing flavors and a long line.
 

Cows used to be a pharmacy

Victoria Park

 

The County Jail, 1911, has morphed into Pizza Delight

Tim Horton's and poutine. How Canadian can you get?

Excuse me, I don't think bagels are Canadian.

They still have diagonal on-street parking in the CBD

Blockhouse Point Light

 And we sailed off into the sunset . . . 

The Place Where the Water Flows

October 3

I didn't realize a river could have a fjord. I thought only the ocean could have a fjord. Today I found out that the Saint Lawrence River has a fjord called Saguenay.

We docked this morning in Ville de Saguenay, Quebec.  What a welcome we received! People dressed in period costumes were square-dancing on the dock.

There was a gleaming vintage Buick parked on the dock. There were lumberjacks and settlers and fur traders and Native Americans and missionaries.

There was a place  to taste juice made from local wild blueberries (bitter and tart). There was a sugar shack where you could taste maple taffy made on a bed of crushed ice.

 Locals were passing out Saguenay flags and maps and more. And that was just on the dock. 

Inside the terminal the local artisans had booths, there was free wi-fi, and there was more live music. It seemed as though half the town was there.

Outside the terminal there were buses to the town center and the museum. I think they were free. There were information booths and places to get maps or rent a car or take a ride in a helicopter or a float plane.

What was not there:

• Stores selling junky made-in-China crap - t-shirts, magnets, tote bags, etc.
• Obnoxious local hustlers trying to sell you something 
• Litter, trash, junk

It was cold in the morning - probably around 35-40 degrees. The sun was out and it warmed up a lot later in the day.  Our tour started at 9:30 so I bundled up in layers. Our tour involved a hike in a national park. We rode  school bus for an hour to get to Fjord-du-Saguenay National Park. The school bus was pretty uncomfortable. Usually you get a nice motor-coach on tours booked through the ship.

We had a nice guide on the bus. He talked to us quite a bit about what it is like to live in Saguenay, the local history, the economy, etc. He described Saguenay as a "remote" part of the province. It used to be a 4-hour drive from Quebec City, but now it is more like 2 hours. The big industry there used to be the pulp mill, but those days are over and now the kids tend to leave the area without looking back.

Saguenay is a municipality, the result of the merging of several towns. It is, in terms of area, the largest "city" in the province of Quebec, although the population of this large area is only about 150,000. When the villages agreed to merge they decided on the name Saguenay, after the Saguenay River. It is a First Nations (Native American) word meaning "the place where the water flows."

At the national park we met a park ranger/guide, Audrey, who led us on our hike and explained the local flora and fauna to us. 

Audrey shows us some woodpecker holes

The kids had gone on a kayak trip and we saw the kayak area as we began our hike. It looked like a wonderful place to kayak. The water was flat and the area was very scenic.

Our hike involved climbing up a steep path. It was an elevation gain of 450 feet, but seemed like a lot more. According to my FitBit, I climbed 131 staircases. Not sure I believe that.

According to National Geographic, the world's second best hiking trail network is in this national park. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the leaves were starting to turn. It was a perfect day to spend time outdoors. The views were outstanding. We even saw a group of kayakers. Anybody we know?

Upon returning to the ship we encountered even more of the enthusiastically friendly locals. In one area they were juggling and walking on stilts. In the terminal there was accordion music. We had at least four people thank us for coming to Saguenay. But the show-stopper was seeing around 500 people from the town lined up along the waterfront to see the ship off.

This was the most welcoming and friendly port we have ever been to. They are working very hard to develop tourism in the area, and it is a lovely, unspoiled place to visit.

Wildlife spotted:

1 porcupine

unknown number of whales, probably humpbacks