Sunday October 4, 2015

We were ready to head up to the Tim Hortons on Steeles Street, when Ralf suggested we have breakfast at the hotel, it would cost about the same, but the breakfast at the hotel would probably take us further.

We eventually headed out at 9:30, dressed for the cool weather, leggings, heavier jacket, gloves and a my hat inside my helmet. Brr it was cold.

We quickly warmed up as we went up and down the hills on Weston Road and then followed County Road 27 all the way to Barrie and back to my friend Melinda’s house. The roads out of Toronto were quiet as it is Sunday.

A mix of emotions as we headed north to Barrie. The rolling hills imitated my feelings, my emotions were going up and down as we went up and down the hills. I was sad that this would be the last ride of the Grand Adventure (Part One). However, I am looking forward to sleeping in the same bed for more than a couple of nights, I am looking forward to actually unpacking my panniers and eating something other than pasta and tuna for a while.

We have had an amazing trip, met some wonderful people and seen beautiful scenery.

The leaves haven’t changed colour completely. Hopefully we will be able to get out for a ride in the next few days although we have a lot to get organized.

We had a lovely ride, a tail-wind for most of the way. What a way to end the trip.

After we had unpacked our panniers and did a load of washing we settled down to our last meal of the trip. Maybe other people have done this on the last night of a trip and that is to eat whatever is left in the grocery pannier. We had one freeze-dried meal and a package of rice! The freeze-dried meal was “Kathmandu Curry”, it looked disgusting, but it tasted o.k.

Tomorrow we will go shopping for real food.

Over the next few days, I will post our thoughts on Canada and a summary of our trip and what we have planned for the upcoming months and the continuation of the Grand Adventure.

Saturday October 3, 2015

We both had a reasonably good sleep in our little bunk beds. I was awake early and watched the sunrise over frosted fields as we clickity clacked over the rails into Quebec.

We had a good breakfast in the dining car and enjoyed the company of an elderly lady from Niagara. She had crossed the country by train and was heading home.

The train arrived early in Montreal. The connector train to Toronto was late leaving, but at least the bikes are on-board the train, that is all that matters.

We arrived in Toronto at 4:00 p.m. instead of 3:10 p.m., we had to wait twice in sidings for the “money trains” (the freight trains) to go through. We managed to get our bikes from the baggage car and our bags from baggage return with no help from the Via Rail staff. My bar end shifter was moved inwards slightly, but apart from that both bikes appeared not to have been damaged. Maybe the plastic bags are a better idea.

We put the panniers on the bikes and headed out into the mayhem of traffic that is Toronto. Garmin, did a really good job of directing us to the Best Western hotel we had reserved. We had free points and had a very nice room, we ate in the restaurant and had an early night.

It’s going to be a cold ride up to Barrie tomorrow, hopefully the rain will hold off.

Friday October 2, 2015

It rained all day on Thursday, we stayed in the trailer for a while updating the blog and checking on condos.

Later we were drooled on by Shaun and Marsha\’s two Newfoundland dogs.

We were up early and headed to the train station by 9:30. We arrived at the train station about 10:15 and proceeded with boxing our panniers and bagging the bikes. We had asked about bike boxes when we bought the train tickets, Via Rail use plastic bags for bikes.

There are two thoughts on bags versus boxes – the first is that the handlers can see they are bikes and are more gentle with them, the argument against bags is the handlers really don’t care what is in the bag and will not handle them any better. The argument for boxes is that the box will give some level of protection to the bike, but the handler may stack other luggage on the box, therefore damaging the bike. I guess we will see what happens to the bikes and whether plastic is better than box.

We had booked a cabin which included meals.  Our steward (Francois) introduced himself, and gave us a quick rundown on the route, trip and meal service etc.

Francois asked us about our trip, noticing that we had bikes. Shortly after the train departed we headed to the dining car for lunch. Francois was there and told the waiter about our trip, the waiter said we needed to celebrate and bought us a complementary glass of wine!

We had a very nice lunch and then headed to the dome car for an afternoon of looking at the scenery and chatting to our fellow passengers.

It would appear our bikes were the talk of the train and when people discovered we were the cyclists, they wanted to know if we had cycled across Canada. When we told them what we had done, we “held court” for about an hour.  The same questions we have been asked many times before.  How many miles per day, How long did it take you, Good days and bad days – and are you going to write a book.

During the afternoon we had a complementary wine tasting of Nova Scotian wines and some lovely smoked cheese also from Nova Scotia. Zach (the guy in black) told us where the wines were grown and he also gave us information about the different areas the train was going through.  He would make an excellent tour guide.

At 6:15 we headed down to the dining car, bouncing from one side of the corridor to the other, occasionally getting hit by a door handle..

One of the things Dad and I enjoyed when we did the Cross-Canada trip together were the meals in the dining car. The food was good, and we met some really interesting people. The same happened tonight for us, we were seated with a couple from Quebec who were competitive Bridge players. We were both a little “shy” to start a conversation as their English and our French was equally bad. However, Michelene’s English improved as the meal progressed. She thanked Ralf for speaking slowly so that she could understand him.

They have three grown children, however, we were shown photos of their dog and not the children or grandchildren!

After dinner we bounced back to the dome car and then back to our humble cabin that had been made up into bunk beds.  Ralf got the top bunk, as usual.  This is what it looked like during the day.  Ralf couldn\’t get a photo of the \”night-time\” set up, there was not enough room – a cosy room.

Wednesday September 30, 2015

A really good nights sleep. After breakfast, we headed over the river to Halifax and booked the train to Toronto. We got a discount because we are HI members, and opted to book a cabin on the train instead of going cheap. If we had booked flights it would have been slightly cheaper initially, but then we would have had to add on the cost of the bikes, and extra bags, it would have worked out to be about the same price. Now we get a chance to have a nice train trip and one last bike ride from Toronto to Barrie on Sunday.

We went out for a nice lunch with Shaun. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to change for the worse, rain, rain and more rain.  Glad we will not be riding in it.

Tuesday September 29, 2015

Another windy day but not as windy as yesterday. It was a nice ride, very scenic. Once again Garmin took us on a short tour of the Town, before heading out on Highway 2.

The road into this Town had hanging baskets on every post, and they were all sponsored by someone, or some organization.  What a great idea to beautify your Town.

We cycled on Highway 118 towards Waverley which took us along a very pretty road along side lakes.

We are staying with Shaun and Marsha for a few days, they live in Dartmouth, across the river from Halifax. They live at the top of a couple of big hills.

We arrived at 3:15 p.m. and waited for Shaun and Marsha to get home. Ralf suggested that we cycle to the Tim Horton’s. I didn’t think that was a good idea as, I really didn’t want to cycle back up the hills!

We are staying in their trailer, which is a huge trailer, that has everything in it but a washer and dryer!

After dinner we chatted with Shaun and Marsha for a while, and then headed to the trailer for the night.

Monday September 28, 2015

A lovely start to the day. We had a nice breakfast with a very friendly bunch of people at the B&B. The owners introduced everyone at the table, which broke the ice and we all chatted about our trips and why we were in Nova Scotia/the Maritimes. It was very nice, however, it did delay our start we eventually left the B&B at about 9:30 a.m.

Into the wind we went. It was a brutal, brutal wind, not cold which is something to be thankful for, but even so what with the hills and the wind it was a tough slog of a day.

We didn’t get a break all day from the wind, the gusts almost stopped us in our tracks. Leaving Pictou we were on Hwy 4 which had a nice shoulder.

We then headed on to the TransCanada Highway 104, but the shoulder deteriorated to about 18 inches, my panniers make me at least 36 inches wide. The speed limit on the highway was 110 kph and I hated every second of being on it. As soon as we found the next exit, we came of and discovered there was a cycle route (the Blue Route) along highway 4 which took us all the way into Truro and for the majority of the way paralleled the TCH. Much safer and a much nicer route. If it hadn’t been for the wind it would have been a very nice ride.

We arrived in Truro at 3:00 p.m. and stopped to get a sandwich and Timmies, then headed to a motel.

Sunday September 27, 2015

We had stereo snorers in our room last night, nowadays it is referred to as surround sound! I must have been tired because I managed to sleep until 6:30, Ralf said he didn’t get much sleep.

After a light breakfast at the hostel we set of for the ferry at just after 9:00 am. We headed off into the wind, sometimes it was a great tail-wind and other times it was a blasting side wind, which knocked us sideways.

The route we took was hilly but as we went through the wooded areas it kept us away from the wind a little.

We hit the 30,000 kms milestone today.

Another ribbon road.

We arrived at the ferry earlier than I thought we would. We were able to get on the 1:30 p.m. ferry and arrived in Pictou at 3:00 p.m.

We found a nice B&B and then headed down town for a nice walk around.

Pictou is either for sale or closed for the season. It is a nice place, but it is the end of the season and there wasn’t very much open.

However, the Hector Heritage Museum was open and was very interesting. The Hector is a replica ship that took ten years to rebuild, it was started in 1990 and was launched in 2000.

The Hector was the ship that bought over 189 Scottish immigrants to Nova Scotia in 1793.

This used to be the old Post Office and was bought by a couple from Florida, they did some renovations, then ran out of money. It is now on the market for $115,000.00. I am guessing it will take a lot of money to be able to run it as a B&B or hotel. The pigeons were flying in and out of the upstairs windows.

As we are in a B&B we could not cook in the room, so we ate in a Chinese restaurant, it made a nice change and the food was good.

We tried to stay awake for the lunar eclipse, but by 10:15 when we still hadn’t seen any change in the moon, we went to sleep.

Saturday September 26, 2015

I woke up feeling very sad today. Last night Ralf and I decided to head straight down to Halifax instead of cycling to Sydney, Nova Scotia, the funds are running low and we want to end the trip on a high not thinking about whether we can afford a motel or have to sleep in a ditch (it hasn’t come to that really). This means that the Grand Adventure, Part One is almost over. I feel as if I have come to an abrupt stop on a moving sidewalk.

Breakfast is served at 8:00, we would have had a nice lie-in but for the first time in a very long time we are sharing the dorm room with a man that snores and boy can he snore. Sylvan, a young French guy we were talking to is on the bunk above him and he said that the bunk was vibrating!

We had a nice relaxing morning after breakfast. Then we wandered around the historic downtown of Charlottetown. It seems smaller than we remembered from last time we were here.

Charlottetown in 1864 the founding fathers got together and created Canada.

One of the odd things about the men who gathered in PEI at this time, two of them had exactly the same name – John Hamilton Gray.

The Confederation Building is undergoing renovations.

Eckhart the little bronze frog is part of a “scavenger hunt” for kids that takes them around the important land marks in Charlottetown.

There are a number of large churches ranging from Catholic, Anglican to United.

This building was converted to a bonding warehouse.  It was probably the most secure building in Charlottetown in its day.  PEI was the first Province to impose prohibition, but still allowed alcohol to be moved through PEI. This building was where the alcohol was kept. All the shutters are metal.

We got back to the hostel at about 3:00 and spent a couple of hours trying to find flights or the train back to Barrie. It looks as though we may be taking the train, but it is always difficult to find how much it costs with the bikes. We will finalize the bookings when we get into Halifax.

We are spending a couple of days with Shaun and Marsha in Dartmouth while we make the final arrangements.

After dinner, we chatted to other backpackers in the lounge about their trips. We had a nice relaxing day in Charlottetown.

Friday September 25, 2015

We left the campsite at 8:30 this morning and joined the Confederation Trail right from the campsite.

The Confederation Trail consists of a number of trails that follow the old rail lines in PEI. There is a 470 km rail trail system going from one side of the Province to the other and top to bottom.

The trail is relatively flat with hills ranging in grade up to 2%. The route goes through farmland and valleys, it is a very nice route.

We arrived at the hostel at 2:00 ish, and were able to check in straight away. The place is very clean and very close to downtown Charlottetown. The rest of the afternoon was spend doing the boring stuff as usual, washing, shopping and researching the route to Halifax.

Thursday September 24, 2015

I woke up in the night with a migraine, not a good sign. I managed to find some Advil, and went back to sleep. The migraine had not disappeared by the time I woke up again, if I had been working I would have taken the Imitrex and gone back to sleep! However, I am not working and we had booked into the HI in Charlottetown for Friday night so had to keep moving, plus the motel in Moncton was a bit expensive. More drugs and we were on the road at 8:55 a.m.

We did a short tour of the downtown – Garmin likes to take us on a mystery tour every now and then. Eventually we found the right road and we were away. The wind was coming from the NNW and we were heading NE. The route today was flat and we went through some nice coastal areas.

We passed through Shediac, which is a very nice touristy town. The giant lobster measures 10.7 metres in length and 5 metres in height.

We stopped in Cap Pele for lunch and carried on towards PEI. The wind changed direction and we had a great tail-wind for about 20 kms, love tailwinds.

We switched roads from the back country road to Highway 11 and then on to the TransCanada (TCH).

The TCH was busy with lots of trucks but we had a good wide shoulder and the wind was still in our favour.

At one of our pit stops I heard the funniest response to “How are you?” – “Doing good, doing good at least I am on the right side of the soil”

We got to the Confederation Bridge at just after 4:00pm. Bicycles are not allowed on the bridge, they are shuttled over by the Bridge Authority. The wait for the shuttle could be anything from 30 minutes to two hours, depending on how busy they were. We had a pit stop and I was about to ask about the shuttle when a guy approached Ralf and we loaded the bikes into the truck and we were crossing the 11.9 kilometre bridge, we didn’t even wait 15 minutes. The bridge took three years to build and is the longest bridge in the world that crosses a river that freezes. We asked about ice on the river and the fella said that the design of the bridge in conjunction with the waves and the wind “rolls the ice over” so that it doesn’t build up and damage the bridge!

I complained to Ralf that the flags were not in the right order. “What order do you want them to be”? “From east to west or west to east” I suggested. “They are in the right order” he said, I kept looking – nope not east to west or east to west, not in alphabetical order – what order? The order they joined confederation – I looked again, he was right! What a smart arse!

The KOA was only 1.5 ks from the bridge and we opted for a cabin, it is very cosy. Although the wi-fi is dreadful.

While I was trying to connect to the internet, Ralf went back to the bridge to take some photos.