The East Coast

Leaving Magog and Heading to New Brunswick. We are now into our 2nd month. We have fully transformed into this van life. We have developed more confidence in finding overnight spots to sleep. Settling into the pace of van travelling. We have welcomed the next level of relaxation. Some things we have noticed along the way. Easterners drive crazy! There is a community feeling in living close to water as a lot of people congregate to the water at sunset to spend time with their loved ones, take pictures, go for a stroll, witness the end of the day together. I’ve said it before the friendly nature of Canadians so evident. We prefer to spend our time in small communities or out in nature versus in the cities. Oh and $1000/month is a tight budget! Our first month we were easily over by about $2000….oops. There is still some fine tuning that needs to be done here.

Its becoming hard to remember all the stops every night so from Magog we stopped quick one night in Montmagny. Next stop was Mt. Carelton New Brunswick. This is a National Park area. I’m not completely sure if this range is already part of the Appalachian mountains, but there was a sign indicating this is the route for the Appalachians. The road to get in was in poor condition to be polite. We stayed one night off the gravel road on an old logging road. We had this beautiful view of the valley and a huge fire to keep warm. It dropped down to -2 celsius overnight….brrrr…. Our budget has changed the type of trip we are having. To be pretty blunt, anything that costs we can’t do. Mt. Carelton is in a Provincial park, it is the highest point in New Brunswick. We didn’t hike it as we would be charged entry admission….hey every little bit counts! So we appreciated the view we had and moved on.

Pokeshaw New Brunswick

We had seen this particular spot on line before, but we weren’t really sure where it was. We are learning to let go of the control of always needing to know exactly where we are or are going. This beauty was a good learning lesson. We missed our turn for a park that we were wanting to stay at and because we missed it we stubbled across Pokeshaw. Sometimes going with the flow has major bonuses. This was our campsite for the night. We had a nice fire at night and an early sunrise woke us in the morning.

Tracadie-Sheila

We have some friends back home from this area so we thought we would stop in a visit with one of their parents(Jeanette and her spouse Jean). So we stayed one night in Tracadie visiting with good people, and hearing stories from a fisherman from the area. Jean prepared us a giant platter of oysters that he bought from a neighbor. They were the best I have ever had. They use garlic,a drop of tobasco, lemon juice and sprinkle with mozza cheese and cook in oven until the cheese melts…YUM! Also they shared some bar clams with us. These are a little bit of a delicacy out here.

During the day we headed out on the bike to explore the North tip of New Brunswick. We headed up to Miscou trekking through small fishing villages along the way. At Miscou is a long section of beach and probably our first of many lighthouses we will see. We are spending much time on secondary highways, they can be a bit longer to travel. Sometimes the roads are not in the best condition but the hidden beauty of taking the road less travelled is worth it!

We are learning how important it is to make connections with people. Sometimes strangers, sometimes close friends or people you haven’t seen in years!

Amherst Shore, Nova Scotia

We reached out to family friends of mine from years ago in Saskatchewan. Carol and Floyd d’entremont lived in Unity about 25 years ago. We discussed it had been almost that long since I had seen them last. They welcomed us into their home and we spent the evening chatting about old times and catching up. It was delightful! Their cottage overlooked the Northumberland Strait of the Atlantic. We were able to watch over an almost full moon the tide coming in. In the morning they graciously offered for us their kayaks for the morning. When opportunities like this come up you kindly accept and appreciate the experience. And what an experience! A warm sun and calm waters at high tide. 2 seals came out to play with us. Bobbing up all around us and curiously watching us watching them.

Halifax

Paul’s sister Mary came out at Thanksgiving to visit with us and explore Nova Scotia. We walked around Halifax the day she arrived. I find it interesting that the homes here and everywhere on the coast are antique but pristine. We hiked the Kejimkujik National Park. The weather was overcast and foggy, but did open up when we hit the sandy beach. This was an easy coastal hike. Bear scat was scattered along the trail but the only wildlife we saw was a grazing deer.

We drove to White Point just north of the park for a thanksgiving feast van style! On the menu: Steamed mussles in a white wine sauce, barbecued chicken with broccoli and brussel sprouts, rice medley, and pumpkin cheesecake! One thing we don’t pinch on is diet and nutrition! While our strict diet at home has shifted we still try to eat fairly well. Inheriting an eye for detail from my mom, I gathered some wild flowers for a bright centerpiece. Voila! Dinner is served.

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In the morning we heading west across the middle of the south tip of Nova Scotia to Annapolis Royal. We toured through this historic city and then further south to Digbys neck. We didn’t realize how far it is from east to west coast. We couldn’t make it all the way to the southern most point. But we did see so much beauty along the way. We stopped along the Bay of Fundy in hopes of catching a glimpse of migrating humpback whales, but all we saw was the spray from a blowhole. We stopped just off the main road to Whales Cove. This like many of our decisions was on a whim. Again it paid off greatly. We arrived to a quiet little Warf that seemed to be a secret spot for locals. Serenity at its simplest.

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That night we headed back to Halifax as Mary was flying out the next morning. From here we head to the Cabot Trail on the Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland. We are planning to spend the remainder of October there as long as the snow doesn’t come early.