Saturday, November 11, 2017

Chillin’ in Maui

We flew Hawaiian Airlines to get between Kaua’i and Maui. It was a quick hourish flight. I don’t think I’ll ever grow old of Maui; it’s never disappointed us. We spent the majority of our time chillin’ at the beach and snorkelling. This week was definitely nothing but a relaxing week. The snorkelling once again was absolutely incredible just off the beach at the Westin Ka’anapali resort. Stick your face in the water at the shoreline and you start to see so many fish. Some of the cool highlights were seeing homu (green sea turtles), an eel, a very bright yellow cornetfish, a red pencil sea urchin, puffer fish, and my favourite the moorish fish. The weather was perfect despite the daily forecast calling for rain. It so happened that good friends of ours were also staying here during this week and so we got to hang out with them too. 

Z tried a couple new things this time around. Along with our friends, Z found his diving spirit
again and ended up doing two dives. The first was a shark dive with the Maui Ocean Centre. MOC is an aquarium and oceanography centre that is designed to teach people about Hawaii’s unique marine environment. The shark dive provides an opportunity for certified divers to swim in the shark tank on a supervised dive. Before getting into the tank, we got a behind the scenes tour of the operations at the centre and while Z and our friends were on the tank for their up close and personal experience with the sharks, I got to watch from the safe side of the tank. The shark tank had about 20 sharks in it including a tiger shark, some stingrays, and other fish. They all appeared to live in harmony and Jim, the marine biologist/dive master as part of our tour explained that they watch the interactions to ensure there is no aggressive behaviour. The sharks in the tanks are all undergoing rehabilitation with an end goal of returning each back into the open ocean. After the dive, we stayed to watch the morning feeding. We also explored the rest of the aquarium which is larger than I had first expected. 


Z’s second dive was a night dive at Black Rock; again with our friends. I stayed behind at the hotel this time and ended up watching one of the many amazing Maui sunsets that I never tire of. Z had a great experience here too. The dive was just over an hour and with it being full moon he said the moonlight helped them see even without their flashlights. On this dive some of the more unique sightings included: lobster, octopus, and a white tip reef shark. So glad I wasn’t there because I’m quite sure I would have had a panic attack. Z enjoyed this dive and lived to tell about out, thankfully. 

We tried a couple new restaurants this time around. Sea House is a great sea front restaurant located on the Napili Bay. I had the Haleakala pancake, which is one of the best pancakes I’ve ever had. It’s a custard filled, banana and pineapple pancake with cinnamon brown sugar. It was light and airy and tasting amazing. The beach and the bay were incredibly peaceful and the water looked calm so we decided after breakfast to go back after getting our swim and snorkeling gear. Just a short walk from here is Kapaula Bay which is a great bay for beginner snorkellers with quite calm waters. Here we saw three turtles hanging out. After a day at the beach, we decided to take in happy hour at Sea House too. We feasted on a variety of pupus, including some delectable Lani ribs, caprese crostinni, and coconut shrimp. We definitely come back here and probably do a similar breakfast, spend the day at the beach and enjoy happy hour. 

We also tried Sangritas, a Mexican restaurant, which is a short drive from our resort. The food was delicious and the portions were big enough for us to take leftovers. Prices were reasonable and this is definitely a place we’ll come back to. 

We were away for two weeks and it was one of the most relaxing vacations I’ve had. It really felt like I could leave my life stresses behind. The ocean breeze and the sounds of the waves does that for me. Not to mention the beautiful most incredible sunsets. It was really a shame to leave this all behind, but we’ll be back again some day and until then....

To travel is to live....until next time....life is good!


Aloha Kaua‘i

Travelling to Hawaii has become a regular destination for us; there’s really no denying that. Specifically we’ve fallen in love with Maui and the relaxing vacations it has provided us. This time around we thought we’d change it up a bit and split our time between Kaua’i and Maui. It’s been a pretty busy year for both of us for various reasons and taking a two week beach vacation was very much needed. A week on each island seemed like the logical choice. 

Kaua’i, also known as the Garden Isle due to its lush tropical rainforests covering most of the island, is the fourth largest of the Hawaiian islands and is also geologically the oldest of the main islands. We broke our time up on Kaua’i by staying four nights in Lihu’e and four nights in Po’ipū. After a somewhat lengthy journey to Kaua’i, we landed in Lihu’e around 7:30pm Hawaiian time. It was already dark because the sun sets here just after 6pm. Thankfully the airport is located in Lihu’e and so our trek in the dark to our hotel wasn’t that long. It was still a little tricky though because our car didn’t have GPS. We had to rely on our phone’s GPS on an island we were unfamiliar with and navigating streets that didn’t always have streetlights. We stayed at the Kaua’i Marriott resort located right on Kalapaki beach. We booked a studio room with a Murphy bed which once we pulled from the wall stayed in its place for our entire stay. Our room had a great view of the resort pool and just beyond, the beach and Nawiliwili Bay. We could hear the waves gently crashing the shoreline; one of my favourite sounds! In fact one night we decided to sleep with the lanai door open. Falling asleep to ocean waves just set me into full vacation mood; little thought of work or live responsibly occurred after that night. The room had a mini kitchen area stocked with dishes, a small fridge with freezer, and dishwasher. 

Waking up the first morning here and looking out our lanai we got to see the most incredible view that would be our view for the next four days. The hotel beach was right on a protected cove which made it a great place for swimming. The water was not deep at all, and the ocean movement was very gentle; no real big waves or major current which made it great for swimming or bobbing. Though there was no snorkelling opportunity here. The grounds of the resort were quite beautiful with a coy fish pond just off the lobby. Partaking in the koi fish feeding was an interesting event. The fish are in most cases quite large (well fed I guess) and to see 
them all fight for space where the food gets thrown in by the hotel guests is quite a sight. They are pretty much all clammering over each other to get to the front of the pond which is rather shallow. All around the resort they displayed many different art pieces and statue carvings. The hotel is said to have the largest pool in Hawaii. Having done a couple water running laps in this pool, I’d say it’s pretty big. It is circular in shape with a bridge over one part and four fountains spouting water into the pool. There are also four individual hot tubs accessed only from the pool. The hotel didn’t have any restaurants on site, however only a short walk were several different options. We ate at Duke’s a couple times for dinner and enjoyed listening to live music one evening while sitting st the bar during happy hour waiting for our dinner table. We discovered that the bar side had more economical prices than the restaurant side; though we tried both. We had breakfast at Kalapaki Beach Hut one morning; a very no frills, good food for good prices place. Z also found a fantastic breakfast place that we ended up at twice, called Java Kai. It was a bit of a drive from the hotel but so worth it. Their Kona coffee was the best coffee we had all trip!!

Kaua’i is a very green, lush island with many acres of tropical forest and mountain ranges. On average it rains more on Kaua’i than on other Hawaiian islands, which helps to keep it so green. The mountain ranges have countless scenic waterfalls that keep flowing due to the high amounts of rainfall. We decided to do a helicopter tour of the island. Our plan had been to do this tour on day two of our week, but as it so happened, the day we were supposed to fly also turned out to be our worst weather day. It started to rain just as our tour was supposed to start and by early afternoon it was torrential downpour like we’ve never seen before. It didn’t stop until later that evening and by the next day the sky was clear as if no storm had ever been present. What was impacted by the storm though was the water in the cove. An adjoining river seeped sentiment into the cove turning it brown in colour and rather unpleasant to want to swim in. Unfortunately it didn’t return to its original beautifully clear water while we stayed at this hotel.  

We split our time on Kaua’i so we could experience two areas of the island. We spent the next four days on the south side in Poipu. Here we stayed at the Marriott Waiohai Beach Club and were surprised with an upgrade to a two bedroom villa. This resort was newer than the place in Lihu’e and the villa was very nicely appointed and had way more space than we needed. Having a full kitchen was a treat, not that we did any major cooking, but having it available for what we needed was great. On the night we arrived, there was a local farmers’ market going on at the shopping centre a short drive from our hotel. We enjoyed some local musicians and bought some very tasty papayas. The star fruit we bought turned out not to be very good which was a shame because we were both looking forward to eating them. 

The resort had direct access to a great beach where we were able to snorkel and bob around in the waves without too much difficulty. A little further out, after the coral reef the ocean provided some optimal waves for surfing. Everyday we’d be treated to seeing anywhere from 10 to upwards of 30 surfers catching a wave. The snorkelling here was quite amazing. We saw a large variety of different tropical fish and many quite large fish. One of the coolest fish was a large pinkish fish with a white mouth. It almost looked like it was wearing white lipstick. The only things missing was seeing a turtle. At this beach we were also treated to seeing four monk seals beach themselves one day and at one point three of them decided to play with each other in the water right at the shoreline. The next day two were back sunbathing the day away again. The monk seal is endangered and so anytime one beaches itself, volunteers are on hand and rope off the area around the seal so people do not get too close. On the south part of the beach, you could swim or snorkel out to a sand bar just before the reef. It was a great spot to take a bit of a rest from snorkelling. 

We didn’t spend all our time hanging out on the beach, though a good amount of time was spent there. We explored this beautiful island and drove up to the north shore. We had wanted to check out a snorkelling spot we heard good things about called Tunnel Bay, but unfortunately the surf was too rough and the swells too large for us to be able to go in. In fact, it’s not uncommon at this time of year for the swells to be upwards of fifteen feet. 

We hiked part of the famous trail along the Nāpali Coast. We did this hike the day after the torrential rain storm and so the trail was probably a lot more treacherous than any other day. We hiked 2 miles in to a great beach stop with a cave on one side of the mountain cliff. The trail was pretty well maintained, though after all that rain there were many slippery and very muddy sections. Not a hike to do in nice shoes. There is a creek that you have to go through to get to this beach stop and the water had a pretty good current to it. The rocks in the creek were somewhat slippery and as we were crossing back on our return, I slipped and feel in getting a part of my butt wet but also ended up dropping my hand with my hikers into the water. So the two mile hike back was done in wet shoes. Not the best feeling but at the same time a little freeing as I didn’t feel I needed to be so careful not to step in the puddles along the way. The views along the trail were just stunning. Hiking along the cliff side overlooking the ocean and seeing the mountain ranges on the other side was breathtaking.

We drove up to Waimea Canyon just before sunset one evening. It was cool to see the sun reflecting off the mountains and create differing colour shawdows against the mountains. This is an impressive canyon that has many different hikes you can explore. It is known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific and is roughly ten miles long and up to 3000 feet deep. 

Kaua’i is known for growing coffee and so loving coffee as much as we do, it made sense to visit the Kaua’i Coffee Company plantation for a tour. We learned some interesting facts on the tour like one coffee tree produces one pound of coffee beans and the only trees planted at this plantation are arabica trees because they don’t grow as tall as other coffee trees. 

One of the highlights for this part of the trip was the helicopter tour we took. We did get rained out on our original day booked, and had to wait until our last full day before we could reschedule. Thankfully this day had good weather and we were able to enjoy an hour open door helicopter tour over the island. Our helicopter pilot, Ian, has a pretty cool job. He did a great job of providing us with good information and some history of the sights we flew over. It was an amazing experience to be able to take in the island from that perspective. We got to see the Waimea Canyon from above and discovered that there are numerous very large waterfalls within the canyon, all of which are rain water fed. 




Kaua’i is definitely an island we want to come back to. It’s so lush and beautiful, less developed as our favourite island Maui, making it less busy and more tranquil. 


Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Salut Eastern Canada!

Once again life got in the way for me to finish this trip's blog in a timely manner. It's amazing how time flies by so quickly. 

How to recap this incredibly amazing trip? To say I have gained a new appreciation for this great country called Canada is an understatement. To travel to the east coast during Canada's 150 birthday year was such a treat. To see the amount of patriotism back east was a little foreign yet at the same time so refreshing. 

We got to experience the immense hospitality of the locals who honestly treated us as friends, not strangers. The stunning coastline was more beautiful than I could ever had imagined dotted with fishing villages all along; some looking abandoned and weathered due to hard times hitting the industry. Seeing the massive icebergs off the coast in Newfoundland was an experience always to remember but also a sad realization that something is not quite right with that. It felt peaceful there, an opportunity to really appreciate the magnificent nature we were surrounded by. 




We experienced what I imagined quintessential east coast life to be. We got to experience so many amazing things like the local music scene in its rawest form; incredible food prepared using local products; informative historical sites to better understand the east coast; and the ability to freely explore so many beautiful natural sites.

We travelled a great distance on this journey: round trip flight - 9572km; total distance driven - 4300km. We stopped at 12 Tim Hortons in 11 different cities or towns but only had 3 roll up the rim wins. 

This was a trip whose memories will last a lifetime. And I'm so glad to have shared this with the best travelling partner in the world, Z! 



Happy Birthday Canada! Thank you for all you have to offer. 

To travel is to live....until next time....life is good!


Tuesday, August 1, 2017

St. John's, Newfoundland


Our last stop on this amazing trip was St. John's. Some 4300km's of driving brought us to St. John's. Our only real rain day was spent here. Our hotel was downtown on Duckworth Street, one of the main streets in downtown, and right on the harbour. In fact our room had a harbour view facing the working port. We could also see  Signal Hill from the hotel. Had the weather been somewhat better we probably would have walked up and explored Signal Hill a little more, especially considering we enjoyed its namesake band so much in Halifax. The shops that lined Duckworth Street were quite quaint and each was painted a different bright colour. The locals call them jellybean houses because of their colours. 


When we arrived we were both rather hungry and decided that we'd go for a later lunch at O'Reilly's, a pub situated along the internationally renowned George Street. Now George Street is actually a fairly small street but is believed to have the most pubs and bars per square foot of any other street in North America. It's a pretty lively place at night. The walk from the hotel was probably about 8 blocks or so. It was raining and so thought we'd borrow an umbrella from the front desk so Z went out to ask. He came back relaying the message that they were out (after all it had been raining all day) and that they had no budget to buy more. He did come back with a paper brochure which the ever so friendly front desk clerk had given him and said "use this" or "just suck it up it's St. John's". So we ventured out with the small umbrella I had brought from home. We quickly realized that the downpour combined with the fierce Atlantic wind rendered the umbrella useless. At points during our 8 odd block walk the wind was so strong it was making the rain come down on a 45 degree angle. We got part way and hunkered down in the doorway of a Bank of Montreal branch to try and wait out the downpour. After awhile we realized the downpour wasn't about to stop and we were already soaked through so it was decision time...continue on and get more soaked, or head back to the hotel, change into dry clothes and take a taxi to George Street. We opted to continue on in part because I really didn't want to risk getting my only other pair of shoes that I needed the next day for our return home to get wet. We made it to O'Reilly's, shook off as much of the rain from our coats and enjoyed a great lunch which listening to a local singer perform with her guitar. Eventually our clothes dried; I even went to the bathroom in the hopes they had a hand dryer so I could dry my jeans. Thankfully they did, but unfortunately it was positioned over the counter and I couldn't reach it without climbing onto the counter which I thought would be weird. After a prolonged lunch waiting out the rain, we left. We did a little window shopping and stopped at the Terry Fox Memorial site before heading back to George Street so we could go to Christian's to get screeched-in. 


What is getting "screeched-in"? Well Newfoundlanders are a friendly bunch, very welcoming, entertaining and enjoy a good time. Getting screeched-in makes you an honorary Newfoundlander, but you must partake in the ceremony and complete all tasks involved. We heard Christian's was the best place to do, so we paid our $20 and became honorary Newfies. Our Master of Ceremonies, Skipper Vicki, a retired RCMP officer, was a blast. She had the best stories to tell (Newfies are also known for their story telling) and her stories were even funnier because of her Newfie accent making it difficult to understand what she was actually saying. The ceremony started off with eating a chunk of bologna. And as Skipper Vicki says, 'not to worry if you're a vegetarian you can still eat it because we're really not sure there's any meat in it anyway.' Then we had to recite a poem which to this day I still really don't know if I said it right or what it actually means, but it goes like this in the answer to the question "Is ye an honorary Newfoundlander?" "Deed I is ol' cock, and long may your big jib draw". After this we drank a shot of Screech rum; and for not being a rum drinker it was actually not bad....it burned on the way down like tequila does. We were told here too that we must shot the Screech, no sipping allowed and no chasers. Now I wish the order of the activities we had to partake in was a little different because the last task we needed to complete was kissing a frozen cod. If that wasn't bad enough, Z and I ended up being last so we had to kiss it after everyone else, and there were probably about 30 people in total, had kissed this cod. And there was no fake kissing the cod.....Skipper Vicki made sure lips touched lips. 





The weather really didn't clear up much and we had wanted to listen to some more live music so we walked a long around way back to O'Reilly's. It's literally 2 pubs down, but we wanted a bit of a walk. While out and about, we saw two different wedding parties, both heading into different pubs. It was somewhat funny to see a bride in full bridal gown head into a pub. Guess that's not unusual there. Back in O'Reilly's we found ourselves a nice little table...it was a little busier in the evening than at lunch.....and enjoyed listening to Rob Kelly sign with his guitar before he took the stage with the Irish Descendants. The Irish Descendants are a folk music band from Newfieland. It was an enjoyable night. The other folks sitting around us were friendly and we chatted with some for a bit. Unfortunately our night was an early one though because our flight the next day was super early making us wake up at 3am. I have to say our last night on the east coast was awesome because we really got to experience the local life on a Saturday night. 
               


Thursday, July 20, 2017

Driving to St. John's

The drive from St. Anthony to St. John's is roughly 1050km and 11 hours without stops. Who in their right mind would take on that trek especially after having gotten up early on drive day to take an iceberg tour? Well certainly not us, even we aren't that crazy despite some of the lengthy drives we've had on this trip. We broke the drive up with two stops in between. We did end up driving back on the Viking Trail because there is no other road on the east side of the peninsula where St. Anthony is located that brings you to St. John's. St. John's is on the most easterly side of Newfoundland. Seemed a little strange but if you see how remote and rugged the trrrain is between most of the towns, it's understandable that the fastest route was to double back. This gave us the opportunity to be on the coastline side as we drove through all the small fishing villages and through Gros Morne National Park. 

Our first stop was in Springdale; still a long 6 hour drive from St. Anthony. Because our tour had been delayed it did get us on the road a little later than we originally planned so we didn't have time to stop in the park to do any hiking. We pretty much just drove straight through. With such long driving time swapping drivers is key to ensuring one doesn't get too tired potentially putting both of us in danger. It all worked out and I figured out that I'm best at driving in the morning than in the afternoon.the Viking Trail, or route 430 brought us to Hwy 1, or TCH as they seem to sign it in Newfoundland, in The community of Deer Lake. From there we continued on to Springdale, our stop for the night. Along this journey we once again saw a moose, this time on the side of the TCH. This one had the full antlers and ended up running back into the forest after being scared off from the traffic noise. I was driving at this point and could see him a ways down the road. He was very pronounced and not difficult to see; quite the large creature. 

In Springdale we stayed at a fairly new inn nestled along the Indian River. This was a great little stay even if it was for only one night. We had a river view from our room and in the morning we went for a nice walk on a trail beside the river. We saw a couple local men wading out of the river with their morning salmon catch. Guess what they might have been having for dinner that night. There river also spared to be a great place for bird watching. After our morning walk we set out to keep on schedule to get to St. John's. from Springdale to St. John's is another 5.5 hour direct drive. But we of course decided that taking the long way around and detouring ourselves completely out of the way to Bonavista would be the way to go. So instead of that 5.5 hour drive we drove just shy of 5 hours to Bonavista. This drive took us through Terra Nova National Park. Throughout our entire travels we had no issues outside of missing half of the Cabot Trail due to a motor vehicle accident. Our luck changed in Terra Nova National Park through no fault of ours. We were driving along when a truck travelling in the opposite direction threw a rock in the air which struck our windshield and caused a sizeable ding. So unfortunate because now we would have to deal with this upon returning the vehicle. 

We arrived in Bonavista early afternoon which gave us plenty of time to see the sights. We stayed at the Harbour Quarters Inn, a heritage inn built in circa 1920 and restored in 2004. Each room is furnished with locally made furniture and the inn is located right in the harbour. Looking from the property to the North Atlantic, we could again see an iceberg floating by. Our first sightseeing stop was the Ryan Premises, a national historic site. The significance of this site was learning about the local fishery which influenced settlement, culture and economic development on the east coast for more than 500 years. The site consists of 5 separate building, each showcasing different exhibits pertaining to the fishery and life as both a fisherman and a fish merchant. 

Bonavista is thought to be where John Cabot first spied land in the New World during his 1497 voyage from Britain. It's his report of abundant cod stocks that enticed centuries of English and Irish settlers to fish there in the summer months. On the road to the town's lighthouse, you can find a large statue of John Cabot on a hill overlooking the sea. Cape Bonavista lighthouse was first lit in 1843. The life of a lighthouse keeper was a difficult, yet extremely important, one with gruelling long hours. From the lighthouse we followed the main road to The Dungeon. This is a massive collapsed sea cave formed by the restless pounding of the North Atlantic waves against this rock formation. You can get some good views of the dungeon up close, but be vary of the signs that indicate that should you fall in it is difficult to get out. 

From there we venture to our last sightseeing spot. Z said he wasn't leaving Newfoundland until he saw a puffin and he was serious. We ventured out to a somewhat remote area about 20 minutes away where he read that he was guaranteed to see puffins. Fingers crossed his intel was correct because we only had a few hours of daylight left and the next morning we needed to move on to St. John's. We arrived and had to walk a few hundred metres before we came to the edge of the coastline and just another few hundred metres across the sea on a large rocky formation were the puffins. A whole lot of puffins, along with their seagull friends. Puffins are a small little bird. They have a cute face with a. Lack and red beak. The Atlantic puffin also known as the common puffin population has declined significantly and they are now rated as vulnerable by the IUCN. It was interesting watching these little puffins as they took off to fly and dive into the ocean to feed. We both thought they had a funny landing and looked somewhat like a helicopter landing; though maybe not as steady as a helicopter. There was a large number of puffins hanging out in this area and it satisfied someone's need so we could safely move on with our trip the next day. 


The next day we had another 3.5 hour drive ahead of us to get us to our final destination, St. John's. All along we were very fortunate to have had good weather and not much rain. The most rain we experienced until this day was one afternoon while we were driving and so it really didn't matter. Our luck ran out that morning. The rain started and was rather heavy at times. The great part about it was that we were in the vehicle and by now the vehicle was absolutely filthy with dead bugs stuck all over the front grill and hood. The rain washed all that away and we didn't feel guilty about returning a dirty vehicle. The drive was pretty noneventful and as I started to dose, which I easily can do on long road trips, Z yells moose. We saw another moose at the side of the TCH. Because I was dosing I wasn't camera ready and so Z did try to circle back because the moose stayed by the side of the road for awhile, but just as we were approaching several other cars came around the bend and scared the poor moose back into the woods. 

We arrived at St. John's airport to return the vehicle and thankfully didn't have too much trouble with the car rental agent given the windshield ding. After filing the incident report we were on our way to catch a taxi to our hotel. 



Friday, July 14, 2017

Icebergs galore


Part of the reason we drove all that distance up the Viking Trail, through the UNESCO World Heritage site of Gros Morne National Park, to St. Anthony was so we could embark on our quest to see an iceberg, or in actuality an abundance of icebergs. Z quickly nicknamed these massive icebergs "ice cubes". Perhaps the humour in this only lies with the two of us, but hearing him call them ice cubes was quite funny. 

We had booked a ice berg and whale watching tour with Northland Discovery Tours out of St. Anthony. Now, we could have actually booked a similar type tour that didn't take us to the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland, but where would the fun in that be? Our tour was scheduled for 9am and we were told to arrive 20 minutes early. We planned accordingly and got ourselves up with enough time to have breakfast at Tim Hortons because we had read that the Timmies in St. Anthony is the only location that offers a speciality donut during the Iceberg Festival; the iceberg donut. So with a name like that, why wouldn't you want to try it? It was a very delicious novelty to try once. 

We arrived at Northland Discovery Tours at the time we were told and found out that our tour was actually pushed back to 10am because they were expecting high wind later in the day and had to adjust their schedule and were trying to accommodate a bus tour group. No big deal, we really had no other choice and just went with the flow. We thought it a little strange though that when we called a couple days earlier to confirm nothing was said to us then. We sat by the water as we waited and ended up having some good chats with others who arrived early as well and had no clue our tour was heading out an hour later. The morning was beautiful, the sun was out, the scenery absolutely incredible and the company great so it made the time go by that much quicker. 

Our tour was amazing. The weather was perfect, the wind was not too strong and so we only experienced about 1 foot swells so the boat was not swaying too much. Our guide, Steve, was not only quite humorous, but also very knowledgable and informative. As we approached the first iceberg for an up close view, we heard the theme song of the movie, The Titanic playing. This really brought the enormity of icebergs to reality. And to think that only 1/9 of the entire iceberg is visible above the water level. It's truly amazing to think about. While we were passing one iceberg we were treated to the loud thunderous cracking sound of a chunk of the berg breaking away from the main structure. It was pretty cool to hear. At one point Steve fished out a small piece of berg from the ocean and broke it up so we could taste it. First though he asked whether we thought it would taste salty or not. Surprisingly, to me, it was not in the least bit salty. Because the iceberg is so dense, the salt water is unable to penetrate it. We had heard from someone that there were about 25% more icebergs floating around Newfoundland this year compared to last. It's not surprising given the amount of bergs we got to see. I read after the fact that almost 1,000 icebergs had been counted in Iceberg Alley off the coast of Newfoundland making the North Atlantic shipping lanes extra dangerous this year. As global warming continues it can be expected that the numbers will only increase. The bergs are all originating from Greenland, making their way down to the coast of Newfoundland and according to Steve the bergs we saw on that day would be gone within a month. Gone not because they continued to flow south, but because they would be melted. We were the second tour of the day and Steve and our skipper both indicated that since the first tour some of the bergs had already shifted their position from the morning and certainly had shifted from the previous day. One of the icebergs we passed was concave and in the middle was those most brilliant turquoise coloured water. It was such a sight to see this smaller area of turquoise water within the great Atlantic ocean. There was another berg we saw up close where you could see very distinct water lines within it. 



As we continued on with the tour we were told to keep our eyes open for the spray of a humpback whale which shoots up into the air about 10 feet when they come up for air. While the tour had no guarantees of a whale sighting, there had been a couple sightings the day before, but none earlier in the morning. At one point I saw a head pop out of the water and while it wasn't a whale we encountered a seal. This seal seemed very aware that we were there and he was rather playful as he popped in and out of the water and flapped his fin on the surface. Towards the end of the tour a whale was spotted in the distance and we were off to chase it down. It took us some time to find it, but we did finally get a good glimpse of the lone humpback whale as he arched his back preparing for a dive into the deep. We also got a glimpse of his flukes and the distinct white markings on the underside These markings are what are used to tell one whale apart from another. Getting to see a whale at the end of the tour really made the tour feel fully complete. It was a great way to end a fantastic 2 hour tour. 


Once we were back on dry land, it was lunch time and we decided to head back to the Lightkeeper's Restaurant. We had dinner there the night before and really enjoyed the atmosphere, and food. We wanted to try their moose sliders (which were super tasty!) so it was the perfect place to have lunch as it was only a 5 minute drive from the dock. For lunch we got a window table and could age out and admire the icebergs floating by. It was a great way to cap off our time in St. Anthony. 



Sunday, July 9, 2017

Journey to St. Anthony, Newfoundland

From the Cabot Trail we had to travel 2.5 hours to North Sydney to catch our overnight ferry to Newfoundland. As we were driving the GPS directed us to the Englishtown ferry to get us across the mouth of St. Ann's Bay. At first we thought we were misdirected but figured out soon that this was the most direct route. As we stopped in the ferry line up of three vehicles in front of us, a motorcyclist got off his bike and walked towards us. He asked if we were lost and proceeded to tell us that this was the most direct route to North Sydney where we were heading. We had a brief conversation with him after he asked where we were from and he then proceeded to tell us about his time stationed in Esquimalt and how while on the west coast he took a great liking to sushi and that he wished there was more ethnic variety of food on the east coast. He gave us directions for when we got off the ferry and wished us a great trip. Such a different way of life here on the east coast. Everyone we've encountered thus far is more than happy to have a conversation with you and give you pointers to help you enjoy your stay even more. People are just so friendly here. The drive to North Sydney was once again extremely scenic and we just can't get enough of how beautiful it is here. 

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Black Spoon Bistro in downtown North Sydney before boarding our overnight ferry to Newfoundland. To make the most of our time, we figured taking the overnight ferry would make most sense because the ferry ride was about 7 hours and this way we wouldn't waste precious sightseeing time. We booked a cabin so we could catch some sleep as we crossed the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Marine Atlantic runs twice daily ferries from North Sydney to Port aux Basques and we were on the Highlander ship. Our cabin was cozy with 2 beds and a private bathroom. The crossing was smooth and before we knew it we were docked and ready to disembark and start our lengthy drive to St. Anthony. Somewhere over the Gulf of St. Lawrence we also entered the Newfoundland Standard time zone which is a half hour ahead of the Atlantic time zone. Strange fact, it'a only island of Newfoundland that observes this time zone and a couple communities in Labrador. The rest of Labrador actually observes Atlantic Standard time. When time zones were established, Newfoundland was still its own dominion and as such adopted their own time zone from the rest of Atlantic Canada. While the government at one point tried to change to Atlantic Standard time, they were met with stiff opposition by the people and so they left it. 


St. Anthony, Newfoundland, is located on the northern part of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador, and is about a 7.5 hour drive from the Port aux Basques with no stops. Once landing on Newfoundland we could have just made our way across the province to St. John's but we decided that we would rather experience more of small town Atlantic Canada. We also wanted to see icebergs, or ice cubes as Z nicknamed them. We discovered that St. Anthony was a great place for this and also for whale sightings. We knew this leg of the trip would entail lengthy car rides but it would be worth it because we discovered the best route to our destination was the Viking Trail coastline drive. All along the drive you see the pristine coastline and little fishing communities along the roadside. When Newfoundland put a moritorium on the commercial cod fishing industry 25 years ago due to dwelling supply of cod, it hit these communities especially hard and evidence of that is still present today. While you can see coloured houses along the shoreline, you also see abandoned houses and buildings as well. Newfoundland prides itself with its fishing industry and this devastated many families in that a lot lost their livelihood and were forced to move away in search of other work. We got some mixed messages on whether the moritorium has been lifted or not, but either way these communities will never be the same. 

The drive up the coastline took us through Gros Morne National park, again entry was free given our Parks Canada pass. This 1805 square km park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage park in 1987. With our schedule, we had little time to explore the many different hiking opportunities here but we did stop at a few of the scenic viewpoints. We really enjoyed The Arches provincial park, which showcases a rock formation that over the years has been eroded by wind and water to form an arch. Truly an incredible natural site to see. This park is a great place to see widelife like moose and many different species of birds. Perhaps another visit is in order so we can explore the park more throughouly. 

We made it all the way up to the northernmost most tip to L'Anse aux Meadows, a historical site where the Vikings roamed thousands of years ago. Reminants of a former Viking village were discovered here and you can now roam through the area and explore different replications of the buildings that Parks Canada maintains. They also have an informative discovery centre where you can learn more about the Vikings. While we were driving to the site as we came around a bend in the road, we saw a moose at the side of the road. He (at least we think it was a he) looked like he wanted to cross the road so we came to a stop and just watched. We'd seen enough signs warning to watch out for moose and about moose/car accidents that we didn't want to become a statistic. He looked at us briefly (and yes I did get a couple photos) before crossing the road and running into the woods. Long may he live. 

Our first encounter with a Newfie was quite funny. We were stop at the side of the road in a small fishing village on our way up to L'Anse aux Meadows because we saw an iceberg and wanted to take a couple pictures. An older gentleman came walking up to us and says (need to be spoken with a Newfie accent): " Do ya wanna see a big one? Just head around them there bend and at the intersection's a gap and you'll see a big one." What a friendly gent. We thanked him for the advise and went on our merry way. We never did figure out which intersection he was referring to, but we did see plenty of bergs along the way. 






Friday, July 7, 2017

Cape Breton Island/Cabot Trail

Cape Breton Island was our next stop and more specifically we came here so we could travel the Cabot Trail. We started off by visiting the Alexander Graham Bell museum as he and his wife Mabel made the town of Baddock their home. The museum is part of Parks Canada so this year entrance was free. The museum provides a detailed timeline of Bell's life, inventions and experiments. The museum houses many actual artifacts and documents which were donated by the family. It was very interesting to learn about all the other inventions and experiments that Bell was involved in besides inventing the telephone. We did have to wonder what he, if he were living today, would think of how his discovery has evolved into what it has today. 

The Cabot Trail is a 300km highway that winds around the northern part of Cape Breton Island and is not to be missed. A third of the Cabot Trail runs through Cape Breton Highlands National Park, also free with our Parks Canada pass, along the coast and over the highlands. Besides the thrill of driving this two-lane highway around all the twists, turns and switchbacks, the views of the coastline is spectacular and breathtaking. There are plenty of viewpoints along the way to stop and take photos of the magestic views. There are quaint villages along the way as well were you can visit local artisan shops or stop for a bit to eat. The park is filled with plenty of hikes of varying difficulty ratings. The first one we chose was the Middle Head hike, located a short distance from the campsite we stayed at for a night. The Middle Head hike is a 3.8km loop that offers amazing views of North Bay Ingonish on the Atlantic Ocean. We got to see plenty of birds, mostly seagulls, an eagle and possibly a puffin, but we're not entirely sure, and we had our first whale sighting, although very brief. We met a couple from Germany and ended up seeing them a couple more times the next day along the Cabot Trail. The hike was not overly difficult though it was extremely hot as a heat wave had moved into the area. We also did a few other shorter hikes that always led to something spectacular to see. The Lone Shieling had us hiking Ina forest filled with 350 year old sugar maple trees. At the end of one path on to hike was a replication of a Scottish crofter's hut. We did part of the Coastal hike which brought us to some fascinating rock formations on the cliff side. Some of the rocks were pink in colour and we found what looked like granite embedded in a section of rock that was split open. Most of the hikes we did were along the coastline and so in the mornings you could look out at the ocean and see fishermen checking their lobster traps to see what they caught. Looking out into the ocean you can see the lobster trap floatation markers everywhere. 

We did not see the elusive moose while on the Cabot Trail. We were all set and ready to do the entire loop before moving on to our next destination. After a tasty breakfast with amazingly great tasting local coffee at the Bean Barn Cafe we started our drive. Describing the scenery in words is virtually impossible; it is so incredibly beautiful, breathtaking, specatular, magnificent, stunning to say the least. The overall drive is only a couple hours without any stops and so we budgeted the day which would give us enough time to do what we wanted and to drive around. We even decided we had time to take the Coastal Loop just after Neil's Harbour as you exit the park area so we could continue on with the scenic coastline drive instead of cutting inland. Just before we hit Pleasant Bay I heard about an accident which had shut the road down, but didn't think much of it. As we approached Pleasant Bay with the hopes to see more whales we saw a medivac helicopter and an ambulance in the field. We wondered what had happened and thought that whomever was injured was being looked after there in the field. We didn't see any whales; the surf was extremely chopping due to high winds so we carried on only to come to a complete stop a few kilometres down the way. At first we thought it was due to construction which was happening all throughout the park, but soon we learned that it was due to the accident I had heard about earlier. We learned there was a single motorcycle accident somewhere along the Mackenzie Mointain area of the Cabot Trail and they had shut the entire highway in both directions down from Pleasant Bay to Chéticamp which is where we wanted to end up. No one knew when the highway would reopen. The one highways staff provided us with details on the accident and basically indicated that if the injured was going to survive the injuries then he expected the highway to reopen soon, but if the injured succumbed to the injuries then they expected the highway to remain closed until the next day so they could investigate the crash. Well that sure threw a wrinkle in our plans....everything thus far had been going to plan. Both of us were a bit hungry at this point and thankfully Rusty Anchor restaurant was right where we were stopped. We decided we'd go have lunch and then figure out what to do. Fingers and toes were crossed that by the time we finished lunch the highway would be reopened. Well, the Cabot Trail is a world renowned Trail and thus is well travelled. When it closes a large number of people get stuck and so the restaurant probably had one of their best revenue days that day. The were so packed that we had to share a table with two strangers. Doing this didn't seem out of the ordinary for the Maritimes. We had a great lunch here. Unfortunately when we were done, there was still no official word on when the highway would reopen but someone did say the motorcyclist did not survive and so we made the decision to turn back and drive back the way we came. There was no other way out and waiting for an undetermined amount of time wouldn't work because we had ferry to catch that evening. This was a big bummer...we were so excited about driving the entire loop and also getting in one more hike called the Skyline hike which is supposed to be incredibly amazing with lots of widelife spotting opportunities. While the accident and outcome was horrible, what we could not understand is why the investigation for a single vehicle accident needed to shut down both directions of the only highway that goes through this area for the rest of the day.

We stayed one night at the Ingonish Beach campsite. As an adult I haven't spent much time camping and the only time I did go camping it was freezing cold and I only lasted one night. With that in mind, Z knew that convincing me to camp would be a challenge. Thankfully Parks Canada has installed something called oTENTiks at some of their campsites. Also known as glamping, the oTENTik worked great for me as it provided a blend of comfort and the outdoors. It's very convenient because everything is set up and ready to go, you just need to provide your own bedding. The oTENTik had a BBQ, fire pit, picnic table and lounge chairs on the deck. Inside it could sleep up to six people and had a table with chairs and a bench to sit. It could even be heated if necessary but it was warm enough that day so we didn't use that feature. The oTENTik is solar powered. It's the perfect combination of tent and rustic cabin and was just the right experience for me! Just a short walk through the bug infested forest you arrive at the beach and just a few more steps from there you can access a fresh water lake. We went first thing in the morning and the water was so calm and peaceful. 





Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Canada Day in Halifax

We made it to Halifax the eve of Canada's 150 birthday....when we planned out this trip we thought Halifax would be the place to celebrate our great country's birthday and Halifax did not disappoint!! The city was decked out with Canada flags and Canada 150 flags everywhere and the atmosphere in the air was a city ready to celebrate! We made the right choice. We were staying right on the waterfront and our hotel location was perfect for the activities we did within the city. Little did we know that the Canadian Arm Wrestling National championship was taking place at our hotel. Who knew this was even a thing. Canada Day started off with some rainy weather but that didn't dampened the spirit and by mid day it stopped altogether and remained just overcast. We started our day out heading up to the Halifax Citadel to watch the day's opening ceremony. The singing of O' Canada was followed by a 21 mortar gun salute. We walked around and explored the citadel for a while and watched some of the military performances taking place. With it being Canada Day access was free which was even better. We stayed for some birthday cake before heading over to the Halifax Common grounds where the free concerts would be taking place later in the evening. Walking around the city you could just feel the sense of pride in being a Canadian and it was awesome to experience. There was a sea of red and white and Canada shirts everywhere you looked. We decided to visit the Maritime Museum and the HMCS Sakeville to learn about some of the maritime history of Halifax. Admission to both was also free. We had planned to head back to the Common grounds later in the evening to take in the concerts and to watch the fireworks but we ended up having a little too much fun at the social gathering place of Halifax, Lower Deck. We stopped in here for some very tasty dinner on the upper deck of the pub before heading downstairs to the lower deck to listen the live music of local musician Paul Lamb. The place was standing room only and quite packed, but we found ourselves a spot and took in the amazing performance and signing to a lot of the tunes. A local couple started chatting us up and were shocked to hear that we came all this way. They were very friendly and chatted with us for some time and gave us some tips for the balance of our trip. They really exhibited the friendly, welcoming and laid back way of Halifaxonians. After Paul Lamb, another local band by the name of Shaydid was performing, though this time they were playing outside on the walkway alley between the pub and the market building next door. We were having a lot of fun and decided to stay for them as well. We soon forgot about the concerts and fireworks and just took in the party atmosphere at Lower Deck. This was just what I was hoping we'd get to experience....local musicians playing in a pub and people just having an absolutely amazingly awesome time. Halifax does seem like a city where the locals really have a good time. What a great way to end Canada Day! We had such a great that the next night we returned to Lower Deck, this time we hung out in the walkway alley outside the roped in section for Lower Deck patrons and listened to another local band, originally from Newfoundland, called Signal Hill. They play here regularly on Sunday nights and they bring with them a huge crowd. The place was lined up down the block well before they took the stage at 9:30 and it remained that way pretty much all evening. The place was just packed as was the walkway alley. Signal Hill is a show band and again we sang along with all the familiar songs they played, which was pretty much every song. They were awesome!! 


Random fact: Proir to 1923 people in Halifax drove on the left side of the road. 

We drove to Peggy's Cove, which is a short half hour drive from Halifax. This small rural fishing community is famous for its lighthouse. The views from the lighthouse and the rocks overlooking Saint Margaret's Bay are just breathtaking; even on an overcast day like the one we had. The village is inhabited by less than 1000 people and really represents the quintessential imagine of a small Canadian fishing village. It's quite a quaint and peaceful place. Our trip back to Halifax was another scenic drive which took us passed the Swissair flight 111 memorial. Peggy's Cove and its neighbour Blandford were intrusmental in aiding in the recovery mission of this tragedy. 

As part of the Canada Day weekend, Halifax was hosted many different events and festivals. We decided on our last evening to have dinner at the Rib Festival being held near Pier 21. Pier 21 is infamous as the landing shed for over one million immigrants from 1928 to 1972. Ribfest put on by the Rotary Club of Halifax Waterfront on the other hand, is an open field with numerous different rib stands competing with each other for the title of best ribs. There were at least seven different rib vendors there,  and as you can probably guess it was all about the ribs. We chose to get ribs from Texas Rangers, originally from Texas but now based in Ontario. These were some mighty fine tasting ribs! Good thing we had each done a workout before because this was purely a meat only dinner. 

While there was a Cow's ice cream place a stones through from our hotel, there was always a long line up and we never felt like waiting. Instead we went to a place called Sugah which so happened to be right beside ribfest. Sugah is somewhat like Cold Stone where they take your ice cream flavour and can combine it with some fixings and mix it on a cold some before serving. I had vanilla ice cream with peanut butter fudge and Z had chocolate with peanut butter fudge. Very tasty indeed. 






Sunday, July 2, 2017

Prince Edward Island - the home of Anne of Green Gables

We travelled a very round about way from Moncton to Halifax via P.E.I. Yes, not exactly the most direct route, but we probably won't be back here in a very long time, if ever, and this was our chance to drive over the Confederation Bridge, which connects P.E.I to mainland New Brunswick. This 13km bridge costing $1.3 billion to construct and most of the span sits 40 metres above the Northumberland Strait. There is a section that sits 60 metres above the strait to allow for sea traffic to pass. The bridge is a two lane bridge and currently costs $46.50 to cross, but you only get charged when you leave P.E.I. So we originally decided we'd drive over the bridge and turn around and come back over again and make our way to Halifax so we could say we'd driven over the bridge and been to P.E.I. I secretly though had wanted to drive across the island to Cavendish to visit Green Gables and the inspiration behind Anne of Green Gables. Z didn't know much about the books/series so there was not a lot of interest on his part, so I left the idea alone before we got here. Once we were here and planning our day trip, I brought up the idea again and convinced Z that it would be a quick side trip. Little did we know we'd end up spending most of the day on the island. 

You can't stop on the bridge so we weren't entirely sure how we'd get any pictures of it. Thankfully right before the bridge is a rest stop area where you can park and get some awesome photos of the bridge. During this time of the year, you have to take your photos very quickly thigh because e bugs are off in full force to eat you. I got bit twice. At the rest stop is a gift shop as well where you can find all sorts of souvenirs and snack items. Here we found Covered Bridge potatoe chips, something we'd been looking for the entire time we were inNew Brunswick. These are locally made potato chips made of the finest local potatoes. The BBQ flavoured chips are very tasty!! 

Driving across the bridge was a cool experience. While reading the website to determine the toll cost, I saw that there are some other charges that you probably want to avoid, such as the apprehensive driver cost of $40. We didn't have to worry about that, but I wonder how they determine whether that fine applies and how it is charged. The posted speed limit is 80km per hour, however may be reduced  if it's extremely windy. 

As we entered P.E.I and made our way across the island to the other side, we drove through some of the most scenic rural countryside in Eastern Canada. The landscape was filled with rolling green pastures and lush farmlands and was just so calming and peaceful. Farming, fishing and tourism would be its main economic drivers. With a population of 142,900, P.E.I is the smallest province both in population and in size. 

We started off at what I thought was the Green Gables site, but turned out to be a museum of the childhood home of Lucy Maud Montgomery and where she wrote the internationally-renowned Anne of Green Gables. It was quite interesting walking around the house where she grew up and eventually also married. Seeing the sheer beauty of the island it's no wonder Ms. Montgomery was inspired to write her most famous book and other literary works. After we figured out this wasn't the home that was the inspired setting for the book, we managed to get the address of where I had originally wanted to go and set off for Green Gables Heritage Place. This site is run by Parks Canada and with it being Canada's 150 birthday, with our Parks Canada pass access here was free. Going here added extra time to our day and is part of the reason we ended up on P.E.I for the day. For me it was worth the side trip here as we got to see the house set up and filled with memoriablia from the TV movie series. It brought back childhood memories of watching the series and also introduced Z to Anne of Green Gables. But the time we were done here we were both pretty hungry and our plan was to drive to Charlottetown, a roughly half hour drive. 

As we got into Charlottetown's downtown core, we noticed that there was a tall ship festival going on which meant there was a lot more vehicle traffic than we had anticipated. After driving around for a bit, we finally scored some pretty sweet free street parking and we were off to fill out ur very hungry tummies. We researched where to eat and found a place called Water Prince Corner Shop. The name at first glance seems unusual for a restaurant, but when you get there and see what the street names are at that intersection it all makes a lot of sense. The place was packed with a line up out the door when we first drove by, but by the time we parked and walked over, it had cleared up enough for us to get a table right away. The service was efficient and very friendly; the food was amazing. Z ordered a whole lobster and while I don't like seafood, I said I would try some lobster here if there was a lot of butter. Well there was a lot of butter and so I stayed true to my word and tried a lot of butter with a small piece of lobster and thankfully it tasted like butter! My actual lunch was a very tasty chicken burger. 

After our late lunch we walked around the waterfront for a bit, but didn't have much time because we still had a 4+ hour drive to Halifax and it was getting late in the afternoon. Wish we could had had more time here, but at least we can say we've been to Charlottetown, where it all started, the birthplace of Canada.