Back Road Whispers: Canada

Guess where the back roads took us this time ...

If you said Canada you are generally correct. If you said the Canadian Maritimes you are totally accurate. Come along and see what we saw, not necessarily in the order presented.

A big thank you to the friendly, helpful and fun people of the Maritimes and especially our private tour guide one day on PEI. Fasten your seat belt ... we are off.

We spent 8 days of the 10 day Caravan tour on the Coach Atlantic bus driving a total of 1300 plus miles seeing beautiful scenery and even some wildlife. Our tour director, Pierre, on the left in red and our driver, Bill, on the right in the vest made sure we saw and ate plenty. We even got serenaded by Pierre several times as we toodled down the road. Umm, there was an accordian/concertina/squeeze box involved.

A friend asked what pictures evoked the best memories or the feeling to go back. That was a hard one because there wasn't a bad part of the trip. (Well there was a couple of personality issues with a couple of other passengers but they no longer exist in my world). After careful consideration I came to the conclusion that they all did for one reason or the other, but if I had to choose it would be the flowers and the little fishing villages. I'll scatter them here and there for you to enjoy just as we did.

Peony at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck on the left and Cematis at Giselle's Country Inn in Baddeck, where we stayed a couple of nights, below.

One of our "stretch your legs" stops was at a place called the "bog walk". A boardwalk, about 1/4 mile long, circled through fields of flowers and other plant life. Very interesting with good signs to explain what you were seeing.

The first stop we made was at Hopewell in New Brunswick on the Bay of Fundy. I won't get all technical on you or Google stuff so you are 'educated'. Just my thoughts and what I understood what was happening...if it is false information, tough, I'm old and get confused at times...like between midnight and 11:59pm.

So, the Bay of Fundy, well the part that forms the Hopewell Rocks, is shaped like a funnel with the mouth, or the widest part, pointed out to the main bay. As the tide rises it rushes into this wide part and lo and behold it gets smaller and smaller and smaller causing the tide to get higher and higher and higher. So high in fact it is the highest tide in the world rising to the height of a four story building. That high tide has caused erosion forming the famous Hopewell Flower Pot Rocks. The story goes that Mr. Ripley, of the Believe it or Not fame, came one day and said it looked like flower pots since most have vegetation on top.

These should give you a feeling of the scale of the rocks.

The water fills this arch as the tide comes in...

Use your imagination on the one below...it is the mother-in-law rock. OK.

Below you can see what erosion can do....hang in there buddy, hang in there!

I just love the way the rocks stack themselves...notice the mud.

Of course there were flowers....

and my Daisy stopped by to say hello.

These are wracks. One is a knotted wrack (think it is the one on the left). The little yellow bladders are filled with air and keep the seaweed afloat to receive the sunlight.

This one, although similar to the knotted wrack is actually a rock or bladder wrack. (I think that is right but had to do a bit of Googling since I stupidly wrote "knotted" down for both wracks). It is used in lots of medical ways including in toothpaste, but mainly known for stimulating the thyroid. Look for it at your local health food store. Interesting.

This was the Pichou River as we passed through Moncton on the way to Hopewell...the tide was out.

On the way back through this was the Pichou River filling back up and we were able to see a tidal bore at work. Cool, don't think we have those in Central Texas :)

and what is a tidal bore you ask...ahh gather around and I will explain....it is simply an incoming tide that forms a wave on its leading edge. Blah, I wanted something more dramatic, but there you have it.

Sure wish the ads for our local Subway's looked like this!

A few years ago, a friend in New Brunswick was excited that the Confederation Bridge had been completed. I didn't truly understand his excitement until I crossed it. It is an engineering marvel, it is beautiful, and it is as clean and pristine as all of the Maritimes were. Of course this was the day I was at the rear of the bus but tried to get a decent shot of the bridge as we approached it, down the aisle and through the front window...I failed, but here is what I saw. Did I mention PEI is known for pot holes which really helps to get a clear shot.

Oh, the bridge is free to cross into PEI! The I in PEI comes into play when you want to get back to the mainland. You are on an island, meaning you are surrounded by water, with two means of leaving - the bridge or the ferry and both will cost you or you will live the rest of your life on PEI. Genius!!!

These are just some scenes as we drove from New Brunswick to our two day stay on Prince Edward Island. Those familiar with my weird brain know why I shot them.

That night we were treated to a lobster dinner at North Rustico's Fisherman's Wharf Lobster Suppers (boy that was a mouthful - pardon the pun). This restaurant boasts a 60 foot salad bar. I didn't see anything but the big pile of all you can eat mussels at the end. And I did eat and eat them. I chose to get scallops instead of lobster to broaden my Canadian culinary experience - mistake! The scallops were delicious, don't get me wrong, but as I watched lobster after lobster after lobster come out I wished I had ordered it. Close to the restaurant is a small harbor where local fishermen tie up overnight.

Fishing lines piled high

My grandson is Thomas, so I had to shoot this one.

What can I say, I love rust....

More fishing paraphernalia

This is a mussel boat that goes out to pull up the mussel socks and harvest the crop.

A mussel sock. They attach themselves to it and grow until I come along to munch down on them.

If you look almost dead center of the water below you will see a black line across the water. Those are the mussel socks.

Our step on guide gave us a demonstration on how a lobster trap works. Luring the little guy in through the hole where the bait awaits. Then after dining on lovely lobster food, he moves to the next room for an after dinner nap and his fate is sealed. The size of the lobster determines how it is used....the little ones are destined to be canned, the larger ones are heading for your table. The babies are sent back to grow up. Oh, that is Lester, he helped our guide demonstrate the use of a lobster trap...not to worry, he is fine and was released to do another show.

Stacks and stacks and stacks of the traps are everywhere, some for sale most being used.

The yellow bracelet is an identification band that identifies the trap, and its contents, as belonging to a particular person.

If for no other other reason, and there are plenty of reasons, these lobster men are enough to bring me back to North Rustico on PEI.

Across the road from the harbor was a family of Osprey.

Is there any woman on the North American continent that didn't read Anne of Green Gables growing up? It was a favorite of mine along with Heidi - I so wanted to be an orphan in either Canada or in the Alps. Luckily for my parents I realized neither desire. They were also pleased to know I didn't become a Chinese prostitute after reading my first adult book way too early (The World of Suzie Wong).

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Lucy's grandparents - I can see the grandmother as the role model for Marilla, but the grandfather just doesn't do it for me as Matthew.

The location for the stories was set close to Lucy Maud Montgomery's grandparents where she spent much of her childhood. The house was a neighbors and she never lived there, but Anne did. She was asked one time if Anne was fictional and she answered that she felt guilty saying she was ...I understand that. Anne of Green Gables is a real person to me and I have trouble separating her from Lucy Maud Montgomery. So from the branches of Grandma & TaTa's Mimosa tree where I read and dreamed to the real Green Gables I went.

Sorry I tried to tell the tourists that they needed to get out of the picture but they seemed to think they had a right to be there too.

Green Gables

For those that haven't read Anne of Green Gables - aka the male species - Anne was mistakenly sent by an orphanage after a brother and sister requested a boy to help out on a farm they owned on PEI. Obviously, Anne stayed and the rest made for good reading for almost every little girl. The mistake came to light when Matthew went to pick up the "boy" in a carriage like the one below. SEE?!? I was about to add that this was not the actual one used....Anne is real!

Some scenes from inside the house.

Mantle cloth - hard to see in the picture but it is needlepoint

One of the bedrooms - the linens in this house were to die for.

Lucy Maud Montgomery's scrapbook page

Another one of the bedrooms - the bed is not rumpled, those are clothes laid out

Wall pocket

Kitchen cupboard

In the exhibition area was this wall

To balance the sentimental Anne, the beauty of the Hopewell Rocks, the gorgeous scenery also came a sense of sadness and a moment to reflect on so many lives that were lost on April 15, 1912 - the day the Titanic sunk. Halifax was the closest port to bring the survivors and victims to and the dead were buried in three cemeteries in Halifax. The majority, 121, were buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetery. Headstones were erected by the owners of the Titanic, White Star Line, but several families replaced those with more personalized markers. Sadly, many are still just a number and not a name. The graves are laid out in the shape of the hull of a ship.

The cemetery is a beautiful place, and as everywhere, well kept

Many were marked such as this. I assume the numbers were assigned as remains were brought into the morgue. Really hurts my heart that this man/woman/child is spending eternity as simply 139.

"In loving memory of
Arthur Gordon McCrae B.E.
University of sydney, N. S. Wales
Australia
Who lost his life in the wreck of
the Titanic, April 1912
Aged 32 Years
"Faithful unto death"

What a testament to this young man.

One of the headstones that replaced the one erected by the White Star Line by family members.

So young.

Interesting inscription.

This one gave us pause, however it is NOT the hotel magnate, but a simple steward.

The body of the unknown, approximately 18 month old child, was pulled from the waters by a rescue ship five days after the sinking of the Titanic. There was no identification possible at the time and he was buried and a headstone was erected by the rescue ship, The Mackay-Bennett. He remained the "Unknown Child" until July 7, 2007 when it was determined that this was in fact Sidney Goodwin with a 98% accuracy.

Small gifts such as the teddy bears have decorated his grave site ever since he was buried. The white carnation is one of several placed on different graves.

The cemetery also has a veteran's memorial as you enter the main gate.

There is also a memorial to the victims of another disaster. An explosion in the Halifax Harbor that basically leveled the town.

TO THE MEMORY OF

THE UNIDENTIFIED DEAD.

VICTIMS OF THE GREAT DISASTER

DECEMBER 8, 1917

May they all rest in peace.

We were escorted out of the cemetery by this little critter.

The trip to the cemetery just cemented our love of the people of the Maritimes. We asked the front desk if she could help us with where to catch a bus and get bus schedule. She pulled it up, figured our route out, printed it, marked it and gave it to us along with directions on where to catch it from the hotel. The drivers were taking a small break at the bus stop and one asked if we were going with him. We said that we were waiting for the number 8 (I think) bus. After he asked where we were going, he told us the bus would be there in so many minutes, then told the driver where we were going and to let us know when we got where we needed to be.

On the way another passenger chatted us up and was giving us advice of where to eat and what to see, etc. The driver did tell us when we got there, where we needed to be for the return trip, and that if he saw us walking up the hill he would stop there fore us. Lovely people, and since it was Tuesday we got to ride free. We had about the same experience on the return trip.

The Titanic grave were a must see. It was a favorite stop for the history, the emotions, the somberness, but one of the joys of the trip was the whale watching. I have never seen a whale in the wild....but now I have.