PEI's Eastern Shore

We drove down from Pugwash towards Pictou and took the ferry to Wood Island PEI. You don't pay to get to the island, you only pay to get off whether by the ferry or the "link" (AKA Confederation Bridge). We visited a lighthouse there and then traveled along the eastern coast to Souris where we had a great lobster dinner. Dave had to pick his lobster out of the tank. The lobster didn't like the idea and flailed around and splashed salt water all over Bev. The next day we travelled around the eastern end of the island and on to Cavendish, the home of Anne of Green Gables.

Joggins, Springhill & Pugwash

Well the rain finally stopped and we got to drive some great Nova Scotia back roads. From Shediac we headed south to Joggins a tiny town with a world famous UNESCO World Heritage fossil cliff. The coal seams exposed and eroded by the rise and fall of the Bay of Fundy tides are full of fossilized trees and these trees contain fossils of the creatures that lived in them millions of years ago.

From Joggins we headed over to Springhill on to ass hole Road, or correctly spelled Athol Road. We feel the road name is most appropriate as it is 10 km of loose gravel and loose gravel is not fun on a fully loaded bike. In Springhill we visited the Anne Murray Centre and went down a coal mine.

In Pugwash we met up with our son Brent and his wife (of 4 months) Jess. As a child, Jess spent her summers in Pugwash with her grandmother. If in the area, we recommend Sheila's B&B (great food too).

For those of you awaiting a video (helmet cam), yes we finally did another one given the lack of rain and we positioned it down to avoid getting the sky....oops, lots of shots of the broken asphalt....next time we'll hit it in the right place WE HOPE.

New Brunswick's Acadian Coast

We have endured heavy rains for the past few days. In fact it has rained almost every day since we started this trip. Hopefully the weather will improve.
From the Gaspe we traveled only a few km each day because of the rain. We have stopped in Bathurst, Miramichi and Shediac (lobster capital). While on this route we had a great salmon dinner in Chatham, visited Lord Beaverbrook's childhood home in Newcastle, saw some big sand dunes and an Acadian village. Due to all the rain we have no photos to post.

Baie Des Chaleurs

We spent Sunday June 21 being tourists and making our way around the bay to Bathurst NB. We stopped off at the Miguasha National Park, a UNESCO heritage site, to see the fossils and continued on to the sea battle of Restigouche historic site. It was here that the British finally defeated the French in what is now Canada.

Gaspe

The Gaspe coast to truly beautiful, perhaps even more spectacular than the Cabot Trail. We met Paul along the way and rode together for a couple of days. He's riding one of those new three wheel Bombardier Spiders. This vehicle has a number of advantages including a reverse, the ability not to tumble over when stopped, semi automatic transmission with no clutch, F1 type paddle shifters. But, he couldn't counter-steer, rather he had to steer like a car and use his body to balance the change in direction.

On the first day we drove from Matane to Cap-des-Rosiers on the very tip of the Gaspe penisula in glorious sunshine. The next day, we awoke to rain, drove to Gaspe Village for breakfast, said goodbye to Paul at Perce, and continued on in the rain to New Richmond.

For those of you awaiting our video, we didn't forget to do one.....we just got the angle wrong. Rather than gorgeous rodes and spectacular cliffs, we got 30 min. of blue sky with the tips of trees and the occasional helmet top. On the next sunny day, we'll try yet again.

Cap-Chat

We stopped in at one of the first Wind Farms in Canada at Cap-Chat; unfortunately we arrive one day before the start of summer tours. Standing in the middle of the wind farm, we couldn't figure out why all those Nimbys are so upset about wind farms. You have to be pretty close to hear them, but then again maybe the wind in our helmets have made us deaf !!! We took some pictures for the Sunil and Kevin in Genivar energy group.

Whale Watching

In Tadoussac, we went whale watching in a Zodiac. Bev thought the boat driver was even more cute than her trainer, so even though he didn't speak ANY English he got a great tip! The world is truly global....a woman from France had to translate between the Quebec driver and us...and we three were the Canadians. That said, at times she was stumped as she couldn't understand his accent and was really frustrated. We managed to see buluga and finback whales, as well as a few curious seals. The driver also took us for a nice ride up the Saguenay river/fiord.

From Tadaussac, we headed north Baie Comeau and took the ferry across the St. Lawrence to Matane. If any readers are planning a similar trip, we suggest taking the ferry from Forestville to Rimouski, because it runs more frequently and travels at twice the speed. PS: while on the ferry having dinner, one of the crew members found Bev to tell her that her bike was wailing and the lights were flashing; it seems that the rocking of the boat set off the alarm so she had to bring the keys/faub back to bike to settle it down and save her battery.

Hautes Gorges Dela Riviere Malbaie

Thanks to Brian Oak for suggesting a visit to this Provincial Park, northwest of Malbaie. The road in was twisty and hilly and with no traffic, just an ideal motorcycle route. The park has spectacular cliffs, rising up on either side of the river. If you want to see cliffs and don't want to travel all the way to Yosemite, then visit this provincial park. We took an hour and a half boat trip up the river. From here we travelled northeast to Tadoussac.

North Shore of St Lawrence

We set off from Richmond Hill on Sunday and travelled to visit Dave's aunt Cathy in Burretts Rapids south of Ottawa. We got as far at Perth when the heavens opened up and got to test our rain gear. Dave's worked Bev got wet.

We had a nice visit with Cathy and her new, very excitable teen age dog Casey. The next day we continued north east on the 401 and route 40. We got as far as Trois Rivieres before the heavens opened yet again with perhaps the heaviest downpoor we have ever encountered. We had to fight with cars for a place to stop under a overpass, even the biking cops had pulled over on the other side and were waving at us.Dave finally got wet and Bev was really soaked, with her eye makeup on her cheeks.

Tuesday dawned bright and sunny and we went all the way to le Malbaie. We stopprd for lunch at Montmorency Falls just north of Quebec and took Route 362 from Baie Ste Paul to Malbaie. This road, inspite of the construction with sand, stones, and groves, offers spectacular views of the St Lawrence.

Getting Ready

Bev was fortunate to be able to ride her bike to work most days this spring so she's well seasoned and ready for this year's trip. Dave unfortunately has had few opportunities to ride, so he felt it necessary to do a few warmup laps on the backyard ATV.