One of the many roadside gardens.

One of the sod house recreations at L'anse aux Meadows.

The Taekema's and the Orser's at Arches Provincial Park.

We are happy to say that after all those bumps and rough roads our bike rack is holding tight! Thanks Martin!!

L'anse aux Meadows

Today we went up to the Viking settlement at L'anse aux Meadows. Yesterday we hauled the trailer 1/2 way to Port au Choix and we camped on a beautiful site right on the ocean. The road was mostly good but the poor sections were very bad. It was a long drive today and more bad roads. The Viking Settlement was very interesting. We saw actual artifacts that they found on the site, a cloak pin, a nail and stones with depressions worn into them. The site contained the actual dig site and a recreation of the sod huts that the Vikings made for their permanent settlement. Our guide explained the various areas of the house and what was done in each of these areas. I think it was well worth the time to go up to the tip of the penninsula.

As we were driving today we could see Labrador across the Belle Isle Strait. We also saw cords and cords of wood stacked beside the highway. In the winter they go and drag trees to the road and then the cut them and stack them to season them. We saw quite a few trucks being loaded in preparation for winter. A very unusual thing that we saw beside the highway was everyone's vegetable gardens. When they made the roads they brought in top soil and since that is the only fertile area they all plant their gardens there. Some have scarecrows, some have bags flapping in the wind and strings and some had neat fences all the way around.

It has been terrific travelling with the Orsers. Leslie is a great cook! It is so nice to have some new toys to play with, new kids to play with (they have a 4 yr. old daughter, Yvonne) and nice for Richard and me to have someone to chat with. Tomorrow we will have to part ways which is very sad. Hopefully we will meet up again.

Trout River

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I needed to do major surgery to the blog. We had used up all of our space so I needed to save everything and then delete it. You may have noticed that April- July are no longer listed. We have been having a great time in Gros Morne. The weather has been ranging from beautiful sunshine to 5 minute downpours and then more sunshine. Our friends, the Orsers that we met in Wisconsin have finally caught up to us so we will travel together for the next couple of days. When they head off to St. Johns and we head to the ferry....Richard wants to get off this rock! There is a frost warning tonight, that tells us we need to head south. Tomorrow we are heading to St. Anthony's and to the Viking settlement. We will take the trailer up about 1/2 way (very slowly because the road is terrible) and then drive the rest of the way in a daytrip. I expect we will be on the ferry by the end of this week.

Tablelands

This is Newfoundland's old growth forest. These trees are subjected to such inhospitable growing conditions they are twisted and small. The rings are so dense you can't count them unless you look under a microscope. A cross section of one of these trees showed 250 rings. Most of the trees are Juniper and Tamarack (which in Newfoundland they also call Juniper)

The Tablelands are stark and reddish brown. They contrast the green hills around them. According to the Naturalists this is part of the earths mantle that is exposed. The rock is so full of minerals it is toxic to plant life. Only by the streams have some plants and small grasses gotten a foothold. Alder trees which are as big as small bushes grow along the old road. Up at a higher elevation there are carniverous plants like the Pitcher Plant and Sundew. There is no nourishment in the soil so they need to eat insects to survive. We really enjoyed this walk with the Naturalist. We learned so much I just wish I could remember it all.

Western Brook Pond Tour

We got the prime watching area for the tour.

The water falls are so high that they turn to mist before they reach the bottom.
These are photos of the Western Brook Pond tour that we went on. It was incredibly beautiful. We hiked in 3 km. and then we went on a small boat to explore this fjord like area. It isn't a true fjord because the water is fresh, not salt. The mountains come right out of the lake and photos just can't do justice to the beauty.

Newfoundland

Fishing boats pushed up on the shore. No state of the art docks here. They just use what they have.
Cox's Cove, where the kids played and swam.
Caribou ferry docked in North Sydney.

Gros Morne

We are currently camped in Gros Morne National Park. It was a beautiful drive today. Although it was a little wet and rainy the clouds were high and so we saw all the mountains. The mountains are so interesting here. Some look tall and steep like what you would expect in China (think National Geographic) and others are large and rounded. All are covered with fir trees a lot smaller than what grows in BC.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be bright and sunny so we have booked the Western Brook Pond tour.

This evening we went moose looking again but we only saw one and it was about 200m away so we didn't get too good of a look. Everyone tells us they are everywhere but we have only seen two so far and at a distance. Although we don't want one through the windshield we would like to see one that is fairly close. So far in Gros Morne 25 moose have been hit (just in the park) the number for all of Newfoundland is in the hundreds. Everyone tells us not to travel at night because of the moose.

Ingonish Beach

Rachel warming up on the rocks

Great waves!!!
Check out the big wave at the top of the photo

Cabot Trail pictures...finally

Oops, got my shadow in that one.

Way down there you can see a cove that was once a village with a fish plant and everything. Now you can back country camp there.

Corner Brook, NFLD

Ah, it has been a while hasn't it. That has been due to 2 things. One, we haven't been up to much and two, no wifi. Last we were at MacCleods Family camping. We ended up doing the Cabot Trail again because we wanted to do Ingonish Beach again. This time when we were in Ingonish the waves were b/t 10-15 feet high. That was a little to big for the girls and I....Catherine ate sand. Richard loved it and although he got tossed around a bit....and dragged over rocks at one point he probably had the best day of boogie boarding ever. The rest of us stayed in the surf. I haven't been able to get pictures posted because the signal wasn't stong enough at the MacCleod campground for some reason. As we came through the Cape Breton Highlands we saw a moose on the side of the road.

After Dunvegan we headed up to North Sydney for 2 days to wait for the ferry and look around. We stayed at a nice campground with a pool....the last we may see for a while. We took the ferry on Friday. It was nice and calm and with 3 movies to watch the time went fast. There was a lounge to enjoy and a great singer/comedian to listen too. The ferry was quite empty, you could have played football in all the room behind our trailer. Our first view of Newfoundland was Port aux Basque. Vintage Newfoundland, houses scattered all over the rocks, not a tree or bush to be seen, roads mazing though the houses like an afterthought. Next came Table Mountain which we tried to get up in 4 wheel drive but it was too treacherous. We camped in a place called Codroy but we left sooner than anticipated because we couldn't leave the trailer without being eaten alive. We did visit a beautiful beach called Cheeseman Prov. Park. The water was very cold but there was not a soul on the beach which was nice.

Now we are in Corner Brook. It is quite different from Port aux Basque. It is a fairly large town with trees and flower beds and straight streets. This morning we drove up to the end of our road to a town called Cox's Cove. There we found a nice waterfall and we had a picnic lunch and the kids played in the water. Tomorrow we head to Gros Morne. I hope the weather holds out.

Cabot Trail

Today we drove the Cabot Trail.....the whole thing. We had planned to just go to Ingonish and then turn around but we decided to continue on from Ingonish. The Cabot Trail was nothing short of breathtaking. The rugged shoreline and the magestic tree covered mountains. These are the highest hills we have seen since the rockies. The weather was beautiful and the drive took quite long because you just have to stop at all the turnouts and take it all in. There are some very steep parts, we were thankful we didn't have the trailer on the back. We will do the coast drive again tomorrow because there is an Scottish festival/music about 1/2 hour from here in the afternoon. I have discovered what Dunvegan consists of....I counted 7 houses and that is it!!

We stopped at Ingonish Beach and had a great afternoon. The waves were just pounding the beach which made it very exciting. Rachel and Jenna and Catherine got their fair share of dunkings. Richard even did quite a spectacular face plant. I think he can still feel where the wave smashed him in the back. It was fun on the boards because you have that extra bit of flotation. I stood along the beach for quite a while with Matthew and Rachel feeling the water suck the sand away around our feet. The water was a balmy 21C. Not a bad day for our first swim in the Atlantic Ocean. What made this an even more perfect beach was the warm freshwater lake right behind the bluff. We went there to wash off the salt both from our bodies and our suits. After a quick snack of poutine (mmmmm) we hit the road again for another hour 1/2 to get back to camp. We are all tired. Jenna even fell asleep in the truck on the way home. I can't imagine how beautiful the Cabot Trail would look in the fall with all those tree in full colour.....(sigh) maybe next trip.

Dunvegan

It was very tempting to drive away and leave them....just kidding!

Yum..mussels

Watching a video in the trailer and playing lego until the rain stops and we can hit the beach.

Cape Breton

Well, we had an uneventful trip (just the way Richard likes it) from Pictou to Dunvegan. Dunvegan is so small it really is only an intersection. We are about 10 minutes outside of Inverness which should be on a map. After we unloaded we headed into town for some groceries and then hightailed it back to the trailer so we could hit the beach. There is a beautiful beach here but there are some rip tides so we have to watch the kids carefully. After a feed on some local mussels (mmm) we walked the campground and then lit a fire for s'mores. It is quite cool here in the evenings so it is much nicer to have a fire here than in Ontario.

This morning we woke up to an overcast sky and then about 10:00 it started to downpour. It sure is nice to be in a trailer when the bad weather hits. We finished up with our schoolwork for the day, popped some popcorn and watched one of the Walton's DVD's. By about 2:00pm the sun broke through but the wind was still going strong so we figured it would be a great day for boogie boarding. We decided to go to the beach in Inverness which has a lifeguard. Boy were those waves great. Jenna and Catherine got turned upsidedown a few times from the strength of the waves. Richard and I got some great rides in and Rachel kept on getting bowled over by the waves so she waited on the beach with Matthew until we were finished. Matthew got one wave and it sucked his board down so he went under and that was the end for him! After a couple of hours we headed back to camp for a long, hot shower and some tea!

This evening it was fireside again. The kids are getting to be professionals at marshmallow roasting! Tomorrow if the weather is nice we plan to drive up the Cabot Trail as far as Ingonish Beach. Of course we will be bringing the boogie boards, you never know when the waves will be good!

Truro and Pictou

Eating breakfast in the trailer

Watch those feet go!

Schoolwork, yuck!!

Scottish architecture, 5 sided gables, symetrical windows, belt(band) around the middle and a plith(band) at the bottom.

Pictou, pronounced Picto....interesting pronunciations around here. In PEI Souris was pronounced Surrey....go figure. Anyways, here we are in Pictou, birthplace of New Scotland where 200 Scots landed in the late 1700's for a new life and most importantly their own land. We wandered around town and saw many old buildings, learned a lot about Scotish architecture and went to a festival. There was free music and some Highland dancing. The girls took part in a dance class, learning a few steps in the line dancing. I went on a walking tour while Richard enjoyed the music.

Over the weekend we took in what Truro had to offer. We spent the afternoon at a large outdoor pool in Victoria Park and then the kids played in the water park while Richard listened to some guy killing his violin. We drove around and stopped at the 6 sections of the Berlin Wall that one of the citizens of Truro had brought over. There were also wood carvings all over the place, the result of lots of old elm trees succumbing to Dutch Elm Disease. Instead of using them for firewood they had local artists carve them. Truro is also home to the famous Tidal Bore from the Bay of Fundy. What happens is the tide comes in so quickly that the river starts to run the other way and rise quickly. We tried to see it on Friday night first but the tourist info place forgot to tell us to arrive 1/2hr. before hand so we missed it because it had been arriving 20min. before the time on the tide charts. So, we headed out again before church on Sunday. It wasn't a huge wave but it was travelling pretty fast. It covered a sandbar and just sped right up the river. Now we can say we saw the Tidal Bore.....Richard thought it was appropriately named.

Tomorrow we are off to Duvegan, which is probably not on any of your maps. It is near the Cabot Trail and we will use it as a jumping off point to seeing the western part of the Cabot Trail. There is a beach there and we are hoping for some good waves as well. We will probably be ready to head to the Newfoundland ferry in about 1 1/2 weeks.

Arriving in Nova Scotia

Very sadly we left PEI on the ferry. Although the ferry was more expensive it saved us about 2 hours driving time. The ferry was very late however and I think they could learn a thing or two from the BC Ferries. It seemed to take forever to load the vessel and the amenities on board are virtually non-existant. There are 4 small lounges with tables and chairs but no comfortable seats to be found. There was a cafeteria but we didn't get anything since we had our lunch with us. The crossing took 1hr. and 15 min. I was surprised there was no gift shop. I suppose the ferry to Newfoundland will be a little better outfitted at least I hope so because it will be a 6 hr. trip on the shortest route.

So now we are in Nova Scotia. We were greeted with rain but it has cleared up today and the sun is shining. We are in Truro for the weekend and then we will try to hit the coast again and do some more beach days. Richard nearly had a heart attack when he went shopping. Milk cost over $6 for 4L. We find the Maritimes very expensive and Richard is longing to get back down to the States for cheap gas and food.

That pretty much catches you all up on our adventure. We miss you all, those we have met along the way and those back home. We think of you often. Send us an email sometime, it is nice to hear from home.

Avonlea

One of the many drama presentations throughout the day. This is Anne, Diana (in blue dress), Miss Stacey (black hat), Gilbert (standing) and the nasty girl (I've forgotten her name) doing the school concert.

Anne, aka Catherine at the railway station.

In the dressing up house. The girls really loved this. I got Matthew to dress up too but he was too interested in the old fashioned typewriter to pose for a picture.

Well, a visit to PEI would be incomplete without visiting one of the Anne of Green Gables sites. We chose Avonlea primarily because it involved the whole book and someone told us about the dressing up part. It really was great. We arrived at 9am (an early start for us) in time to see the first drama sketch of Anne arriving at the train station. Throughout the day there were other sketches from the book....like Anne losing her temper and her apology to Mrs. Rachel Lind, smashing the slate over Gilbert's head when he calls her Carrots and the Tea Party with Diana. The sketches were very funny and then throughout the day there were extras like oyster eating and square dancing. There was pony rides and wagon rides and kittens and goats to pet. The day ended with a Country Fair with old fashioned games for the kids (egg and spoon, manure tossing and sack race). Jenna, Catherine and I really loved it. Rachel and Matthew enjoyed it too but Richard spent a good part of the day in the hammock in the picnic area.

PEI beaches

Even though the water was warm it was nice to have the wetsuits

St. Peter's Harbour, great waves, no boards or suits!!

Ahhh, the beautiful beaches of PEI

Matthew "boogie boarding"

Well, I must say, I was very sad to leave PEI. We could have stayed for another week easily! Unfortunately the campsite was booked and so we had to move on. We had gorgeous weather the whole week that we were here. The waves never got as big as they were on the Sunday when we had no boards but we did get some good runs in. As you can see on the pictures the beaches are just gorgeous and I could have easily spent 5 or 6 more days enjoying them. All the kids found friends in the campsite and the people who camped around us were just so friendly. Can't beat the Islanders for hospitality. We had kids at our fire for s'mores and we had invitations to other fires throughout the week.

One of the fishermen brought a trap to show the kids and explained the whole process. He makes all his traps by hand. We saw lots of old traps for sale and are a little disappointed that we didn't buy one. Maybe we can find one in Nova Scotia. We tried some Barr Clams and we were invited to the West Cape of the island for a ride in a tuna boat....we never did make that though. The tuna season is open but unfortunately we never did see a boat coming in with one.

Lobster Feast and Blueberry Picking

Enjoying a lobster and crab feast with the Hirtz from Prince George

Blueberry picking

The giant lobster in Shediac

Richard made a new friend

Charlottetown

We are once again at a campsite with no computer access. Right now I am in the public library right downtown. We arrived in PEI on Friday, one day later than we planned. On Wednesday night, back in Shediac we got new neighbours. They were from BC (Prince George) and they had 4 children, 3 girls and a boy. The oldest was Jenna's age and the youngest (the boy) was Matthew's age. The kids and the parents all hit it off really well and so we decided to stay for an extra day. We went to the beach, had lunch and had a lobster feed. We had a great time together. Jenna even had a sleepover in the tent with their oldest Katelyn.

On Friday it was cloudy so it was a perfect travelling day. We had about a 3 hour drive over the bridge to PEI. The bridge was huge!! We couldn't see it all though because of the fog. On Saturday it was beautiful weather but we decided to stay in camp and do laundry and all the shopping type stuff. On Saturday night it poured and on Sunday morning it was cool and windy. After church we headed out to drive around and see what we could see. We found an awesome beach by St. Peter's Harbour. Because it was so windy the waves were huge. We were very sorry we hadn't come more prepared with our bathing suits and boogie boards. The kids played in the surf and of course they all got a little wet (some more than others) and climbed and rolled and jumped off the dunes. We kept on exploring and just followed roads (red dirt roads) and found a few more beautiful beaches. Our truck is still covered in red mud. On Monday we needed to ride those waves so we set out even though it was cloudy. The water is so warm compared to the Pacific Ocean. The water temp was 18C! We had lots of fun in the waves even though they weren't as big as the ones on Sunday. Eventually everyone got cold and we packed up. Today is beautiful sunshine again but everyone wants to stay at camp and play with their friends so we are catching up on things and hopefully we will hit the beach tomorrow. We also plan to see Avonlea and experience a little bit of the Anne of Green Gables tourist mecca.

We are so amazed at how friendly the people are here. We have several people around camp that make their living fishing. It has been very interesting finding out about their lifestyle and the work that they do. They all seem to make a very good living from the sea. They primarily fish for lobster but also for tuna and they culture mussels. There is no recreational fishery in PEI. The lobster fishing is only for those with the license. No one can just drop a trap for dinner. The tuna season has just opened so we plan to go down to the docks and see if we can see a tuna on the scale. Our next site in Nova Scotia (Friday) will have wifi so we can post some pictures of the beautiful PEI beaches.