Cape D'or

I'm not sure how it's possible, but every day out here so far has been my favourite.

I am sitting here winded and sweaty, having just walked down to Cape D'or, and back up the steep climb.  It was breathtaking.  I mean that literally - as Alanna and I stood at the literal edge of the rock cliffs, you could hear the intake of breath as we stood there, awestruck.

Today we woke up after spending the night in the car in a truck stop parking lot and headed to Joggins, where we were stoked to see the fossil cliffs.  Along the way, I pulled off to check out some wetlands, and we discovered we had accidentally come across one of the areas to view the 'tidal bore'.  To quote the guidebook, 'the Bay's incoming tide is so extreme that it temporarily reverses the flow of several rivers that empty into the bay.  When the tide and rivers collide (twice a day), a notable wave called a 'tidal bore' can be view moving upriver'.  It was pretty cool to see it rush in, and move past us in seconds.

We then continued to Joggins, which failed to impress.  It was awesome to stand on the beach and have the high tide push in on us, we had to give up our hunt for fossils and head back to the stairs out when the tide was almost pressing us against the cliffs.  But overall, not that exciting.

I do have one complaint about small-town Canada.  GET MORE GAS STATIONS.  We drove through four or five smalls towns with the needle on empty, passing signs counting us down to the next gas station - and the first sign said it was 56km away.  I was trying hard not to stress, while blasting through the winding country road at 120km, and A kept a good poker face on even though I'm pretty sure she would have killed me if I'd ended up stranding us on the side of the road.  But we made it, and I learned that I get at least 35km of driving even after my gas light has come on, so at least I'll know that for next time :P

Our next stop was Parrsboro, where A wants to go to the geological museum.  Along the way signs pointed us to Cape D'or, and we decided to check it out.

WOW.  Wow wow wow wow wow.  I was just standing, just now, on the edge of a copper cliff who knows how high up.  It was so surreal - jagged rocks everywhere, the water covered in fog, it felt so unsafe, which is something I'm not used to in Canada.  Here I'm used to ropes and things keeping you away from the danger.  But here there was simply a sign on the edge that said 'DANGER - actively eroding cliff'. One teeny little sign.

I can't believe I'm here.  It's been so amazing.

Tonight we're going to camp somewhere on the Fundy shore, before heading back to see friends in Halifax for a couple of nights and then... home to Ontario.  UGH!  At least I have a roadtrip with Ashley coming up to look forward to, and right after that my man will roll back in to town for a few days.  Without that to look forward to, I honestly wouldn't even want to go back.  I love it here.  I think I may have found my new home.

death to all mosquitoes

The Cabot Trail/ Cape Breton Highlands National Park

When I was in Guatemala almost two years ago, I met a married couple that I became extremely envious of. She was French-Canadian, and I think he was Scottish.  They'd met travelling a decade ago, and never stopped.  Not even when they had kids- she had their infant son strapped to her, and their 3-year-old daughter wasn't missing a beat.  Not even when climbing the ruins at Tikal - the kids went with them.  It made me so happy to see, but the pangs of jealousy also crept up and surprised me.  I'm not one for marriage.  It has never been anything I aspire to, and when I see my future, I see ME.  Independent.  But seeing them made me wish for a partner, because when I do have a child, it won't be as easy for me to keep travelling alone.  A single woman with an infant wouldn't be safe everywhere, and I'd get tired.  So I've had in the back of my mind for a while now that when I have a baby in a few years, I'll have stop travelling.

Then I hit the Cabot Trail, especially the section through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and I saw what I'll be able to do when I have my baby.  The park section has 24 different trails, with differing intensities, all leading to spectacular views, waterfalls, gold mines, etc.  We didn't do any of the trails today, but I am going to come back here with my baby when I have her.  This is an area I can easily spend a couple of weeks camping in, safely, and the hikes can be done with her strapped to my chest.  I can't wait :D

Anyway.  Enough dreaming.  The last 24 hours have been so beautiful they may as well have been a dream.  I can't even count how many times A and I have stood there breathless, looking at the beauty around us.  I'd honestly never even known about this area, and now I highly suggest all Canadians come out here.  Other people too - I've gone to other countries specifically to go on adventures in areas that can't even compare to some of what I've seen.  And we haven't even hit the Bay of Fundy yet, and that's been called one of the 10 Wonders of the World.

So.  Yesterday we left Price Edward Island, after camping out in the car near Thunder Cove, and headed east to Cape Breton.  We made it partially through the Cabot Trail, and up 'Smokey', where we saw the most beautiful view we've ever seen.  It was too dark to take photos, so we turned around and camped out basically on a rock ledge overnight.  We woke up just in time to catch THIS in the morning - I hadn't even gotten out of the car when I took this photo

We hit the road at 6:30am and started back up Smokey.  I'm so glad we went back in the morning to see this again...

And it just kept getting better and better.  As we climbed up into the mountains, it got foggier and foggier, until we realized we were driving through clouds.  Yes, I said CLOUDS.  Amazing.  Got insanely foggy for a while though, and as I'm a new driver, I was petrified.  Driving down a steep mountain, with shitty tires, almost no visibility...it was one of the scariest times of my life.  I'm pretty proud of myself for making it through, but once we were done I was exhausted and had to have A take the wheel for a bit while I napped.  


I can't wait to come back here in a few years and spent many days up there.  We did it all today in half a day, and what we saw was mind-blowing.  I can't even imagine what I'm going to see when I come here again.  I can't wait. 

Thunder Cove

Prince Edward Island

So pretty. So, so pretty.

We came here with two intentions: go to Cavendish Beach, and find Thunder Cove.

I didn't realize that Cavendish Beach was on a National Park, so firstly there was an $8 charge to go on to the beach, which while I was annoyed I was willing to pay, but they also don't allow dogs on the beach.  Not wanting to make poor Lita sit in the car while Alanna and I played in the sand, we decided not to go to one of the prettiest beaches ever and instead we were directed to Cabot Beach.  Definitely underwhelming.  But still, nice to lay in the sun, and splash around in the ocean for a bit.

From there we tried to find Thunder Cove, but lack of internet connection made it hard to find.  I could see Alanna fading, but I was determined to find it.  I wasn't going to let our trip to PEI be wasted, and have us fail in both goals.

And we're both glad we did.

Beautiful.  So reminiscent of the scenery I spent a million dollars going to see in Australia.  Every day I'm amazed to discover what is here, right in Canada.  We should have just come right here, instead of going to Cabot Beach.  The beach here is phenomenal; huge, soft sands (it squeaks under your toes!), nice breeze... heaven.

I'm thinking that next year will bring my trip to western and northern Canada, rather than to the USA.  I want to stop branching out to other places before I'm done seeing what is here.

Today I learned two things:

It is impossible to drive under 160km an hour  when  listening to SLAYER because metal makes you drive FAST.

And Cows Ice Cream is  one of the best things I have ever eaten.

While driving to Peggy's Cove today, I realized how different the things I want in life are now from a few years ago.

If you would have told me ten years ago that I wouldn't be living in Toronto, and that I'd be dreaming of a little country house, and of having a little girl to raise, I would have said you were crazy.  Ten years ago, hell even five years ago, I craved the city life.  I wanted to move to New York City, or at least get my debt paid off and move back to Toronto.  And children... HELL no.  I wanted the convenience of the city; the bustle; the constant noise, always something to do.

Now, I want something simple.  I want to sit on my porch, watching the sun set over the water, my little girl playing in the sand a few feet from me.  I only have a few years left to make this happen, so I'd better get on that.