Author: wellsmarsha

Bye to PEI as today is a travel day. We are headed towards the Gaspe where we are wish to visit a large Northern Gannet Colony near Perce Rock, the iconic vista of Quebec and eastern Canada. We drive across the Confederation Bridge and it’s nine mile span to New Brunswick. We travel west then north along the north coast of New Brunswick and finally into Quebec. It’s a bit weird but we arrive in Quebec and the time zone changes to Eastern Time yet we are now heading east. Logically heading east when you are in Atlantic Time it should stay in the same time zone. We make camp at small campground overlooking the water. Shortly after making camp another small Airstream arrives and parks next to us. It’s vintage 16’ Airstream dating back to 1966 now owned by Dee Dee and Russ from Averill Park outside of Troy, NY. This is their shake down trip with their beautiful camper. We enjoy a late night of talk finally getting back to our camper at 11:30 at night.

Being in the Eastern Time Zone yet so far east the sun set at 7 pm.

Yesterday we explored the western part of PEI today we plan to explore the eastern part. After leaving the trailer we head to the north shore in the central part of the island where PEI National Park has three sections. The beaches are sandy and the shallow water extends a long ways out. These beaches have some of the warmest water north of Cape Cod, MA so there are plenty of beach goers. We find the National Park a bit crowded so we head further east to get away from the busiest tourist area on the Island. We drive through or near places around the world including Norway and New Zealand. We cannot include the countries on where we have traveled with our Airstream but at least the towns.

We arrive at East Point where there’s a lighthouse and small gift shop then continue south along the eastern coast of PEI. Eventually we need to head west again. Tonight we are going to a Ceilidh where Helen, Louse, and Louse’s son, Jon are performing. The venue is near the National Park and should be a sellout. The three performers are well known to the Islanders. The show is outstanding!

We explore the western part of the Island including North Point, the northwestern tip of PEI. Here we find a large wind farm with the turbines rotating quickly in the stiff wind. At the end of the road is a wind energy technology center along with a gift shop and washrooms. Marsha wants to see the exhibits yet Wells balks. Here is a facility to promote the use of wind power yet they charge admission to enter.

Time for a Wells rant. Wells is a supporter of wind energy but over time has reservations of placing wind farms all over the place. Wind farms are often sited on the bases of their ability to produce energy. So where ever significant wind exists along with the right economic incentive turbines are placed. This includes highly sensitive natural habitats for birds and bats. Turbine blades rotate what appears to be somewhat slowly yet the blade tips are moving often faster than 100 miles per hour. Birds, especially birds of prey, are looking downward and never see the blades coming down from above and are killed. The way to avoid these kills is intelligently site wind farms out of natural migration routes and other significant habitats.

Companies are siting the farms to maximize return on the dollar and ignoring ecological factors. Wind companies are often required to maintain bird kill numbers around their turbines yet they do it in a way that minimizes kill counts. For example, they are only looking at the areas directly under each turbine up to the full width of the blade rotation. If a blade extends 150’ out then they look for kills in the 150’ radius of the turbine. If a bird is killed by a blade and lands outside the 150’ it is not recorded as a kill.

Amherst Island, Ontario is one of the most significant winter habitats for Snowy Owls, Short-Eared Owls, and Northern Harriers along with several other birds of prey. The windswept island along the north shore of Lake Ontario supports a large population of voles. The wind often sweeps the snow away so voles are an easy food source for the birds of prey. With the available wind energy on the Island a company managed to put in place a large wind farm despite huge opposition from the local population and environmentalists. Money wins and the environment loses.

The idea of paying money to be “educated” about the benefits of wind energy and how clean and wonderful it is Wells refuses to go in. Instead he heads off with his camera while Marsha enjoys the exhibits.

On the way back to the campground we purchase oysters and feast on oysters and lobster for dinner.

The birds put on a spectacular display yesterday. We decide to travel across the bridge to Prince Edward Island. We figure we can explore the Island from one campsite so we head a bit west to a provincial park on the water. PEI promotes tourism and it is a huge economic driver for the province. The most heavily tourist area is along the north shore of the middle of the Island. This is where Green Gables is along with sections of PEI National Park. The beaches have some of the warmest waters along the Atlantic Coast north of Cape Cod.  This is where it is most busy. The remainder of the Island has plenty of tourism but it is not overwhelming for us.

With the afternoon ahead of us we decide to explore the western part of the Island. This is includes several small Acadian villages that to this day continue with the Acadian culture. A major component of the culture is music. This is the area that Barachois the Acadian musical band hails from. We loved seeing Barachois over the years at the Old Songs Festival near Albany, NY. The band was formed in the eighties and continued until the end of the nineties. Marsha is looking at an events calendar and sees that two of the four band members of Barachois are preforming this afternoon. We check them out and Louise Arsenault and Helen Beregon continue to amaze us!

After the show we stumble across a lobster processing plant. Lobsters are in season here unlike in Nova Scotia so we purchase a pound of cooked and picked lobster claws!

Today we look for Sandpipers. The Semi-Palmated Sandpipers and Black Belly Plovers feed on the extensive mud flats. As they feed the flocks are spread out all over the flats, but towards high tide there is no place to feed so the birds congregate in large flocks along the waterline. They try to rest saving their strength for foraging as they prepare their bodies to fly non-stop from here to South America. The time to observed the birds is from two hours before and after high tide.

High tide today is at 3 PM so we have no rush with breakfast. We leave the camper at the campground as we head out late morning to Johnson’s Mills. We scope out the area have lunch at a small café and arrive at the shoreline a bit early. We see plenty of sandpipers scattered about on the mud flats as we figure out where best to observe them.

As the tide comes in we start to see large of flocks along the narrow rocky beach. The flocks are amazing. It appears as if the rocks on the beach come alive with movement. A Peregrine shows up and does a fly over and the flock takes off. The viewing is breathtaking. These fly overs stir up the flocks but mostly unsuccessful for the falcon.

It’s a driving day. We leave the ferry around 7 AM Atlantic Time. We are no longer in the Newfoundland Time of ½ hour earlier. We stop for breakfast on Cape Breton Island at the Farmer’s Daughter. When leaving we purchase a loaf of delicious grain bread and hit the road again. Our plans tomorrow are to see the Semi-Palmated Sandpipers while they are still along the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy. Thus miles today.

We’ve explored Cape Breton in the past and we want to see the sandpipers so we drive off Cape Breton without spending time there. Once onto Nova Scotia’s mainland we decide to take the The Coastal Drive along the north shore of Nova Scotia. Five years earlier Wells was in the area photographing. He stayed at an Airbnb on the water along this coast. He remembered being awakened by lobster boats in front of where he had stayed as they were checking their traps. There were two places within a quarter mile. One of which sold cooked lobsters. Hey Marsha maybe we can buy some lobster today. As we drive along the coast we see the place where Wells stayed and a bit further there was the place that sold lobster. The sign was not out by the road rather propped against the building. We stop and discover it is closed. A man mowing his lawn drives over to us and we ask about lobster. He replies that it’s not lobster season so there is nothing to sell. Marsha heads back to the truck while Wells and Joe Grant talk for a bit. He’s curious about our trip so Wells talks about where we’ve been and that he stayed at the place down the road. Wells heads back to the truck and Joe returns to mowing the lawn. Before we start moving he waves us to stop. I ask him what’s up and he replies he will be right back. He heads into the building and comes out with a frozen package of lobster meat which he gives to us. He accepts no payment. It was a warm friendly gift.

We locate a campground near the Confederation Bridge that connects New Brunswick with Prince Edward Island. This leaves a comfortable drive to locate sandpipers tomorrow.  What’s for dinner? Lobster and salad!

Today we leave Newfoundland. After a leisurely breakfast we head down to the shore and walk along one of the Island’s few sandy beaches. The waves pound the sand as we walk in the wet sand and get nudged into the dry as the waves push us up the beach. It’s a loose sand as we sink in with each step. It’s even looser as we dip into the wave territory. It’s sunny with the wind blowing in from the water. It’s such a delight.

After we finish our beach walk it’s off to Port aux Basques for food supplies for our crossing. We don’t have a sleeping berth so it is going to be a long night. With luck we will get some sleep. Time will tell

The campground is not busy so they allow us to stay at our site until we are ready to head into town and the ferry terminal. We break camp and head out after six pm to the terminal where we can jump through hoops to get into the correct lane waiting to board. First hoop is where we pull up to the Agriculture Inspection station. There is a potato blight on the Island so soil and potatoes are not permitted to leave. This includes potted plants. This has us both thinking about our last time heading to Newfoundland in the Summer of 2017. Before we crossed the border from Maine to New Brunswick Wells stopped at a rest area and left a small bag of potatoes to Marsha’s disappointment. It was made worse when at the border we were never asked about potatoes. On our way home from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia on the same ferry as tonight we passed the same inspection point and had a new bag of potatoes purchased in Newfoundland confiscated. This time we were prepared and had eaten the last of our potatoes a couple of days ago. We have mud on the truck so they wash our truck and camper and it was done for free! We are allowed to continue to the next check point, the ticket booth where our ID’s are checked and we get the actual tickets.

We have hours to wait before we can board the ferry and the ticket agent is chatty. She wants to know what we enjoyed about our trip to Newfoundland and Labrador. It was fine conversation, but after a quarter of an hour she let us pass, head to lane 19 and wait for further instructions.

We are second in line for lane 19 so we park and head into the camper for a few rounds of Cribbage. Sometime around 10 we are permitted to drive onto the ferry. We find seats up on deck 8. We settle in for a long night. Sleep looks promising with plenty of room and reclining seats. Let’s cut to the chase here. Sleep for each of us was elusive. The man to our right probably should be treated for Sleep Apnea snored very loudly. Two women near us chatted loudly much of the night. A ten year old bedded down  on the floor behind Wells’ seat and listened to a music player much of the night. Ear plugs were used but he tended to sing along with the tunes. Needless to say we did not get more than two or three hours of sleep.

Today we leave Newfoundland. After a leisurely breakfast we head down to the shore and walk along one of the Island’s few sandy beaches. The waves pound the sand as we walk in the wet sand and get nudged into the dry as the waves push us up the beach. It’s a loose sand as we sink in with each step. It’s even looser as we dip into the wave territory. It’s sunny with the wind blowing in from the water. It’s such a delight.

After we finish our beach walk it’s off to Port aux Basques for food supplies for our crossing. We don’t have a sleeping berth so it is going to be a long night. With luck we will get some sleep. Time will tell

The campground is not busy so they allow us to stay at our site until we are ready to head into town and the ferry terminal. We break camp and head out after six pm to the terminal where we can jump through hoops to get into the correct lane waiting to board. First hoop is where we pull up to the Agriculture Inspection station. There is a potato blight on the Island so soil and potatoes are not permitted to leave. This includes potted plants. This has us both thinking about our last time heading to Newfoundland in the Summer of 2017. Before we crossed the border from Maine to New Brunswick Wells stopped at a rest area and left a small bag of potatoes to Marsha’s disappointment. It was made worse when at the border we were never asked about potatoes. On our way home from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia on the same ferry as tonight we passed the same inspection point and had a new bag of potatoes purchased in Newfoundland confiscated. This time we were prepared and had eaten the last of our potatoes a couple of days ago. We have mud on the truck so they wash our truck and camper and it was done for free! We are allowed to continue to the next check point, the ticket booth where our ID’s are checked and we get the actual tickets.

We have hours to wait before we can board the ferry and the ticket agent is chatty. She wants to know what we enjoyed about our trip to Newfoundland and Labrador. It was fine conversation, but after a quarter of an hour she let us pass, head to lane 19 and wait for further instructions.

We are second in line for lane 19 so we park and head into the camper for a few rounds of Cribbage. Sometime around 10 we are permitted to drive onto the ferry. We find seats up on deck 8. We settle in for a long night. Sleep looks promising with plenty of room and reclining seats. Let’s cut to the chase here. Sleep for each of us was elusive. The man to our right probably should be treated for Sleep Apnea snored very loudly. Two women near us chatted loudly much of the night. A ten year old bedded down  on the floor behind Wells’ seat and listened to a music player much of the night. Ear plugs were used but he tended to sing along with the tunes. Needless to say we did not get more than two or three hours of sleep.

We pack up our campsite and head out to the Trans Canada Highway towards Port aux Basques where the ferry goes to North Sydney, Nova Scotia. We plan to explore the surrounding area until we get on the ferry late Friday night. It’s an easy 100-mile drive to JT Cheeseman Provincial Park which is 7 miles from the ferry terminal. We arrive at the park, check in, then head to the dump station to empty our black/gray tank. Afterwards we fill with fresh the trailer with fresh water. After we are set up at the campsite we head into Port aux Basques to scout the area.

First stop is the Visitor Center and as we pull in we note the flags are at half mast. We head in and are helped by an engaging and informative woman behind the counter. She gives us plenty of ideas of how to spend our time around here. Marsha asks why the flags are at half mast. A woman who worked at the Visitor Center passed away yesterday on her 60^th birthday. She was diagnosed with cancer only two months ago. It makes us think of a friend who is battling breast cancer now.

While in Labrador we had met a couple from Ontario who had a second home near Port aux Basques and highly recommended the Seashore Restaurant about 10 miles east of Port aux Basques. We discover it can be a very busy place so we make reservations for tonight.

We drive east of Port aux Basques until the road ends and where one can catch a passenger ferry traveling to several port communities along the south coast. It’s the only way to get to these towns. We are not taking the ferry so we set off on a trail to Barachois Falls. Of course Wells loads up with camera gear but is not optimistic since it’s bright sunshine which is anything but ideal to photograph waterfalls. The trail to the falls travels over bogs with plenty of boardwalk protecting them. As we approach the falls a few clouds cooperate casting shadow across the falls and surrounding hillsides. The photo gods are with us and he captures a few good photos of the falls.’

After checking out a few places back in the big town we head back to the campground for showers for our big night out. With clean bodies and clean clothes we head to the Seashore which is packed. Of course we try to seafood chowder and hands down is the best we’ve experienced in all of Newfoundland. The rest of the meal was equally as wonderful. A great way to celebrate our preparing to depart from Newfoundland.

 

Thousands of Semi-Plamated Sandpipers. In the second to last of the sandpiper shots there is a Peregrine Falcon chasing the flock. These birds are feasting among the tidal flats along the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy. The last shot is of a fox watching the world drift by.