Ruth: The ride from Miramichi to Kouchibouguac National Park was a straight flat road through scrubby forest, but without a headwind it was fast and fine. We are staying two nights in a cabin just outside the entrance to the park. Eastern national parks seem much more civilized than their western cousins, with more infrastructure and greater accessibility. The roads that once led to a number ...
Ruth: It became clear that Gord was underfed when he spent last night in Neguac researching the location and hours for the all you can eat Chinese restaurants in Miramichi. Even with a ferocious head wind we were able to make it to the Great Wok just as the food troughs were being filled. Oh my! Three plates later we were both feeling very full. ...
Ruth: Today is the Fête Nationale d'Acadie and we are spending it in Caraquet, often described as the heart of Acadian culture in New Brunswick. In the morning we hopped on our bikes and road to the nearby Acadian Historical Village. It has a fantastic collection of historic buildings that have been relocated from all over the province. Each of them has an actor in ...
Gordon: On our last day in Quebec (we spent almost four weeks in the province) we visited Miguasha Provincial Park. It exists to protect an area in which a remarkable collection of fossils, mostly of fish, have been unearthed. The 380 million year old fossils show the evolution of lobe finned fishes that were the ancestors of the first terrestrial vertebrates. The fossil collection was ...
Gordon: While I was discreetly cooking breakfast over a backpacking stove set up outside the door of our hotel room - probably the only one doing so in the upscale establishment- we were treated to a great natural show on our last morning in Percé. Presumably feeding on a large school of fish in the bay, hundreds of gannets were diving into the sea. It ...
Ruth: We cycled to Percé from Gaspé on our wettest day yet. We were fortunate enough to find a cafe serving up waffles to wait out the worst of the rainstorms. By the time we made it to Percé we were wet and exhausted and our motel had no record of our reservation. Everything in Percé was fully booked. After a dark moment I found ...
Gordon: The first 25 kms of our ride yesterday was pure bliss. The road followed the edge of the sea, snaking around the headlands and charging into the bays. Traffic was light, the road was pancake flat, and we were generally within a few feet of the water. A pod of whales was easily spotted by the plumes of mist from their breathing. Ruth was ...
Ruth: It doesn't get better than this. After a couple of moderate hills the cycling today flattened out into a ribbon of asphalt snaking its way around several headlands and beaches. Add to that three separate sightings of minke whales and a lovely camping spot at the end of the day. Perfect. The landscape is changing quickly. The villages out on barren points are now being ...
Gordon: We had the quintessential Canadian day today: pancakes with real maple syrup for breakfast, followed by a morning clubbing the seals. Just kidding, we had bread and jam for breakfast.We have been fortunate to see a number of interesting wild animals in recent days. This morning we were cycling along the coast with a rock garden just offshore. For several kilometres most of the rocks ...
Ruth: Now that Gord has lost his shopping privileges things are going much better. I choked down the pea soup last night, but I don't plan on eating that again. For the record I have always respected the fact that Gord's mother regected the gender expectations of the 1950's and wasn't into domestic arts like cooking. Tonight's dinner kicked things up a notch with brown beans ...