Wednesday 25 June 2014

Junkel and "The Rock"

Well we made it! After talking about it for years we finally made it to Newfoundland. It was an quiet 6 hour ferry ride across from North Sydney Nova Scotia , to Port-aux Basques Newfoundland. For all of you who complain about BC Ferries come on down and try this one. There were 2 departures on Monday June 23rd one at 1145 am and one at 1145 pm. You must be in the ferry terminal at least two hours before the scheduled sailing as it may take that long to load the ship. It is one big tetris game as there are 3 vehicle decks and deck one has to be loaded before deck 3 as it is under deck 3. Deck 5 is for semi trailers and truck and trailers. Yup we could see about 20 trailers with no trucks.



Our Ship The Highlander


Entering the beast.

The ship is just that a ship complete with a pointy end a flat end. Deck 7 is the main passenger area with dining area and reclining chairs. Deck 8 is for cabins that you can rent for the crossing.
We arrived in Port Aux Basque at 6:30 NFLD time and drove to Doyles for our first night.

Downtown Port aux Basques

The campsite was great and we were the first of about 20 campers from the ferry.
Tuesday was a scenic drive up to Corner Brook. We are trying to stay off the Trans Canada Highway as much as possible. We drove through Stephenville and out to Cape St. George and Lourdes before carrying on to Corner Brook.


Sheeves Cove

Cape St. George


Just outside Jerrys Nose

We left Corner Brook after stocking up on fresh fruits and veggies and headed north to Cow Head and our next stop.At Deer Lake we turned off the TCH and headed up the Viking Trail. About 2 Km along we stopped at the Insectarium Butterfly display. We spent a couple hours looking at the butterflies, scorpions, tarantulas and a host of other bugs.

I'm going to be a Monarch Butterfly.............Someday


Watch out June that could be one of those "Killer Butterflies"


"Kelly what the hell is that?"

It rained all day so it was good to be inside looking at the critters. We arrived in Cow Head and spent a nice evening with friends Del and Gloria from Calgary. We met them in Desert Hot Springs and it was great to catch up. We have planned some events for this next week so keep tuned.
Kelly promised June she would see Ice Bergs and Moose in Newfoundland so far he has lied. Actually he is 100% 0 for 0.

Take care and thank-you for reading this. ..............Junkel
 

Wednesday 18 June 2014

From Fortresses to "The Oracle"

Hi all we leave on Sunday for a month in Newfoundland and I just realized I forgot to do a posting for Louisbourgh and Alexander Graham Bell Museum, so here goes.
We arrived in Louisbourgh to the cold and damp and from what we learned that is a typical day there. We called the fortress and tried to reserve a wheel chair for June but they don't have any. They are trying to maintain a late 1700's atmosphere and authenticity so the buildings aren't wheel chair "friendly". What a load of crap. Kelly went up to the fort by himself and spent 3 hours wandering around. I took a guided tour of what a soldiers life was like in 1760's and it was informative. He fired his flint lock rifle and showed us around the main building and some of the minor buildings.

Lots of noise and smoke.

A soldier could fire as many as 4 bullets a minute and he carried enough powder and wadding for 9 bullets. Hope the other guys give up quickly. The fortress was completely rebuilt from the foundations up. They have restored only about 1/5 of the original settlement and that only cost us tax payers 42 million dollars.

From the original plans.

Back side of the Gouverneur's Building

Entrance arch at the foot of the main street

One of the buildings I went into was the "Captain of the Guard's" house. They showed us into the family kitchen and to see "The Captain's Wife". The actress told us about the social events that she must plan and how the king wore lace on all his clothes so to increase your stature in the the community you were judged on your ability to make lace.

Making Lace

The next day we left Louisbourgh and Kelly made arrangements with the commissionaires so he could drive June around the fortress so she could see some of it as well.

If you ever find yourself in Baddeck Nova Scotia you must go to the Alexander Graham Bell museum."The Oracle" to us phone guys. This guy was the real deal. He fought for years in court for his patents on what would become the phone but that is just a drop in the bucket of one very interesting guy.  He started out working with the deaf with many breakthroughs. He formed a group of 5 guys with himself in the centre with a plan to get a working airplane. The very first manned flight in the commonwealth took place 6 months later on frozen Bras d'Or lake.
The Silver Dart took flight on February 23 1909. The Silver Dart was the first plane to have a tri-cycle under carriage. It also had the first ailerons. After doing Phones and Planes he moved onto Hydrofoils. The HD-4 was the fastest boat in the world when in 1919 it set the maritime speed record of 114.04 km/h. He would see something and find a way to improve it not really caring about its commercial value. He gave all but 100 of his shares in Bell telephone to his wife.

June and the Silver Dart


The HD-4

I can't imagine what it would have been like to be fishing out on Bras d'Or lake in 1919 and this "Flying Cigar" doing 114 km/h goes screaming by. At that time it could of been the fastest thing you had ever seen.

While we were in Baddeck the had the "Cabot Trail Relay Race". This is a casual 17 stage 276km relay race around the Cabot Trail. The winning team finished in 16 hours 39 minutes, John your team should start training now!

All in all we really enjoyed our time on Cape Breton Islands and highly recommend it to anyone.


Sunday 1 June 2014

Cabot Trail aka the national shock absorber test trail.

With a cushion for June's foot and clean windows we set out for the Cabot Trail. The drive around "Cape Breton Highlands National Park" is called the Cabot Trail, and we went 3/4 the way around it. We left Inverness after our doctor visit and headed for Anigonish. The drive around is very scenic. They have had a bad winter here so most of the trees are just now staring to bud. Areas on the side of the road at the top of the "mountains" still had snow on them. When you looked through the trees snow was still prominent there too. We drove for several hours and only saw the south end of a north bound moose, no other "live" animals were seen.
We stayed in a national park in Anigonish for the night. The park had full hook-ups but the bathrooms and showers were closed. Still it was nice to have power as the temperature dropped to near freezing over night. We have collapsed the table and set up the spare bed for June as she can't climb the steps into the main bed. So far so good her foot hasn't made us stop our trip.
We left Anigonish for Louisbourg the next day a little less concerned and better prepared for pictures.
The Fog The Fog


We crossed that bridge

Taken from the Bridge


It only hurts a little I'll be ok tomorrow

We arrived in Louisbourg early in the afternoon and were the only people in the campground. The owner came over and opened everything up just for us. Later that night I helped the owner fix his ADSL so we could have internet. Once a phone guy always a phone guy. We left the park and drove 35 minutes back the way we came to Sydney Nova Scotia. Yup we now have been to Sydney and Sidney coast to coast.
At the cruiseship terminal

One of the main attraction in Sydney harbour is the worlds largest fiddle. It measures 60 feet tall and is one of the first things visitors see when the arrive at the cruiseship terminal.
I think the guy that plays this also uses the hockey stick in Duncan.

We stocked up on supplies then headed back to Louisbourg. As we entered the town we saw a sign for the lighthouse so we went for a little drive. The first lighthouse in Canada was in Louisbourg and this one is the third incarnation.
Louisbourg Lighthouse

The next day Kelly went to Fort Louisbourg on his own as Parks Canada didn't have wheelchairs on site to use. I think I'll write my congressman.

Louisbourg and Alexander Graham Bell Museum(phone guy mecca), will be in the next post.

Take Care 
Junkel