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Friday, July 4, 2008, Burlington, VT, to Saint John, NB
I set off at 7am and rode to Waterbury, VT, to meet up with my riding companions, Pete, Tito, and Beth. Pete pulled in minutes after I did, and Tito and Beth arrived five or ten minutes later. We gassed up and hopped on I-89 to begin our adventure.
In Montpelier we left I-89 and got onto Rt 2, which we took all the way to Bangor, ME. The ride through eastern Vermont and New Hampshire was nice, but nothing new to us, of course.
In Rumsford, ME, Rt 2 makes a 90-degree right turn at a four-way intersection. Unfortunately for me, there was gravel in the corner that blended very well with the pavement; both Tito and I failed to see it. Tito almost went down, but I didn't see this because I was initiating the turn myself. I hit the gravel patch dead-on with my front tire, and it slid out from under me. I was on the ground so suddenly that I didn't even notice losing traction. Luckily the damage to me was minor (bruised and slightly tweaked right knee, patch of rash on my elbow where my skin rubbed against the inside of my jacket). Damage to the bike was mostly saved by the crash guard -- here's a pic:
Tito and Pete picked up the bike for me after I assured them I was fine, and I limped over to assess the damage. Entirely cosmetic, with the exception of a shattered right front turn signal. Beth retrieved the pieces of the housing, and we duct-taped it roughly back together to protect the still-working bulb. It performed flawlessly for the duration of the trip.
After I downed some Advil and drank a bottle of water, we continued without incident through Maine and arrived at the Canadian border around 4:30pm. From there we continued up Highway 1 to Saint John and checked into a hotel for the night. Once changed, we headed into town, did a little sightseeing, and had dinner.
Being on the Bay of Fundy, Saint John experiences very impressive tides. This was shortly after low tide (note the high-water line on the pier):
Closer view of the lighthouse:
The city's waterfront, as seen from the pier:
Beth, Tito, and Pete:
As it turned out, Saint John's Canada Day fireworks had been postponed due to rain, and we got to watch them after dinner. Ironic that we, a bunch of Americans, got to watch fireworks on the 4th of July in another country.
Saturday, July 5, 2008, Saint John, NB, to Murphy Cove, NS
Saturday morning we checked out of our hotel and rode over to the ferry dock to head over to Nova Scotia.
The ferry was due to depart shortly after low tide, so we got to see a lot of exposed seafloor next to the dock. Here's Beth checking it out:
Exposed seaweed- and barnacle-covered rocks:
The ferry:
The area adjacent to the dock:
Tito waiting for the ferry to begin loading:
Finally we were able to load the ferry. We were advised to put our bikes in gear and tie them down.
Our departure from Saint John was delayed slightly while we waited for other traffic to enter the harbor.
Once the cruise ship had cleared, we set off. Leaving the Saint John harbor, I noticed this apparent relic of World War 2 sitting atop the island:
Crossing the Bay of Fundy took about three hours, which I mostly spent on deck watching for whales. Didn't see any, but I did spot plenty of harbor porpoises.
Approach to Digby harbor:
By this time the tide was coming in fast enough to create an impressive current. Note the marker buoy creating a pretty big wake in the foreground:
Entering Digby harbor and preparing to dock:
During the crossing, we had a conversation with a fellow passenger who has a summer cottage in Nova Scotia; he suggested that we follow him to a small seafood market for lunch, so after docking, we did exactly that and found ourselves at the Royal Fundy Seafood Market in Digby, which had a small attached restaurant. Digby is famous for its scallops, so I had a scallop burger for lunch -- six or seven sauteed scallops on a bun, with a side of fries and cole slaw. These were without a doubt the best scallops I've ever had in my life.
After lunch, we took Rt 8 across Nova Scotia toward the Atlantic coast (which proved to be a bit of an adventure in itself -- Rt 8 was being repaved, and a surprisingly long stretch at the beginning was dirt -- much of it pretty loose and squirrely). We picked up Rt 210 and Rt 325 to the coast, then Rt 3 toward Halifax. Rt 3 proved to be frustrating -- sections would go through small coastal towns (which were inevitably slow going, with tourists and low speed limits), and then long sections would just run away from the coast and through boring inland areas. Thankfully, after passing Halifax and getting onto Rt 7, the scenery improved as the road stuck a little closer to the shore. In the last ten miles or so before arriving at Murphy Cove, the scenery got beautiful and the road got smooth and twisty.
One thing that utterly amazed me though (and would continue to do so for most of the trip) was how incredibly calm the water was. Here we were on the North Atlantic, and there was no surf. None at all. It was like a pond. And not just on isolated coves, but even on open-ocean beaches. Weird.
We arrived at Murphy Cove and found our campground, which proved to be a bit disappointing. It was packed with RVs, facilities were pretty spare, and soon after we got set up, a dense fog rolled in. We turned in soon after dark, slept for a short time, then were awakened by a bunch of kids in their early 20s or so who were partying several campsites away. They got increasingly drunk and managed to keep us all awake till after 3am (except Pete, who'd wisely taken an Ambien). They finally got too drunk to carry on, and we were able to get a few hours' sleep.
Sunday, July 6, 2008, Murphy Cove, NS, to Meat Cove, Cape Breton
We awoke early, packed up our stuff, and fled the Murphy Cove campground by 7am. The morning was foggy and chilly; we took Rt 7 east along the coast, passing through a variety of small fishing villages, and stopped for breakfast in the town of Sherbrooke.
From there we headed further east on Rt 211 and Rt 316, passing through a fascinating countryside of scrubby pine trees, small coves, and tiny fishing villages. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip, with absolutely incredible scenery and a nice winding road. I wish I'd gotten more pictures, but we were having a great time riding and didn't stop much.
We continued along Rt 16 and Rt 344 toward Cape Breton.
We crossed the Canso Causeway into Cape Breton and took Rt 4 along the Bras d'Or Lake toward Sydney, then Highway 105 to the Cabot Trail. The eastern side of the Cabot Trail proved disappointing -- there are a couple short twisty sections that are nice, but most of it is kind of boring, passing through a number of small tourist towns. This was the best view on the eastern side:
We continued up to the northern tip of Cape Breton, leaving the Cabot Trail and taking Meat Cove Road, the final five miles or so of which are loose, gravely dirt with lots of elevation changes and tight corners -- I discovered why the V-Strom's stock Trail Wing tires are nicknamed "Death Wings." Those things don't handle very well in those conditions. So we kept our speed down, and we made it to the Meat Cove Campground to spend the night. This place was incredible -- we camped on a small plateau at the edge of a cliff over the ocean.
Tito, Beth, and Pete going over the map:
Sunset:
There was a nice breeze coming in from the sea, which kept the bugs to a minimum. I slept with the rain fly off my tent, and awoke in the middle of the night to see lots of stars through the mesh ceiling. I put on my glasses and stuck my head out of the door of the tent, and the sight was absolutely breathtaking. I've never seen so many stars. I could see the Milky Way clearly. Amazing.
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Originally Posted by jnm988
