Sunday August 12th
There were 2 category climbs if you can believe it.
When I woke up I noticed things were a little damp. The tarp had shifted last night exposing a bit of the tent and things were just a tiny bit damp but I was warm still. I was moving pretty slowly maybe because I knew it was shorter day but maybe more so because I knew it would be a wet windy day and I wasn’t all that anxious to get going. I decided then and there the best thing to do was skip breakfast and get out on the road for a few kilometers to “get into it” rather than mope around at the campground restaurant. It was cheaper too.
As you near the turn off’s for Dalhousie you can’t help but notice the Osprey nest situated on the power line. A closer look reveals that there are at least five differnt nests when you look down the line. There are also nests in trees as well all in close proximatey. Since I couldn’t see into the nests I wasn’t sure if there are lot’s of them around, this could be because where I turned off to eat breakfast it is known as Osprey corner, or that the move their nests from year to year, unlikely. Maybe they are protected here but that would mean competition for hunting but I don’t even know what they eat. I pondered it over breakfast in a huge dome of a restaurant that was packed with at least a hundred people. All warmed up I was ready for the second and final leg to Belldune!
If you are following twitter you would have seen a few posts already but after 6,500 kilometers I made it to the Atlantic ocean. Albeit a bay on the Atlantic but still the Atlantic and being cloudy misty and hazy I couldn’t see the other side of the bay which is essentially Quebec. It was more of a relief at the time and it still hasn’t sunk in but I will come around. I really think I be more pumped when I get to Sydney Nova Scotia because I will really be able to count the days to finish with high accuracy.
After a lot of riding with my head down I finally made it to Dan Anderson’s parents home in Belldune. When I pulled up to the house Dan was looking for worms with his two boys, Cole and Reid and his father Don was just walking over to them and turned around to greet me. Dan’s wife Stacey was inside keeping warm, smart girl. Funny thing is Don’s wife Sheila wanted to pick me up from the road – only a mother could think like this. Very heart warming.
As you can see by the photos I was treated to a fresh lobster lunch with some New Brunswickian beer Pickertons Blonde ale which is an excellent beer. The lobster was my first and I needed to be coached through but the poor suckers are tasty. Funny how evolution works? Or is it they taste horrible and humans evovled to enjoy the taste of lobster, again poor lobster!
A few hours later Dan’s sister Angela came over and we had “mild” italian sausages for dinner. Funny story is that Dan’s dad had been buying theses sausages from the same store and same store clerk for five years. One day she was busy an the owner took his order and informed him they don’t sell “mild” Italian sausages. Apparently she had knowingly been giving him bratwurst all of these years. If that isn’t great customer service I don’t know what is!