This entry was posted on 9/6/2007 4:38 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
~
Dateline : Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada. September 6th, 2007
Greetings, Eh. From Nova Scotia! We're having fun and that's what it's all aboat!
Hello all! We have safely arrived in Nova Scotia. We're in Bridgewater, which is about 25
miles or, I have no clue how many kilometers, from Halifax.
Personally, I'm having a hard time doing the KmH and MPH math but that means we made good
time from Yarmouth to here.
But first, the FERRY !!
Up we were, with the crack of dawn, as we had to be at the Ferry by 7am, for a 8am launching.
Pookie had done a lot of pre-packing ( what with yours truly doing all the blogging and what
not ) and we were up and out of the Edgewater in record time. This is no small feat
considering we had packed, yes you're about to read it correctly, a printer. I know, I know,
but we figured we might need it and as it turns out, we did. Last night we printed out some
confirmations. Darn good thing we had that printer, yessir-ee.
So, we leave the wonderful Edgewater, our basecamp for the first part of our vacation with
our thanks and knowing we will definitely return. It was simply too great not to come back
to.
The Ferry (
www.catferry.com ) is about five minutes from the Edgewater and when we get
there at 7:01am, there is already a line of about five cars waiting to get INTO the ferry
lines. Ooops. Someone forgot to tell us you can get there even BEFORE 7am. Oh well, we got
into line and were directed to the cattle shoots for our place to board the ferry.
There wasn't too much time to wait after checking in ( we had pre-booked ). We were directed
down the short road and darned if there wasn't a big old boat there waiting for us. I jumped
out at the first passenger boarding spot and pookie parked the truck ( with bikes on the
back, of course ) and joined me up on the main deck.
The ferry was pretty fancy. A couple of bars, various little cafe areas, a casino, two
movies playing, a duty free shop. Fancy.
We grabbed a bench seat, getting out of the way of the people who were practically killing
one another for a window seat.
The ferry is so big, you can barely sense when it's moving but it wasn't too long before the
duty free ( yea, a floating gift store ) and the casino were open for business. We dropped
about forty dollars at the casino - um, it was like 20 slot machines - but it was a fun way
to help pass the three hours. I wasn't interested in the movies. I think they were Shrek the
3rd and Wild Hogs. Gee, obviously picked just with me in mind. NOT.
We passed the time reading, munching on popcorn, kind of napping and just watching the ocean
go by. The waters were fairly smooth and we both had our sea legs. A very good thing.
So, three hours later, we're docked and directed back to our vehicle. No problem there,
pookie ended up right near the door and we were back in the truck rather quickly. And, boy
can those guys empty out the ferry quickly. Within about 15 minutes or so we were in line
for customs.
It is here, my good friends, that I share with you some very special news - I finally,
FINALLY, got a stamp in my US passport !!!!! YIPEEE!!!!!! It was very cool, but I have no
clue why the guy stamped it on like the 15th page. I thought it would be rude to ask for a
re-stamping and then..... hey, we're in Canada!
For those wondering what a big deal a US Passport stamp is - please see my last years blog down below.
We took 3/103 out of Yarmouth and followed the Lighthouse Trail all the way to Bridgewater.
What an amazing route. Around every bend, every turn, was a beautiful harbor, a new cove, a
sleepy inlet or an amazing ocean view. Nova Scotia is amazing with it's access to the water.
This is one of the most beautiful drives I've been on. The area is just so nautical and
sleepy, small town.
On the way, since we really hadn't eaten we stopped at this small ice cream shoppe called
Dan's which turned out to be an ice cream/bakery/subshop. We had subs for lunch and the on-
site made bread was just great. As we were there eating, about seven different people came
in to buy loafs of the bread they make there. No wonder. It was great.
Question - anyone ever heard of "donair"? They had it at the sub place and I'd never heard
of it, nor had pookie. We looked it up on the web when we got to the hotel here, and it said
simply "roasted, spiced beef". I guess it's a Canadian thing.
MH - I am going to rely on you to question Rose about this. And hey, I love the Canadians!
Especially the way they let you drive 100 MPH through small towns and stuff !!!
After Dan's we continued on the Lighthouse Trail and arrived here in Bridgewater.
What a great start to the Canadian part of our adventure. I'll write more when I can.
~
