The travels and travails of one finding her history, roots and some adventure!

Beginning in 2010 a whole lot of planning, thinking, worring and dreaming will start.
A Pilgrimage to where her father was born, lived and worked will be investigated.
Some items from a personal "bucket list" will be crossed off.
A journey of some thousands of kilometers will begin.
It will truly be an epic journey of a lifetime.
It is through family that I am blessed to have this opportunity.
It is through family that I will discover many new things.

And so it begins.....

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Day 27-Digby to St. John New Brunswick

No real plans today. Just to pack up my bags so that I can take the minimum to P's camp in McAdam. I took my time as there was really no rush to check out. There were about 4 people left in the hotel. Seems everyone uses the Admiral Digby Inn to hang their head for the night before heading to the early (8 am) ferry to St. John. Not being in a real rush for anything I had already decided to take the later ferry then spend the night in St. John.

After breakfast and packing I decided to head along the coast away from Digby to the Fundy Coast and see what's what. I looked at the map and decided Margaretsville (or Margaretville depending on what sign you look at). It was a bit of a drive but I figured I'd take the main highway there and then the minor highway on the way back.

This part of the Fundy coast is really high cliffs and homes perched on the side of them. Again I noticed that many of them were up for sale but with the weather the way it is today I can only imagine why they are for sale.
The sun actually came out over the Annapolis Basin before I left and it was a pretty sight. But it was short lived. I drove through the Annapolis valley with just a drizzle.

At. Margaretsville there was a grand total of 8 people I counted, no stores, three churches and a beat up wharf.


I headed back to Digby as the clouds were gathering and looking a lot darker than they were about an hour earlier so I took route 1 back through the Annapolis valley.
This area is known for it's fertile land and it struck me as so strange that only a few miles away there are fishing fleets getting what they can and here there are fields of crops and dairy farms. All very different looking too. Flat with a river running through it all.

The two small towns, Bridgetown and Middleton are prosperous (appearing) small towns with all the amenities that would be nice to live in. Some are even gearing up for their upcoming fairs and I think the agricultural side of things reigns supreme in this valley.

As I reached Digby the skies really opened up and after a snack for a late lunch I checked out a couple of stores for something that would be neat. Found a nice fleece vest with a whale tail on it. I'm still determined to see a whale or something whale like before I leave the east coast!

I arrived at the ferry dock early but there were already cars and trucks there. No problem. The wind was howling and the rain pounding but I was snug in my car and I had a magazine to read.

Beside my car there were 4 full sized transports with seafood in them. Ha! That's how they get them to the west so fresh. The ferry saves 4 hours of travel time. We all were sorted out into the bottom of the ferry and I am always in awe when the ship can take so much weight on it and it stays level. That's an art.

So, 4 transports full of lobsters, clams, scallops and fish and a whole bunch of other vehicles in a hold of a ship. I cannot describe in enough detail that would make any kind of sense the odour of that cargo hold. Yikes!

Keeping the windows shut in the vehicle was the key in keeping the fishy smell out and it all tolerable.
I escaped up top. Yick.
With the crappy weather outside there wasn't a chance for any pictures as the deck was quite awash!
On the second deck there was a museum interpreter explaining more about the Bay of Fundy and how it was formed and the tides and fishy things. There was a 15 minute talk every hour and the first one was interesting but then I got really tired. I had been on the go for quite a while.
Up to the top deck where there were long benches around the outside of the room and the smell of freshly brewed coffee from the Starbucks there. I found a spot (there were lots as the ferry was probably 1/2 full) and nodded off for about an hour. It was great! The gentle rocking of the boat, protected from the elements it was really nice.

We arrived in St. John early because of a following wind and we all dove down into the vehicle hold (yikes it really stunk now) and I dove in the car as fast as I could. Phew! It didn't stink! Yippee!

The navigation system was worth the money today. I had preprogrammed the motel location when I was waiting for the ferry in Digby. This proved invaluable because it was getting dark (huh? it was just about 7 pm) and raining hard when we disembarked. Once the GPS found me (I guess it couldn't while the vehicle was in the cargo hold) I was directed perfectly to where I was staying. I know I would never have found it on my own without some back tracking and u-turns. Yay!!

The Econo-lodge is nice and will do fine for one night. Big room, fridge and microwave so I could nuke a soup that I had in my supply as I didn't want to search for somewhere to eat at this hour. Certain supplies I travel with include a spoon (or two) and my swiss army knife. I can prepare anything with those two utensils.
Dinner done I started to work on my blog but got kicked out because Blogger was reformatting itself! GRRRR.

So, as you can see, blog is done now and tomorrow I head out to meet my friend P in McAdam to stay at her camp for a few days. There are other friends from Toronto there too so it will be really nice to see some familiar folk and hang with them for a while. It's been a number of weeks since I've done any goofing off!
P's camp doesn't have power (so keeping the pilot light going on the beer fridge is a really good idea) so I won't be blogging until I get to Bar Harbour next week.
I'll have lots of pictures and stories to share then.

So, have a blast everyone and I'll see ya all later!

Cheers all....



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