April 14th
Having survived the snow I am now warmly in a motel just outside Halifax with a belly full of chicken. To get here took an entire day of driving.
After writing the first entry I continued south along the Cabot Trail. I realized that being one of the first morning drivers (it was about 6.30 and snowing) meant I was one of the first to make tire tracks. Climbing up a high mountain pass (all of at least 250 meters) I remembered – what goes up must come down. The van had good traction but I decided that since the sun was poking through the clouds and I was now at the top of the hill I’d wait for the sunshine to melt the snow.
Five minutes later I was rescued by the snow plough. I followed him down but could have managed without his assistance because around the first corner, although the descent was steep, it faced the opposite direction (of course) and hadn’t caught the snow. Anyway, I needed some fresh coffee and stopped at the first open store I could find.
But, being up so early had its benefits – before the above mountain pass climb I saw something run across the road in front of me. When I got there, it was a fox. I haven’t seen a fox in its spring/summer outfit since growing up in England (I have seen arctic foxes in their white stage up in Churchill). It had caught its breakfast, which dangled from its mouth. I forgot to take a photo.
The rest of the drive south was pleasant, fairly uneventful. Louisburg was at first a disappointment as it (the historical site), as most things currently are, was closed. But, stopping in the town I read the information boards along one of the waterfront boardwalks and caught the gist of the history. Then I took a little winding road (these places really remind me of Scotland) and found the lighthouse. The wind and waves were ferocious and there were quite a lot of shoreline birds. Most of the latter seem to be common mergansers.
A trail led along the shoreline (and this reminded me of Ucluelet’s coastline) so I could get a good perspective of the lighthouse and waves and rocks. I’ve not seen any seals, sea lions or otters yet.
It was fun driving through the countryside away from the shore to get to where I currently am, about 100 km east of Halifax. I’ll be in the big city for breakfast tomorrow and hope to find a wireless connection that works so I can upload these chapters.
Having survived the snow I am now warmly in a motel just outside Halifax with a belly full of chicken. To get here took an entire day of driving.
After writing the first entry I continued south along the Cabot Trail. I realized that being one of the first morning drivers (it was about 6.30 and snowing) meant I was one of the first to make tire tracks. Climbing up a high mountain pass (all of at least 250 meters) I remembered – what goes up must come down. The van had good traction but I decided that since the sun was poking through the clouds and I was now at the top of the hill I’d wait for the sunshine to melt the snow.
Five minutes later I was rescued by the snow plough. I followed him down but could have managed without his assistance because around the first corner, although the descent was steep, it faced the opposite direction (of course) and hadn’t caught the snow. Anyway, I needed some fresh coffee and stopped at the first open store I could find.
But, being up so early had its benefits – before the above mountain pass climb I saw something run across the road in front of me. When I got there, it was a fox. I haven’t seen a fox in its spring/summer outfit since growing up in England (I have seen arctic foxes in their white stage up in Churchill). It had caught its breakfast, which dangled from its mouth. I forgot to take a photo.
The rest of the drive south was pleasant, fairly uneventful. Louisburg was at first a disappointment as it (the historical site), as most things currently are, was closed. But, stopping in the town I read the information boards along one of the waterfront boardwalks and caught the gist of the history. Then I took a little winding road (these places really remind me of Scotland) and found the lighthouse. The wind and waves were ferocious and there were quite a lot of shoreline birds. Most of the latter seem to be common mergansers.
A trail led along the shoreline (and this reminded me of Ucluelet’s coastline) so I could get a good perspective of the lighthouse and waves and rocks. I’ve not seen any seals, sea lions or otters yet.
It was fun driving through the countryside away from the shore to get to where I currently am, about 100 km east of Halifax. I’ll be in the big city for breakfast tomorrow and hope to find a wireless connection that works so I can upload these chapters.
No comments:
Post a Comment