If Plan A doesn't pan out

....then plan B, and if that doesn't work go to plan C!

The original weather forecast for today was showers in the afternoon so we planned to leave Halifax,do Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg before the rains were scheduled to come and then head north. Plan A scratched due to drizzle/rain (icky) in the morning, so we switched to plan B. We started by going to the graveyard to see the Titanic gravestones. We made it there but didn't even get out of the vehicle because of the rain.

So plan B started with the idea that since the weather wasn't great we would just drive up the east coast of the province,taking our time enjoying what we could. As we crossed the big harbour bridge we realized we wouldn't be able to see much of anything on the coast route so we made a split second decision to change plans and drive on the inland highway up to Cape Breton Island and so we did!

Four hours later we were in a BnB in North Sydney.

We were here at 4 P.M. so we had plenty of time to walk the streets of this old coal mining town. Many of the houses appear to be old boarding houses and have an age and style similar to our BnB. Really nice,but I think tourism and some fishing must keep this town alive because the coal mining days are over.

The proprietor lady told us about a great bistro a block away that had great food and she was correct. Caro thinks it was one of the best meals we've had while travelling. We split a salmon/and sea food meal. Yummy

Tonight we are just being lazy around the room, enjoying internet and planning future vacation activities

13.8 km walking in Halifax

We were up and out the door  of our hotel (after our complimentary continental breakfast) at about 9:15

The next 3.5 hours were spent at the Citadel getting thoroughly engrossed in its' history, public tours and displays. Oh my!   We REALLY enjoyed everything there was to see and do there. The citadel tour was great,and a special display WW1 trench exhibit was engrossing.

In the afternoon we walked almost all the Halifax Harbour waterfront and ended up at the "Pier 21 Canadian Immigration Hall" which is dedicated to telling the story of immigration and eventual integration into Canada (both the good side and the bad). The museum had photos of about 1/3 of the ships that came into port with immigrants. I took a close up of one photo which is pertinent to Dad.

We continued to walk, and walk and by 4:30 we were lining up for our scheduled Harbour Hopper tour (a duck boat tour). It was interesting but truthfully not something I would do again. My ears still hurt due to the noise of the vehicle (not kidding at all-it was bad!)

After completing the tour we walked, and walked and then had our second meal of the day in a harbour front restaurant (different places). Very nice

Halifax has a beautiful harbour front and we spent many hours enjoying all it had to offer. We continued walking back to the hotel (did I mention we were walking a lot?) going down beautiful streets with wonderful houses intermixed with small shops and pubs/restaurants.

Tonight we are tired so have come back a little earlier than last night. 22,172 steps (13.8 kilometres) will do that.

On the east coast

After a smooth 4 and a half hour direct flight on Westjet we arrived in Halifax at 2:30 in the afternoon. The airport is fairly small and it took no time at all to retrieve our luggage,find the city bus stop, and be on our way towards downtown Halifax.

A short while later we had found our car rental location and were soon driving to the hotel. 

There was still plenty of time to sightsee so we headed out walking the wonderful streets, full of brightly coloured houses built probably 80-100 years ago. 

The Halifax Citadel was only 15 minutes away and we got there  just before closing time (6 P.M.). This turned out to be a good thing because it turns out there is an entry charge but a National Park pass will get us in free so today we spend more time there (they did let us in for free as there were only 5 minutes until closing)

We were soon downtown walking the streets and thoroughly enjoying the experience. We stopped at a Scottish style pub to enjoy beer and home made potato chips before continuing on to the harbour front.

By now we were getting tired so we headed back to the hotel which was about  2 1/2 kilometres away. Next to the hotel was another pub (pubs are called "Public Houses") for a glass of wine and then to the room for a good nights sleep.

The internet is terrible in the room so I have to write this is a common room down the hallway.  

Hiking and Driving Part 2

Blogger is screwing up. Had to divide the days travel into two parts

Close to McBride I happened to notice something running through the high weeds/small bushes on the left ditch and made a very quick decision to hit the brakes "just in case". Good call by me, as a bear ran out onto the road and noticed me when he was half way across the road so he turned left and starting running down the middle of the road as I continued to slow right down. He then decided we must be dangerous so he high tailed it back the way he came! Exciting moments for sure

Close to Mount Robson on the western side we stopped at another hike location called RearGuard Falls. Very nice

Apparently only the biggest Chinook salmon can make it past these falls so this is pretty much the end of the salmon run (very close to the Alberta border actually).

A late lunch was at Mt. Robson and then we carried on to Jasper where we went to Pyramid Lake and walked around (a wedding was being held there at the time) and later Caro enjoyed Ribfest food at the 1st annual Jasper Ribfest.

We were home shortly before 9 PM.

Today is our 35th wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful day

Hiking and driving Part One

We left Prince George by 9 AM and after one hour of driving we noticed a sign saying that there was an Old Growth Forest hike immediately ahead. What a great stop that turned out to be as we did the best hike of the whole trip. The hike took about one hour and was in an old growth forest that had been saved from logging. It was just as fantastic as some of the hikes we have done on the coast in previous years. Photos below!

In Prince George

We woke up to drizzly rain in Prince Rupert and as we were checking out the hotel desk clerk asked what we were driving; HMMMM that doesn't sound good at all!! Turns out there was a hit and run in the hotel parking lot but a few panicky minutes later we confirmed the car wasn't ours. WHEW

Price Rupert looks very run down and unappealing so we decided to hit the road. Terrace looked nice as we drove through.

We stopped at Hazelton and toured the K'san replica historical native village. The tour guide was a native woman and the stuff they had there to show us was phenomenal. It was super interesting and worth going to (and also we both got in with a SENIORS discount!!!)

Unfortunately no photos were allowed in the buildings as the items are all on loan from local native families and are all considered sacred. Too bad because I could have easily taken a dozen photos.

We carried on kilometre after kilometre after kilometre until "finally" we got to Prince George. We are both exhausted tonight and looking forward to our air conditioned room with a king sized bed.

The ferry to Prince Rupert

Today was the day I have been waiting for- our 15 hour ferry ride from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert

We got to the ferry terminal at the 5:30 AM time as we were supposed to and then waited patiently to load and be on our way at 7:30 AM

We had booked reserved seats in the Aurora lounge at the front of the boat. It was great because any time anybody saw something in the water they would point, make a comment, and everybody then knew there was something to see (besides incredible mountain vistas!!)

We saw sea otters,dolphins and probably 6 or more humpback whales including one that breached beside the ferry (unfortunately we only saw the splash-too bad)

At some places the mountains were very close to us and even though the weather was overcast all day there was no rain until it was dark as we arrived in Prince Rupert. A wonderful day with beautiful scenery just as good as going to Alaska (but without the glaciers)