Daily Post’s weekly challenge – A Face in the Crowd

WordPress’s weekly photo challenge this week is “A Face in the Crowd”, and they want photos that can capture portraits anonymously. The writer of that post talks about being too shy to ask people face on and I can identify with that. I have few photos of the portraits

Here are a few I think might play on the theme.

Another face in the crowd…. Papua New Guinea Clan Pole representing the faces of the tribe as a whole. Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver

Another brick in the wall. Matthew Street, Liverpool. Not faces, but names that will always stand out in a crowd of talent.

Waiting to fire the daily noon cannon from the walls of Halifax Citadel.

Fans of Coronation Street, a British soap, wander on the old outdoor set, disguised as their favourite characters. Superb! Anonymous and yet not. Every tourist on that tour would recognize those faces.

Hawaii – Honeymoon Central

We were in Vancouver when last I wrote. We transferred to an airport hotel, a Ramada, so we would be handy before flying out to Honolulu. In retrospect, considering that it wasn’t that expensive to get a cab to the hotel and wouldn’t have been much more than that for the airport, we should have booked an extra day at the Rosedale on Robson and spent the last day downtown with the luggage being held until we could go directly to the airport. Lessons learned.

The flight takes about 5 hours and the airline is Air Canada Rouge, not a great choice but that’s what they have for the flights to Hawaii. We did pay extra to get seats with extra leg room and I think the Travel Gods we did because even with that, the seats felt cramped and uncomfortable. Daylight flight, no chance for a nap. We arrived late in the evening and eventually nabbed a cab into the city. Two tickets on an airport bus wasn’t a lot less. For the convenience, taxis are it.

We checked in to the Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki Beach nearly 11 p.m. The travel agent had forwarded a message that we are on our honeymoon and celebrating a milestone birthday so they upgraded us from a “partial ocean view King room” to a one bedroom suite with a partial ocean view. Nice! But we were taken aback when we got to the suite. Two double beds instead of a king size or queen size bed. For a honeymoon. Someone missed the boat there, I think. We went back to the desk since we were heading to a little shop that was in the lobby anyway to stock up on drinks and snacks and asked them about it. Oops! They were full up for that night so couldn’t change us but offered to change the next day, just let them know.

We were more amused than irritated, really. When we went back upstairs, we decided to unpack and keep the room. Considering how badly I’d been sleeping so far this vacation, I think he’d have had a better sleep with me in the other bed and we could always cuddle in one if we want. The room is on the 19th floor  so it’s quiet and has a pretty good view towards the city and Diamond Head, the inactive volcano at one end of the city and we can see the ocean when looking down to our right from the balcony that we have with the room. It’s pretty amazing to stand outside as the sun comes up over the buildings. It’s already nice and warm.

Hawaii is going to be different things for different people. A vacation based out of the city of Honolulu is going to be more commercial than at one of the resorts on Maui or one of the other islands. Waikiki has shopping, boy, does it have shopping, top end designer gear. There are, of course, plenty of souvenir places, restaurants and cafes for all budgets. They have museums and galleries and malls (oh my!) and another major attraction is Pearl Harbour which is still a military base of operations in addition to a memorial to the attack by the Japanese that pulled the United States into WWII. Ironically, Japanese tourists are the major group of tourists to Hawaii these days.

We want to get oriented so our Day 1 intention is to find the hop on hop off trolley tour and get around on that. There’s a desk for an Expedia rep in the lobby and they set us up with vouchers though we still have to go to the starting point to exchange. We also used them to rent a car for Saturday so we can explore some of the island away from the city. The depot for the trolley tour isn’t too far, in the basement/garage of a department type store. They have four routes and you can use the ticket for 48 hours in November (probably all winter, not just November but I didn’t ask) We made time for two of the routes, one through the city and one that went up to Diamond Head and got a good look around.

We had a late lunch at the Hard  Rock Cafe, a place we always like to visit in a new city because we know the food is always good. We then picked up the Diamond Head route tram with some go views along the way up. I’m not a hiker so never did plan to do any of the hiking there but in any case the hike to the top was closed due to wind. Even though the sun was shining and any cloud cover seemed quite far away, we felt sprinkles of rain now and the. A bit disconcerting but on the plus side, there were rainbows!

On our second day, we had tickets booked to Pearl Harbour via a tour operator. We were picked up at the hotel in a nice mini-bus with a uniformed driver who was a very  informative guide as well. Pearl Harbour entry prices can cover a variety of things. I think the basic set up is the USS Arizona memorial with a film included and that’s what we got. There are other museums on the grounds and while some are free, some are not. I’m sure you can get a one-ticket-covers-all at the gate and you certainly could spend all day if you wanted to see everything.

The USS Arizona memorial, Pearl Harbour, Hawaii

The film was about how America got into the war, focussing on Japan’s aggression and the politics of the time. Very sobering. They discussed the Japanese attack and the aftermath which was also sobering. Then we were on a boat that took us out to the USS Arizona memorial, a long white structure that sits over the actual battleship, still sunk in the harbour with over 1000 sailors’ bodies still entombed in it. Some of the ships that were bombed and sunk were brought up but the Arizona was left as is, far too damaged by the huge explosion set off by a bomb. Some of the bits of the ship were salvaged but most of it was beyond repair. It’s a very peaceful memorial. You can look down on the remains of the rusted ship and watch the fish swim and in and out of the blue water surrounding it.

We wandered around the grounds for awhile, looking at various information signs and markers and having a look in the very good gift shop. They also had a kiosk where you chose an oyster from a bowl and they would open it up for you to reveal your pearly treasure. Then, they hope you will buy a gold or silver setting to put the pearl in and that’s where it gets very expensive for the most part. I tried the oyster, and I actually got lucky and got two pearls! I did eventually find something to put a pearl in but they offered me another go for free. That oyster came up with another single pearl and I contributed that to the charm I had picked out. I saved the two pearls and brought them home. My cousin’s husband makes jewellery and I sent them over so he could put them in a pair of silver earrings for me!

On the drive back to the hotel, the driver/guide took us up to the Punchbowl volcano where the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is. It’s a military cemetery with all of the stones set flush into the ground. there’s a lovely memorial at the end with steps and a huge statue representing Lady Columbia or Justice. There are good views over the city from up there, as well.

We finally got to the beach the next morning. Waikiki beach seems to be a long series of beaches, or just one but which seems to be segmented when a hotel juts out into it, probably to keep their bit of it more exclusive I suppose. It’s not quite what I expected, but it is in the middle of the city. The sand is white and warm and the water wasn’t cold either. We aren’t “beach bums” and we weren’t there to sit and soak up the sun or to swim but we did walk along the beach for a little way, people watching. There was a lot to see, too. You could rent surfboards and boogie boards, chairs and you could take surfing lessons and boat rides.There were a number of food and drink kiosks as well and some huts with public toilets.

There were palm trees. Oh dear God the palm trees! Having seen them elsewhere in the city, I noticed one thing.They had all been stripped of coconuts, probably safer that way so one didn’t fall and knock out a tourist! Because there was no large expanses of beach that didn’t extend for miles, it seemed more intimate, cozy and quite a nice place to spend a few hours. We saw another part of the beach later on, at the end opposite to Diamond Head, which did seem to have a large expanse of sand by the water with the tree line away in the back. I think it was Fort Derussy beach park. It seemed rather dull, actually. Not as picturesque as the main beaches in Waikiki.

We picked up a quick lunch at a food truck which was quite tasty. For the afternoon excursion, we had booked tickets on the Atlantis submarine. We went with the Premium cruise as it gives you a little more personal space in the submarine. Each person has a large porthole and the sub goes down to 100 feet. The photos on the website make it a lot brighter than we saw it. It was very blue and a bit murky but you could see the fish and the reefs quite well. We saw a couple of white sharks, too, lying in the sand by the artificial reefs, created there in addition to a couple of wrecks. They turn into proper reefs over time and the fish make them their home.

It was fascinating and the guide/narrator was entertaining, as well, with lots of bad jokes and gentle humour. It is something we will never get a chance to do again and we really wanted to have something special to splash out on for our honeymoon! We were taken back to the hotel and we wandered around the neighbourhood looking at the shops. I allowed myself to get pulled into a skin care store for a little mini facial, with a hard sell for the creams and cleansers of course. It’s fun to see how low they’ll go and what they’ll do for you to get you to buy something. In the end, the young man found a “damaged” box of one item and offered it less than half price. I very much doubt it was damaged when he went into the stock room to get it but who cares!? We walked along a bit further when G. noticed a sign for a revolving bar at the top of one of the towers so we went up for a drink. The bar revolved so slowly you never even noticed until you glanced out the window and saw a different aspect of the city! I think this was also the evening where we discovered Japanese Ramen Noodles! Our first time with this kind of cuisine and it was very nice. We saw the tail end of a hula show in a shopping mall. One other evening we at at the Hula Bar in one of the better known hotels where we had fancy drinks with umbrellas and my creme brulee came in a pineapple bowl. That is,a bowl which was the actual pineapple! You’ve gotta do these things when you’re in a place like this, right?

North Shore Laniakea Beach Surfers

The next day we walked around the block to pick up the rental car and headed out around the coastal route. There are lots of photo stops  and we took advantage of a few. The scenery was lovely, with beach and ocean on one side and mountains on the other. There are small towns as well, with little cafes and shops. We made a stop at the Polynesian Cultural Centre to have a look at the shops and have some lunch. The centre holds special exhibits like a living museum and they do big luau shows at night as well, I believe. But the cost of just the basic ticket to get onto the grounds where the bigger exhibits are is scandalously huge and we didn’t want any part of it. We did like the shops, though and there was an exhibit in the main building with artifacts from various Pacific cultures.

One of the things I really wanted to see were the surfers on the famed North Shore beaches. Unfortunately, we were losing the sun and the wind and the waves were not any higher than those we get at home on Lawrencetown beach! Winter is the best time to see the championship surfing with high, crashing waves but not today! We drove a little further along the north of the island and then headed back to the city.

North Shore Laniakea Beach

Rabbit Island, Makapuu

We did have a bit of trouble finding a gas station and when we did, of course we were too many lanes away and the traffic was horrendous! When we finally managed to get into the gas station, the directions on the pumps were not very bleedin’ obvious as per the rest of the trip! Eventually we got it done. The next challenge was finding the hotel where the car had to be returned. The GPS is partly to blame here, I think and we ended up in a private residential parking garage that was narrow and very tight when we tried to turn around and get out again. We ended up with a door scrape but luckily we did choose to get the extra coverage that day. We found the right place and left the car. All the stress of the last half hour, the traffic and gas station and parking debacle kind of put a damper on the day but it was a nice day over all.

On our last day, we got a little extra time before check out because we wanted to use the coin laundry in the hotel . Yes, boring, but it had to be done! After checking out and leaving the bags at the hotel, we took at taxi to the huge Ala Moana shopping centre. We were looking for lunch primarily and found a Korean food place in the food court. We walked around a little bit but we’re losing our energy and decided to go back to the hotel. We went to the pool and had a drink to kill some time and finally decided to go to the airport a bit early to give ourselves extra time. We faced another overnight flight which was just as uncomfortable as the flight out so I didn’t get any sleep. And because it’s Air Canada Rouge, there’s no entertainment unless you use your own device and stream it through the Air Canada App or you rent an iPad from the flight crew. (Business class gets the iPads for free).

Another night of no sleep and finally back to a rainy Vancouver for the last couple of days, spent with my cousins catching up. We didn’t do a whole lot as we were pretty tired by this time though did have a damp and foggy drive up to the town of Squamish at the foot of the Rockies.

Honeymoon came and went and it was worth the wait of two had a half years. We saw and did some new things and enjoyed the company of friends and family as well.

Squamish marina under a rainy sky

Vancouver: The Weird and the Wonderful

After our first full day in Vancouver, what next? Turned out, the weekend was full of weird and wonderful.

In addition to seeing a bit of the city, one of the things we did while in Vancouver was attend a Fan Expo, similar to the Science Fiction Comic Con (convention). Fans of SciFi, Fantasy, comics, super heros and their worlds and Japanese animation flock to these conventions. Many of them dress up as favourite characters. There are guests from popular televisions shows and artists of graphic novels and comics there to talk to fans. People can pay for autographs and photos with their favourites and sit in the audience and listen to the actors talk about their craft and the show.

There is usually a huge hall full of vendors where you can buy all manner of related items. It’s a great place to get swag, tshirts, memorabilia and related items to your favourite genres and programs. We bought a one day pass though the convention goes on all weekend. The Vancouver Convention Centre is enormous, covering two buildings on the waterfront. It was a rainy day so we decided to take a taxi to the centre. We still ended up trekking about between the two buildings because we weren’t sure where to go.

Vancouver Convention Centre from Stanley Park

The convention was in the main building that looks like a ship with full sails on it. It’s also where cruise ships dock. As you walk down the length of it, in the ground are inlaid plaques with various Canadian cities from the West to the East and then to the North as you walk along. We finally got in and got our entry bracelets and tried to figure out where everything was. My husband has a ticket to get a photo with one of his favourites and we wanted to sit in on two panel discussions and still have time to peruse the vendors. One section of vendors was Steampunk oriented which is something I really like.

The convention was hugely crowded so it took patience to work your way along the vendor stalls and through the hallways to find the various rooms. We have a similar convention here called Hal-con which, while crowded, seems a little more manageable.

We spent a great afternoon looking at all the items, listening to the panels  talk about the other actors and behind the scenes and people watching for all the great costumes. Lots of people go to such a great deal of trouble to represent characters in painstaking detail.

The second allocation of weird and wonderful was the Museum of Anthropology at University of British Columbia. One of the prime focuses of the museum is the indigenous art of the people of British Columbia which is absolutely gorgeous. It’s very distinctive and it’s different from the art of the First Nations people from the east coast of Canada where I’m from which is also lovely, don’t get me wrong.

The museum has totem poles and pieces of them, as well as other artifacts such as bent wood boxes, feast “bowls” and intriguing sculpture. It’s also got collections from a great many other cultures around the world, primarily Asiatic and from the South Seas and Oceana but also from Europe and Africa. There are treasures, and maps and papers.You could spend all day there and never see it all. It is very intriguing and you’ll learn a lot. I don’t think you could see it all in one go because there is just too much to take in. We spent a couple of hours wandering about and spent a few dollars in the gift shop, too.

We had gone there with friends who live locally and after the museum closed, we found a Chinese restaurant for a nice meal to top off the day and the weekend. This is pretty much the end of our visit to Vancouver as well. The next day, we used the coin laundry in the morning before we had to check out and transferred to a Ramada by the airport, thinking it would be easier to get to the airport the next day if we were already nearby. In retrospect, we probably should have just spent an extra night at the Rosedale and enjoyed that last full day in the city. Turns out even a taxi to the airport from downtown wasn’t all that expensive.

We checked into the Ramada which was a couple of blocks from a large shopping mall, the Richmond Centre. We plodded over there under cloudy, rather wet skies and had some lunch in the food court along with a bit of a wander through the mall. Both of  us are on pins now, excited to leave for Hawaii but we still have to wait until tomorrow afternoon. We did end up getting a shuttle to the airport a lot earlier than we needed to after checking out of the Ramada just so we didn’t have to sit around the hotel lobby. At least in an airport, your baggage is checked and you can walk around and look at the shops. Pretty soon it’s time to board….

Onward to Vancouver

A few days on Vancouver was a great way to start our visit to Canada’s beautiful west coast. Family and friends always make a visit enjoyable. We chose the bus/ferry/bus route across the Juan de Fuca straight to Vancouver on the mainland and paid a little extra so that the bus would take us straight to the hotel after the end destination of the main bus terminal. Worth every penny and cheaper than a taxi, especially trying to navigate and haul luggage around in the dark.

Our hotel is the Rosedale on Robson and is a suite hotel. We found out that they upgraded us to a higher floor and a room with a separate bedroom. The windows in these are floor to ceiling and the decor is light and airy. We had good city views from the18th floor! The staff were excellent and the room had everything we needed though there was one thing missing that seemed odd for a hotel like that. No in-room safe! Seemed odd.

North Vancouver from Stanley Park

We unpacked because we’ll be here for a few days. Our friend Annmarie came over later with wine and we had a great catch-up.

The sun was out on our first full day in the city, one of Canada’s largest. It seems even larger because of all the communities and cities that surround it such as Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam etc. I’ve been to Vancouver before but my husband hasn’t so we thought an orientation would be a good idea. The hotel is close to the circular central library where the hop on hop off trolleys stop so we jumped on one there and took the day to do the route.

We wound our way through the historic centre and decided to get off at the gorgeous Stanley Park, a 1000 square acre park on the tip of the peninsula of downtown Vancouver. The area has been settled with indigineous peoples and others for centuries and was turned into a park when the city was incorporated in the late 1880s. It’s a naturaly park, no landscaping or manipulating. The forests have evolved naturally. There is now a seawall built around the perimeter which is  a great place to walk and run and there are other very interesting things to explore as well such as the Vancouver Aquarium.

Totem poles in Stanley Park

We stopped at a spot where there are about 8 totem poles some dating as far back as the end of the 19th century. Each totem tells a story, a family, an event, a heritage. The style of art of the First Nations people  on this coast is really distinct and I really like it. We had a good look at the poles and did some shopping at the gift store there which had quite a lot of locally made gifts. I started my Christmas shopping!

We walked all around a point at the end of the area, saw a little lighthouse with great views over to North Vancouver, and back around where the trolley stops. We got on the next one which found it’s way through the rest of the park and around English Bay. We got off again at Granville Island which isn’t an Island but a spot of land under the Granville bridge over the False Creek area. There are craft and artist studios here, a huge famer’s market, restaurants and cafes, a theatre. We were quite hungry, though, so we looked for a restaurant first thing.

After a meal in The Keg, we went over to the market and were suitably impressed. More than fruit, veg and seafood, there are local crafts, anything you can think of. Lots of things and even the food was top quality and there were quite a lot of unusual items there. We popped into one ceramics/pottery shop which was also the studio for the studio for the artists. I have to say, even though one of the bus drivers or the prerecorded spiel said that Granville Island is designed to be pedestrian friendly, it isn’t. Cars everywhere and the roads are narrow and not logically laid out. It’s a really good place to visit but be warned, watch your step!

Aquabus across False Creek at Granville Island

Granville Island also has a number of small, brightly painted boats as a ferry service for a small fee to areas across the water on the main area of Vancouver. They almost look like toys!

By this time, we are ready and done for the day so we trudge back up to the trolley stop and get back to the hotel. We had a rest and then headed out to meet up with Annmarie, her partner Brian, her son Tristan and his girlfriend for cocktails and a meal and a very nice meal it was, too!

A good introduction to Vancouver if ever there was one and the best weather we’re going to see. Weather-wise, it will be downhill from here.  Tomorrow will be spent in the Vancouver Convention Centre, the large complex on the waterfront with ‘sails’ as a roof. But more on that another time.

Vancouver Convention Centre from Stanley Park

Cathedral Grove, Vancouver Island

Between the city of Parksville and Port Alberni on Vancouver Island is a little oasis of calm and peace. It’s a stand of trees, very old trees, mostly Douglas Fir with Red Cedar as well. The oldest standing tree is about 800 years old and stands over 250 feet tall, taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa apparently.

Recently we visited Vancouver Island. Most of the few days we were there were spent in the capital city of Victoria with relatives, doing a bit of driving around and hanging out. We rented a car and drove “up island” to see some friends in Parksville and before returning the next day, I really wanted to see Cathedral Grove. It was a long-standing destination on my list and it’s only about a half hour drive from Parksville on an inland road from the coast.

The weather is overcast with rain threatening but we only got a little heavy mist. There had been a tiny dusting of snow and in the forest there was still a little on the ground, enough to make the path slippery so we trod carefully. The light was low due to the cloud cover. No sunlight streaming through the branches picturesquely. The air was damp and cold. The breeze rustled the leaves. It was completely quiet aside from an occasional car that drove by. The grove is part of the MacMillan Provincial Park and its near the road. In November, there were few tourists besides us three. I hate to use a cliche word but it did feel a bit magical. Just when you think Nature can’t throw one more jaw dropping sight at you, in comes a curve ball. Here is a bit of video I took and a few photos.

The drive to Parksville is only about 2 hours from Victoria. You could easily visit Cathedral Grove in a day. You also drive past Goldstream where, in early November or very late October, the salmon return to spawn and you can watch them flipping through the water trying to get upstream. We were just a little late and there were only a few fish left alive (yes, that’s Nature again. The fish return to where they were hatched to spawn, and once the eggs are laid, the fish die and are food for eagles, birds and bears)

We stayed overnight since we were visiting friends and booked the Travelodge. Not a bad choice. There are quite a few hotels and motels in Parksville as it’s a resort area with some nice beaches.

Cathedral Grove, Vancouver Island

The Final Countdown

With little over a week to go, we’re on the final countdown of things to do before our trip. Last minute laundry, print off all the tickets, vouchers, etc (I like having a hard copy), decide what to pack (two climate zones!), distribute contact information to the family (note to self!), last minute touch base with friends and family that we plan to see, airport drop off / pick up to be arranged where necessary. I’m sure there’s more on that list.

All hotels are booked, even the single overnighters. Rental car is booked for an overnight visit to see friends on Vancouver Island. Transport from Victoria to Vancouver is booked and we were lucky there, it includes hotel drop off! Bonus! Still don’t know how we’ll get from downtown to the airport hotel but taxis may be involved even if just to get the luggage to the nearest skytrain stop downtown. There’s a skytrain stop near the hotel and the hotel has a shuttle to the airport.

There’s an airport bus from the Honolulu airport into town so we’ll probably get that. Or a taxi. It’ll be fairly late so that might be the more comfortable option. Two activities are booked (Pearl Harbour, and an Atlantis submarine tour!), the rest is open to possibilities because we don’t want to schedule every minute. We will be meeting up with a friend that my husband has known online for many years but there are no set plans as to when or what we’ll be doing yet. We won’t get through the list of all the possible things we might like to do/see but the five days in Oahu will at least be a sampling in the sunshine!

Back to Vancouver for a couple of days with family before heading home again. Two overnight flights back to back is too intimidating so we needed a day or two in between. At least the flight from Vancouver to Toronto overnight is in business class! Thank you, Aeroplan!

Must get the suitcases out of the storage room this weekend and start throwing things in. I can’t do it all last minute like Mr. Mister can. One more recharge session for the laptop to make sure it’s ready to go, all updated etc. Should put my pdf documents on one of the cloud services, too, like Dropbox or Google drive. I do have them on my phone. Overly organized, you say? Me? Perish the thought!

This will be fun. I’ve been to the west coast before, twice and it’s his first time there. Hawaii is new for both of us which is nice. I’m looking forward to seeing various family members again and a few good friends as well. When you live in a country that covers 6 time zones and 5514 km (5780? depends on which source you look at. It’s over 3400 miles, give or take.) from the farthest east to west points, and you have friends and family scattered across the country, you don’t get a lot of real time with them.

DP Challenge – Scale

This week’s challenge from The Daily Post on WordPress is Scale. Scale is interesting. It’s much better to demonstrate the size of one thing by putting it with another for comparison. Or, you can create something in a smaller size or scale than an original, such as a sailing ship that fits in a bottle. Here’s a few photos from my archives showing scale.

Boats don’t seem so large on the vast waters of the sea! Blue Rocks, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia

 

Scale model of WWI trenches in France. Seen in the Halifax Citadel

Peggy’s cove lighthouse with the tourists, to give you an idea of how tall it is and how large the granite rocks on the shore are.

How steep is that hill? Seeing the angle of the vehicle gives you a better idea than just seeing the road. Look closely just behind the car. You can see steps built into the sidewalks, *that’s* how steep it is! St. John’s, Newfoundland

Road Trip to Cape Breton, Part 2

Fortress Louisbourg from across the bay

We’ve decided to base ourselves in Sydney, Cape Breton for two nights. Sydney is only a short drive of about 30 minutes or so to Louisbourg where the restoration of the French fortress is.

Saturday September 23, 2017

The Fortress Louisbourg was established by the French in the name of King Louis in the early 18th century. While it was primarily there to watch over the lucrative cod fishing trade, there were military stationed as well, just in case, since there was always and inevitably another war just over the horizon. This was always a commercial town, with few farmers. It was filled with soldiers, fishermen and merchants and their families. There was a contingent of support with religious, medical and domestic servants, slaves and the like. There were inns, taverns, butchers, bakers, forges, all the services you need to contribute to a living community.

The site that’s there now as a National Historic Site represents the fort as it would have been in 1744, one year before the first time the British invaded. It changed hands between the British and French several times over the next couple of decades until it ended up with the British. They destroyed it in 1760. The current site is only about 20 percent of the original site. I didn’t know that before and it must have been enormous! There were five bastions for the army with barracks etc., 2.5 miles of wall surrounding and protecting the town and many, many merchants and businesses. Parks Canada began restoring the Fortress in the 1960s.

The park today employs seasonal workers who all dress in period costume in various roles and are very interesting to talk to. They all really know the history of the fortress and of the characters they play. They have events all summer, they have walking tours and special tours. There are often demonstrations of various types of things from cooking to crafts to musket fire and military drill. It’s pretty neat to step back 300 years in time.

View from the Bastion battlements over the town of Louisbourg

We arrived mid morning and at this time of year, near the end of the season, we could park right next to the site. Normally, you park by a visitor centre a couple of kilometres away and are bussed in. It was actually fairly busy because I believe there were a lot of tourists from a cruise ship in Sydney. We parked and headed to the visitor centre to get a map and off we went. We decided to investigate the King’s Bastion first, where the soldiers would be quartered as well as the unmarried officers. This one also included the Franciscan chapel, a jail where the prisoners would be shackled to the bunk, the governor’s quarters and a court. Graham and Malc walked around up on the battlements for a while leaving me to look into some of the other nooks and crannies and rest my bones in the sun as well.

In the Officers’ quarters at the King’s Bastion, Louisbourg

We probably spent a good hour in the bastion and were starting to get a bit hungry. We made our way down the main street, looking into various buildings and listening to some of the staff talk. We got to the café but all it offered was tea, coffee and buns so we went to the main restaurant where you sit at communal tables and eat 18th century style with a pewter spoon and dish. That’s it. No fork or knife. The food they offer is all easily eaten with what you have. I had a really tasty piece of fish with vegetables and a vegetable soup to start with. Malc had French toast which he said was really, really good and Graham had chicken in a mushroom cream sauce, and pea soup, also really nice. I also had a small cup of French style drinking chocolate which seemed to be bitter unsweetened chocolate grated and melted in a bit of water or maybe milk. Different, anyway, very chocolatey.

Onward. We wandered around the site looking here and there, taking lots of pictures of course. If you take the time to talk to the various re-enactors, you can really steep yourself in the history of the fortress and the era it depicts.

Our feet finally gave out and we made our way back to the car. We stopped in the town of Louisbourg to have a look at the old train cars at a museum which was closed and we drove out to the old lighthouse as well. The original lighthouse on the site was erected in 1734 and destroyed in 1758 during the second seige of Louisbourg. The current lighthouse dates to the 1920s.

Tonight, we decided on an Indian meal at a fairly new restaurant I found while searching the area on Google, called Mian’s. It seemed to have good reviews but in the end, it was another disappointment, this time it was mine. Graham enjoyed his meal and Malc liked his. The samosas we started with were superb but my beef was dry and too chewy. Apparently the coffee was awful and they didn’t have milk for the tea, only cream. Unimpressed.

It’s back on the road tomorrow for home, stopping at a Highland Village open air museum on the way. A successful road trip indeed, with mostly spectacular weather!

Sunday September 24, 2017

The Black House, Highland Village, Cape Breton

The sun is up and shining and we are hopeful for another nice day. We are going to immerse ourselves in more history today.  This morning’s drive took us along the side of one of the lovely lakes though we mostly only saw it a bit through the trees.

The Highland Village Museum, part of the Nova Scotia Museum network, is high on a hill in Iona overlooking Bras d’or lake and gives you the experience of the Scottish immigrant to Nova Scotia between 1770 and 1830 and then the life of the community and Scottish Gaelic culture over the next 100 years or so as well.  Its staff are all dressed in period costume and talk to you of their lives for the period they represent. There are 11 period buildings on the site.

The first one was in a little “black house”, which is a stone shieling type of dwelling with a thatched roof. The woman there was very much into character and was really good. She told us lots of information about why and how the people in Scotland left home for a new life and what life was like in Scotland for these various clans in the western Hebrides islands. She’d speak partly in Gaelic and then in English which enhanced the experience.

Church and schoolhouse, Highland Village, Cape Breton

We climbed up the gravel paths slowly and talked to a few others in the next couple of homes and then it was all downhill. We were also overtaken by several groups of tourists bussed in from another cruise ship so we felt a bit flustered and rushed at times. Most of the buildings were brought here from other sites around the island to create the village and they often have demonstrations of various crafts and cookery.

I have a friend who told me that her late husband’s father and grandfather were ministers in the church, originally located in Malagawatch, that is now located here. He spent many a Sunday listening to long sermons in it! They have a general store, a school house and a forge as well as residential homes represented. The visitor centre gift shop has a good selection of nice things and there’s a small coffee shop on site. The whole village is very well done and informative and very much worth a stop.

Highland Village, Iona, Cape Breton

We started to lose the sun and from there, pointed the car in the direction of the Canso Causeway. We stopped in a market type place for lunch in Whycogomah and had another leg stretcher near New Glasgow and got home about 7. Brilliant few days on the road!

Louisbourg Harbour lighthouse and the ruins of the original one, which was the oldest in Canada

Road Trip to Cape Breton, Part 1

Whale Cove Cemetery, Cape Breton

We’ve got a houseguest for a couple of weeks and he’s never been to Canada. We live in a really beautiful part of the country here in the east coast and wanted to show off some of the best of it so a road trip to the island of Cape Breton was organized. We headed out on the road and stopped for a pre-trip breakfast at Tim Hortons before getting on the rainy road to Cape Breton Island. Yes. Rain, most of the time just light showers but it made for a somewhat grim drive. Highway all the way to the island and then we were able to take a more scenic road, the 19, through the east side heading north to Cheticamp.

Malcolm had bought a map of Cape Breton at one of our comfort stops earlier and I had a look at it and spotted something called a Celtic Music Interpretation Centre. Does anyone want to go? Hell yes! We drive on to Judique where it’s located and head in. Malcolm was in heaven in the shop. So many of the cds calling his name! They also had live music in the café, a fiddler called Chrissy Crowley who was absolutely top notch. She was superb as was her pianist accompanist and both are fairly well known. We had a bit of lunch while listening to her play all the instrumental traditional ballads, jigs and reels and it was all I could do from stopping myself squealing out a “EEEEYAH!!!” when she was up to step dance speed.

The rain stopped more or less after that and we chugged along happily listening to one of the cds Malc bought. He kept track of where we were heading on his map and suggested a side scenic road. Good choice. It was quite pretty, following the coast closer than the other road. Then we spied a high open hill, with a little cemetery on the side and doubled back to check it out. It was a lookout spot over Whale Bay, according to the map. The cemetery was surrounded on by little brick chimneys. There’s a nearby area called Chimney corner so it’s likely to do with that. It was an absolutely beautiful spot.

On my way back to the car, I thought about the name “Whale Cove”. Why would it be called that? I turned around to have a look out at the bay. You never know. Yes, yes I spotted some dark shapes out in the bay and called back to the guys. Malc came out with his binoculars and said it looked like about 5 or 6 creatures out in the water. They were too far away to take even a full-zoom photo but we’re pretty certain they were whales which were likely pilot whales!

Cheticamp, Cape Breton

Onward to Cheticamp to find the motel which was about 5 minutes the other side of the town, just at the entrance to the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The woman working there, the owner, was really nice, showing us a few scenic routes and ways to get around some of the road construction going on and she also recommended a restaurant for dinner tonight and made a reservation. There’s going to be live music there, too, so it should be nice. What a great start to the holiday!

We drove back into the town and had a look at the harbour with the boats. The sheltered water was like glass, it was that still. It was just at dusk so there was still enough light for a few photos. The restaurant had a French woman singing in the dining room. She was all right, sticking to safe crowd favourites in both languages. Most were just not my taste really. The food was as good as predicted so we all enjoyed our meal. We relaxed over dinner and finally headed back to the motel to relax. Tomorrow is our whale watching tour and we’re really hopeful the weather and the sea cooperate.

Thursday September 21

Sunny, cool and crisp this morning. Unfortunately, it’s also a bit too windy and the whale watching tour was cancelled. The boats can handle the choppy seas but the passengers can’t always and it’s a safety issue. We had got up early, checked out, picked up hot drinks and breakfast at Robins donuts and headed out to Pleasant Bay in plenty of time but to no avail. We did ask what companies did similar tours in the Ingonish area where we’re staying tonight and she gave us the information and even tried to get hold of them to book for us but couldn’t get through. We decided to take in the Whale Interpretive Centre they had there which was very interesting. It showed the evolution of the animal, it’s current environment and habits. They had a model of a full size pilot whale which is very common in the Cape Breton area. It’s a good little museum and well worth a stop if you’re in the area.

We went on a few drives along the lesser beaten paths and drove to the northernmost community in Nova Scotia, called Meat Cove, accessed by a gravel road. The name apparently came from early settlers driving the deer and moose over the mountain to this location to be butchered and salted and shipped to other locations. We found a good place for lunch in Cape North called Angie’s and filled up the gas tank as well. There aren’t a lot of stations around the long stretch of the Cabot Trail from Cheticamp to Cape North so you should take advantage of it when you find one. The road around the Cape Breton Highlands National Park is hilly and twisty, sometimes following the coast and sometimes cutting across inland. There are lots of trails to hike with fabulous views and there are a number of roadside lookoff spots, little craft shops and a few cafes along the way.

It’s such a lovely day for a drive, too! We made a few photo stops along the way and got to the motel, the Sea Breeze Chalets and Motel in Ingonish Beach about 4 p.m. I called the whale watching company and booked us three spots for tomorrow. The man I spoke to said they would likely be ok to go. The Ingonish area is a popular stop. There are lots of motels and holiday chalets for rent. Our rooms face the sea from across the road. We’ll sort out somewhere to eat tonight and have a recommendation for breakfast tomorrow. It’s only a 10 minute drive to the harbour where the tour boat is located so we won’t have to get up quite so early!

The lads

We ended up at the Main Street restaurant and I went all out for something different and had swordfish, caught locally in Neil’s Harbour. I thought it was very good. Graham was not overly impressed with his burger, thought it was ok but really didn’t like the fries but Malc enjoyed his vegetarian meal a lot. Back to the motel for the night.

September 22

We checked out and went to the café up the road that was recommended to us, the Bean Barn Café, and they did indeed provide delicious all day breakfasts. We found the Whale Watching company down a small side road very close to where we ate last night and bought our tickets. It’s another beautiful day, perfect weather to be out on the boat. It’s a smaller boat and there were about 12 passengers so it wasn’t crowded at all. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any whales but we did see seals, bald eagles and a sunfish which was a good sized fish and had fins and flippers. There was a demonstration on how the lobster traps work as well.

We drove from there to the pretty town of Baddeck to see the Alexander Graham Bell museum. Because this year celebrates Canada’s 150th birthday, all of the National Historic Sites and parks have free entry. This is one on the list. It’s a very interesting museum. We never realized how many things Bell invented or started that were cutting edge for the time. Not everything worked out but he was fascinated with how things worked and tried to find new ways to do things all the time. He didn’t actually invent the telephone here in Canada but he maintained a summer home here for many years from about the mid 1880s onward.

It’s off to the city of Sydney tonight for two nights. Sydney is an industrial city at it’s core though these days the former regional industries of coal mining and steel are things of the past. We checked into the Comfort Inn on Kings Road. Be warned, there is no elevator, but they only have two floors. Nice large room, good wifi and lots of space. Breakfast is free but leaves a lot to be desired.

We had supper at the Old Triangle, a sister pub to the one in Halifax. Food was good but the first young man playing music was inadequate to the task. Reminded me of a busker who wants to play everything like it’s a party tune, and faster than it’s meant to be. The main act came on at 9:30. They were much better singers and players but their choice of tunes was mediocre middle of the road. We didn’t stay.

I’ll be back with part 2 very soon, where we visit the Fortress Louisbourg and the open air Highland Village museum.

Ingonish Beach area

WPC: Elemental Wind and Water

The WordPress Challenge this week is Elemental, with the four elements featured. Earth, Water, Air and Fire. I’ve found some photos that capture some of these:

The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world, as high as 16 metres at the Minas Basin inner end of the bay. All that water coming and going can play havoc and these two photos from the Fundy National Park in New Brunswick of the “Hopewell Rocks” show you what water can do to stone over centuries. The tide comes a fair way up the cliffs where those stairs are and you can only see the sculpted rock from over the top of the hole upward, at high tide.

This is another part of the Bay of Fundy at Blomidon, near the Minas Basin. Low tide means it’s quite a walk to the water. The red in the earth is caused from a high clay content. You also see the red earth in Prince Edward Island in the Bay of St. Lawrence.

Here are a couple of shots of Niagara Falls. The sound of all that water gushing over into the river can be heard through most of the centre of the city. It’s quite a sight to see, even in the winter when there are boulders of ice choking the sides of the river, caused by the mist freezing over the snow.

Now we see the effects of wind on a tree over time, on the moors in Cornwall.

This is a very old geographical formation of rock. I’ve had this photo published in a textbook that explains what it is but I’d have to dig it out to jog my memory.

Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia