Canadian Deja Vu

They say history repeats itself and in our case, some of the campgrounds we are visiting in the Maritime region of Canada are repeats - in fact, June 2007 saw our first RV trip in to Canada.  On that trip we went to Kiwanis Oceanfront in St. Andrews By The Sea, NS, Ponderosa Pines in Hopewell Cape, NS and Crystal Beach in Summerside, PEI.

Five years to the month we returned to Canada (we’ve crossed the border with the RV yearly, but  this time it’s special - remember, we’re full-timing now). Our first stop was back the Kiwanis Oceanfront in St. Andrews By The Sea.  They’ve made some changes to their campground in terms of the layout of some spaces - redesigned a few and added some others.  Because our first trip was in a 21’TT (travel trailer), our site back then seemed fairly large.  Now that we’re in a nearly 36’ 5er (fifth wheel) with slide outs, the space is more confining.  We only stayed 1 night there this year as we wanted to get on to new destinations.

Next stop was Ponderosa Pines, closest campground to the famous Hopewell Rocks, geologic formations of stone. The “flowerpot rocks” as they are dubbed,  have been eroded near their bases over the years as the tidal Chocolate River flows past them.  With the tide rising and lowering over 40’ twice a day, these delicate natural wonders should be on bucket lists.  Because of the timing of our travel, we stopped at the Rocks before we arrived at our campground, which allowed us to walk on the ocean floor due to it being low tide.  The next morning, as we departed the area, we stopped back at the attraction to view them with the water covering the bases.  

Ponderosa Pines had not changed any from what we recalled of 5 years prior.   A few sites near the office under tree cover, with the rest out in a large field with views of the water.

From Ponderosa Pines and the Province of New Brunswick, we made our very first RV journey into Nova Scotia.  This Province is extra special to us as it’s where we honeymooned, taking the overnight ferry from Portland Maine to Yarmouth NS and then driving around the region for a week before taking the ferry back.  Our last visit to Nova Scotia was in 2002 as the ferry stopped running the following year.

Our first destination in NS was Five Islands RV Resort on the northern side on the Minas Bay. Because we’ve recently extended our discount RV club membership from yearly to lifetime, we chose Five Islands as they are a member campground.  While the view from the campsite was spectacular, and the park was very quiet, it was not the best of campgrounds for me.  Most of my issue is with their write-ups in various publications. Things they claim are there or have been done, really don’t measure up to what I was agree with. Example, they say they recently renovated the bathrooms.  Maybe there’s new paint on the walls, or lights that sense someone entering and turn on, but old toilets and sinks, as well as stained drop ceiling panels with holes cut in them allowing one to see the cobwebs on the rafters does not match my definition of renovated.

Because we signed up for 4 nights when we first arrived, we tried to make the best of our situation.  Needing groceries we asked the owner where a store was - he said 20 minutes up the road.  More like 45 minutes and it was more a convenience shop then what we wanted.  We drove another 15 minutes and found what we needed.  A suggestion given to us Mrs. owner at Five Islands was to go to some of the waterfalls in the area.  We decided we’d try that one day. As soon as we turned off the highway to the falls, the road was no longer paved, but dirt.  We drove and drove, through forests and blueberry barrens, worried about what we had gotten in to - there was no place for us to turn around.  Finally we saw a sign that indicated the falls were another 2km.  We got to the parking area and started to follow the trail to the falls.  Then we found the stairs, leading down to the base of the path and the falls.  40 or 50 stairs, then packed dirt for a further descent, another steep staircase, more dirt descents. Got the the base and found a so-so waterfall. (A rockslide a few years back has affected this location and it’s no longer as spectacular as it was in the photos we were shown).  Now we have to climb the hill and drive all the way back through the dirt and mud.  Needless to say, we should have realized what we were getting in to when we learned the name the waterfall, “Economy Falls”.  These falls are located in the community of Lower Economy, NS.

Leaving Five Islands, we headed to Cape Breton, an island that makes up the eastern portion of the Province of Nova Scotia.  We chose Adventures East for our campground, again because it was a member of the discount camping club.  We were allowed to pick our site as they were not busy yet.  Once again we decided to stay 4 nights.  While at Adventures East we got to kayak on Baddeck Lake a few times, we also drove the Cabot Trail, a very scenic drive along the coast and through the forests over mountains.  Because we loved the campsite we had, as well as the location of the campground, we extended our visit another 6 nights.  It was hard to leave when we did as the weather had been so nice, we were enjoying our style of camping and our camp hosts was a terrific person - both in terms of information on the region as well as someone I would want to have as a friend. 

Not wanting to overstay our welcome and to get back on the road, we headed over to Prince Edward Island and returned to Crystal Beach Campground.  This campground is at the foot of Malpeque Bay as the sunsets over the water are amazing.   The tides have been a bit tricky in terms of figuring out when high tide is.  Seems they get a high tide and a half tide - as well as 2 lows a day.  (Easy way to know it’s high tide is when the water surrounds the marsh right across from our camper.  Half tide the water starts to close in on the marsh, but doesn’t cover the bar completely.)  We’ve gotten out on the kayaks again, and are staying for 1 week before we pick up and move along. 

There’s still 2 opportunities for us to repeat Canadian campgrounds, but neither one is from our original Canada RV trip of 2007  (Hawkshaw NS and Niagara Falls ON). Will we make it to either one? Are they on the discount priced RV list? Only time will tell.

Cabot Trail, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

One of our destinations while RVing in Canada was the territory of Cape Breton.  It’s a large island and is the north east portion of the Province of Nova Scotia.  Prior to the Confederation (when the territories joined to become the country of Canada) Cape Breton was it’s own distinct territory.  Folks in this area still fly their own territory flag along with the provincial flag of Nova Scotia.

By far the largest tourist draw to Cape Breton is the Cabot Trail, a 300 km (185 mile) loop road that crosses through mountains and valleys and along both coasts of this area.  Portions of the trail are within the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, while the little towns along the way are "outside the park".  There are numerous hiking trails, rustic campgrounds and overlooks throughout the Trail, within the park as well as in the little communities.

We opted to do the trail in a clockwise direction - if we decide to drive it again we’ll go counter clockwise to catch some vistas we missed on the initial trip.

It was a beautiful day, the temperature was 15 c (60 f), the sun was out and just a few clouds dotted the sky.  The fields and hills were various shades of green.  Some trees were still just getting their leaves, showing a soft green against the dark conifers. Multitudes of rivers, ponds and lakes dotted the landscape and added punches of blues to the palette. 

The Trail roadway is well maintained in some areas and needs work in others.  It seemed that the road within the park was in better condition, while the road in the towns and villages were not so - leaving me the impression that the Park maintained it’s portion (thus an entrance fee) and the small communities (and provincial government) were responsible for the rest of the road.

We started our trip just below Baddeck, on the lower right hand point of the Cabot Trail, cutting across through the Margaree Valley.  This was a nice trip, the road had some curves and hills, but all in all a generally easy ride through farm lands and forests.  We did find ourselves driving slower than the posted speed limit, but we never felt like we were holding up traffic.  What little there was would easily pass us and we were alone again on our outing.

 On the west coast, the view of the Gulf of St. Lawrence greeted us at the Village of Belle Cote, one of many fishing villages that dot the coastlines. 

Our travels then turned towards the north and in to the Highlands.  The Cabot Trail follows right along the coast with beautiful vistas toward the water, and equally beautiful views back into the woods. It passes through the community of Cheticamp, known for hooked rugs.  Many shops were not open (pre-summer season) and for the few that were, we did not stop to look. Besides, with less than 400 sq ft of living space in the RV, where would we put all the souvenirs we have bought.

When we reached the Provincial Park, we started to climb in elevation, which increased the intensity of the views; deep valley gorges filled with conifers and other vegetation. The highest point along the Cabot Trail is North Mountain at 457 m (1499 ft). There were a lot of twists and turns on this road and each one brought another grand view.  You leave the park to go through the community of Pleasant Bay and then re-enter the park and drive across the Cape Breton Highlands, heading towards the east coast and the communities of Cape North and then Ingonish.  

This portion of the drive is especially tricky in terms of twists and turns and dips and hills.  We felt there were a lot of blind corners. While this is a National Park, the road is the only way to cross this region of the territory; every now and then a tractor trailer truck would drive by. We were always so glad we didn’t “run into them” on the hairpin turns, nor did we get stuck behind one on any of the hill climbs.  As we rounded one corner, the driver of a pickup truck, coming the other way, had his hand out the window.  I wasn't sure if he was "hand surfing" or giving us a warning ahead wave. His motions weren't so clear.  A moment later we knew exactly what he was doing as a very wide load was following right behind. Chuck quickly maneuvered our truck over to the shoulder to allow the oversize load to pass.  Unlike the U.S. when you need banners and other indicators of large loads driving along, Canadians seem much more relaxed and nonchalant about it.

Waterfall near Ingonish

We stopped at an ocean lookout along a stream in Black Brook Cove.  Here the river and ocean have a rather black color, I think due to the large quantity of seaweed that is churned with the tides. While at this stop, we noticed there was a waterfall on the opposite side of the river. We did a quick backtrack and while Chuck walked the dogs, I clambered over the cobbles to capture the image.  The changes in sounds was very interesting.  While walking the shore, I could hear the deep roar of the ocean tide crashing on the rocks, but as I got to the base of the falls, their sound overshadowed the tide. The falls emptied right in to the ocean in the cove.  While the whole day had been enjoyable, this scenery was the personal highpoint of my day.

When we reached Ingonish, we started south along the East Coast, thru St. Ann’s Bay area and back into Baddeck and to our campground.  By the time we reached St. Ann’s Bay, we were so glad to know our day’s adventure was almost over and we’d be home in a short while.

Wreck's Place

Our day trip took 8 hours - the drive itself can be done in 5 hours, but adding in all the stops at scenic lookouts and one or two shops along the way stretched it in to a lot longer trip.

A few more images of our day on the Cabot Trail - between us we took well over 200 photos - it was hard to pick and choose which few to share.  Enjoy!

Lupine and the Aspy Valley

Chuck photographing scenery at Cap Rouge

Chuck and pups at scenic stop - Cap Rouge