Sydney Nova Scotia

Finally I can post a new blog = been having Internet issues.

We arrived safely in Nova Scotia on Tuesday 24th July  following a very comfortable car ferry ride from Woods Island,  Prince Edward Island.. We landed in Picou and commenced to drive to Sydney Nova Scotia - a very scenic  4 hour drive.

Thre are a lot of water views in this part of the world. Very very spectacular - I had to stop myself snapping breathtaking scenes as I would be constantly photographing everything.

Arrived in Sydney - a very nice motel and went exploring after checking in. Sydney Nova Scotia is a harbour city like our Sydney but nowhere  near as big, beautiful or sophisticated.There was a George St and a Pitt St and other names common to both cities. It was difficult to drive around because we were confused and their main street, George St, was completely blocked off with detours everywhere.

People very very friendly and helpful. Their faces light up when they learn we are Australians from Sydney - they all expressed a wish to come to Australia.

We left early the next day for a very scenic drive around the coast to Hallifax - the capital of Nova Scotia. This coastal drive was off the beaten track - some quite poor roads for a tourist drive - we took over 6 hours to complete what should have been a 4 hour drive - including going down the wrong road to a dead end. We had to retrace our steps and catch a very small car ferry - after a talk to some locals - the GPS was of no help at this point. But the scenery was wonderful - lots of water views and small fishing hamlets.

I will include some pictures about SSydney and start a new post for Halifax.

Driving into the car ferry.

Out on the high sea.

A spectacular view taken from a road side look out.

In some ways the views did remind me of Scotland - like this loch. OOf course Nova Scotia stands for New Scotland

Another spectacular view from the road side.

Dinner in an Italian restaurant in downtown Sydney.

Signs of Sydney Town

I 

Prince Edward Island

We arrived in Prince Edward Island on Sunday 23rd July - quite a good drive with no incidents to report - an easy drive with very good roads. A highlight of the drive was crossing the Confederation Bridge, a bridge 14kms long - one of the engineering feats - I have included some photos.

We had a very good time staying with Rotarian Friends in their extremely beautiful B & B.

 Bill &Mary Kendrick really looked after us extremely well. We had a small reunion on Monday night when we were joined by Cora - Lee who came to Oz as part of Bill's Group Study Exchange  team. We had a lovely home cooked sea food feast with lobsters all round - except for June who had a steak. Lobsters are very plentiful and popular in this part of Canada - even McDonalds have a McLobster - which I saw advertised on the road to Sydney Nova Scotia today. More about this with the next post.

We passed along best wishes from all Rotarains from Wetheril Park and Bill and Cora -Lee send their best wishes as well - we had a few laughs remembering their visit a couple of years ago. Bill and Mary are coming to Aust for the 2014 convention and thet are looking forward to catching up.

Prince Edward Island is a very spectacular land - its the land of Anne of Green Gables and we visited the National Park which has re created the House - some photos are included.

They call this part of Canada "The Maritimes" because of their connection to the sea. The Conference leading to the federation of Canada was held on Prince Edward Island.

A few photos follow:

The 14 km Confederation Bridge

Jube at Prince Edward Island National Park

This is the B&B we used in Moncton the day before we moved to PEI.

Mum saw this Adam Bragg lookalike in Tim Horton's restaurant in Summerside, PEI.

Getting into the Lobster Culture - yum!!!

 

Lots of Alfresco din.ing - this time at the Wharf Restaurant in Moncton New Brunswick

June about to enter the Anne of Green Gables farm house in PEI national Park.

One of the bedrooms in the Anne of Green Gables house - can you see the "goesunder"!!

Our Mini Rotary GSE Reunion -Cora - Lee, Bill Kendrick & the Braggs.

June saying good bye to Bill and Mary on the front deck of thier beautiful B&B Briarcliffe Inn.

A day in the old City of Quebec

Today we spent a very enjoyable but very tiring day in the old city of Quebc. Very very picturesq and full of interesting narrow winding streets  with numerous art galleries and shops, cafes and antique type shops. It is like a much larger and more beautiful Rocks area in Sydney. History everywhere.

We started at the Grand central Station, went wandering through the markets area and then along the waterfront. Lots of sightseeing and window shopping and snapping of photos. Signed up for a river cruise which went up to a waterfall - higher than Niagara falls but nowhere near as spectacular.

Had a nice outdoor lunch and continued in the upper part of the city. The city is divided by a very high escarpment - we went up the escarpment by cable car - we wimped out on the stairs or the long and winding walk up through the narrow streets.

We leave for New Brunswick tomorrow where we will be staying at Grand Falls.

Lots of photos following.

The old City is on two levels - this shot is looking down on the bottom from the top.

Travel from the one level to the other by this cable car - $2,00

We had a nice alfresco lunch on the waterfront after our cruise.

June looking down on a cruise ship which just docked.

Grand Central Station - an historic site

Stained glass skylight of Northern America in the Station

Grand Central Station

June at the waterfront 

The cruise boat we went on,

The very good tour guide in period costume

Montmorency waterfalls higher than Niagara but nowhere near as spectacular.

Interesting buildings everywhere

Notre Dame de Victories - Same name as Our Lady of Victories at Horsley Park.  

The Road to Quebec

We arrived safely in Quebec City although our  hotel while very modern and comfortable it is about 20 minutes out fom the city centre.

Unlike Ontario where everybody speaks English and most people also speak French and the signs are bi lingual - in Quebec everybody speaks French and some people speak English as well - but the young persons serving in Tim Hortons or Hungry Jacks don't have any English and all the signs are in French only - including the menus in the fast food places and the road signs including instructions on the petrol pumps.

The countryside is quite scenic but the cities' traffic is horrendous - multiple lanes merging causing trouble.

We are catching the hotel shuttle into the city tomorrow for a day of sightseeing.

Have a look at some shots below.

The car is a Chevrolet Malibu and it goes very well.

June doing a professional job driving on the left.

 Gammin, our GPS doing a professional job not getting us lost.

Finally out of traffic after leaving Ottawa.

Quite a scenic route - an avenue of trees.

June doing a good job overtaking heavy vehicles on the inside with very little room.

Taking a well deserved break - picnic lunch of baguette and cheese.

Sharing a cuddle- having fun on the road trip.

 Stuck in slow moving / stopped traffic trying to bypass Montreal. Check out the size of the truck.

Faster moving traffic with other holiday people - another avenue of trees.

Making better time with an open road. The black car is going in the same direction.

One Day in Ottawa

We went exploring in Ottawa city today - lots to see but we were restricted for time. It is a very nice city - very clean and tidy and with some very historical buildings. Ottawa is the capital of Canada.

Here are some pics.

The changing of the Guard at parliament House and The Governor General's Residence.

These are the buildings of the Parliament. The first one contains the House of Commons and the Upper House on each side of the Peace Tower which was built in honour of the fallen in WW1 and later WW2 and the Korean War.We went to the top of the Peace Tower and saw the 53 bells of the Carillion which is played at 11.00 AM every day. See pictures below from the top of the Tower.

We went on an amphibious bus tour of city surrounds and the Ottawa River. See some shots below.

This last picture is a sculpture of a very big spider in the surrounds of the Mint and Art gallery and opposite the Catholic Notre Dame Cathedral.

We also went touring in a double decker "Get - Get off Bus which gave a much more comprehensive tour of the city and surrounds. We only got off once and that was to go to the Canadian Museum of Civilisations. We didn't really have the time to explore in detail. it is possible to buy a three day ticket to enable a visitor to do justice to the points of interest. To be truthful we were happy to sit on the bus and listen to the commentary.

Tomorrow we are off to Old Quebec City - hope the Internet works there.

Here are some shots.



 

Here comes the Bus!!

The main hall of the Museum

We passed our amphibian bus from earlier in the day.

One of many memorials.

Our fellow travellers up on the top deck.

The horses of the Royal canadian Mounted Police - at rest.

Byward Markets

Elgin St near our hotel.

More of the Byward Markets

Looking out over the Ottawa River

Notre Dame Cathedral

There is that Spider again.

Totem Pole outside the Ottawa School of Arts.