Newfoundland to New Brunswick

July 26^th 2011: The Trip Home - Newfoundland to Nova Scotia to New Brunswick

Hi,

My name is Hannah and I will write this blog from now on. Please do not expect any detailed blog entries from me as I am on a vacation! This morning, we left from our little house in St. John's to get the car’s oil changed. Dad asked the service man to take the car for a drive and to listen to a noise he had been hearing. It turns out that this noise was caused by a worn out part of the steering linkage, whatever that is. Dad had him repair it, too. We had an hour or two to spare so we checked out the cars that were on display in the parking lot.

After that, we made a beeline for a place called Argentia to catch the fourteen-hour ferry back to Sydney, Nova Scotia. I was sad to leave Newfoundland. It was one of my favourite places on the trip, especially the fried bologna at Graham's parents' place and seeing the dolphins, icebergs and whales.

The ferry itself was wonderful! We spent most of our time in the theater room. For dinner, we went to the buffet and it was top notch. However, sleeping in a chair that reclines only so much is not the comfiest bed. Dad nodded off way sooner than me. I stayed up until 11:30 or so and watched a fairly good movie called 2012. It’s all about when the world comes to an end! Funny enough, the movie ended when the ship the surviving people were on was hit and destroyed by a tidal wave. I thought it was strange to show this movie on a ship. After the movie finished, my ears filled with a new noise, the sound of combined snores from total strangers! We had thought about getting a cabin but when we asked the woman at the ticket booth what the costs were, she told us that the ferry was $350 or so without a cabin and close to $600 with!! Crazy. Eventually, I fell asleep but I woke up a little later. I wandered around the boat with other insomniacs a few times in a vain attempt to tire myself.

July 27^th , 2011: Sydney to Fort Louisbourg to NB

Today it poured. Not just a sprinkle, not a shower, but a downpour! Around 9:30 am we departed the ferry in a torrential rainstorm and headed towards a national park called Louisbourg. The park displays a fort/town that is very old and was built by the French to protect their cod fishing industry.

The British and the French had lots of battles here. We pulled into the parking lot and I pulled out my umbrella and teased my dad about how he was going to get wet and I was going to be dry. We had to take a bus down to the fort and during the entire ride all you could hear was the sound of rain pounding against the windows.

The fort was a very cool place and at first the rain only came straight down. Dad realized he had forgotten the camera so all we had was the camera on the phone. Then, the wind picked up, blowing the rain sideways and causing my umbrella to buckle.

We toured the buildings and listened to the costumed parks people. After taking a few pictures, we began a brisk walk back towards the bus. It started raining harder! The wind carried the rain sideways off the ocean, drenching us even more. We started running. We ran straight towards the next shelter to wait until the worst of the thunderstorm passed. But that’s when it happened. Here I was, sprinting as fast as I could in my water-logged shoes when I tripped and did a beautiful face plant straight into a muddy puddle while a bunch of tourists watched. I was even more wet and now I was covered in mud, too.

After changing in the car, we got back onto the TCH (Trans Canada Highway, that is) and began to head west for the first time on this trip. I was excited to think we were heading home but knew we still had a lot of ground to cover. So I do what I always do when I get bored or need to pass time, read. I read 400 pages of a great 800-page book. Eventually, we arrived in a place called Woodstock, New Brunswick and will be spending the night in a quaint hotel overlooking the town of Woodstock. And yes, we will be doing laundry and catching up on some television. (The photos of Louisbourg are not ours. Dad had to figure out how to get the ones we took off his phone. Plus, as you can tell from what I wrote, it wasn't that nice and sunny!)