Well, our plans had to change because Hurricane Arthur or was it Andrew?? as it decided to pay the East Coast of Canada a visit. Our Folk Festival, "Stanfest at Canso, Nova Scotia" was canceled. We had planned to be there for 4 days and take in some good old Eastern Music. This is the first time in 18 years that this festival has been canceled, and it had to be the year we decided to go. We were camping in New Brunswick at Shediac when the news about the Hurricane came and about the festival. We were heading to Nova Scotia the next day but decided to just hunker in and wait out the storm as we were safe where we were and at a beautiful spot, thanks to Andrew and Sara Mitton and Grant and Mary Mitton.
The storm itself was really nothing where we were. We got maybe 10 cm of rain, but the winds did blow hard and rocked the trailer a few times. All in all it was a restful day, a lot of eating, reading and a few naps were had.
We woke up the next day to a sunny hot day, not a cloud in the sky. so off we went to the Hopewell Rocks, just outside of Moncton.
The hopewell rocks are where the highest tides are in the world. They are located at the end of the Bay of Fundy, and the tide rises 46 feet (14 meters) every 6 hours.
This shows how the brown solid mixes with the ocean and turns it brown for a long ways out
This river is nick named the "Chocolate River"
They were a lot of fun to see, and are just huge. Another strange creation in this world.
Now, I have eaten a lot of Lobster, Shrimp. Crab, Mussels since we have arrived here, so we stopped at this local fish market to get yet another Lobster for supper for myself, and they had a 110 year old Lobster that weighed 22lbs. It was huge, their plans for it, is to kill it and have it stuffed and they are going to mount it on the wall of the store. Poor guy, what a way to end you life, at least he will be admired for the rest of his life, not a bad thing in the long run.
They say that the meat would be tough to eat.
Below is a blue lobster which is rare to see and catch, there are one in every 2 - 3 million.
We had to move on to Prince Edward Island as Lori and Ben were flying into Charlottetown.
We decided to go across on the Confederation Bridge which connects New Brunswick and PEI
This bridge was opened in 1997 and is 9 miles long/ 14 Km. It is a toll bridge, but they do not charge for you to go to PEI but to get off the island is when you have to pay.
One of the first things you notice when you get on this island is the colour of the soil. It is a rust colour, which turns all the ponds, rivers, lakes etc brown. We drove by fields and fields of potatoes growing, also some corn and strawberries and a couple of wineries.
Having lunch at a Marina before we pick up Ben and Lori.
We could sit and look at this all day long - beautiful!
Lori and Ben arrived safely, so the next day Shauna and I wanted to go see Anne of Green Gables.
As I am sure it is against the law to come all of the way to PEI and not see Anne of Green Gables.
Needless to say, Lori (she has seen it before), Ben and Doug voted to opt out and go go-karting.
So Shauna and I were on our own and we both enjoyed it very much, brings the whole story back, and it is a bit of a magical place.
Shauna was very lucky to meet Anne Shirley!
This is the barn
This is the house
The dining room
Anne Shirley's room, with the dress with the ruffled sleaves
This is the grounds surrounding the house.
Shauna and I went for a walk into the Haunted Woods Trail (which was a little scary)
Time for a Picnic
With a 8 year old boy with us - off we went to Ripleys Believe it or Not!
Ben makes Grandma do silly things!
In January, the middle of winter, I was booking a few things to do in the Maritimes. I saw a web site for Giant Clam Digging. The name is Tranquility Cove Adventures in Georgetown, and is owned by a man named Perry. What fun it sounded, so we booked it. It is a 4 hour tour on a lobster boat, which included digging for giant clams, seeing how lobster traps work, crab traps, and mussels socks.
Perry and his crew made this tour a great memory we will carry for a long time. If you ever get to Georgetown, make sure you book in to this tour as it was very personal and we all learned a lot.
Thanks Perry, Art and Riley!!!
Ready to hit the high seas
The water is very cold +18, so we all put on wet suits.
Just so you know, you can not hide anything in wet suits - shows everything LOL
How you look for giant clams is, you have on a snorkel and mask, and you are in about waist deep water, you put your face in the water and look for a small hole. When you see a hole, you have a rake, which has 3 prongs. You dig in the sand, just above the hole, until you feel something hard and then you get a clam. It has to be 4 inches across to keep, then you put it into the bin to cook later. Shauna and Ben had more fun playing with the crabs that they found, and Ben even found a small lobster to explore. There were large red jelly fish of which you had to be careful around as they would give you a nasty sting.
Lori, Ben and Grandpa with their rakes
Shauna got one!
A few out clam digging
Shauna bringing in her clams
Our captain "Perry" showing our bounty
Lori - "is this the way you eat them?"
Cooking our clams on shore - smells great!
Some small crabs we caught and were very sweet to eat! Art showed us how to get to meat out easy!
Time to taste our bounty.....very good!!
Relaxing on the boat
Ben even took a turn steering the boat. You go Captain Ben!!
A couple of men swapping fish stories ........
Art poured salt on a live clam, and a clam will stick out his tongue to get rid of it, so we all watch a clam sticking out a huge tongue - never saw anything like it before, the tongue was huge!
Doug and I enjoying the day - it was a hot day
Ben up on deck, watching where we were going
Shauna and Perry
Perry teaching us about trapping lobsters and how they ban their pinchers
Lori and Ben with one of the bigger lobsters
Shauna and her lobster (she does not eat them)
A crab pot full of crabs
A mussel sock with small mussel, not ready to eat yet
Lobster season runs from May to the end of June in this part of PEI. Then the lobsters shell get soft and they shed it like a snake sheds it skin. It starts up on another part of the island the middle of Aug to the end of Oct. So a lot of lobster traps are stored on the piers, and some boats are hauled to the other end of the island.
Thanks to Captain Perry, 1st mate Art and 2nd mate Riley for a wonderful day, you truly are in the right business and make guest feel right at home. Thank you from all of us!
This is the oldest wooden working Lighthouse on the Island
Ben and Lori climbed to the top for a peek
We are taking a ferry Nova Scotia tomorrow, as Shauna will be leaving us. So until next time
take care everyone]
Doug, Judy, Shauna, Lori and Ben
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