I had a decision to make last week. I got to Moncton earlier than expected and had a week to kill before my sister arrived. Do I a) bike around for a week, maybe make it to Bathurst or b) rent a car and go to Cape Breton for the week.
I chose b). So, sorry for those of you who thought I biked to Cape Breton, I did not. I will be back on the road shortly to do PEI and then head down to Halifax though! Fret not!
Cape Breton is one of the prettiest places I have been. It reminded me of Hawaii with its wide open panoramic views of the ocean and hilly countryside. It had bits of the rugged north with its sharp rock faces and forrested appearance. But disctinctly Atlantic with the lighthouses, oceanside homes painted bright colors, and people who look like members of Duck Dynasty who spent a decade or two on a sailboat.
One night in during stealth camping: SUV edition, I found a gem. I saw a side road that looked like it pitched over the side of a cliff and backed up to see if I couldn't take my car that way. The trail would have indeed taken me to my death had what looked like the foundation of an old house not been carved into the mountain. The cement slab offered me a 180 degree panoramic of the Atlantic stretching from Meat Cove to the Bay of St. Lawrence. The sky that night, removed from any semblance of civilization, was the most dramatic display of stars I have seen. There were so many! If I had a long enough straw I could've drank the milky way! It was spectacular. Needless to say, I had a poor sleep. But just as I had fallen asleep to the sunset on one direction of my camping spot, I woke up to the sun rising from the other. Truly a spectacular find.
I was able to visit a friend of mine, Sean Morgan, twice. He is living in Sackville and on the way to Cape Breton we went camping. We found an abandoned... something (shipping building?)... and climbed around, drank some delicious beer and chatted until it grew dark on the Bay of Fundy. We visited Hopewell Rocks the next day which boasts the highest tide in the world, worth a look. Returning to Moncton last night I stopped and Sean, myself, and a friend of his jammed in the chapel with a guitar I rented, his cello, and a piano. The reverb in that chapel was spectacular, definitely a treat after not being able to play music for so long.
I left my rental car today, and let me tell you, it feels great. Driving is a lonely way to travel for someone who is... well... alone. You drive in your solitary vehicle. You go to grocery stores and get food instead of restaurants cuz you have more means to make it. You go to all these beautiful places and experience it by yourself (I kept track during my time in the Cape Breton National Park of people I saw travelling alone amidst the hundreds, total number: 1, besides myself of course). I am an introvert, so most times its enjoyable, but it is a lonely way to travel. But! Hop on a bike loaded with your life and you are now a talking piece. Within an hour of getting on my bike I had been approached and offered a place to stay tonight (french Canadians are winning in the hospitality department!). I pass by the shops more slowly, taking in the atmosphere and the people. I feel my muscles rejoicing with satisfaction of being used. Its a warm fall day and I am happy to be on a bike.
So tonight, I will dine and rest at Fernando's house. Tomorrow night I will welcome my sister at the airport. The day after tomorrow I start the final leg of my trip, around Prince Edward Island and to Halifax. Then I get to be home! To see family! To have a fridge to store beer in! To be able to do laundry at a whim! To make music and jam with friends! To not have to sponge bath in fast food restaurants! To not have to steal toothpaste from the homes of hosts by squeezing it into my little travel size tube (if I have stayed with you, I have likely done it...)!
Hobo 4 lyfe.
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