07/16 Unplanned Adventures All Day

 07/16 Unplanned Adventures All Day

We did most of our packing up last night. So this morning we were ready to leave fairly quickly and quite early. Of course we did have to make our first stop at Kelly’s bakery in Alma to buy some warm cinnamon buns. They were even better today because they weren’t just warm they were almost hot.

We decided to take a more scenic route to ward Cape Breton. This meant that the first leg of our trip toward Monkton took us almost directly past the Hopewell rocks. We had planned to go to Hopewell provincial Park yesterday but our plans changed and we never made it. When we looked at the tide schedule, we realized that we could be at the park 30 minutes after low tide. It was perfect so we decided to change our route and our plans and head to the Hopewell rocks

Walking on the ocean floor was not on surprisingly very wet and very muddy. We did not venture too far from the higher, drier ground. We took great pleasure in watching far too many people get stuck in the mud and lose their shoes while walking down to the water.

Of course, I had to find a local staff person and ask questions. It’s just what I do. I like to learn things. So when I finally caught back up with Emma and Doug I did ask them if they wanted to know what I had learned. Bless them, they said yes but they also did roll their eyes.

I found out that they only allow a approved drone to fly over the park once a year in May. They do this to review and observe the erosion patterns of the rocks. Before they open for the public in May, they have a team of geologists scale the flowerpots to look for any natural damages or fissures that may result in collapse or falling rocks which could damage the environment for hurt anybody passing by.

Because of our unplanned stop at the Hopewell rocks we were about three hours later than planned when we are passing through Monkton. I then realized that we were only about an hour from the title for travelling down the river. It makes sense to me that we have a picnic lunch and stay to watch the title for.

Turn off my highlights in Brunswick has been pregnant signs. There have been lots of very interesting signs and here were two from today

On the recommendation of a friend, we went to Truman Farms for some blueberry ice cream and petals. We had quite a conversation and chat and everything

Our next unplanned to stop was at the French Fort which was lost to the British. It was originally named Fort Beausejour and later became Fort Cumberland.

Emma has always enjoyed doing programs when we have travelled to Parks Canada. It is probably why she enjoyed being in Girl Guider and doing outdoor programs at University. So of course, Emma tracked down explorer program activity. She completed all of the activities, the scavenger hunt and even the drawing task. By turning it in at the end of our visit she received a set of dog tags that had the name of the park on the back.

Once again, managed to track down a staff member and ask some questions about the park. They have canvas tents that are set up in advance, you can stay overnight on the top of a very dark and very windy hill surrounded by ghosts and the history of the fort. Apparently, today was Park day. So in celebration, the staff had a large cake for visitors.

Our unplanned stops had to come to an end. We still had five hours to drive before we could arrive at our next campsite.  After crossing over to Cape Breton Island we spotted a deer out for dinner , grazing along the highway.

Unplanned does mean unplanned. As we drove through the community of St. Peter’s we stopped at the canal. It has some historic significance as it was built to assist with the transfer of goods from an interior lake to the coast. It was built along traditional indigenous portage route. 

I thought that discovering this settlement had Portuguese origins was going to be the most interesting part of the evening. I was wrong. By the bridge there was a group of people who were fishing. We walked down to see the goings on. It turned out that they were fishing for squid. I started up a conversation with a gentleman who was more than happy to tell me about squid checking. I also met his wife who told me how to cook squid.