Into the Great Wide Open

Saturday September 1st

The day finally arrived, after weeks/months of planning and packing we were off to Heathrow. A few tearful farewells and the delights of security control later we were off, or not. The plane sat on the runway for an hour before finally we really were off.

We landed in Halifax to sun and blue skies and the knowledge that we would be flying Air Canada all the way to Oz, which may be fairly traumatic. They certainly don't have the strict selection criteria for their cabin staff as some other airlines. Still the wine saw us through!
Our B&B for the first couple of nights looked very comfortable and the fact it had a couple of dogs there meant Rach was more than happy. A quick trip into town for some food and a drink or two and that was it for day one.

24/7: At last, time to relax and enjoy

Sunday September 2nd

Again another bright and sunny day dawned, could get used to this. We decided to take in the streets of Halifax and I think we must have walked pretty much all of them by the end of the day, anything to justify a good curry and some beers! During our walk we came across the Firefit Championships of Canada. This appeared to be some kind of serious It's a Knockout affair with firefighters from all over Canada competing against each other and the clock. It all looked very serious and in the heat pretty shattering, so shattering in fact that we had to sit down and have a beer to watch!

24/7: 10+ miles in flip-flops? Tender feet!

Monday September 3rd

Well, today was my birthday but at least I'm still in my early 30s! Quick thank you for the birthday texts that we received as well. Today we picked up a set of wheels and the irony was not lost on us as we were handed the keys to...a gleaming silver Ford Focus. The differences between this one and the one that was gleefully handed back a couple of weeks ago are pertty large and it isn't too bad, i.e. it goes!

The plan was to head north to the Cape Breton region of Nova Scotia and get settled into the way of camping and being relatively self-sufficient. For that we would need some food and some gas for our little stove. The first was easy as there are stores in abundance but the second was a little trickier. We decided that maybe trying to buy something as specialised as camping gas on Labor Day weekend in Halifax wasn't the best idea and surely they would have plenty of places to buy it in the National Park. 4 hours later and still light on camping gas we arrived at a place called Antigonish. An investigation of the Wal-Mart there brought home the reality that we had a fantastically light stove but that the propane in North America is not compatible for it. Hey-ho then, we now have a twin burner gas stove that does the job nicely and will be with us for the next 5 or so weeks.

The scenery in this part of the world is stunning and much like New Zealand if you see more than a couple of cars in your rear view mirror you're unlucky. It's forests as far as the eye can see and great ocean roads to wind along.

24/7: Camping gas you say? Not round here

Tuesday September 4th

We entered Cape Breton National Park today and headed off on our first decent walk of the trip, the Skyline Trail. The promise of seeing whales, bears and moose meant that not only were you going to get great scenery but also a chance of seeing some of the local wildlife up close, hopefully not too close in the case of the bears. We'd seen no sign of moose at all on the first part of the walk but had enjoyed some spectacular views out over the Gulf of St Lawrence as we walked along a ridge line, but as we started the second half of the walk we turned a corner to find a gaggle (well 4) of people pointing at a bush and taking photos. Sat down under the trees was a moose, quite happy to be the centre of attention. We saw another couple on the remainder of the walk too, which was great.

Our campsite for the evening was in a fantastic location with views out to sea and forests all around, exactly what we'd hoped to be doing.

24/7: 6pm? That must make it mosquito time!

Wednesday September 5th

The sound of rain on canvas is never a good one, especially when you're under it, but luckily it wasn't a huge downpour and we'd been lucky with the weather so far anyway. It did make for a great drive along the coast though with grey skies and rainbows. We did another couple of walks in the National Park before we headed off on the road bound for Prince Edward Island. A long distance to cover so we stopped en route at an RV park to camp the night. What a place, trailers galore and country music playing non-stop in the washrooms. A must for any tourist!

24/7: If only cruise control was auto pilot

Thursday September 6th

The local radio had been saying that a fresh night was in store but we didn't expect it to come true so when we woke at around 6 and found ourselves looking at our own breath we knew it was a tad brisk. The fact that I crunched my way to the washroom meant that we'd had the first frost of the trip and had put our sleeping bags properly to the test. Rach had added some extra layers of warmth but it all seemed to pass muster.

An hour down the road and we were crossing onto Prince Edward Island via the very impressive 9-mile long Confederation Bridge. PEI looks like a very nice place and again the sense of open space and quiet is not lost on us. You get used to the crammed nature of the UK and when you hit somewhere like Canada it brings home exactly how crammed it is.

We pitched the tent at a campsite on the north of the island planning to spend a couple of nights here before heading to Fundy National Park at the weekend.

24/7: Frozen toothpaste, not good for sensitive teeth!