Ottawa day 1
2011/09/16
Short drive from Montreal this morning, got a room, then spent the day being a tourist.
First stop: the Canadian War Museum. It was pretty interesting and I could easily have spent a whole afternoon there. They have a good collection of tanks and some rather odd vehicles for various countries. A few pictures:
Next I went to the Currency Museum, which is free. It was pretty fascinating, actually – I took my time in this one. They have a great collection and it renewed my interest in coin and banknote collecting.
Here’s a couple of historic units of trade I had always wondered about, mostly thanks to reading the Asterix books. The first is a Talent, and the round ones are Sestertii.
Early Canada had a lot of competing currency issuers. Many of them had to perpetrate some hacks or do outright illegal things in the interest of practicality or to get around overbearing regulations imposed from overseas. Witness the $4, $6 and $7 bills: (click for full size to read the legend)
And here’s the largest legal banknote ever issued in Canada: $50,000, legal only for exchange between banks (ie not publically available).
I then went and walked around the Parliament buildings a bit:
It’s a very, very nice building. I really like it – fantastic stone work. There are several other very nice, large stone buildings in the area too.
And here’s the Rideau Canal:
By this time all the tourist attractions were closed and I was hungry, so on the recommendation of a co-worker I ate at Chez Lucien, which is just around the corner from where he used to live in Bytown. It’s a small place but popular, and was super crowded. I had the Lucien Burger, which has bacon and cream cheese on it. It was pretty tasty – that’s actually a good combination.
[gmap file=”__UPLOAD__/2011/09/20110916.kml” center=”files” zoom=”auto” type=”satellite” visible=”true”]
En Route to Ottawa
2011/09/15
Another driving day. I’m on my way to spend a couple of days seeing the sights in Ottawa, but getting there from Edmundston was too far to go in one day, so tonight I’m staying in Montreal again – tomorrow will be a short drive and I’ll have time for some sightseeing in the afternoon after I arrive.
Today was the first really rainy day on my trip. There have been some storms on other days, but today it rained almost all day, and when I got near the St. Lawrence river there was thick fog for a while too. I had to slow down because of poor visibility and all the water on the road.
My tires are starting to look a little worn – I think I’ll get a new set when I reach Calgary, at the same place my father bought me these ones. Until then I have to be careful about wet roads.
Quebec lacks scenic viewpoints along the highways, but they do have an ample supply of rest stops with picnic areas, which is nice. About every 50 km on average, along the main highways. I was really groggy this morning so I made use of these convenient stopping points to stretch my legs and get some air.
On the highway, Quebec drivers have an annoying habit of just sitting behind you and doing nothing for long periods. I’ve never encountered this in any other province. Today I had one guy following me for nearly an hour, until I pulled off for a rest – and this was on a divided highway; he had ample opportunity to pass. He even passed other cars when I did, and then pulled in behind me again instead of taking the opportunity to pass me. That really annoys me – I am not your goddamn cruise control!
[gmap type=”satellite” center=”files” zoom=”auto” visible=”true” file=”__UPLOAD__/2011/09/20110915.kml”]
Leaving New Brunswick
2011/09/14
Today was mainly a driving day.
I stopped at the town of Hartland for a break, and saw their claim to having the world’s longest covered bridge:
I also noticed the first sign of fall colors today, which works out elegantly since part of the reason for the timing of my trip was the hope of seeing some reds and yellows on the trees during my return trip.
Not much else to say about today, but I remembered a few other things I wanted to say on other days:
Atlantic provinces, you like traffic circles a little too much. I like the single-lane traffic circles we have in some residential neighborhoods in Vancouver and other cities – they generally work better than having stop signs everywhere. But out here there are two- and three- lane traffic circles and they’re used for important intersections, and I find them confusing and dangerous.
Also, stoplight durations are way longer here than in the western provinces.
Secondly, I really like a lot of the place names in the eastern half of the country. Richibucto. Bouctouche. Manicougan. Chibougamau. Shubenacadie. Rustico. Pictou. Doak. Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! (seriously). Temagami. I think the eastern tribes’ languages tended to induce some pretty nice names.
[gmap file=”__UPLOAD__/2011/09/20110914.kml” visible=”true” zoom=”auto” center=”files” type=”satellite”]
The Right Coast and Homeward Bound
2011/09/13
Today I woke up to find Halifax shrouded in fog:
My plan was to catch the 1pm ferry to Prince Edward Island, so I hit the road as soon as I could. Modulo a delay searching for a gas station, and picking up something to eat later on. I ended up being lucky; I arrived at the ferry terminal just as the boat was docking, but still managed to get aboard.
The ferries here are smaller than the ones in BC, but still have a pretty decent vehicle capacity.
I saw my first wild whale. It was most of a mile away – this is an unscaled crop from a telephoto shot. I leave identifying the species to you.
On arrival on the island, I had my lunch then drove through Charlottetown to Brackley Beach, which serves as the east coast analogue of Long Beach for this journey.
It is a pretty nice beach, with large sand dunes, soft sand and a good breeze. I took my shoes off and walked on the sand, and dipped my toes in the Atlantic.
And with that (cue music) the eastbound leg of my journey comes to an end.
As for my timelapse movie project, so far I’ve recorded 180,000 frames and the camera is still holding out.
Westbound
Time to turn around and head home.
I’m actually excited to be heading back. It’s a very similar feeling to when I started my trip, only instead of the flavor of visiting old haunts with an aftertaste of new discovery, this time it’s the other order with a final sweetness of homecoming. I’ll be going faster on the return trip, but I do have a couple of short layovers planned. Ottawa is the first.
Anyway, after leaving the beach, I took a short detour up the coast to Cavendish, home of Lucy Maud Montgomery of “Anne of Green Gables” fame. I’ve never read the books and I barely remember the TV series, but my mother is a fan so I thought I’d get her a souvenir. I got there just as they were closing, so I got in for free and got a bunch of photos of the place.
I thought this Green Gables house was a recreation of a fictional house from the book series, but talking to the tour guide, this turns out not to be the case. This is the real house that inspired the books; LMM lived a short ways from here but hung out in this house a lot. They’ve redecorated the interior slightly to make it match some details from the books, but otherwise it’s original.
Then drove back to Moncton for the night, passing over the Confederation Bridge on the way. It’s pretty nice. Only two lanes, but it is eight miles long. It’s like driving over the ocean, because that’s what it is.
We really should get one of these for Vancouver Island. Problem with this one is the $45 toll, which is subsidizing the ferry service down the coast – my boat ride was free; they get you on the way back, whichever way you go.
Today was a bit of a long day, but amazingly everything went according to my ridiculously ambitious plan.
[gmap file=”__UPLOAD__/2011/09/20110913.kml” center=”files” zoom=”auto” visible=”true” type=”satellite”]
Halifax
2011/09/12
Short and easy drive to Halifax today. This is where my mother was born, though she didn’t live here for long.
Finding hotel rooms is easier now that kids are back in school; that first order of business was out of the way by 3pm.
Went downtown and had a quick look around. It’s a fairly small city, perhaps twice the size of Brandon, but it has a nicer downtown with some fairly old buildings:
There is, of course, a harbour with cruise ships and two large bridges. It kind of reminds me of a mini-Vancouver actually.
Went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. It’s small but pretty interesting. They had temporary exhibits about the Titanic and about the early gay subculture amongst sailors (lending more depth to Smithers’s comment about women and seamen not mixing). But my favorite parts were the exhibit about the 1917 harbour explosion, and their collection of model ships, which I love. A few photos:
I then went to Peggy’s Cove, which is a small fishing village that contains Canada’s most-photographed lighthouse and is likely one of our most-photographed villages too. It’s every bit as picturesque as you might think, and I would say it’s a must-visit if you’re on the east coast. It’s about a 45-minute drive from Halifax, but I’m sure there are bus tours that go there.
It’s a very stark landscape – the rolling hills are all rock, carved by glaciers, and the land is littered with lichen-crusted boulders dropped by the glaciers. Ground cover is moss and low plants, with the occasional stand of small coniferous trees. It must get pretty bitter here in the winter and during storms.
Assorted Peggy’s Cove pictures:
Near the lighthouse there was a young woman busking with bagpipes to earn college money. I gave her some money because I like bagpipe music.
Self-portrait with landscape:
And today I’m feeling better about yesterday. I’m more confident now that skipping Newfoundland was a good decision, and also I talked to my parents about the location of the house near Harcourt, and we’re pretty sure I should have been able to see it given the distance I walked along the hydro lines; there’s nothing left of it now (it has been 35 years, after all).
[gmap file=”__UPLOAD__/2011/09/20110912.kml” center=”files” zoom=”auto” type=”satellite” visible=”true”]
