Sunday, 29 August 2010

Ferry to Nova Scotia

28th August: Woods Island to Lower Barneys River, NS

Odometer: 60 km, Start: 8.45am, Finish: 4.00pm, Avg: 20.0 km/h,
Weather: Sunny, Temp: 17-25°C
Road Conditions: #106 (to New Glasgow), 2m shoulder, good surface, light traffic. #4/#245, no shoulder, average surface, very light traffic. Services: New Glasgow (25km). Gas station / Campground at Lower Barneys River (60km). Ascent: 300m/300m

After riding all the way across PEI in one go, I had a relatively short ride for my first day in Nova Scotia. The ferry crossing took just over an hour. You could see the Nova Scotia shoreline from the harbour at Woods Island. It was only 20km away.

IMG_4667
Out on the water this morning

On the ferry, I spoke to a nice lady at the Tourist Information Desk to get my free province map and to establish the lie of the land on my intended route.

IMG_4673
Lighthouse approaching Caribou, Nova Scotia

I’ve stopped at 60km at a busy and somewhat noisy (it’s Saturday night) Cranberry Campground on the Northumberland Shore. My tent spot overlooks the water, though.

IMG_4677
Northumberland Shore from campsite

Tomorrow I get to ride along what the locals call the “Mini Cabot Trail”. I’m not quite sure what that means. A warm-up for the real thing? Maybe some coastal scenery without the hills? I don’t know.

The weather is excellent again and supposedly set fair for most of the next week. I haven’t got that far to go now and mentally, I’m thinking I’ve nearly finished this road trip. That’s a bit premature, though, as there is still some hard riding to come. Thankfully, my shortened route means I don’t have to ride quite so far anymore. I might be glad of that by next weekend…

No comments: