The Halifax House, The boats

For 3 summers when I was in my late teens I lived with my Aunt and Uncle in Halifax and helped to build their house which my uncle designed.  It is a very interesting and unique place and visiting brings back lots of good memories of my time with them.

The rooms in the house have six sides.  There is lots of light and inviting spaces and natural materials. Here is a link to a short video tour of the house:

House tour link

My grandfather worked on great lakes freighters all his life.  I was lucky to have the chance to sail with him for a week when I was 9 and he was captain.  My uncle worked on great lakes ships yo put himself through university.  He has built scale models of many great lakes ships.  

Acadia

His replica of the Keewatin, one of the great lakes passenger steamers, is 8 ft long and is on display at the municipal offices in Victoria Harbour. Below are links to a video of his model and of the real Keewatin, which has been out of service since the 60's, being returned to Port McNicoll.

Uncle Jims Model of the Keewatin

The return of the Keewatin video

Some of the ships are remote controlled models.  The Wilfred Sykes, below, is over 11 ft long.

A camera mounted on the ship captured an accidental collision with another model, the Abitibi,  The short video of it has great sound effects.

Wilfred Sykes and Abitibi collision

My uncle is a great story teller.  I had a little fun at his expense with the video below.

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story

Made it! 2301 klm 128 klm per day

I am quite proud of my physical abilities that allowed me to do this ride but I am very appreciative of the many people who kept in touch and commented and gave encouragement along the way.  Very,  very appreciative! The solitary nature of the ride was a greater challenge than the ride itself and that support made a big difference. I enjoyed the ride, the varied towns, cities, shorelines and countrysides. I loved to push myself fairly hard on days when I was feeling energetic or a desirable destination was in reach.  It was particularly rewarding to spend time with my cousin Sharon and her husband John and my Uncle Jim and Aunt Angie. This ride started as a whim but my instincts were good.  As a final surprise a fellow at WestJet check in decided, after we chatted about my acomplisment,  to upgrade me to "plus" class.  (I. E.  The scotch is free)  "cheers!"

Halifax 96 klm

Since rain was forecast for early afternoon I got on the road at 7:30 to try and get to halifax before it began.  In order to avoid some hills in the area I decided to try the rail trail again.  It was pretty good riding for about 15 klm but very suddenly the packed, small gravel trail turned in to loose large gravel and sand. I rode on for a klm or so but had a fall in soft sand. Then another on loose, large gravel. I hit my elbow hard on that one.

My wipe out tracks.  Rather than continue another 8 klm to the next road crossing I backtracked 3 and switched to the old highway, hills and all.

A cool day at the beach. 

This Cape Islander isn't going anywhere again.

At the head of St. Margaret's Bay there is a great cafe doing brisk business this Sunday morning.  Perfect location for me to take a break.

At this point I was 30 klm from Halifax. Since the cafe was an old train station beside both the highway and the rail trail I asked 3 people about the quality of the trail from this point on and all agreed it was good.

So we headed out for the last bit of the ride.

The trail was very good and there were many cyclists out. I stopped at a lovely spot and enjoyed lunch prepared for me by Sharon and John.  

As I entered Halifax the trail was paved.

I arrived at my aunt and uncles about 1, just as the rain started.

I was in Halifax for an hour and we drove back to Chester for father's day scallop dinner. I had been offered the choice of just meeting them there and getting a lift with my bike back to Halifax. It did not seem like a fitting way to complete the trip so I declined.

Relaxing in Chester : Halifax tomorrow

After a leisurely start to a beautiful sunny day we set out and toured the area of Chester Basin, Chester, Lunenburg, Blue Rocks and places whose names I forget.
                               Sharon and Johns place

Lunenburg:  Where both the Bluenose and the Bounty (as in mutiny of)  were built.

 Unfortunately the Bluenose II was out for sea trials.  The one in this pic is a similar vintage but not as impressive as the Bluenose.

Chester 158 klm

Today was cool with rain to come later in the morning. I was on the road at 7:30 with the goal to get at least to Liverpool. The route to Liverpool was not coastal so was mostly forest bush once it was out of town. There was a long section where the old highway 3 and the big highway 103 merge with no other option to go east. It turned out that riding this section was OK.  Some good paved shoulders on some sections and reduced speeds on others parts. So a big relief. 

I've been meaning to take a picture of lupins for a few days. They are not as eye catching as the rodadendrons but they brighten up the roadside almost continuously. 

I was caught in a cold rain for the last 15 minutes in to Liverpool and I stopped at a quirky cafe to have great soup and warm up. I had a nice chat with a group of local women at the adjoining table. Eventually the rain stopped and I changed into dry and warmer clothes. I decided to push on to Bridgewater,  about 45 klm away, and see how I felt at that point.  It was a fast ride and after stopping at a timmys for a snack and to wait for another shower to pass I continued on for the last 41 klm to my cousins.

The ride from Bridgwater to Chester had some very pretty spots. The rain was also clearing.

Mahone Bay

I arrived at my cousins Sharon's (and John's) at 6:35 after 158 klm. Felt great. I've had a hot shower and a great meal at a seafood restaurant right on Chester harbour. I will stay here until Sunday and make the final ride to Halifax.