Sixth Day - Bar Harbor, ME to Kejimkujik, Nova Scotia
I woke up early, and got my gear together for the ferry ride to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. While on the ferry, I cat napped, read more of The Fountainhead, and sat painfully through Batman Begins. At one point I wandered back to the rear of the boat and watched the its wake. Something about the water behind us and the lack of a plan rekindled the passion I once had for travel. My last trip (Spain) pretty much beat out of me the last bit of interest I had for anywhere in Europe (other than Scotland of course). Because of the lack of chicken buses on this trip I had limited expectations for this trip of a non-exotic variety. As I rolled into Canada, I realized I needed SOME sort of plan. Where was I going to go? I decided to head out on Route 1, the coastal scenic road to Annapolis Royal. The woman at the tourism board assured me it was ninety minutes away and away I went. An hour later I still hadn't seen any signs saying Annapolis Royal, 40 k or anything like that and I was starting to run low on fuel. Luckiy I ran across a gas station and asked the woman running it how far away I was from my destination. 90 min longer, on the highway!!!! UGH!!!!!!! I unhappily hopped on the highway and hauled ass for another hour plus. This particular road must have been designed by a zen buddhist because the only thing to do is contemplate your navel the whole time. Nothing to look at at all. Finally, I arrived at Annapolis Royal, the "Royal City of Anne". As I sat down to figure out why exactly I was here, an older guy with a dog yells out, "if only I had my camera this would be a great photo!". I guess I was that exciting of a sight. He walks up to me and gives me advice on what I should do in town. Apparently, it would be "shame on me" if I missed the Habitation, which was 15 minutes outside of town. I followed his advice and made my way out of town. Enroute I stopped at the local power generating plant which is unique because it is done using tidal power. It also makes this gross yellowish foam at the outlet of the water, but at least its a clean power source. I then turned onto the country road that lead to my destination, the Habitation. The road itself was worth the trek. Totally beautiful country road with flowers and nice curves. I finally arrive and am greeted by a young man wearing a beaver felt hat, linen shirt, wool pants and socks, and a pair of "sabots" (= wooden clogs). This guy, other from having the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen on anyone in the flesh (think the Afghan girl from the Nat'l Geo cover), also likes to talk. And talk. And talk. He chewed my ear off with more 4th grade Canadian history than I could digest. But it was good. I learned about beaver felt hats (they are so waterproof because of microscopic hooks), the entomology of the word "sabotage" (the french would throw their sabots into machines to wreck the machines), the source of the phrase "dead as a door nail" (rich people would have more nails put int their doors to show how they could afford to have the blacksmith make them), and many other interesting trivia tidbits. After prying myself loose, I rode back through town and literally through the middle of Nova Scotia. It was another two hours along a densely forested road to the Kejimkujik Adjunct area. I stopped once to get gas and I needed to haul it to get there before they closed- at 7pm!!! Party town, if you can call it a town. I did wind up getting gas and making to my final destination for the night, the Thomas Raddall campground, which I had heard rave reviews for. When I asked the girl working there which site she recommended, she put me in the most secluded one and brushed off my question concerning the "Bear Safety" brochure hanging on the wall. While nice, I was by myself and a little freaked out by being SO alone. I might have had alien abduction / ET nightmares in places like this, like at the first campground. Regardless, I took it. I pitched my tent, and got cozy for the night. I fell asleep in seconds.
Posted 2:14 AM, Aug 08, 2008 by maat1976
