St. John's, Newfoundland.

After a 15 hour ferry ride from Sydney, NS, we arrive in Newfoundland! The ferry wasn't bad at all, really. Most of the ride we were sleeping.

Once on the island, the moose hunt started, 125,000-150,000 moose they say, you're guaranteed to see one, they say. Well, it took till Gros Morne National Park before we finally started spotting moose. 

A mama moose with her two little ones.

St. John's was an adorable little city, of course each day there, it was either raining or in heavy fog, but that only added to the experience. The jelly bean houses on the streets, (Gower street had the best colourful houses ;) ) were my favourite part of the city. I imagine in the winter, they cheer the townspeople up on those cold foggy winter days. Another thing I loved was how friendly everyone was, always willing to help you. The history in the city was very abundant, Signal Hill, St. John's harbour, Cape Spear (the most easterly point of North America), the many lighthouses, Terry Fox's starting point of his run (where he dipped his foot in the Atlantic Ocean). Of course Gower street was very exciting to see as well. 

I would say St. John's has been my favourite city across Canada, and I'd love to come back again to experience some more of it's charm. It was as cute as a jellybean. ;) 

Gower street! 

ETR: For readers information, don't ask yet. ;) 

Gabe. 

Prince Edward Island.

Okay PEI was adorable. So far it's one of my favourite spots across Canada. We spend five days in the tiny province and I now see why they call it the gentle island.

The ocean was much warmer then home. I was rather surprised stepped into the water, (only feet away from our Buggie site) and feeling the refreshing, gentle water splashing across my ankles and onto the red sand behind. 

The island, tiny as it is, was filled with caches. Bob and mum cached every day we were on the island, not even making a dent in them. Most of the caches were in huge trails, as they'd call them (The Confederation Trail had a cache every 180 meters or so...) and although these trails and strings of caches were interesting, the ones I enjoyed most were the single caches put out off the beaten path. We found one in a tiny little cemetery with graves dating back to the early 1800s, another cache was at a lighthouse with views off high cliffs and seabirds nesting on them. We walked on an old road going through acres of potato plants on the way the that one.

Here're the cliffs. 

Mum and I visited the Anne of Green Gables historic site, well Bob went caching. We spent the afternoon exploring the property. We had raspberry cordial, talked with Anne, and of course read some of the novel. Then bus loads of Japanese tourists piled in so we made a break for it.

It's Anne! 

Almost everyday on the island we enjoyed a cone of Cow's ice cream, and if you've never tried it before, I'd highly recommend it. It was amazing (we even toured their ice cream and t-shirt plant).

We spent one afternoon in Charlottetown, where mum and I found an adorable knitting store, and bought thrummed mittens, it took us forever to decide on a colour...

Red mittens!

I really can't think of much else we did on the island... It was just so adorable and scenic, very relaxing and  gentle. It was the perfect break from the cities. 

ETR < 10

Gabe. 

Being a tourist.

Throughout my trip across Canada, the one thing I've noticed most is, I won't accept I'm a tourist.

Every time we've stopped at a tourist attraction alone the way, I catch my self thinking, or saying aloud, 'I wish there wasn't all these tourists' (I guess it's the home soil, telling me I'm a local, no matter where I am in Canada ). I've explored all these interesting places, learned, and refreshed my memory about Canadian history, that I've failed to remember from Mr. Mansfield's Social Studies class in high school. And I still won't accept being a tourist is okay.
I guess what I've discovered is; if I want to see the attractions I've got to join the herd of tourists alike and get that mandatory photograph of Anne of Green Gables, accepting my tourist name tag.

It's Anne! Anne with an 'e'.

But when you need break from the herd, take a step on the beaten path, only the locals will tread...

Quiet road, through a potato patch.

Find those hidden gems every local knows about, the quiet beaches, barn style restaurants, the secret lighthouses, the hidden views, quirky restaurants and cafes... These are the places I love visiting, and experiencing. I always feel a true sense of the community here, and never like a tourist.

Of course this past week was mostly with the herd. We stayed a few nights on the Acadian Peninsula in New Brunswick, exploring the islands and having our first tastes of lobster (mine was to chewy. :( ).

We spent one night in Kouchibouguac National Park, riding bikes around, relaxing for once. Then later in the evening I convinced the oldies to go out past their bed time and hunt for rainbow coloured plastic chairs at 10pm at night (It was a scavenger hunt!). I do believe they had just as much fun as I did. ;)

Next we drove down to Moncton, NB, I quieter city, we watched the Tidal Bore. Soon we discovering that was the only thing to do in Moncton, we had an earlier then usual dinner of pizza, from a wood-fired, stone oven and went to the Magnetic Hill for an optical illusion! Who knew it would be so fun, we tried it three times. ;)
Finally we the next morning we joined the herd again and explored Hopewell Rocks and the Bay of Fundy National Park.

Time to visit PEI!

Time to go over the Confederation Bridge!

And there's the island! 

Sorry all, you'll have to wait for my next post to hear my stories of this little island. Hint: we visited Anne of Green Gables! (I know big shock, not like it was my first picture or anything...)

ETR: < :20

Gabe.