Hurricane Dorian was intense there were 400,000+ people without power, lots of trees down, sides of roads were washed away. It was a long night for us but we made out with no damage thanks to Justin and moving the van around throughout the night when the wind changed directions. It was a nerve-wracking experience for us. We’ve never been in a hurricane before, were in a different country and only sheltered by the van.
We slowly made our way to Cape Split from Truro. It was a gray and windy day. When we got to the trail it was closed. Some other people came in after us and they went for it. We decided to go to another park and cook some brunch. Eggs, onion, pepper, and cheese on a wrap. The sun started to shine but it was still super windy and we were tired from the previous night's events so we ended up taking a much needed nap.
We headed to Cape Split again when the sun was shining and there was less wind. The hike was 8 miles round trip with a steady elevation gain. There were remnants of the hurricane, trees downed across the path and foliage strewn about. The view at the end was beautiful, yet extremely windy. We are really glad we waited to do it on a sunnier day.
We got to our next campsite early enough to walk along the rocky beach and look at rocks. We like finding different rocks; ones that are super smooth, different colors, lines in them or fun shaped. It is very relaxing for us just focusing on the present and where we are. After our little walk we made our signature cheesy potato dinner and watched the sunset. Justin gathered driftwood and made a fire but it was really chilly still so we didn't stay out long.
Continuing our counter-clockwise journey around Nova Scotia we headed to Digby which is famous for their scallops. When we got there we saw that it was a cute little tourist town with small shops and restaurants throughout the streets with a great view of the Bay of Fundy. We don't eat out much because it is pricey and generally Justin can make it better, but also in Canada there is a 15% tax on prepared food. Since Digby is known for the scallops and Justin loves his seafood we gave it try. Unfortunately it wasn't the best experience, we were kind of forgotten on the deck and people that were seated after us where already getting food before we even ordered. We were about to just leave when we got drinks and placed our order. When we got our food Justin went to use the ketchup and it exploded all over his shorts... Luckily he was wearing his stain resistant shorts and it came out. After all that the food was only okay. But at least we tried it so we didn't feel like we missed anything.
That night we found another campsite on another rocky beach. Justin made some homemade deodorant that works like a charm (thank goodness 🦨). After that we made dinner and the mosquitoes were in clusters. We left all our cooking stuff outside and ran to the van to eat our dinner inside it was so unbearable. When we had to clean and pack up the cooking equipment we tried to keep track of how many mosquitoes we each eliminated, you know, to add some fun to the misery...
Since the hurricane put us a little behind we decided to cut through Halifax (Nova Scotia's provincial capital) and get to Cape Breton. There was a lot of driving and finding places to stay for a few days in order to get there in the shortest amount of time. At one of the camp spots there was an outdoor cold shower. It was already frigid and misty outside but I really needed my hair washed. That is the worst thing for me about not showering as often as normal society, my hair gets super greasy. With help from Justin we tried washing my hair but it didn't work that well although, it was better than nothing. Eventually we made it to a larger town and we stopped to do a small load of laundry before Cape Breton and Newfoundland.
CAPE BRETON
As soon as we made it to Cape Breton Island we stopped at a grocery store and got gas. At the gas pump a gentleman came up to the van and just started talking to Justin and told us to do the Cabot Trail. He mentioned that he saw our license plates so he just wanted to stop and say “hi”. We thought that was so nice. Then, when Justin went in to pay, someone held the door open for him and they both ended up getting in line. Justin offered to let the guy get ahead in line and he said, “That’s alright, there’s no rush. You’re in Cape Breton.”
We planned on doing the Cabot Trail but it was later in the day so we drove to a camping spot near the start of the trail. The site was surrounded by bushes with red golf ball sized buds, which we’ve been seeing all over Nova Scotia, they looked like tomatoes. When we got to the campsite there was already a Westfalia parked at the beach, owned by a lovely couple from British Columbia. They came out and introduced themselves as Jim and Nat, and their cat Jesse. We chatted until we were too cold from the wind, then went in to the van to make a quick dinner. Even though it was cold we trucked our way over a nearby sand dune to see the beautiful sunset over the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We met Nat and Jim outside again and they invited us over for wine, tea and conversation. We talked well into the night about life in Canada, politics, and all of our journeys that brought us here.
The next day we said good morning to Jim and Nat and met Sarah who told us that the red buds all over the place are rose hips! And that you can eat them! Being a big fan of plants, flowers and rose hip oil (for skin care) it was such a neat thing to learn and see. Sarah shared that she and her mother collected a bunch of the rose hips to make ketchup for her sister’s wedding, which she was in town for. They taste a bit like an apple mixed with a tomato... mildly sweet with a very unique flavor. As we parted ways our first stop on the Cabot Trail was a bakery to get some sweets for Justin's Birthday!
Our first hike on the Trail was the Skyline Trail, a more popular yet easy option. We went through a moose disclosure (yes, disclosure, designed to keep moose out of certain areas) and pretended like we were in Jurassic Park (queue the theme music). It was a beautiful sunny day for a nice simple hike without being mauled by raptors.
We found a spot to make some dinner and eat some cupcakes to celebrate Justin. Then we headed to the notorious* Meat Cove. It is a ways off the Cabot Trail but there was supposed to be at least three possible campsites to choose from along the road up to Meat Cove. The first one we rolled up to, there was a burnt car… mmkay. The second one was occupied by a couple we ran into a few times before… pass. Then the 3rd one was down a steep, narrow, washed-away, muddy road that we didn’t feel comfortable going down… no thank you. It looked like a super cool spot but just had bad vibes from seeing the burnt car, and another abandoned car with flat tires. So we turned around and drove the hour back. The road was only one lane and it was a pitted, rocky, jagged, 10 mph drive for 13 km (about 8 miles). We found another site that was really cool but we were a little weirded out not knowing whose land we were staying on. We started to sleep and then were woken by what sounded like an ATV at 11pm. Better safe than sorry, we booked it out of there in case any more came back. We got to another site that looked decent. It wasn’t the best because it was near houses. It would do, so we finally slept.
*We say "notorious" because of our experience. It was a beautiful land/seascape and the private campground looked lovely as well, for anyone considering lodgings in that area. Please don't let us dissuade! Go with your gut.
The next day we had to be in Sydney for the ferry ride to Newfoundland before 11:45pm. We got up and took a shower at a comfort station then continued on the Cabot Trail and made our way towards Sydney. Before we knew it we were in need of gas. I plugged the nearest station into the GPS but it was 40 miles away! So we are making our way, following the GPS, ‘low fuel’ light shining bright, when we get to a fricken ferry crossing! I’m freaking out because we are so low on gas, still have 30+ miles to go and now we have to take a ferry ride for what looked like the stretch of a 6 lane highway. After the shortest ferry crossing ever, we had to chug up and over a 300m high mountain, which, isn’t very high, but it was steep. When the gas station was in sight we were relieved. Without realizing we pulled into a full service pump and then had to move over to self serve. That was a stressful 40 miles!
We arrived in Sydney and drove around for a little bit to see the city. The city was quaint and quiet. There are so many fewer people in Canada that even rush hour isn't bad. There are more people in the state of California than there are in the country of Canada. One of the many reasons we like Canada so much. After driving around a bit we needed to figure out where we needed to go for the ferry ride. Once we did that we got there a few hours early and just hung out. There were a lot of people from the states, at the ferry loading zone, heading to Newfoundland for moose hunting. We even met someone from Oswego, NY.
Having never been on a cruise ship before, this ferry was huge to me. There was a restaurant, different lounges and even cabins for sleeping. We paid an extra $20 each to have recliners so we could sleep on the 7-hour ride. Since the recliners were in a shared space, and there were so many hunters, mostly male, there was quite a bit of snoring. We still managed to get some sleep (thank you melatonin!). It was so funny to me to have that many people in a shared space collectively trying to sleep. How often does that happen?!
NEWFOUNDLAND
We made it to Newfoundland! We stopped at a Tim Hortons for some WiFi and noticed our van clock was off. In Nova Scotia we were an hour ahead of NY time but now it was 1.5 hours off. After some googling, it turns out Newfoundland has it's own time zone in parts. Who knew?! We got a couple of candy bars and chips at a gas station which ended up being brunch. Driving along the western coastal highway, we saw a waterfall on a cliff from the road. When we saw a trailhead near it, we stopped hoping to get a closer look. We were chasing waterfalls... We weren’t planning on hiking since we didn’t really eat anything but figured we could walk a little bit to see if we could get a closer look. We ended up doing the whole hike. It was only 1.3 miles. It lead to a beautiful (different) waterfall with such clear water I just wanted to jump in. Alas, I was a little worried we didn’t properly “close down the van” and it was pretty chilly, so we headed back.
We got to our camping site which was a different trailhead right on the coast. It was windy, foggy and rainy. We made dinner and met an older couple who have been to the island before and gave us a few tips of places to go and things to see. After dinner we headed for the trails. This was one of my favorite spots, the trails were short but we had so much fun running around in the wind and rain and the views were beautiful. The water was a bitter turquoise that was mesmerizing. We almost did another longer hike but we didn’t have any water with us so decided to head back to the van.
The next day we made it to Gros Morne National Park and decided to do the Tablelands hike. One of the only places in the world you can walk on the Earth’s mantle. It was an easy, level hike so we decided to continue a little farther where there was more scrambling, rocky terrain. We ended up chasing another waterfall. We didn’t make it all the way to the waterfall because it looked like the weather was turning and was about to storm. We found lots of unique rocks and some resilient plants that could live in the acidic terrain.
It was another dreary day in Newfoundland. We wanted to do the boat tour to the Western Brook Pond because we were in the area however, we planned it out to head north instead towards L'Anse aux Meadows, National Historic Site and see the Viking Village. Besides, we had some hope for better, not-so-cloudy weather in a couple of days when we could try the tour again. The first stop headed North was Arches Provincial Park. It was frigid and windy but a great little park and the sound of the rocks moving as the water was going out was super cool and unforgettable.
One of the local guides at the GM visitor center suggested an eatery that has amazing fresh bread and pastries. We stopped for lunch and got poutine, grilled cheese and Nanaimo bars, a Canadian staple. We continued to head north and made it to L'Anse aux Meadows shortly before it closed to get some quick information to prepare for our visit in the morning, then found camp. The winds were very strong that night and it was very cold. I wish we had brought a heater like Justin had suggested... (Let it be known Savaria stated this on her own free will -Justin)
The next morning was still very cold as we enjoyed a group tour of the Viking village which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the only authenticated Norse site in North America. The tour guide is from the area and when he was a kid he actually played on the mounds that are now preserved. He thought Justin and I were Scandanavian and would make good vikings. The blacksmith in the village said I could sell Justin for labor. The village had some great re-creations of the houses/huts that the vikings used. We met Michael, a math professor from Manitoba, and his wife who asked us about our journey and gave us his email so we can contact them to stay in their driveway if we are out that way. This was one of Justin’s favorite sites.
After L'Anse aux Meadows we headed back to Arches Provincial park for an overnight, this time. On the way, ran into Jim and Nat again! They gave us the scoop on a free shower nearby and we parted ways. After the shower we saw the first bit of sun since we landed in Newfoundland. We started heading south and passed J&N, again. Stopped in a little town to see if we could get a currency exchange and ran into them again! We ended up chatting with them for probably an hour and then both kept heading south. We made it back to Arches Provincial Park and saw a beautiful sunset.
The next morning we headed back into Gros Morne National Park to do the boat tour I have been wanting to do. The options were 10a or 12p. We were waiting to see how the weather was going to act before choosing. One person said we didn’t need to register, another said we did. So we tried making a reservation that morning for both and it wouldn’t allow us. Which makes sense. So we were worried we were going to get there and not be able to get in. A few minutes after we parked a woman who worked for the tour group pulled in so we went over to ask her what we needed to do. She said we were fine for this time of year. During the summer months though definitely need to register. It is a little hike to get to the dock. Someone said the tour group meets at the entrance then walks up together but when we spoke to her she said we meet at the dock. The whole process (and bits of misinformation) was a little confusing but it was a beautiful calm sunny morning, the first one for us in Newfoundland, and a nice test of patience. We got to the dock and saw Michael and his Wife! We picked our seats on the boat and headed out.
It was interesting learning about this once fjord that was closed off from the ocean after the glaciers receded. It was possible for the boat to get so close to the edge because it’s straight down another hundred feet, from the water line. The water is so pure and it contains such little life, because there are so few nutrients. This is called ultra-oligotrophic. Mid-way into the tour, the guide started spouting out facts about a valley along the fjord walls where caribou herds would cross from one side of the pond to the other, and that there are something like three moose to every square kilometer in Newfoundland. He was about to make a joke and ask how many people have actually seen a moose while in NF, when the captain comes up and says there are three moose crossing the pond in front of the boat. It was such a beautiful moment! One of our favorites. The iconic view at the end of the pond was also epic and picture-perfect. On the way back to the dock the MC tour guide played his band’s Newfoundland music blasting over the loudspeaker. It was just a warm feeling hearing the local music and feeling the sun. He went around and handed out spoons (the musical ones) and everyone got to play the spoons! It was super fun! Even though we started the morning off a little worried about missing out on the tour, everything worked out with the beautiful weather and seeing the moose.
That night we stayed on a beautiful clear lake. The water was freezing but I had to put my feet in anyways. We found freshwater mussels. We decided to do one more hike in Gros Morne before we left, where a guide told us that we could see wild sheep along the coast. The hike in to this place had us walk through some of the Earth’s mantle, to the forest, over two mountain sides, to a field on a cliff overlooking the ocean. We didn’t see sheep but the views were outstanding. We walked down and explored the beach looking at all the pretty rocks.
The next evening was the ferry back to NS so, we decided to stay at a campground for the luxury of the showers (sleeping in a recliner, in a room full of snoring strangers after no shower for a ‘few days’ wasn’t an option). Looking forward to a nice, hot relaxing shower, I was sorely surprised with my experience. For me the water never got warm, I thought I would get used to it, but I didn’t. So there was a little bit of swearing. I went back to the van grumpy, cold and not clean. Justin said his was fine. The next morning I tried the other stall. It was warm but in a 1’x1’ tiny area, the pressure was pounding and, being 5’10”, not a lot of room to escape it. But at least it was warm. They also didn’t have a drain in the floor so the water just puddled around the shower. At least it was a shower.
The ferry ride went smoothly with lots of snoring (lots of hunters were heading home). They didn’t shut the lounge lights of this time though, so sleep was a bit more difficult. We got back to Sydney and started to head home. At a gas station, Justin decided to try and tighten the steering gearbox. The steering was just so incredibly loose and, frankly, frightening to drive. With this adjustment though Justin noticed an improvement. As we ventured home he continued to tighten it more at occasional stops along the way.
We stopped in Fundy National Park to shower. It was the BEST shower of the whole trip! Clean, plenty of room, hot, private, safe and free. It was perfect and we loved every minute of it. As we were getting to our camp spot Justin saw what he thought was a man in dark coveralls on the side of the road and thought that was weird. As we got closer the figure moved and it was a fricken MOOSE! We were 20 feet away from it as it slowly and majestically headed to the forest for cover. No pictures of it, just what is in our brain. But believe me, it was amazing. That was the 5th moose we saw on this trip.
We tend to stay away from big cities. I want to like them but then when we are there it’s overwhelming with all the people and traffic, and everything costs money. With that said, we decided to have dinner in Moncton. We found Indian cuisine and it was amazing. Since there are so many fewer people in Canada it was easy to navigate around the city and explore. We also heard about a place with great pastries and got some baked goods after dinner.
We had one place left we wanted to visit, Hopewell Rocks. It is a popular tourist spot but we got up early in order to beat the tides of people/buses. This place is known for its high and low tides. At high tide you can kayak, at low tide you can walk on the ocean floor, below where you just kayaked! The tide can rise 13 vertical feet an hour reaching 46 feet. Since the park wasn’t open for high tide we saw it as it was going out. At first we were landlocked into one cove of the beach but as the tide got lower, we wandered further along to the next cove. We were the first people, that morning, to notice that we could walk further along the shore. It was great! We took a bunch of pictures and were running around like children, just the two of us. We stayed ahead of the crowds until we were landlocked again and waited for the tide to go out more. As we were waiting at one spot we met John and Debbie, a couple from Ohio with their pup who caught up to us. We talked to them for quite a bit and they are looking forward to traveling in their RV more often when they retire.
The next few days were a lot of driving and attempting to take a more scenic route to marvel at the fall colors. The last campsite for the trip was in Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont. It was a great free campsite with a fire pit. We saw one site that looked like someone was living in it but had abandoned their supplies. We spent half an hour and cleaned it up. Then went to our site, made a fire and had a little reflection on the past month.
We learned so much this past month about living this life. There were a lot of beautiful moments as well as some rough ones. One big thing we want to work on is actually taking the time to enjoy where we are and stay in one place for more than a night. We where constantly moving and on to the next thing. We never took the time to actually read or relax and just, be. Part of that is because we were on a little bit of a time crunch because we want to spend most of our time out West but, another part is, we don't know how to slow down (yet). We also learned that it takes work to live like this. It is a very intentional way of living you need to plan out all your meals, then where to cook your meals, figure out when you can shower, where to stay that you feel safe and the direction of the next stop so we aren't spending all our budget on gas. By the end of the day we are pooped but filled with joy to be able to have this experience.
Thank you for following along and reading about our adventures!
Sav and Justin
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