Day 152 
Fredericton, NB to Halifax, NS (and beyond).
Albums
Bay of Fundy & Tidal Bore
Peggy's Cove & SwissAir Monument
Halifax & Queen Mary II
The Cat & the harbor of Bar Harbor
This segment will also cover my return trip to Bar Harbor, Maine, U.S.A. but not my visit to Bar Harbor itself. That will be covered in (and be the start of) my “East Coast 04” trip.
Road Report: This leg requires that I retrace my path across Hwy 112, at least to Moncton, where I turned off onto hwy 2. This changes to Hwy 104 when you cross the NB – NS border.
I left Hwy 104 and followed Hwy’s 302, 242, & 209, thinking that by doing this I would follow the shoreline of the Bay of Fundy and maybe get some photo opportunities. Unfortunately the heavy foliage precluded any picture taking; all I got was a couple of glimpses of the water through the 8 ft high shrubbery. There were a couple of small fishing villages and ports that were kind of interesting but nothing to brag about.
I also found out that NS has to have the worst marked highways in Canada. When you came to an intersection where two highways met, or where your highway turned, the sign indicating the crossing highway or turn was about 10 meters from the intersection and if you missed it, or were in the wrong lane, forget about it, there weren’t any signs after the intersection for miles. In one case the 2 lane road I was following suddenly turned into a logging trail, with no place to turn around. After about 4 km on this logging road I found a wide spot and, with a little “off roading” I was able to get turned around. I finally found my route about 30 km back, where there was a “Y” in the road and my route was clearly marked on a pole at the intersection. This problem continued throughout my journeys through NS. I must have missed at least 10 turns in the week I was there.
RV Park Report: Halifax West KOA; (also a Good Neighbor Park).
www.koa.com
Recommended: A large park, but because of all the trees, has a small park feeling. It’s on the Sackville River and has canoes and paddle boats for rent, along with all the usual amenities.
Weather Report: Weather was excellent the whole week. Highs in the 20’s with a slight breeze.
I did all the tourist stuff; watching the tidal bore at Truro (about 12-18” at this time of year) and visiting Peggy’s Cove, which even though it’s pure tourist, is something everyone should do. The scenery is great and if you hit it in-between tour busses, isn’t all that crowded. I say it's pure tourist, it is an operating fishing village.
I also had some RV repairs (stripped tow bar bolts) to take care of and tracking down the parts took most of a day.
Other than that I spent the rest of my time exploring Halifax. I wandered the city, toured the waterfront, including Pier 21 & the Maritime Museum, listened to the sidewalk bands, ate on the waterfront (2 lunches and one dinner, all outside), and people watched while sitting at sidewalk café’s.
I tried to get on-line, but failed. The configuration of the WiFI at the internet café was screwed up.
This is my second visit to Halifax and, even after my trip across Canada, Halifax is still my favorite Canadian city, with Victoria and Winnipeg tied for second.
While I was there, the Queen Mary II arrived for a port visit (see photo album). There were two cruise ships already tied up when she came in so the waterfront was packed. You don’t realize how big she is until she got along side of the others. My favorite picture is the Queen Mary II with the tug Theodore Too alongside.
There is so much to do and see in Nova Scotia and the rest of the Maritimes that I’ll have to come back for a 2-3 month visit in the future.
Halifax to Bar Harbor, Maine
I’ll be taking the “CAT” from Yarmouth, NS to Bar Harbor Maine. This will complete my Canada Crossing.
ROAD REPORT: Highway 101, good road except for the bridge transitions and joints. Those will rattle your eye-teeth.
On highway 101, heading for Yarmouth, road sign for Weston (I think) “The town of the Pumpkin People”, sounds like a B horror flick.
THE CAT; www.catferry.com (taken from the cat website)
“Never before has a ferry of this size and speed called the waters of the North Atlantic its home. This is the next generation of The CAT - the fastest car ferry in North America . The only ferry that can fly 900 passengers and 250 cars and 14 tour buses or motorhomes across the ocean at highway speeds. This, along with great comfort and passenger amenities.
Designed for ocean conditions, the 98-metre (320-foot) Cat glides smoothly over the Gulf of Maine , traveling at highway speeds up to 55 mph (90 km/h) and cuts a six-hour journey on a traditional car ferry down to two hours and 45 minutes. The Cat saves its passengers a full day's driving between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and Bar Harbor, Maine or 630 miles (1,015 driving kilometers)
So innovative is this new ship that at every port of call the world over, the Cat has become a major attraction in itself.”
The Cat has four 9,500 HP diesels driving 4 waterjets. It has a sit-down restaurant, a cafeteria style restaurant, 2 snack bars, 2 bars, slot machines, a duty free shop, and shows 2 new release movies in two theatre locations during the crossing. Normally they have one for the kids and one for the adults.
Although it does cut down on travel time it is expensive. The crossing cost me about $450 U.S. Since you have to turn around after driving onto the ferry, which requires backing up, you also have to disconnect the toad and have one of the ferry crew drive it on. Depending on where you end up on the ferry, you might be able to reconnect while onboard.
All in all, it was a pleasant and scenic trip, and the food was good. Just remember, there is a 1 hour time difference between Nova Scotia and Maine. Maine is on Eastern Time and N.S. is on Atlantic Time.
CUSTOMS: Passing through customs at Bar Harbor was a snap. The customs agent spotted my Bangor Subbase sticker on the windshield of my RV and just asked if I was bringing any fruit with me. I still had a nectarine and an orange that I had planned on eating earlier that I gave him and that was it.
Well, that ends my Canadian Crossing and begins my East Coast 04 trip from Bar Harbor to Key West. See you there.
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