Reflections on Traveling in Canada

Just a few reflections on spending two months in Canada over the last year. In many ways it is very similar to the US while still being a foreign country. They drive the same cars on the same side of the road as we Americans do but when you see a speed limit sign that reads 80 don't go 80 mph or you will learn more about the Canadian legal system. Our simple rule was to multiply by .6 to get a close estimate of the actual speed limit in kilometers. The same rule applies to distances so don't get discouraged when you see a sign at two in the afternoon that says your destination is still 100 km away, it is really only 62 miles. We found most main roads to be smooth and very well maintained but the farther off the beaten path we traveled the worse the roads became. That said we are from Pennsylvania so we are very familiar with potholes. We only encountered one low underpass, but it is important to know how tall your rig is in meters. Our 12'6" translates to 3.8 meters. Another metric issue is temperatures that are reported in Celsius so when you hear it is going to be 25 you don't need to get out the winter clothes. Near the end of our visit we learned this little trick to convert temps to Fahrenheit. Double the Celsius reading and add thirty. While not exact it will give you a good idea of how to dress. That said in Newfoundland you ALWAYS need to dress in layers because the weather can change by the hour or by driving 25 miles down the road.

Money is another thing that is similar as they use dollars and coins that are the same denominations. But, the first time I got change that was all coins I thought the clerk had made a mistake not realizing she had given me loonies (dollar coins), and toonies (two dollar coins). We did find several campgrounds that would only take cash and so we had to exchange money. The first time I went to the bank the fees made the exchange even, even though the US dollar was worth more. Also, the bank would only exchange smaller bills not Ben Franklins. I later discovered that the banks (Scotiabank and Bank of Montreal) did not charge for using there ATMs and my local bank gave us the best rate so it was the best way to obtain cash. We still used the credit card where possible and even with the 2% fee per transaction, the exchange rate was better than exchanging money at the bank. We found just about everything to be more expensive than in the US. Make sure you stock up on all the nonperishables you can carry as replenishing your cabinet will cost you dearly. One thing that is very expensive that you are allowed to bring into the country in only limited quantities is booze. Wine that Nanc buys for seven dollars here was double that and a "12" pack of beer was nearly $24.00. We did find alcohol to be less expensive in Quebec. Most food was more costly in both grocery stores and reatuarants. Meals were usually bland, but the fish chowder, brewis, jigg's dinner and salt fish were all excellent. All the local seafood we had was great from the Newfoundland fish and PEI mussels to the lobster we had in Quebec. Another major expense is fuel. Don't get excited when you see gas for "only" $1.00 because that is per liter and translates to about $3.80 a gallon. We paid $4.00 a gallon for diesel in Newfoundland. Campground costs, just like here, vary greatly. Last summer in Vancouver we paid $318 (US) for a week and Pippy Park in St. John's was $285. They are both urban parks with easy access to the cities and in places where there are not a lot of options. Our cheapest campground was the Viking RV Park near L'anse aux Meadows that was only $10 a day Passport America rate.

Language is an area where Canada is both the same and different from the US. While signs were written in English and it was spoken everywhere except Quebec, the dialect of Newfoundlanders was often very difficult to understand. Our whole time in Quebec was with Jean Paul and Celine Dugas so we always had someone to translate, but there were many people who spoke little or no English. We found that a friendly smile and a bonjour would often be enough to get someone in Quebec to use a little English with someone like me who does not understand French at all. Because of the language, being in Quebec seemed more like being in Europe than North America, so it is a less expensive way to have a wonderfully different cultural experience.

For natural beauty many places we have visited in our travels have been wonderful, but seeing icebergs, puffins and so many whales were all near the top of our list for great natural spectacles. These are things we would not have seen in many other places we can get to by RV. There are a couple of natural things about Canada that really bugged us and they are the black flies and mosquitoes. At times they were so bad they even chewed on me but Nanc, who is a real bug magnet, was eaten alive. That said, I'm sure there are places in the states that are just as bad but we have not been anyplace where they were this bad since going on the road.

Communication can be an issue as our Verizon air card would work but for a very, very high charge. We never used it because more than half the campgrounds had wi-fi and most local libraries had hot spots. Our phone worked, but once again it was expensive. We used it sparingly and our bill was still high, but not as high as signing up to extend coverage to Canada for our stay. One thing we discovered was that we could not access our voice mail so for our entire visit it showed a message. We just had to figure if it was really important the person would have tried again.

The first and last thing you must be prepared for is crossing the border and you need to check both the US and Canadian customs web sites. We crossed the border three times in the last year and the first time we made the mistake of crossing in the truck (commercial) lane and were reprimanded but allowed to pass without a problem. Crossing to little Campobello Island was an experience, as going in the Canadians searched the rig and returning two hours later the Americans did the same. The third crossing was totally uneventful even though that was for our longest stay. Don't forget you now need a passport to get back into the US. Overall we give our Canadian experience an A and look forward to adding additional provinces to our map.

PEI

After our long day with the ferry and because it was getting dark we stopped at the Arm of Gold Campground in North Sidney, NS and just crashed for the night. I think it gets its name from the fact they charge an arm of gold for one night. Oh well, we were exhausted and not willing to search for a boondock site. We were still not on the mainland as Cape Breton is an island and we decided to do one more island province, Prince Edward Island. Be careful if you go there as they entice you with a free ferry ride or bridge crossing (yes you can get there on a bridge) but charge you to get back to the mainland, so don't spend all your money. We stayed at the Bayside RV Campground in Oyster Bed Bridge.

The 70 minute ferry ride from Caribou, Nova Scotia to Wood Islands, PEI is free. Until 1997 the ferry was the only way on and off the island. The ferry is farther east than the bridge and the fare is more expensive so plan accordingly.
After checking in we learned the campground was right by the Oyster Bed Speedway and we should not plan on going to bed early on Saturday. We decided if you can't beat em you might as well join em so we went racin. It was a fun night with four different classes of nonstop action. The feature for the night was a 100 lap Enduro race with young racers in any type of car that would run. It was a real hoot watching them fly around the track as their cars literally fell apart.

We celebrated our third anniversary on the road sitting outside with a dinner of fresh PEI seafood. The locally raised mussels were grand and we had seafood every time we dined out while here.

Scenes of PEI. The thing that first strikes you about PEI is how colourful it is with the fishing camps, flowers, farms and forest set among the red dirt roads and fields. In many places the fields run to the edge of the sea.

PEI has many beautiful lighthouses along the shore. They are all the traditional white and red. Clockwise from the top left are the lights at Wood Islands, North Rustico Harbour, New London Bay and Cape Egmont.

We visited Green Gables National Historical Site the home that was the setting for Lucy Maude Montgomery's book Anne of Green Gables. The home was her cousins and has been restored and decorated as it was in the book. The barn has examples of what life would have been like during that period. There are two excellent videos about the book and the author who went on to write twenty novels. Top right is Lucy Maude's birthplace in nearby New London. Even though neither of us had read any of her books this was a interesting stop to learn about the author and the book which we purchased.

We found there are many areas of PEI that are Acadian historical sites and since we learned so much about the influence of these French people in Cajun Louisiana we visited the Acadian Museum in Miscouche to learn more. The museum tells the story of their expulsion from PEI by the British and the efforts to save their language and culture after many of them returned in the 1800's. Each year the museum highlights one important aspect of the culture and this year they had an exhibit on hooking rugs. They knew of the work of Warren Perrin, the attorney we met in Erath, Louisiana who wrote a history of the expulsion and received an apology from the queen for this historical injustice.

Another interesting PEI stop is the Maisons be Bouteilles in Cap-Egmont. The houses are the work of Edouard Arsenault who started erecting these buildings in 1980. There are more than 25,000 bottles used in there construction making Edouard one the the most enthusiastic early recyclers. There are three buildings; a house, chapel and tavern and the huge 13 foot bottle at the entrance. The grounds are also beautifully landscaped as he was also an avid gardener. This is a stop that I'm sure would be even more beautiful on a bright sunny day.

A trip on the Confederation Bridge is not for the faint of heart, but it is plenty wide and you are on the other side in about twelve minutes. The 13-kilometer bridge is the longest in the world that travels over water that gets covered with ice. The bridge, which is 120 feet above the water, is an engineering marvel as the giant piers are just sitting on the bottom. Using the ferry to travel one way and the bridge the other is a great way to explore different parts of this beautiful little island.