Rest Day 1: Tyne Valley

Thursday, August 6

Temperature: High 82°F / Low 70°F

Conditions: Sunny and humid

Distance Walked: 0k

Experiences of the Day

Waking up early, I enjoyed the cool quiet views from the deck with thoughts about the upcoming day: visits to the Bideford Parsonage and Shellfish Museums. But first, I decided to listen to The Hidden Island: Painting the Gables Green podcast. This is a small place for sure because Alan, the LM Montgomery scholar being interviewed, is the fellow who gave us raspberries on the second morning of our walk!

We ended up getting a ride with a neighbor to the Bideford Parsonage Museum, where LM "Maud" Montgomery lived for several months when she was 19 years old. The tour was led by Tyson, a sophomore in high school who did a magnificent job. We tried to keep him on his toes and asked many questions. He was a wealth of knowledge and answered them extremely knowledgeably. For example, he showed us her room where she stayed when she was a teacher in the area and he showed us the kitchen where the Minister's wife put liniment into the cake rather than vanilla! Many of the things Maud wrote about came from her life experiences.

It was hot and humid outside and when I went back into the museum to ask about the cache, Sam (one of the guides) offered to take us to the Shellfish Museum about 1/2 mile away and was willing to make two trips to transport all of us. Therese and I quickly accepted; the others declined and walked in the heat of the day. We thanked Sam profusely for her kindness. It was important to stay out of the heat as much as possible on our rest day.

Once in the museum, we met James, the face of the museum and and an oyster fisherman. We chatted with him extensively and learned about the process of seeding, planting and harvesting oysters. Bashfully, he shared today's newspaper which had a great article about him.

We hitchhiked from the museum with a great fellow whose wife, Deana, insisted he give us a ride to Dillon's in Tyne Valley while she stayed behind at the museum with their cute little dog. One thing led to another and the next thing you know we are eating dessert at the Tyne Valley Tea House. Of course that means that we had to find another ride...and as it turned out the guy I asked for a ride, Daryl in the parking lot of the post office, lives three houses down the street from us!

Writing desk of LM Montgomery

The liniment fiasco happened in this kitchen!

Trying to stump Tyson the tour guide.

Can you spot the geocache?

James the famous museum guy.

Another ride!

Enjoying coffee and dessert at Tyne Valley Teas Cafe.

Rest Day 1: Tyne Valley

Meals & Accommodation

• Breakfast: Yogurt, blueberries, tomato juice 
• Lunch: Veggies and hummus
• Dinner: Veggie burgers, watermelon, beans with cheese, salsa and avocado.

Lodging: Tyne Valley Airbnb

Day 12: Alberton to Portage

Wednesday, August 5

Temperature: High 86°F / Low 69°F

Conditions: Hot with a light breeze

Distance Walked: 24.1k

Experience of the Day

One word: Jo-anne.

Trail angel extraordinaire! Therese and I were sitting in the shade at the old gas station about 7 or 8k into the walk and guess who shows up with ice water and cookies??? We sat for a while visiting and when we got up to leave, Therese was trying to get her shorts to stay up (forgot belt and has lost weight). About an hour later, Jo-anne is back with four different ways to keep Therese's shorts up. As it turned out, the old dog leash worked the best. Therese went for a tour with Jo-anne to get cooled off and I trudged onward. It was hot and when I spotted a fellow in his yard, I headed over and asked to use his garden hose to cool down. Al, in the yellow house, also filled my cup with ice water. 

Jo-anne dropped Therese off to continue the walk and then went on down to Portage to wait for us. Some time later when I looked down the trail I could have sworn that it was Jo-anne coming right toward us. Sure enough, she decided to meet us and wow, does she have a quick pace — in Birkenstocks no less! Back at the car, she took us over to Dillon's to get a pizza and then dropped us at our Airbnb, which she had stayed at when she did the Tip-to-Tip ride.

We are ever so grateful to our friend for watching over us!!

Cool honey dispenser at La Petite France in Alberton!

Ice cold water!

Field of Dreams

Makeshift belt!

At the "Percival Rd" from Hwy 2 to the Confederation Trail. 
This mowed area is very misleading...it was a lot of tall grass!

Jo-Anne walking up from the Portage trailhead!

Therese and Jo-anne heading to Portage.

Day 12: Alberton to Portage, 24.1k

Meals & Accommodation

• Breakfast: Fruit, cheese, salami, muesli, yogurt, scrambled eggs, home made bread with apple jelly and peanut butter, and the best cranberry juice ever. 
• Lunch: Snacks, choc milk, electrolytes, water 
• Dinner: Dillon's pizza (veggie with pepperoni), bell peppers, milk. 

Lodging: Tyne Valley Airbnb

Day 11: Anglo Tignish to Alberton

Tuesday, August 4

Temperature: High 75°F / Low 65°F

Conditions: Blue skies and WIND

Distance Walked: 23.4k

Experience of the Day

A funny thing happened today... standing at the intersection of Dalton and Highway 12 thinking about how I was going to get back to where Tina had picked me up yesterday, and a pickup truck pulls up and it's Barbara's husband! Trail magic! He had seen our friends who had already started walking earlier and when I explained where I needed to go he told me he had to run down to the fishery real quick but he'd be back in a couple minutes and would take me right on up there. Turns out his name is Bobby Mcinnis and we had a real nice conversation. He dropped me at the designated location and I started my walk in the wind. 

There's not a lot to say about today, other than that the scenery was gorgeous and the wind was ferocious. So ferocious that I attached a carabiner to my hat and backpack and I was blown right over a couple of times. Stopped at Heart And Soil Organic Farmstead for a rest on their bench and walked through Jacques Cartier Provincial Park to check out the shoreline. 

In Alberton, I took quick tours of the museum and the library where I met Kelly the librarian. It turns out she was the lady who stopped and asked me if I wanted a ride into Alberton earlier in the day! I told her that I was interested in seeing the harbor (Northport) but I needed a way to get down there because I did not want to walk anymore. She worked her magic and the next thing you know, an older patron by the name of Jim took me for a ride down to the harbor and gave me a nice little talk about the area. He did the same things my folks would have done: drive around nice and slow, talk about the local history, pause for a moment for the good views. It was a real treat.

Round Pond on Rte 12

Favorite art of the day.

Rest area at Heart And Soil Organic Farmstead.

South of Kildare Capes

Jacques Cartier Provincial Park

Kildare Fisheries

Kelly the librarian.

Views at the harbor with tour guide Jim.

Day 11: Anglo Tignish to Alberton, 23.4k

Meals & Accommodation

• Breakfast: Oatmeal, blueberries, yogurt
• Lunch: Banana, bar, Gatorade 
• Dinner: Mountain House teriyaki chicken, peppers, milk

Lodging: La Petite France B&B

Day 10: Christopher Cross to Anglo Tignish

Monday, August 3

Temperature: High 73°F / Low 68°F

Conditions: Some clouds and a very nice breeze! 

Distance Walked: 22.3k

Experiences of the Day

What a day it has been. We said goodbye to our wonderful hosts Heather and Todd at the Thistlebloom B&B and started our 10th section. The North Cape did not disappoint and the smell reminded me of the Irish Moss pudding. Toured the interpretive center, which included a display on Irish Moss! Full circle for sure. 

Our walk today was terrific: great views, wind and clouds! We saw lots of lobster boats, including one coming right down the road at us. Tina, our trail angel, offered to pick us up and did so a mile or so down the road from the Anglo Tignish sign. Although happy to get a little bit of mileage off our plate for tomorrow, my feet were very tired and we were super happy when she arrived. So happy. Very, very happy. 

Along the way Tina had also texted her sister-in-law, Barbara, and all of a sudden there was trail magic! Believe it or not at the very moment that I received Tina's text, I looked across the way to see the house that matched the description of Barbara's place. And then I see the garage door open and a truck drive down the long driveway to the road and there she was, smiling and offering us a ride back to the house to use the washroom and have a cold glass of water...thank you Tina for making that happen and be sure to thank Barbara for us! Barbara and her husband are lobster fishers - Anglo Star 18 and Hi-Sea. They each captain a boat and have two workers on their boats. Very interesting.

Dinner at Our Family Traditions did not disappoint. Tina was an angel and shuttled us both ways from the inn. We were happy for the ride because it had started to rain and because she answered all of our questions about what we had seen during the day. She explained that the fellow with the horses and the funny looking plow with chairs was one of the old Irish Moss harvesters. 

The wind howled something fierce during the night and I'm pretty sure that at one point we heard a piece of metal go blowing by!

Our hosts Heather and Todd.

Irish Moss harvester plowing his fields.

Boardwalk at North Cape, the northwesternmost tip of the island.

We visited the North Cape Wind Energy Interpretive Centre.

The rock reef where the Gulf of St. Lawrence meets the Northumberland Strait.

Seacow Pond

Lobster traps

Wide load...we moved way off of the road!

Barbara and Bobby the lobster fishers.

Tina our trail angel!

Day 10: Christopher Cross to Anglo Tignish, 22.3k

Meals & Accommodation

• Breakfast: Another amazing breakfast at Thistlebloom!
• Lunch: Random stuff 
• Dinner @ Our Family Traditions: Fish tacos and a loaded potato (Lynn); the world's largest serving of nachos (Therese)

Lodging: Tignish Heritage Inn