Friday, 16 June 2006

Merigomish to Antigonish (Nova Scotia)

I managed to sleep for a couple of hours, then the wind and rain kept me awake for a couple more. The storm was still raging at 4 am, but by 6 am it seemed to me that the rain had eased a little. At 8 am all was suddenly calm and quiet, just when I had been fearing having to spend the whole day in the tent. In my rush to get the tent pitched last night, I'd forgotten to get change for the tumble-drier, and as there was no-one at the office in the morning, I put my wet clothes back on (yuk) knowing that they'd soon warm up and start drying out.

The mosquitoes here were numerous swarming and aggressive, which is always unpleasant when you're not used to it and is probably still unpleasant even when you are. Is there any sound more annoying than a mosquito buzzing right next to your ear? Many died. Luckily I had already invested in a small bottle of OFF (25% DEET) as my natural repellant (Cedar, Mint & Citronella oils) didn't seem to work too well. The DEET does seem to work better, though I'm always a bit slow to use it.

I didn't set off until about 10 am and by then the sun was shining through the high cloud. Apart from the LBR gas/store/restaurant, the only other place I saw serving food or refreshments was at Lismore only 7 km further along the road. This area has close ties with Scotland as can be seen in the place names - Arisaig, Knoydart, Clydesdale, etc. There was even a memorial to the battle of Culloden. The MacDonald clan is much in evidence. (as a result of the Highland Clearances of the 1770's) Indeed in New Glasgow they ran many businesses from MacDonald babywear to MacDonald Funeral Home - Cradle to Grave.

The road was fairly flat, with long easy gradients and I mad good time in the morning with my average speed up at 21 km/h as I passed through the charmingly named Malignant Cove. I had the road entirely to myself, with the breeze coming across me from the north. I was looking forward to rounding Cape George and turning south to have the wind behind me. I stopped at the Cape George Lighthouse for a sunny picnic lunch with an awesome view, and from the lighthouse there was a steep downhill to Ballantynes Cove - but the wind was so strong and into my face that it was almost blowing me to a standstill. How can that be? How can it blow from the north, and round the corner be coing from the south. It's not right!

The eastern shoreline of the Antigonish peninsular was much hiller that the west side, and the day was getting steadily hotter and hotter. I had finished my water and stopped at a convenient house by the road for a refill. they gave me chilled water straight from the fridge; how tempting it was to chug it all down in one go.

After one last long climb I rolled down into Antigonish (The 't' seems to be silent) with suddenly lots of traffic. I made my obligatory visit to the Visitor Information Centre and then for a very refreshing pot of English Breakfast tea at the Tall and Small Cafe. Supposedly 'Antigonish' is Mi'kmaq for: "the place where the branches are torn off the trees by bears gathering beechnuts" - which seems like quite a lot to say in 4 syllables. Mi'kmaqi is obviously a very terse language.

Whiddens Campgound is conveniently right in the middle of town in a pleasant location next to Briers Brook. "We have a special rate for people like you" she said. I assume she meant cyclists and not crazy people, although that's probably the same thing. ($11.83. $13.60 inc. tax Showers 25c/5 mins)

In the evening I ended up having a pizza. Not what I intended, but I hate it when restaurants don't display their menu outside... BTW: Garrison's Nut Brown ale is very nice.

Distance: 87.1 km
Cycling time: 4:58
Total distance: 1831.6 km