Tuesday, 06 June 2006

Granville Ferry to Delaps Cove (Nova Scotia)

The new day arrived as cold, damp and grey as the last - the surrounding hills and water shrouded in mist. Whatever happened to the sun that was forecast? The latest forecast I've seen is for more of the same, and rain on Thursday. I might have to make that a laundry day.

I cycled back the 2.5 km into Annapolis Royal and went to the Fort Anne Cafe for breakfast while I decided what the plan was for the day. In the end I decided to cycle along to the Port Royal Habitation - a reconstruction of the first settlement established by the French in 1604, as a trading place with the local Mi'kmaq indians; trading furs for iron tools etc. Inevitably it was looted and burned by the British only a few years later. The reconstruction itself is now almost an antique having been built in 1939-40. It's quite an interesting site, especially imagining how life must have been like back then, and seeing the tools such as the wood-turning lathe; a simple functional design. The guides were in period costume and eager to offer information; presumably because there were more guides than there were visitors when I was there.

The day was still grey but had warmed up to 20 C when I cycled back to teh campsite just before noon. I packed up the tent and headed off. From Granville Ferry I took the Parker Mountain Road and encountered my first long hard climb of this trip. I figure it was an altitude gain of only 140m over a couple of kilometers, but there was a long bottom-gear section that was hard work. There were no sections of slightly flatter ground where I could 'rest' and cycle with less effort. I stopped at the top for a rest, then put on another layer for the chilly descent to Parkers Cove on the Fundy coast. It was distinctly chillier on the Fundy Bay side of the hill too - about 5 C cooler in the mist.

Fundy Bay has the worlds largest tidal range (about 17 metres or 56 feet) in places, and I stopped to take some pictures of Parkers Cove at a lowish tide. Hopefully when I come back this way tomorrow I can get some at high tide. From Parkers Cove, I followed the hilly coast road through Hillsburn and Litchfield to the campsite at Delaps Cove. I pitched the tent in their wildeness area by a little creek and cycled off to visit 2 local nature trails; the Bohaker trail and the Charles Trail. The track that lead to the trail was very rough and wet (good fun on a mountain bike) and had lots of large yellow butterflies sunning themselves in groups on the track or fluttering dances of lines and spirals in the air. The sun was occasionally strong enough to cast a shadow through the mist. Both trails lead through the wood to the coast and are quite interesting. By the sea there was almost no sound. The sea was so calm that there were no waves breaking on the rocks, and the mist meant that there was no horizon to see. Hopefully my photos will capture the ambience of the places and not look just grey. On the Charles Trail I could hear the plaintive mewl of a fog siren from further up the coast, presumably at the Digby Gut.

I shared a beer with the campsite owner and had the internet to myself...

Distance: 55.6 km
Cycling time: 3:46
Total Distance: 1154.8 km