Tuesday, 13 June 2006

Maitland to Truro (Nova Scotia)

Is there ever a night when it doesn't rain here? At least it was a nice morning. The sun had a bit of a lie-in itself, not appearing over the low cloud on the horizon until about 7:30. I did some repair work to the bike - I had another broken strut on the rear pannier, and spent longer than usual packing up as I'd had everything out of the panniers to check that they were dry, so it was a good opportunity to re-organise.

I was on the road back to Maitland by 8:30, the cafe was still closed, so I turned onto the 215 and headed to South Maitland. I stopped at the gas station/store there; the cafe wasn't officially open, but the lady wasn't very busy so she kindly offered to make me some toast and a pot of tea, and even brough me a newspaper to read. (It's election day here in Nova Scotia) I could catch up with some World Cup results and reports. The bad news was the weather forecast once again; cloudy with showers in the morning, thundershowers in the afternoon. Surely not. It had clouded over but was still warm and pleasant. (And hurricane Alberto threatening Florida - hope Tom and Gail will be okay)

From South Maitland I crossed the Shubenacadie River (You can raft the tidal bore here, but the times didn't suit my travel plans) and followed the 289 to Brookfield where I stopped for an ice cream and a tea. It was definitely feeling warm and muggy - good for breeding thunderstorms? From Brookfield I was on route 2 which was relatively flat and so my average speed was much higher than it has been in recent days - up at about 19 km/h. The road became increasingly busy as I cycled into Truro (I still find it odd that so many places have the same names as places back in the UK) but it took me straight to the 'Welcome Centre' in search of local maps and information. (and the internet)

It was still a lovely warm sunny day when I came out. Surely the forecast was wrong. I went to the funky Fair Trade Country Cafe for an excellent chili soup with salad; France v. Switzerland was on the TV - a turgid 0-0 draw - and before I'd finished eating, it was bucketing down with rain.

It continued to rain.

And rain.

And thunder.

So I stayed in the cafe and had a Vanilla Latte and watched the end of the football. It was along cycle to the next campsite on my route and the thunder seemed to confirm that the weather had set in for the afternoon, so during a brief break in the rain I cycled out to the Agricultural College which lets out student rooms in the 'summer' and was the cheapest accomodation option in town. $30 ($34.50 inc. tax) A basic room with bed but fine for my needs. I dumped my luggage in the room and cycled back into town through the precursor to the next downpour. A rainy afternoon seemed the perfect excuse to catch up with typing in my journal in the library.

I came out to find that I'd forgotten to cover up my saddle, so it had soaked up lots of rainwater. I hate that - it's like sitting on a wet sponge. And I have a cheap motel shower-cap especially for the job too.

I treated myself to another Vanilla Latte while I made the big decision of the day; where to go and eat. In the end I opted for The Engine Room - a pub/eatery - for a good rare steak washed down with a couple of Rickard Reds. It's funny what a place will lay claim to; Did you know (seems unlikely) that the worlds first knitted rib underwear was made in Truro in 1877. And I didn't even know you could knit with ribs.

Distance: 50.4 km
Cycling time: 2:51
Total distance: 1568.8 km