Wednesday, 07 June 2006

Delaps Cove to Klahanie Kamping, Aylesford (Nova Scotia)

Another cool grey morning. At least it was dry, and the mist had blown away so at least I could see the sea as I had the short steep climb up from the campsite past the little harbour at Delpas Cove. I then had the 11 km back along the hilly coast road to Parkers Cove. The tide was now in so I stopped to take some more photos from the same places where I had taken yesterdays low tide pictures. From Parkers Cove I carried on along the coast road, through Youngs Cove and Phinney Cove from where the views were a bit more scenic. For the first time since arriving in Canada I saw some glimpses of blue sky, and the sun made some feeble attempts to shine.

The air temperature was noticeably warmer higher up as I sweated uphill and then was chilly again as I rolled back down closer to sea level. In Hampton I stopped at the most unlikely internet 'cafe' I've ever seen. I a small barn in a cottage garden where there were half-a-dozen PC's running Windows 98 (slowly) and with an old lady in charge, talking of land-lines and satellite and the grant to get high-speed internet installed. She must have been in her 60's or 70's as she told me, with a twinkle in her eye and a knowing smile, that she had spent 3 years in London back in the [swinging] 60's "before there were any problems..." Whatever could she mean?

From Hampton I headed back inland - over the 'mountains' and down into the Annapolis Valley. The climb was higher than yesterdays on the Parker mountain Road, but easier as it rose in stages, staircase like to 250m. It was warmer on the Annapolis Valley side of the hills, and there were some fine views across the valley as I hurtled down the road. I swear I could smell the heat of the disc-brakes as I limited my descent to a safe speed.

I had hoped to stop in Bridgetown, but I didn't find anywhere too appealing so I turned left onto route 1 and headed east. Along the way I did stop for a 'death-by-chocolate' ice cream cone. (Shoulda taken a picture!) It was big, but I needed the energy. Paradise. That was the next village, not the ice cream. Not many people live in Paradise, but the cemetary looked full. I didn't spend long in Paradise. The next little town, Lawrencetown, had a nice little family restaurant, so I stopped there for their special of the day, a creamy spaghetti carbonara. A welcome boost to both energy and morale. As I left Lawrencetown, I spotted a sign for an abandoned railway line (Use at your own risk!) which I guessed followed the same direction as the road and the river, so I took a chance and rode along it. One thing you can usually guarantee with ex-railway lines is there are no steep hills, no sharp turns and no cars. (Well, okay, 3 things) Everything else is pot luck. There were some patches of loose gravel and some spectacularly deep puddles, but otherwise it was okay. After about 5km there was a sign saying trail closed due to an unsafe bridge, and discretion being the better part of valour, I switched back to route 1.

At Middleton I asked at the Visitor Information Centre, and they seemed to think that the rail trail from there would be okay to use so I decided to rejoin it. There was a little railway museum in an old station building and I stopped for a browse, although this was made a little uncomfortable by having 2 care-in-the-community type assitants shadowing me around. Their brief was probably to make sure I didn't nick any of the exhibits rather than provide any information. "When did the railway close down here?" "I don't know, I didn't live here then." Right. Never mind.

The 10 km from Middleton to Kingston on the rail trail was hard going as the surface was just too soft and loose for a heavily laden bike - it did make for a few hairy moments as the front or back wheel took a slide. From Kingston I switched back to the road for the last 10 km to Aylesford where it was just starting to spit with rain as I arrived at Klahanie Kamping. ($22.77 inc. tax, showers free)

Distance: 87.0 km
Cycling time: 5:48
Total distance: 1241.8 km