Grand Bay-Westfield - Kejimkujik - Lunenburg

This is the day we took the ferry.

We didn't know this, but the ferry from St john to Digby only runs at noon and at 11pm. So we opted for noon... We set ourselves up for a long day.

We arrived at the ferry terminal where we met our Vancouver buddy once again, and finally exchanged names with him. (Brian!) We also met two more bikers (brothers Clint and Trevor!) from Calgary, doing a Montreal - Halifax tour. It made us think about how wonderful it is to have siblings that we are close to, and with whom we love to travel with.

Mary's bike had been making a squeaky noise in the front wheel, officially dubbing him Frankenstein (Frankie) Squeak Dirmeitis. All of these biker men gathered round to try and make any improvement, and it did squeak less after all of their fiddling!

The ferry was a fun three hours. We patched our tire tubes, napped, ate fish and chips, and looked out at the Bay of Fundy. When we disembarked, we took our classic new province photo, and started our trek across Nova Scotia!

Despite the big dip and subsequent steep climb of the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia is much less mountainous than New Brunswick, so that is a welcome change! This day we did find certain pot holey rocky dirt roads a bit challenging, but the smooth stretch leading up to Kejimkujik National Park made up for it.

However, since we started out biking about six hours later than usual, we rode into Keji in the dark. Luckily, we had come across some military ration meals and were able to cook potato cheddar soup, chicken fajitas, beef ravioli, spice cake, and chocolate pudding, all from vacuum sealed cardboard containers in under three minutes. It was amazing.

We woke up this morning and were so, so sleepy. Droopy eyed ladies.

After some instant coffee and hot chocolate, leftover from our rations pack, we began trudging through the day. We were keenly aware that the lack of a day off in the past two weeks was really catching up to us, and we felt exhausted. We sleepily rode through the morning, going along with the gentle slopes of the Nova Scotia back roads, until Bridgewater.

Lunch, groceries, and then coffee. The woman behind the counter at Tim's was so fascinated by our trip, that she stopped halfway between our two coffee orders and asked us tons of questions about our journey. People were lining up behind us for coffee, and this lady was gathering her coworkers to tell them that "These two girls biked from Toronto! Sheila! Sheila! Did ya hear that? These two biked here, FROM TORONTO." While having our coffee, some of the staff would come by and chat, "ahhhh the T.dot eh?"

I frickin love Nova Scotia.

Through a friend of a friend of a cousin, we were linked up with Lauren, a cyclist/musician/farmer/tea saleswoman/personal trainer/adventurer, who is staying at the home of a family friend for a few months in Lunenburg. The house is a log house of majestic beauty and wonder, and we hit it off with Lauren right away. We swapped bike travel stories, drank tea and listened to her claw hammer skills. It was a really warm and uplifting final night of this long adventure. 

We're snuggled into a nice warm bed (ahhh luxury - it still gets us), anticipating the last day of our journey tomorrow. It's unbelievable that we've been on the road almost three weeks. It also seems crazy how totally normal it feels to ride our bikes all day, as if it would feel strange not to. This life really suits us, and we're thrilled with how comfortably we have taken to this mode of travel.

Halifax. Comin for ya.

Photos:
1) St. John, NB
2) Gill, "rockin" out ... Get it?!
3) Mary Ferry
4) Our Van friend Brian
5) Ferry deck beauty
6) Bros Clint and Trevor
7) Welcome to Nova Scotia!
8) Ration prep by headlamp
9) Lauren and Mary!
10) Gill and Mary!
11) High tea with Lauren and Gill.