PUING PUING~~
Aug. 23rd, 2012 11:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fishpatrolI went on an ~epic ~roadtrip with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lilie_charlotte (M) last week to Canada's east coast. We hit three provinces in nine days, attempted to sing along to Korean pop (trololol), took a bajillion photos, got lost, got stuck in a ditch in the middle of nowhere at night, went to a police station, ate a McLobster, and Other Things.
Thank goodness M's cell phone has better reception than mine because we relied on its gps for the entire trip. My phone's reception failed as soon as we got out of range of the bigger cities. /o\ I think we would've been a lot tenser if we were driving around the countryside with no cell reception on either of our phones! M kindly chauffeured me around because I can't drive. ;) I also can't navigate all that well (HOW DO HIGHWAYS WORK a;sldkfjsdlfjLOOPS) and have a tendency to fall asleep in moving vehicles -- it's quite mentally tiring to stay awake and keep an eye out on the road + Google maps on a teeny iPhone screen. XD;;
Details and photos under the cut!
Day 1: Halifax (Nova Scotia)
We landed in Halifax in the afternoon and made our way to the place we found on Airbnb (a site where people can rent their personal property --whether it's a room or an entire suite-- to travelers). We crossed the bridge from Dartmouth to Halifax on foot and I discovered that my fear of being on high bridges over water was, in fact, a full-blown phobia. X3;; I was shaky, but managed to make it across without incident (and did it all over again the next day, too!).
Day 2: Halifax
We spent most of the day in downtown Halifax while we waited to pick up our rental car. Halifax was pretty around the harbour area, but for the most part, it was...underwhelming? Also, some of the areas seem super sketchy. /o\ Also, we split a McLobster (McDonald's lobster sandwich, available only on the east coast) and that, too, was underwhelming. XD
View from Halifax harbour:
Day 3: Chester; Mahone Bay; Lunenburg (Nova Scotia)
We made our way down to Lunenburg (and stopped briefly at Chester and Mahone Bay for some photos) where we went on a boat for three hours and got sprayed by ocean water in hopes of glimpsing a whale or two. Unfortunately, no whales were seen. :< We did see a bunch of seals and a teeny glimpse of a dolphin.
Lunenburg:
And now, for the epic car-in-a-ditch story:
We set out for our B&B in Maitland early in the evening, and hoped to arrive before the sun fully set. Despite the lack of whale-sighting, we listened to Kpop and were in good spirits. According to Google maps, we were making good time, driving around the country roads, winding through forests in the middle of nowhere, Nova Scotia. When it got full dark, we made a few wrong turns and I tried to re-direct us to where we were supposed to go. I'll admit, I was starting to feel pretty nervous -- there were no lights on the road, only trees all around us.
Eventually Google maps lead us to a gravel road, where our B&B was supposedly located. There were a few houses scattered around so we turned on to it, expecting to find our B&B. But quickly, the gravel road narrowed and looked as if it were heading straight into a pitch-black forest, with overgrown weeds on either side of the narrow path. Google maps still insisted that the B&B was just up ahead -- but we made the executive decision to turn the car around. As we were backing the car up, trying to turn it around so that we could get to the main road again, we backed straight into this ridge at the base of a hill and the front wheels got stuck. Despite my attempts at pushing the car, it wouldn't budge -- and there we were, stuck in the middle of nowhere at night -- and the mosquitoes were trying to eat me alive. At this point, we were panicking (M about the damage on the rental and me about OMG WE ARE LOST AND STUCK \O\)
The first thought that came to mind was to find help. There were lights in a house not too far away and I ran up to knock on the door (and it was the backdoor, even, because that was the only place where the light was on). This old couple came out and peered at us warily, and I flailed about and explained our situation. Thankfully, thankfully, the husband had the equipment to pull us out while the wife called the B&B to let the owners know that we would be late. They were such a kind couple! They even led us to the B&B in their truck so that we wouldn't have to rely on the gps again.
Two things of note:
1. The gravel road that Google maps insisted that our B&B was located? Had not been a real/usable road for over 30 years. /o\ WHAT EVEN, GOOGLE MAPS.
2. Everyone on the east coast was so friendly and nice! We were especially grateful to this couple for helping us out -- I can't imagine what we would've done if there hadn't been anyone around to help. /o\
Day 4: Cape Enrage; Albert County (New Brunswick)
In the morning, we made our way to New Brunswick, driving extra extra carefully. \o\
Cape Enrage, rock beach during low tide:
Lighthouse in Shipyard Park, Albert County:
Day 5: Cape Enrage; Fundy National Park (New Brunswick)
Cape Enrage again, during high tide:
Hiking on one of the trails in Fundy National Park:
Low tide, Fundy National Park:
Day 6: Hopewell Rocks (New Brunswick); North Rustico (PEI)
The thing about well-known places is that there are always crowds of tourists milling about. This was the case with the Hopewell Rocks. The flower pot rocks were cool, but it was a rather crowded place (compared to Cape Enrage, which is not as popular -- and Fundy National Park, which is popular, but since it's so big, the visitors were all spread out).
Low tide:
High tide:
After waiting three hours to see the high tide, we left the park and drove to PEI (btw, if you ever plan on visiting PEI, note that it's free to go but you need to pay to leave the island!). After crossing the Confederation Bridge, we noticed that our check engine light was on. We just couldn't get a break with this car! Calling the roadside assistance people was no use, and the rental place in Halifax closed early on the weekend, so we just drove extra extra extra carefully while in PEI (very hilly roads, btw). \o\
Day 7: Green Gables; North Rustico (PEI)
No trip to PEI would be complete without going to Green Gables. Unsurprisingly, it was crowded and a total tourist trap (without Anne of Green Gables, PEI would not be the tourist location it is today XD;). During the hike in the Haunted Woods, one could hear the traffic on the nearby country highway. Walking down Lover's Lane, one had to walk around the golf netting beside the nearby golf course (there was a golf course right outside of Green Gables, WHAT EVEN).
Green Gables:
We drove around in the afternoon, trying to hunt down lighthouses, but they were awfully difficult to get to (too many dirt roads on this island!). We ended up going back to the stretch of the PEI National Park that our B&B was situated, and spent some time taking photos of the red cliffs and near-empty beaches (yay, no crowds!).
Red sand beach:
Sunset in North Rustico:
Lighthouse in North Rustico:
Day 8: Charlottetown; Victoria-by-the-sea (PEI); Pictou; New Glasgow (Nova Scotia)
We were planning to spend the morning in Charlottetown, but then we realized that we don't actually like walking around in cities all that much (see: Halifax). So we just swung by the police station because, according to our insurance policy, we had to file a police report for any damage over $700. They wouldn't take our info because it wasn't a hit-and-run, didn't involve any injuries, and wasn't over $2000. XD; We'll just tell the insurance company that we tried!
We tried looking for more lighthouses on the way out of PEI, and swung by the teeny village of Victoria-by-the-Sea (another tourist trap, but it was a cute and quaint sort of place. and we paid a buck each to go inside the lighthouse. XD).
Day 9: Peggy's Cove; Halifax (Nova Scotia)
On our last day, we went to Peggy's Cove before returning the car in Halifax. A very cute and picturesque place -- but the glacier-carved rocks were crawling with tourists (and hornets \o\).
The village:
The iconic lighthouse:
We had expected this trip to be more relaxing than our UK and NYC trips. We were planning to sit on the beach and read; I downloaded a bunch of fics and podfics to read and listen to. That didn't happen. XD There wasn't even any time for me to nap!
Also, I was dumb and left my cell phone charger at the last B&B we stopped at. Thankfully, the owners said they'd mail it back to me. ^^;; In the meantime, I've connected my Android phone with my mom's Blackberry Playbook cable to the iPhone charger that Istoleacquired from my dad.
THE END. (this post took forever to write. I'm going to bed now. \o\ I feel like I could sleep for a week!)
lilie_charlotte (M) last week to Canada's east coast. We hit three provinces in nine days, attempted to sing along to Korean pop (trololol), took a bajillion photos, got lost, got stuck in a ditch in the middle of nowhere at night, went to a police station, ate a McLobster, and Other Things. Thank goodness M's cell phone has better reception than mine because we relied on its gps for the entire trip. My phone's reception failed as soon as we got out of range of the bigger cities. /o\ I think we would've been a lot tenser if we were driving around the countryside with no cell reception on either of our phones! M kindly chauffeured me around because I can't drive. ;) I also can't navigate all that well (HOW DO HIGHWAYS WORK a;sldkfjsdlfjLOOPS) and have a tendency to fall asleep in moving vehicles -- it's quite mentally tiring to stay awake and keep an eye out on the road + Google maps on a teeny iPhone screen. XD;;
Details and photos under the cut!
Day 1: Halifax (Nova Scotia)
We landed in Halifax in the afternoon and made our way to the place we found on Airbnb (a site where people can rent their personal property --whether it's a room or an entire suite-- to travelers). We crossed the bridge from Dartmouth to Halifax on foot and I discovered that my fear of being on high bridges over water was, in fact, a full-blown phobia. X3;; I was shaky, but managed to make it across without incident (and did it all over again the next day, too!).
Day 2: Halifax
We spent most of the day in downtown Halifax while we waited to pick up our rental car. Halifax was pretty around the harbour area, but for the most part, it was...underwhelming? Also, some of the areas seem super sketchy. /o\ Also, we split a McLobster (McDonald's lobster sandwich, available only on the east coast) and that, too, was underwhelming. XD
View from Halifax harbour:
Day 3: Chester; Mahone Bay; Lunenburg (Nova Scotia)
We made our way down to Lunenburg (and stopped briefly at Chester and Mahone Bay for some photos) where we went on a boat for three hours and got sprayed by ocean water in hopes of glimpsing a whale or two. Unfortunately, no whales were seen. :< We did see a bunch of seals and a teeny glimpse of a dolphin.
Lunenburg:
And now, for the epic car-in-a-ditch story:
We set out for our B&B in Maitland early in the evening, and hoped to arrive before the sun fully set. Despite the lack of whale-sighting, we listened to Kpop and were in good spirits. According to Google maps, we were making good time, driving around the country roads, winding through forests in the middle of nowhere, Nova Scotia. When it got full dark, we made a few wrong turns and I tried to re-direct us to where we were supposed to go. I'll admit, I was starting to feel pretty nervous -- there were no lights on the road, only trees all around us.
Eventually Google maps lead us to a gravel road, where our B&B was supposedly located. There were a few houses scattered around so we turned on to it, expecting to find our B&B. But quickly, the gravel road narrowed and looked as if it were heading straight into a pitch-black forest, with overgrown weeds on either side of the narrow path. Google maps still insisted that the B&B was just up ahead -- but we made the executive decision to turn the car around. As we were backing the car up, trying to turn it around so that we could get to the main road again, we backed straight into this ridge at the base of a hill and the front wheels got stuck. Despite my attempts at pushing the car, it wouldn't budge -- and there we were, stuck in the middle of nowhere at night -- and the mosquitoes were trying to eat me alive. At this point, we were panicking (M about the damage on the rental and me about OMG WE ARE LOST AND STUCK \O\)
The first thought that came to mind was to find help. There were lights in a house not too far away and I ran up to knock on the door (and it was the backdoor, even, because that was the only place where the light was on). This old couple came out and peered at us warily, and I flailed about and explained our situation. Thankfully, thankfully, the husband had the equipment to pull us out while the wife called the B&B to let the owners know that we would be late. They were such a kind couple! They even led us to the B&B in their truck so that we wouldn't have to rely on the gps again.
Two things of note:
1. The gravel road that Google maps insisted that our B&B was located? Had not been a real/usable road for over 30 years. /o\ WHAT EVEN, GOOGLE MAPS.
2. Everyone on the east coast was so friendly and nice! We were especially grateful to this couple for helping us out -- I can't imagine what we would've done if there hadn't been anyone around to help. /o\
Day 4: Cape Enrage; Albert County (New Brunswick)
In the morning, we made our way to New Brunswick, driving extra extra carefully. \o\
Cape Enrage, rock beach during low tide:
Lighthouse in Shipyard Park, Albert County:
Day 5: Cape Enrage; Fundy National Park (New Brunswick)
Cape Enrage again, during high tide:
Hiking on one of the trails in Fundy National Park:
Low tide, Fundy National Park:
Day 6: Hopewell Rocks (New Brunswick); North Rustico (PEI)
The thing about well-known places is that there are always crowds of tourists milling about. This was the case with the Hopewell Rocks. The flower pot rocks were cool, but it was a rather crowded place (compared to Cape Enrage, which is not as popular -- and Fundy National Park, which is popular, but since it's so big, the visitors were all spread out).
Low tide:
High tide:
After waiting three hours to see the high tide, we left the park and drove to PEI (btw, if you ever plan on visiting PEI, note that it's free to go but you need to pay to leave the island!). After crossing the Confederation Bridge, we noticed that our check engine light was on. We just couldn't get a break with this car! Calling the roadside assistance people was no use, and the rental place in Halifax closed early on the weekend, so we just drove extra extra extra carefully while in PEI (very hilly roads, btw). \o\
Day 7: Green Gables; North Rustico (PEI)
No trip to PEI would be complete without going to Green Gables. Unsurprisingly, it was crowded and a total tourist trap (without Anne of Green Gables, PEI would not be the tourist location it is today XD;). During the hike in the Haunted Woods, one could hear the traffic on the nearby country highway. Walking down Lover's Lane, one had to walk around the golf netting beside the nearby golf course (there was a golf course right outside of Green Gables, WHAT EVEN).
Green Gables:
We drove around in the afternoon, trying to hunt down lighthouses, but they were awfully difficult to get to (too many dirt roads on this island!). We ended up going back to the stretch of the PEI National Park that our B&B was situated, and spent some time taking photos of the red cliffs and near-empty beaches (yay, no crowds!).
Red sand beach:
Sunset in North Rustico:
Lighthouse in North Rustico:
Day 8: Charlottetown; Victoria-by-the-sea (PEI); Pictou; New Glasgow (Nova Scotia)
We were planning to spend the morning in Charlottetown, but then we realized that we don't actually like walking around in cities all that much (see: Halifax). So we just swung by the police station because, according to our insurance policy, we had to file a police report for any damage over $700. They wouldn't take our info because it wasn't a hit-and-run, didn't involve any injuries, and wasn't over $2000. XD; We'll just tell the insurance company that we tried!
We tried looking for more lighthouses on the way out of PEI, and swung by the teeny village of Victoria-by-the-Sea (another tourist trap, but it was a cute and quaint sort of place. and we paid a buck each to go inside the lighthouse. XD).
Day 9: Peggy's Cove; Halifax (Nova Scotia)
On our last day, we went to Peggy's Cove before returning the car in Halifax. A very cute and picturesque place -- but the glacier-carved rocks were crawling with tourists (and hornets \o\).
The village:
The iconic lighthouse:
We had expected this trip to be more relaxing than our UK and NYC trips. We were planning to sit on the beach and read; I downloaded a bunch of fics and podfics to read and listen to. That didn't happen. XD There wasn't even any time for me to nap!
Also, I was dumb and left my cell phone charger at the last B&B we stopped at. Thankfully, the owners said they'd mail it back to me. ^^;; In the meantime, I've connected my Android phone with my mom's Blackberry Playbook cable to the iPhone charger that I
THE END. (this post took forever to write. I'm going to bed now. \o\ I feel like I could sleep for a week!)
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no subject
Date: 2012-08-24 04:18 am (UTC)Also, omg, Green Gables! I've been there! And the Bay of Fundy and... I'm just gonna stop. lol
It sounds (and looks!) like it was an awesome road trip, bb! :D
no subject
Date: 2012-08-24 10:16 pm (UTC)Did you go to the Avonlea Village when you visited Green Gables? (and if so, how was it?) There was one guest at the B&B we stayed at who recommended it, but due to limited time, we chose to go to Green Gables instead of Avonlea Village. The Bay of Fundy is pretty awesome! I wish we had a chance to go to Digby to go whale watching!
(hee at your icon!) <3
no subject
Date: 2012-08-24 04:22 am (UTC)It sounds like you had a good time minus the whole car in the ditch. omg, that's so scary! Like the beginning of a horror movie or something. Thank goodness you guys were close to some houses with good people willing to help. What the heck was up with Google Maps though?
no subject
Date: 2012-08-24 10:12 pm (UTC)Omg, yeah -- in retrospect, it was very much like the beginning of a horror movie! I'm so glad that didn't occur to me at the time or I would've panicked more. XD; I am forever grateful to the kind couple who helped us out! Google Maps was correct for 99% of the trip -- I have no idea why it completely borked this location! Google Maps clearly indicated a road when there was none!
no subject
Date: 2012-08-25 02:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-25 02:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-25 02:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-24 01:31 pm (UTC)The ditch story is horrifying (of course it had to happen when it was dark out D: ) but it really warms my heart that the people whose door you knocked on were such a good help you to! <3 Canadian strangers are so nice! :’D
Oh, my god. Green Gables being a tourist trap is DEPRESSING. You could hear the traffic? There was a golf course? :< THAT LAND SHOULD BE PRISTINE AND BEAUTIFUL AND PRESERVED AS A NATURAL TREASURE.
Why would you ever consider eating a McLobster. The name sounds like it would induce food poisoning.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-24 10:09 pm (UTC)I AM SORRY THAT I HAVE DASHED YOUR DREAMS RE: GREEN GABLES. I can send you some more photos and you can pretend that it is a well-preserved ~natural ~treasure. :> I was ~quick on the ~draw and got a bunch of photos without tourists in them, trololol.
Why wouldn't you! Lobster! In McDonalds! It was an ~experience. (I suffered minor indigestion, but that could have been due to the chicken salad...)
no subject
Date: 2012-08-25 04:34 am (UTC)(I at first misread you as "nine provinces in three days" which sounds kind of horrifying tbh.)
The car in the ditch sounds awful! I'm so glad those nice people were around to help. And why is it that vacations give you such little time for napping/podfic-listening/beach-lounging/etc. *side-eyes*
Your pictures are beautiful, though! You went to some gorgeous places. Glad you're back safe! <3
no subject
Date: 2012-08-26 03:25 am (UTC)I am forever grateful that the couple were willing and able to help us! \o\ I can't imagine what we would've done (since I'm guessing that even if we had called for a tow truck, it would've taken hours for them to get to us, and gah, I probably would have panicked a lot more /o\)
I always think that there'll be plenty of time at night to read/listen to podfic, but I can only get through a bit of a fic before I get super sleepy and end up crashing for the night!
Thank you♥♥!
no subject
Date: 2012-08-25 10:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-26 03:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-26 11:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-27 12:21 am (UTC)