By land and sea

It's August vacation decision time, and yes, I have (finally) decided on a destination. It's been floating in my mind for a long time now, and in spite of the distance-related transportation annoyances I really do want to get to Gros Morne National Park on the western side of Newfoundland, and Cape Breton Highlands National Park on the eastern end of Nova Scotia.

At first I thought I'd take the ferry from Portland to Yarmouth. Then I started leaning toward just driving.

Google Maps told me that it is was 809 miles and 13 hours driving from home to North Sydney, NS to catch the ferry to Newfoundland. And it told me that it is 743 miles (same begin and end points) and 19 hours if I take the ferry from Portland to Yarmouth. I was close to the decision to drive to the jumping off point for the ferry to Newfoundland, but then I looked again. That 743 miles from home to North Sydney, Nova Scotia includes 214 miles across the Bay of Fundy. That certainly changes the number of driving miles, doesn't it? 809 miles for the all land route vs. 529 miles for the land and sea route.

Hmm... maybe I should take the ferry over and drive the long way back. I wouldn't mind stopping in Wolfville, Nova Scotia and wandering out to the water from there. It would make a good first-day destination for a day-long stop, followed by a next day drive to North Sydney to catch the ferry to Newfoundland. I'll save the Cape Breton explorations for the second half of my trip.

When? My wander will be slotted into the 3rd and 4th weeks of August.

Map courtesy of Google.com