A few favorites... Newfoundland and Nova Scotia

I've been wandering through my photo galleries from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. A few favorites have jumped into a new gallery.

Emerging photos, Newfoundland & Nova Scotia

My photos have jumped from my camera and are now available for viewing. You can start with the top level gallery, To Newfoundland! August 2009, or you can click on the photos below to enter a specific gallery.

A swath of Newfoundland:

Pockets of Nova Scotia:


Of ships and shipyards:


Flutter by:


Words? You can find my ramblings in my trip journal.

Missing me?

No new posts here, and oh! it's been over a week.

Just a quick reminder that I'm still wandering in Atlantic Canada. I'm not sure that today can (or should) be classified as a wandering day since I'm currently sitting comfortably at my B&B, waiting for the rain to switch from a downpour to more of a drizzle so I can do some walking.

Please jump to my To Newfoundland! blog to look over my shoulder.

Off!

Looking for new blog posts? I'm still writing...

I'm heading out to play with my camera in provinces with names that start with the letter "N". Join me as I paint words in my blog, To Newfoundland! An awesome August adventure.

to Newfoundland, soon

Three weeks from now I'll be waiting to board the ferry from Portland, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia - the first toe in the water of my trip to Newfoundland.

I've decided to create a separate blog for my wanders. To jump to it, click To Newfoundland! An awesome August adventure. And yes, there are a few entries there already.

If you'd like my posts to be delivered directly to your mailbox, click here, fill in the form, and reply to the email requesting confirmation of your subscription request.

For those of you who have signed up for email notification of updates to this blog, you will need to sign up for the Newfoundland entries too since it is a different blog.

Must see scarecrows

I've been perusing tourism publications from both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as I continue to dream of my not-too-far-off vacation. And oh! I found a place in Nova Scotia that is just calling out for a visit.

Where? A place called Joe's Scarecrows, in Cap Le Moine (near Cheticamp).

© 2005, Niels Elgaard Larsen
http://wikitravel.org/en/Cape_Breton_Island

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

Are these fares fair?

It's past time for me to have my 2009 vacation plans in order, and yet... It's been a winter of wandering the web, dreaming, thinking, considering, and not making a definite decision. My thought of the moment is that I'll be wandering off to Newfoundland, a very large island, one that is a large number of miles from home.

I think that I'd like to spend some time in Gros Morne National Park on the western side of Newfoundland, and I'd like to wander at Cape Breton Highlands National Park on the eastern end of Nova Scotia. That makes me lean towards a land and sea journey as opposed to a flight. If I fly, it will probably be a Newfoundland-only trip, and honestly? The air fare is a bit outrageous. The price of the ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland seems reasonable to me, but the ferry on the end closer to home is a bit pricey. Hmmm...

I'm still considering 2 options - to stay on dry ground from home to the east end of Nova Scotia before I roll aboard a ferry, or to start my trip with a ferry ride from Portland, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

You do want to know what prompted my question "are these fares fair?", don't you?

The ferry from Portland, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia covers 180 nautical miles in about 5 1/2 hours, while the ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland covers 92 nautical miles in 4 1/2 to 6 hours. That's assuming that I sail from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland during the day because the night crossing is said to take 4 1/2 to 8 hours. I wonder why...

Oh, you want to know how I came up with the nautical miles? I played with Daft Logic's Google Maps Distance Calculator, a nice little tool.

But back to the ferry fares... I was a bit blown away when I saw the rates for the two ferries. I suppose the Portland to Yarmouth ferry should cost more since it covers more water.

From Portland to Yarmouth, it is $164 for my car, plus a $25 fuel surcharge, and $99 for me, a total of $288 in US dollars. The ferry between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland is much more reasonably priced, at $88.84 for my car, $31.34 for me, a total of $120 in Canadian dollars - which at today's exchange rate (according to XE.com) is $97 USD. That's quite a price difference, isn't it? I can understand the Portland to Yarmouth fare being twice as much given the distance and the faster boat, but almost three times?

OK, OK, it's not really about the money - that just rubbed me the wrong way. As I look at a map, I realize that I'd like to do some wandering on the Bay of Fundy side of Nova Scotia, territory that I didn't cover on my two-wheeled wander there back in 2006. (And I'm amazed at how fast time has flown; it doesn't seem possible that trip was three years ago!) So if this becomes my long trip for 2009, it's likely that I'll take the Cat from Portland to Yarmouth, then return home by land once I do a two-way water trip to Newfoundland.

Gros Morne & Cape Breton Highlands, playing with cameras, hiking, and a bit of biking? It's still a dream, but it is a dream that is starting to feel like it just may become reality.