A Bad Canadian

I have to keep explaining to people that I don't qualify as a perfect Canadian: I don't speak French, I don't ski or snowboard, and now...my last confession, I have incredibly low tolerance for the cold.

I have thankfully recovered from the hellish flu that struck me down a couple nights ago, and had fully intended to get all the sightseeing done today that I have been missing out on. When I woke up, it was pouring rain, and more importantly...it was cold! Yes, my friends, it can get cold in SE asia!

Ok, granted, perhaps 16 degrees sounds like a balmy temperature to those of you back home, but over here it is freaking FREEZING! I am wearing all my warmest clothes and shivering away...there is no indoor heating, and most buildings follow the ol' Rivendell indoor/outdoor thing, so the cool breeze gets ya every time.

Apparently I am now acclimatized to 30°+ weather. I am looking forward to once again feeling the kiss of the sun on my skin (in moderation, as my easily-burned complexion reminds me). All I want to do is crawl into bed, pull the covers over me, and hibernate until the sun comes out.

Newfie Land

From North Sydney, Nova Scotia, we drove the trusty Grand Prix onto the ferry for a very expensive 5 hour crossing to Port Au Basques, Newfoundland. 

In Corner Brook we stopped at the Crown & Moose pub for dinner. Though I've always been resistant to seafood, I decided that it was important to try the local cuisine: Classic fish n chips made gluten free without the battering of the fish..haha. But it was delicious! I was impressed with everything but the mushy discolored veggies. We learned that fresh veggies are really not all that fresh in Newfoundland, and they can be pretty expensive too!

Gros Morne National Park promised an epic hike, but delivered an easy boardwalk. 

It was still beautiful!

We had a beautiful day for photos and exploring the outdoors!

For a hefty price (we were not willing to pay) you can ride the ferry out to the cliffs for an amazing view. 

We passed a teensy tiny community quaintly named "Sally's Cove" on our way back from the park.
It was the picture-perfect Newfoundland site, so we were really embarrassingly touristy and jumped out of the car from some photo ops.

Next stop was a pull-out on our way to Rocky Harbour. We walked down to the beach to explore and dip our toes in the Atlantic!

These red chairs were everywhere!

We stopped in Rocky Harbour for a bite to eat. It was a little more touristy, but still cute.

We headed in the direction of Gander that evening, stopping along the highway at sunset.
Fly fishers were out enjoying the beautiful weather. 

Katharina and Mal both had fancy schmancy cameras and a good eye for photography. 

This beautiful beach was so calm and peaceful in the morning. 

A community dock.

Rugged Newfoundland scenery along the highway on the way to St. John's. 

It was so fun to see the "Jellybean Houses" downtown St. John's! 

They really reminded me of Ireland, though you'd never see an SUV there ;)

This house was unreal ugly...but awesome!

We spent quite a lot of time in the downtown center, browsing the shops, eating, and sight-seeing.

In the evening we decided to hit up the (in)famous George Street...a tiny section tucked away in a far corner of the city dedicated entirely to bars and clubs! 

We decided it was imperative to our Canadian experience to be officially "Screeched In", so we popped into O' Reilly's Irish pub for a couple of drinks and asked one of the servers to perform the ceremony for us! What is involved, you ask? In order for it to be official you need a Newfie to preside over the following: you must kiss a cod fish, recite the Newfie's creed, and take a shot of Screech rum. The order of events may vary.

This horrifying specimen had been frozen specifically to render this service to ridiculous tourists such as myself. I had flashbacks to the revolting tradition of kissing the Blarney stone.

The Newfie's Creed goes something like this...you are asked, "Are ye a Screecher?" and you must answer,

"'Deed I is, me ol' cock! And long may yer big jib draw!" 

Simple, right? WRONG. At the time it was quite difficult to remember and say. Hmmm...

However, three of us completed the ceremony and I have the certificate to prove it!
We're honorary Newfies!

To celebrate our accomplishments we wandered to the Karaoke Kops, where Mal impressed the staff with her rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", and we all enjoyed a few duets from Kat and Mal. I almost, almost considered busting out some Backstreet Boys "I Want it That Way", but even Screech rum has its limits. 

The best part of the evening definitely came in the form of gluten-free pulled pork poutine from Smoke's Poutinerie. Ever since I missed out on the Montreal Poutine experience, I had been craving some good ol' fries, gravy, and cheese curds. Smoke's Triple Pork Poutine was even better than I could ever have imagined! I unabashedly admit to devouring the entire portion. 

Peggy's Cove

It is one of the most photographed places in Canada. 

For good reason.

We left Halifax after dinner, and decided to try and catch a glimpse of the idyllic cove before dark.

We got there right as the sun was setting, and it was incredibly beautiful.

 

We camped nearby that night, and then drove back early in the morning as we set out on our next leg of the journey. But we couldn't resist another peek during the sunrise. 

The village was just as picture-perfect as the lighthouse. I can hardly believe people get to live there. 

I feel like this is probably where good Canadians go when they die. 

Nova Scotia: The Lovely East Coast

Nova Scotia comes in second place as friendliest province (after PEI), and also second funniest accent (after Newfoundland). But don't let these rankings fool you...Nova Scotia was probably my #1 favorite province to visit!  

Fun was literally around every corner. In Antigonish, we visited "The Wheel" pizza place. Apparently it is world famous, and though it is a teensy tiny building, the walls are full of memorabilia and photos of celebrities with "Wheel" boxes, claiming it is the best. We were introduced to this delicacy by a local, who admitted it really isn't great, but it does grow on you. (I unfortunately didn't get to taste test, as it is full of evil gluten). We decided to follow the trend of taking our photo with a box, which put us out a full dollar. 

Somewhere along the way to the North end of Nova Scotia we passed by this curious front yard. Naturally we pulled over to investigate.

Yes, it is true. The lady living here (I met her as she drove out of her driveway and invited us to enjoy taking photos) recreates wood cut-out Simpsons characters, and sets them up on her lawn...just because. Well, why not? 

It was a really fun diversion to break up a long day of driving! (Don't worry, I wasn't behind the wheel)

We also stopped in Cole Harbour to pay respects to the birthplace of Canada's Golden Boy, Sid the Kid. I got a few honks from cars passing by, as I proudly sported Team Canada's #87 jersey.

We stopped for a brief visit in Halifax, and treated ourselves to a "splurge dinner": lobster! I had never tried lobster before, and I was a bit intimidated, so I got a Lobster Risotto, not the platter like the others! (Ps. it was delicious!)

Pretending to be sophisticated to draw attention away from the greasy roadtrip hair!

It was a pretty fancy restaurant and we were pretty unshowered and uncouth...but that made it all the better!

Since we were in Halifax anyway, I made everyone stop at Dalhouse University so I could check out the grounds. Its kind of a dream of  mine to attend this school someday! 

I mean, really...who wouldn't want to go to school here, when THIS is what the library looks like?! 

Sigh, 

Nova Scotia was beautiful, fun, and homey. I definitely think I could live there.

Coming up: The most picturesque 12 hours of my life...at Peggy's Cove, NS.

The Other Island

Over here on the west coast of BC (ok, I'm located in the Interior, but I can dream) we affectionately refer to Vancouver Island as simply "The Island", because we all know which little patch of paradise we are talking about. 

On the East coast they have their own Island...Prince Edward Island. 

This picture-perfect speck on the map is just as idyllic and serene as a rabid fan of Anne of Green Gables could hope for. 

We spent one glorious day on good ol' PEI, driving past farm pastures and fields with quaint farmhouses, lighthouses, and glens, and arriving in Charlottetown around noon.

We wasted no time in tasting the "World's Best Ice Cream" at Cow's...I can't remember exactly what flavor I had, but it was probably something with peanut butter and chocolate! It was definitely delicious, but I think it might be a little hyped...or maybe I'm just a little bitter about how pricey it was! Either way, at least I can say I have tasted the World's Best Ice Cream! 

Charlottetown is a really pretty harbour town, and the people there are phenomenally friendly! Like for real. They were super helpful, and would just strike up conversations with us, asking us where we were from, and recommending things to see and do. 

Photo credit: Katharina Zacharias

We also visited the Anne of Green Gables store located downtown, but unfortunately did not have time to drive to visit the actual Anne house, which was a big disappointment for me. I told myself that it was just an excuse to visit sweet little PEI again someday. 

For dinner Steve located this little gem: Water St. Fish & Chips: best fish n' chips in town! AND they even serve GF fish and chips so I could partake! It was very exciting. And the tartar sauce was virtually unlimited, as they gave us a huge squeeze bottle of the stuff. It was excellent! 

Because of the let-down surrounding the Anne of Green Gables House, I was allowed to make one undeniable request, and all I asked was to see the red sands of PEI.

A significant amount of iron in the clay-like sand gives it the rusty red hue, and the mineral rich soil is also the reason that PEI is perfect for farming. 

It was beautiful! We arrived around sunset, and the colors were vivid. It was such a cool experience to dig my toes into the sand I had only read about in the beloved Anne books.
I may or may not have taken some home in a plastic shopping bag, and it may or may not now be displayed in a decorative jar in my bedroom.

Regis was also a fan, but being a real slave driver, he didn't let us dawdle too long. There was a schedule to keep! We finished off the day by crossing the Confederation bridge, which was pretty cool too. It cost about $50, and took about 10 minutes of driving straight ahead to get to the mainland. Not particularly scenic, but kind of amazing! 

We spent the night in a little town outside Moncton, but since I've already covered the interesting part of New Brunswick, my next post will bring us to Nova Scotia!