It's a very special week. While we enjoy Canada very much we follow the course of hurricane Irma and the delivery of the SeaQuest by the PYD crew on every wifi-place we come to. Irma is heading for Florida for a long time over Deerfield Beach, where we will be living later on. Fortunately, later on Irma bends a bit more to the west so they won't get the most wind there. The SeaQuest left last Friday from Dartmouth and is now on the south side of the Bay of Biscay.
Today we estimate that it will be a tough trip with strong winds, but that way they will stay ahead of the bad weather that is arriving in the Channel.
And we enjoy Canada enormously. After two wonderful days with Teun and his family the rest of the week in the south of Nova Scotia and today in New Brunswick. We have a big luxury car and driving here is very relaxed. Lots of space and little traffic. Almost every night we sleep in a different place and sometimes we stay for two days. Hotels that Mira booked from Teun's apartment via Booking.com for 13 days in advance. We have to wait and see every time what it is and what there is to eat. Sometimes quite luxurious with delicious food, often a bit simpler but very cozy and well taken care of and so far one time a bit old and dilapidated. We relax after the hectic weeks and enjoy being together with the four of us. It is a way of travelling that is unknown to us as a family, because we always go on holiday by boat, but we all like it very much. The weather is good too. So far we had one rainy day with lots of wind and for the rest nice and sunny with a good temperature.
We have no idea yet when the SeaQuest will arrive. We calculate with Qtvlm (routing program) that the minimum time from now on can be about 13 days. That's almost too good to be true. They are now sailing via Spain to the Azores. We don't know yet if they will stop there. But we are in no hurry to head south with all those hurricanes that are there. First we have to wait and see what Irma will have as an effect on Florida and Deerfield Beach. At the moment the strong wind is not so much the problem, but the water level that is rising due to the amount of rain and the 'surges' from the sea. Then also keep an eye on what José will do. And maybe another hurricane will come out of the small storm that is already coming up near the Cape Verden. The water is warmer than normal this year and therefore the hurricanes are coming up easier than other years. Meanwhile we enjoy this beautiful area in East Canada.
The past week from day to day ... on Sunday we drive two hours to Helen and John's cottage in Sauble Beach. It's cold with a lot of wind. The day before the girls tried waterskiing. Not easy and not quite succeeded. Today the wind is too strong and we only make a trip in John's boat. In the evening the 'Sunday night dinner with the famous beef recipe of John. Lot's of fun with Helen/John/Heidi, Jackie/Jack, Jim and the four of us.' They all stay another day and we drive back to Teun. Toine is completely demolished and crawls straight into bed.
Monday a quiet day at Teun and in the evening playing poker followed by deep into the night nice conversations with for the men of course a glass of 'Scotch'. Tuesday afternoon a flight of two hours to Halifax with a lot of turbulence. When we are in the hotel it is already 20.30. It is there an hour later, so only 5 hours time difference with the Netherlands. Quickly some food (steak in a real steakhouse) and to bed.
Wednesday we first drive to the marina of Halifax where the crew will arrive. Then we must have seen them. Then we take a nice coastal road to the southwest to Peggy's Cove. There is a beautiful lighthouse along the rugged Atlantic coast. We drive on to Lunenburg for the night and end up in a somewhat simple and dilapidated cottage 4 km outside, very close to the water. We eat delicious fish in Lunenburg and drive back in the dark and in the fog. It is a bit spooky, even at night in the cottage when it starts raining and blowing hard. Still we sleep well.
Thursday is a rainy day. We drive via Kejimu'ik National Park to Digby in the southwest side of Nova Scotia. Despite the rain we stop at the park for a short walk. It is beautiful there, only a pity that Marinthe finds out halfway through the walk that she lost her phone. We walk back the same path and look well up and right next to the path ... but no phone. A big disappointment for her, and again such a bad feeling for the whole family. Dinner in Digby is not good either! The 'Inn' where we sleep for two days makes up for a lot. It is a very nice place where we get some rest and watch the US Open and Eline is working on her paper 4 from school. We watch 'Heel Holland Bakt' on wifi. They also serve a delicious homemade breakfast.
It's a beautiful sunny day and we drive back to the National Park to kayak. We make a very nice trip on a river in 2-person kayaks. In between we lay down next to each other for lunch. And then suddenly on the way back Mira is called by 'Marinthe'. Her phone was found in the verge of the footpath when hikers happened to be there looking for mushrooms. We meet at the Visitors Center. Unbelievable, and he does it after a day and night in the rain. In the evening we watch 'Expedition Robinson' on wifi. All in all a great day!
Saturday (yesterday) we take the ferry from Digby to Saint Johns in New Brunswick. A two hour trip that starts in the fog and ends with nice sunny weather. Another special experience with Mira's lenses. After inserting the lens I see blurry. That's not right. Eventually I take out the lens and it turns out to be two lenses on top of each other. That second lens must have been hidden in my eye for a while and came out at night. The fifth one in a row (after the other four that were taken out just before departure by the optician).
Saint Johns is a nice town where we have a nice lunch. We drive another hour to St Martins on the coast of Fundy Bay. A small hamlet with a fine B&B in an old house (from 1865). We take another rest in the rooms with TV watching (US Open and CNN for news about Irma) and iPad use. After simple but good food in the B&B itself we walk to the beach with a 'cave'. There is a decay of 9 meters. Nice to see, and we walk back in the dark.
Today we drive along the New Brunswick coast on Fundy Bay, stopping after 2 hours at Hopewell Rocks for a hike and lunch. The hike goes over 'the bottom of the sea between big rocks'. Here the drop is 12.5 m and that seems to be the biggest drop in the whole world. Nice to see! Then another 2 hours drive via a beautiful long bridge of 13 km to Prince Edward Island (abbreviated PEI). Now we are in a beautiful old country house in Charlotte Town, the most luxurious so far. Toine and Marinthe are watching the US Open final, Eline is working on paper 4 and I am writing this blog. Later we will have a nice dinner out.
No news yet from Jack and Jackie about the effect of Irma in Deerfield Beach. The neighbours are home and keep J&J informed. They are most worried about the surges and the two boats behind the house. Let's hope for the best!!!!!
