Two Sore Backs

The Irish Loop is a road trip around the southern section of the Avalon peninsula, south of St. John’s. It was a bit of a dreary day – a good time for a road trip. We went clockwise from Holyrood, and the first stop was a quick one at Witless Bay. Then we went on…

We were reminded that the song ‘This Land is My Land‘ has the lyric ‘from Bonavista to Vancouver Island’. Here we are. And to clarify there is a Bonavista peninsula as well as the town of Bonavista. This was our day to visit the town while on a three day stay on the peninsula. Bonavista…

We moved on from Terra Nova National Park to the Provincial Park at Lockston Path. One thing that stood out was the firewood – all birch including a handful of bark starter that burns pretty much like gas. This won’t be news to easterners, but, having started lots of fires in BC with damp newspaper,…

Newfoundland is a firehose of gorgeous. Landscapes, people, artistry. It is also, mostly, an internet desert. That’s why this post is so late! Except for St. John’s, where we were too busy to look at our phones, St. Anthony has been the only location with a fast enough connection to upload a photo. We arrived…

It was a soggy Sunday morning when we departed Hadleyville and headed north to North Sydney NS. We would be on a ferry to Newfoundland by 5:30pm. Newfoundland is our 10th province on this trip. As it turns out this was also Day 50 of our cross Canada adventure. While familiar with ferries, the ferry…

My grandmother grew up in Canso so this place has always held a fascination: reading her colourfully written memoirs heightened my curiosity. So visiting Canso was always going to be part of this trip. We’ve already written about visiting Maynard in Hadleyville / Bohlston and the music at Stanfest. While in Canso we also hit…

With Val’s family connections to Canso, a summertime visit to Canso and the Stan Rogers Folk Festival have been on Val’s bucket list for a long time. It really should have been on mine too. After getting settled in Hadleyville, we drove into Canso in time to see the end of Rum Ragged’s set and…

Maynard and Deborah Brown have been generous with their time over the years, volunteering for the House Committee at Capilano Golf Club. Deborah was also a director during my time at Cap, and I was fortunate to work with them both. I had recalled talking to Maynard about family summer homes – ours at Savary…

It was time to leave the Magdalen Islands. We were up at sunrise to catch the ferry back to Souris, PEI. Next an hour drive through eastern PEI to the Wood Island / Pictou NS ferry. Fortunately we had time to stop in Cardigan PEI – at Clamdiggers – for some awesome PEI blue mussels.…