Travel changes everything. Turn the key in the ignition. Board the plane. And suddenly the daily routine is replaced by a world of possibility.

Québec

Any road trip to the East Coast  usually leads first through Québec, and one of the great driving experiences on the planet is the South shore of the St. Lawrence River. This stretch is an immersion into the authentic Vieux Québec with farms and settlements dating back to the 1600s. The rural architecture is unique in the world.

Barn, south shore, St. Lawrence River

Barn, south shore, St. Lawrence River

House of colours, south shore, St. Lawrence River

House of colours, south shore, St. Lawrence River east of Montmagny

 

A favourite game is to pinpoint where, as the mighty river widens and widens, does it become indistinguishable from the open ociean.

Here, just east of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, it looks distinctly ocean-like, until your eyes finally  spot the faint but  magnificent mountains of Charlevoix over there on the north shore.

St. Lawrence River looking at the Charlevoix north shore

St. Lawrence River looking at the Charlevoix north shore

Bike-friendly rural Québec invites two-wheel travel  (Ii’m carrying mine on the roof of the car). Here’s a wild-flower strewn bike path hugging the river shoreline.

Flower-lined bike path, south shore St. Lawrence

Flower-lined bike path, south shore St. Lawrence

Bike ready

Bike ready

 

New Brunswick

It is virtually impossible for me to drive east on Highway 2 without tarrying a while at the Sackville Waterfowl Park in New Brunswick, an oasis of marshland in the centre of this quiet university town. This time around I spotted, in addition to the normal ducks, some grebes, a couple of golden eyes, adolescent Canada geese, and a slighty bedraggled muskrat. Oh yes, and mushrooms by the side of the trail.

Sackville, New Brunswick Wildfowl Park

Sackville, New Brunswick Waterfowl Park

 

Pied-billed grebe

Pied-billed grebe

Scruffy adolescent Canada geese

Scruffy adolescent Canada geese

 

Canada goose, about 6-7 weeks old

Canada goose, about 6-7 weeks old

 

Munching muskrat

Munching muskrat

 

Mushroom beside the trail

Mushroom beside the trail

I dropped down to the Fundy shore at Dorchester. It was, as you can see, low tide.

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Rural New Brunswick looking over to Nova Scotia

Rural New Brunswick looking over to Nova Scotia

 

Nova Scotia

A proud flag and a  stiff breeze

A proud flag and a stiff breeze

The drive along the Northumberland coast in Nova Scotia was uneventful. But I did see many ‘no fracking’ signs!

 

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Tonight (July 5), I am at the edge of land in North Sydney, Cape Breton, taking a look at my ‘ride’  to Newfoundland tomorrow.

 

My Ride to Newfoundland

My Ride to Newfoundland

(Blog covers July 2-5, 2013)

To be continued . . .