Nice Homes on Water ... But

Having visited the BuskerFest at St Lawrence Market yesterday, we hit the Port Credit Boat Show today (see Mississauga.com picture below).

The boats were divided into two long rows--powerboats and sailboats.

We started off with the powerboats, thinking that's where the fun was. And it was fun, taking our shoes off and climbing into different cruisers and exploring the decks, bedrooms, washrooms, galleys (kitchens), etc. It was quite an eye-opener, especially for my kids. When nobody was looking, we even checked to see if a washroom worked; unfortunately, we never found the flush lever.

Pretty satisfied with the powerboats, but thinking of stretching the $8 admission a little further, we went over to see the sailboat exhibits. We walked to the farthest one and sat down with Malcolm, a promoter who had gotten into sailing only recently. Malcolm assured us that sailing wasn't as complicated as it sometimes appears to be in how-to books. He learnt his ropes in a 4-day weekend course. Also, the silence and economy (no gas needed once out at sea!) of the experience adds to the enjoyment.

We proceeded to check out almost all the sailboats there--from 50' luxury yachts (with personal jacuzzi and lots of LCD TVs) costing half a million dollars to "good deals" like the well-maintained 36' sailboat for $49,000. There were promoters on hand offering fractional timeshares for sail and power boats at $700 a month for seven days' use per month during sailing season.

Hmm, tempting! However, we're unlikely to pick up a yacht anytime soon--to begin with, we don't have a sailing licence. More importantly, I was feeling seasick at the end of our boat show visit, a feeling that dogged me all the way home and into the evening. One timeshare promoter helpfully shared that one of her colleagues would pop anti-nausea pills as soon as waves reached 2" high, and offer the Gravol to her clients as well. What comfort ... not!

Who's going down to the BuskerFest this weekend?

UPDATE: So Alakazam did break a world record yesterday! (Click on the link for the video. Don't try this at home!)

(That's Alakazam with his partner, victorious after his world record triumph the day before, relaxing in the sleeveless shirt behind the bush.)

Besides the BuskerFest, the Port Credit Boat Show's also on!

Times and Admission

On Friday August 28th 2009 we will open the gate at 10am each morning and close Friday at 7pm, Saturday Aug 29th at 6pm and Sunday Aug 30th at 5pm

Admission:

General Admission (age 16 - 64) $8, Seniors (65 +) $5,

Children under 15 are free! 3 Day Weekend Pass $15

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This isn't going to be a mere street-corner one-man show. It's big, bigger than the one we saw at Halifax, the biggest in North America, so they say.

It's started already, the Toronto BuskerFest, August 27 - 30, down in the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood. Some of us were there on a field trip of Church Street earlier this year. Events are free, but donations are welcome in support of Epilepsy Toronto.

Maybe I'll see you there tomorrow!

Does this make it a "whirlwind tour"?

Our two final nights at Waterfront Campground, NB, were capped by its free canoeing and firewood.

Due to the rain forecast for Quebec through the weekend, we decided to drive straight home, from 10 a.m. yesterday till 4:30 a.m. this morning.




But what a Home Sweet Home it turns out to be.

Not long after crossing the border into Ontario, we start getting more than a drizzle. We'd just gotten a coffee from one of the service centres on 401 westbound and thought we'd have to stay indoors for a while. It was like lightning everywhere, and sheets of rain. Then it seemed like the rain had stopped; so we jumped in and drove on.

Then it came down with a fury--we slowed to an 80 km/h crawl, wipers on max, and more lightning. We also noticed the message on the electronic boards, in English and French: "Severe Weather Warning." But this was more severe than "severe"!

At our final gas top-up--wow, only 92 cents around Cobourg--the weather had let up, and we read the front-page news of three Toronto newspapers--the Friday edition at around 3:30 a.m.! Everywhere the word "tornado" appeared. And then it dawned on us. O, that's what it was, that rain! Tuning in to AM680 confirmed it--there were stretches of highway closures, areas of emergency or electrical blackouts, and one death in Durham County, where we were. It was then we prayed our thanksgiving for journey mercies!

Following are some of other people's videos already available on youtube:

If you live near Don Mills and Sheppard, you might have seen this:


If you were in Vaughn, you might've seen the funnel cloud:


My view in the car at night wasn't too different from this:


Did any of you experience the tornado? Do tell!

A Weekend of Buskers and Bluenoses

UPDATE at 5:54 a.m. EST

Good news: as the dawn breaks gloriously to my left, the youtube clips have finally gone up--worth the early start!













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Sorry, guys, but the Wifi here at Woodhaven's painfully slow, so here's an update after innumerable attempts. And who knows when--or if--the youtube clips will be ready.

But after a too-eventful day zipping down from the garage at Sydney Mines, Saturday opens with a visit to Downtown Halifax, the British fort that eventually eclipsed the cod-processing outpost of Louisbourg, specifically, the Citadel overlooking Halifax harbour.


The family rate for entrance was as formidable as the Scottish Highlander, at almost $30, but we didn't miss a shot of some idiotic tourist trying to look funny in front of a military installation.


The highlight of the visit turned out to be the Buskers' Festival, where we tucked in on onion rings, got our pictures taken at the WestJet booth, and watched a bunch of funny people doing acrobatics and stuff. On the way back to the campgrounds, we stopped by Halifax North Memorial Library to get our blog and facebook updated--to avert the pain of dealing with the surly Wifi and staff of our campsite. Nothing like fast Internet and air conditioning, for free, on a hot August afternoon!


One priceless thing, though, about our campsite: the sunsets are pretty awesome!


Sunday opens with us hitting the South Shores--first, Lunenburg, where German settlers landed in the 1700s and traded their farming skills for fishing. Everywhere here the Bluenose is celebrated, that famous fishing and racing ship that also became a nickname for Nova Scotians. Here, the mast of the Bluenose II is seen, on right.


View Larger Map


Minutes before Peggy's Cove, and within sight of its iconic lighthouse, we come across a memorial to Swissair flight 111, which went down just offshore in 1998 without any survivors. The rocky panorama is as stunning as the memorial is thought-provoking.


And finally, we get to Peggy's Cove, as much a must-see for Halifax visitors as the Niagara Falls are for Toronto visitors. After doing the de rigeur trek to the iconic lighthouse, skipping over its rock formations at low tide, and browsing the souvenir shops and art galleries everywhere, we grab some "baby-sized" ice cream (at $.75 each!) and head on back.

And so ends our outbound portion of our tour of the Maritimes. The rest of the journey, God willing, should be homeward bound!

Thanking God from somewhere in the Bras d'Or area

UPDATE from a Halifax Public Library: Thank God we made it safely to Halifax last night.

This is one unscheduled stop along Hwy 105 in Cape Breton heading from Louisbourg to Halifax. which is turning out to be a real blessing.

We're flying along towards Halifax, when the car starts growling underneath, and we pull off at the nearest exit--St James Rd (point B on Google Map, below)--to take a look. Sounds a little loud ... so I get back on the highway and call TD Auto Club service, thinking it would be easier to locate us on a main highway. Unfortunately, I get this surly fellow in an office in London, Ontario, who keeps asking me which garage I wanted my car towed to. Finally, he gives me a list of garages and a phone number of one of them--tells me to call them and then call him back for the towing service. This was so unlike our previous call for emergency service, from PEI.


View Larger Map




So we back back into the St James exit and stop at a random house there. And what a blessing we've received--we were able to use the phone, get a recommended mechanic in the area, have our van towed there, let the kids play in their huge yard, and get this blog updated! What kindness--we're here now waiting for pizza delivery and then to pick up our van. Apparently, there was a problem with the gasket related to the O2 sensor or something--there was some part dangling out under the van.

There's still a chance we'll make it to Halifax by nightfall, God willing.

The White Flag Still Flies

Just imagine a Pioneer Village depicting the beginnings of European settlement in Canada. Only a 5-minute drive from our tents is Canada's first fortress and lighthouse of Louisbourg, NS.


From its 18th-century (1700s) foundations, the whole--actually 1/5 of it--fortress was reconstructed in the 1900s. It was amazing to realise that this was the product of geopolitical horse trading among the European powers at various treaties thousands of kilometres away, at Utrecht, Aix la Chappelle, Spain, etc., and the inhabitants didn't have much to do with the existence of the place.


It's always the guide that makes or breaks any tour, and this was no exception. In this picture, she's showing how 18th-century would look out for men with nice calves in a "well-turned heel" of the plié position.


The fortress (which includes civilian elements, as opposed to a solely military fort) was named in honour of King Louis XV (the Fifteenth) of France.


Lacemaking was a skill women of nobility engaged in. It's been replaced by machine work since the Industrial Revolution. In Louisbourg, women were far outnumbered by men and had their pick of a husband. The main trade, in fact the raison d'etre, of the fortress was cod export, and everything else had to be imported--from France, the French West Indies, or Quebec.


This unidentified statue of a guy with a wound in his thigh might have been the patron saint of Louisbourg. Could it have been St Roch or St Louis IX? Who knows (not a rhetorical question!)? Apparently, this town didn't have enough time or interest to build a cathedral, and this tiny chapel was staffed with a priest and a few nuns. Together with the statue, other visual clues, such as a confessional booth, rosaries, and a statue of the Madonna, reminded soldiers that they didn't have direct access to God, under the teachings of their religion.

Here come the soldiers to the military demonstration of firepower:


Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing in the face of the British forces:



Another demonstration was the punishment of a thief convicted of stealing wine. Here he is, about to the chained to an iron collar in public. In the background, the seafood industry languishes in the modern town of Louisbourg, and the flag--white for surrender--still flies as a really grim comment on the economy of the whole area.





Before leaving the fortress grounds, we went to visit the Wolfe Redoubt (say "READ-out"), a temporary fort built by British General Wolfe, who garnered greater fame later on the Plains of Abraham. The guide had explained that from this vantage, the British were able to neutralise the French resistance at Louisbourg, leading to its surrender.


Two Wolfe wannabies at the Redoubt--unfortunately, the view of the fortress has been completely blocked by vegetation today.


Back at the campsite, while looking for a Chinese restaurant, I turned my car into a vertical car park barrier, resulting in a literal fender bender. With some trusty duct tape (a must for camping trips!), we were able to patch things back--at least for the next leg of our trip, to Halifax. Pity, no video, but I hope to get you a pic of the patch job later.

UPDATE: Here's the "After" picture:


Not bad, eh?

From Marco Polo to "New France" at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

With good weather ahead, we packed up and made a beeline for the old fortress in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, that was political Ping Pong for the British and the French--Louisbourg.

The journey was same-old, same-old, from Cavendish to Charlottetown, and then over the bridge to the eastern, more deserted part of PEI towards the ferry at Wood Islands. While waiting for the boat to arrive, we ate PEI fries (glorified McCain), played with a Frisbee, and practised Rip-Sticking.


Finally, we got on board the ferry and spent 1.5 hours roaming the decks.



Then it was over to Pictou, where the Scots first landed on the ship Hector, to make a campsite booking at the visitor centre there. Instead of hightailing it via the highway, as advised at the visitor centre, I decided to take the scenic route, which was shorter on the map and recommended by the GPS. Well, we paid for it.






We made two stops along the beautiful sunset shores of the Bras d'Or lake district and got stuck at some major roadworks just north of Big Pond, which set us back about half an hour, enough to delay us into an 8:30 arrival at Louisbourg.

But it's good to lay one's head down again with acceptable Wifi connectivity. Thank God for the long but safe trip!


View Larger Map

Light and Sound Spectacular Worth the Wait

What a glorious grand finale to our stay in PEI it was, as we watched "Celebrate the Canadian Dream" at the Province House at Charlottetown. After one last look-around on a hayride at Marco Polo Land, we took our picnic dinner to the capital two hours before the show and checked out the place before nightfall.





The pier, business district, and historic buildings all appeared so different from when we were disappointed a few nights before, when there was a cancellation due to the caretaker's no-show.

But this time we got a park bench across the street from Province House and even a parking lot, where our bike rack provided a grandstand seat for the show!

Not only were we not disappointed this time, but the show was a wow from the start--even the beginning, when the projectors had to be zeroed to make sure the pictures came out right.

The show took us from the beginnings of Canada--like two seconds on our prehistory--to the landing of the Europeans, the harsh pre-Confederation Bridge life of farmers, the Charlottetown Accord, PEI's agricultural boom, and the national anthem to close.






Conveniently, there's a youtube clip of the show, and you're free to view our favourite part--da spuds are comin'!--at 3:12 of 8:06.

Beavertail and Ceilidh Make It Right

The blog stalled a couple of days, thanks to the erratic Wifi connection, but I think we're back again.

For those who took Donald's Canada Day Quiz, you may remember that a beavertail is a Canadian confectionary, something we got to try on Monday. Sunday was ok--we enjoyed a sabbath of rest in the tent, listening to live video messages on sermonaudio.com. Knowing that it would be raining all day Monday, we decided to check out all the Green Gables shopping at the tourist traps all around our campground at Cavendish.

At the Boardwalk, we finally laid eyes on some real Canadian beavertails.


First, you fry the flat-shaped dough to a golden brown.


Then you butter it, holding it in yonder unwashed hand. If it's cinnamon-flavoured, dunk it into the pan of cinnamon powder, and you're done. That's for about $4 each. But we wanted peanut butter, chocolate, and Reese flavour, which costs almost $6.


So we get that fancy treatment. More squirt-squirt of this potion and that on beavertail on unwashed hand.


And, ta-da! Hey, that's M&Ms, not Reese as advertised! But it was soon all devoured--before we had time to go back for a refund. O well, another Canadian experience, I guess!

That evening, last night, we headed for the Murray Centre--as usual, by GPS--for a ceilidh. A ceilidh, pronounced "Kay-lee," is a traditional Scottish musical event, and it was historically celebrated by the Scottish settlers in PEI and the rest of the Maritimes in the midst of the brutal conditions of their new homeland. We picked this one out of many because it costs less ($7 per adult, $3 per kid) and had a more authentic ring to it than those in more professional settings. What do you know, but when we arrived, "Murray Centre" was the multipurpose hall of a United Church.



The performers, including a guest step dancer, are all amateurs from PEI's Long River area and include a college professor and her husband, a doctor's assistant, and a business manager. They entertained a crowd of about 100 with foot-stomping tunes, about half of them Americans who were on an Elderhostel educational trip through the Maritimes.



When asked to pin their places of origin on a world map during Intermission, we saw representation from all over North America, parts of Northern Europe, South Africa, Japan, and Singapore. The refreshments, ice cream (sandwich or fudgesicle $1) or home-baked cookies ($.50), were good and affordable. So everyone in the family got something, and we didn't need to share the ice cream or anything!



Well, a very Canadian, if somewhat Scottish (or maybe Chinese!), experience.

What was he sinking/thinking? A lesson on the Θ vs the S sound

The title says:
"That sinking feeling: Tourist watches as 4x4 disappears after getting stuck in mud on beach"



Both are hissing sounds. To make the Θ/th sound, you need to stick your tongue between your upper and lower front teeth and blow. Look in the mirror to check that the tip of your tongue is visible. You don't need to stick out your tongue for the s sound, which is louder and sharper. Sometimes there's a big difference between the two sounds--e.g. sink vs think.



So, waddaya think/sink? Was this a sinking/thinking man's car? Was he thick/sick in his mind?



A mere difference of a few thousand dollars, a wiser person might have sought/thought?

It's one thing to walk like an Egyptian, but this takes the cake!

How about driving like an Egyptian? Picturesque speechless:



And while the GTA got ripped by a violent storm, we got tricked by the weather report--instead of starting at 8 a.m. as scheduled, the rain started at 2 a.m.

What a Blast ... the morning after

Right after signing off last night, the multimedia show started up. Lightning, thunder, and unremitting buckets of rain, all 19.8 mm of it, thrashed our little site hour after hour. Gone were the cutesy animal sounds, not a chirp, a peep, or a chipmunk chatter, nor noisy neighbours yakking past quiet hour. We had to yell in the tent to be heard. And then there were periods where you thought it's finally blown over. The sweet welcome hush, nothing except the distant hum of the shore, not unlike the 401 nights. And then the percussion would start back up again, light and slow, gradually picking up and crescendoing into a crazed concert on canvas.

And then it stopped again, this time with the faint glow of dawn, and I waited long enough to step out onto the soggy ground. The deed was done--puddles everywhere, minivan still unlocked (there was only enough time to switch off the camp light!), tents waterlogged--but our little bivouac had made it. The kids had done a good job of layering an extra tarp over the tents!

So here's thanking God for the rain and for surviving it. A doxology for the morning after:



And compare the video with yesterday's (below). What a difference 24 hours makes!

10 p.m. update
Bit of a bummer tonight--after nicely checking back into Marco Polo Land, drying out and waterproofing the tents, and doing research on places to go, we hightailed to the provincial capital and birthplace of the nation, Charlottetown. We always try to kill two birds with a stone, and this trip was to get a spare inner tube for a bike, load up on groceries, take a peek at PEI's raceway for stock cars, and take in the Festival of Lights: The PEI Sound and Light Show.

At $15 for adults (x 3), $7 for youth, and no charge for kids under 12, the speedway was no go. I was amazed on the way out to see a constant stream of cars arriving to watch the event. We raided our usual--Dollarama, Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, Superstore, and McDonalds--and got what we wanted and more. Then we hit Charlottetown in the dark, found free parking, and booked over to Province House.


Only a handful of stragglers were there. Plus a sound crew packing up. We found out that the guy supposed to open Province House so that the crew could get a power supply didn't show up tonight. We'll just have to go again. At least it's on nightly; so maybe next week.

Yay, Another Soggy Day

Waking up to the raspy chatter of chipmunks, I took a walk around Twin Shores' beach and rec areas. Enjoy this clip of the calm before the downpour.



The plan was to drive to town--Summerside--for lunch and shopping. When we hopped into the minivan at 11:30, the thing wouldn't start. Thankfully, we could call the auto club toll free and get a truck out to the campsite! Although I was pretty sure it wasn't the battery--it couldn't be; it'd never failed us! plus the weird clicking didn't sound like a flat battery--the guy eventually hooked my vehicle to his big old tow truck and my engine cranked right up! He said to keep it running for 25 minutes; so, of course, we gratefully took the opportunity to hit Summerside!

In succession, we raided Wal-Mart, Dollarama, and Canadian Tire, before grabbing some Canadianised "Chinese" food at China Star Restaurant. A good thing, too, as the rain poured heavily outside. Then we drove by a couple of lobster and seafood retail places--there were lobsters available for $7.45/lb, but those suckers were humongous, and being the sole lobster fan in the family, I decided to give it a pass.

Back at the resort now, in my favourite spot--on the sofa of the laundromat, underneath the non-stop CNN broadcast on TV and surrounded with warm Wifi signals--I'm glad to sign off for now as more rain looms for the night and the kids watch High School Musical 3 in the next building for the second night in a row.

Bouncing at Marco Polo Land, PEI

4:15 P.M. Update:



Twin Shores Campground, on the northern shores of PEI, probably earned its top rating from its beach. Here are a couple of foreigners from the mainland acting weird on its sandbank:

From Ce7eBr8 wAt3vR!

Morning's Post:
Yay, there's Wifi again; so the blog continues, from Marco Polo Land's campground on Prince Edward Island. Hang on for the pix ... the bandwidth, for some reason, is tiny.

From Ce7eBr8 wAt3vR!

The intent was to camp at Shediac, NB, touted as the world's lobster capital, but with a 40% chance of thunderstorms (which never happened) and campgrounds mostly full, we decided to take a chance at PEI a day early. But not before I'd stopped at the lobster stop right across the river from the great Shediac Lobster at the town entrance. Advertised price was $7.99/lb. The guy there weighed the sucker and said $8.00, and I said, "Great, one pound!" He swipes my VISA and I sign it, then I see it's for $10.00. When I asked, he said, "Yeah, $10." O well, so I paid another $2 for an education, which you guys get for free; caveat emptor!

From Ce7eBr8 wAt3vR!

But I did return to the shop and he shows me how to break up the lobster by hand--claws, shell, the works--which made me feel a bit better about the extra $2. But the lobster meat was, well, well worth it! Yummy!

From Ce7eBr8 wAt3vR!

So over the Confederation Bridge we go and, after an hour at the huge Gateway visitor centre-cum-tourist trap on the PEI side, we check in at the northern end of the island-province, at Marco Polo Land's campground. Its spacious, well-maintained grounds promised a nice, civilised stay. Number One advantage: no mosquitoes! O yeah, there are flies here, lots. But we'll trade them for them itchy, scratchy mozzies any day!

What's more, our neighbours are from Cambridge, Ontario, a really nice family with an 11-year-old boy looking to shoot paintball with my boys.

From Ce7eBr8 wAt3vR!

Nor did the rain come. So we had a time around their campfire before hitting the sack. But not before using the large, clean, modern shower-washrooms--the best so far! That's the Number Two plus. There's free Wifi, as mentioned, but it's dead s-l-o-w.

So here we are again this morning, packing up for another campground! This place is one busy place--and we're not even into next week yet, when the Canada Games are supposed to be held here. At least the boys packed in a little Ping Pong, Jumping Pillow, and swimming.



If at first you don't succeed ...


Keep jumpin'! (Or blame the Observer's Paradox)


As we move on, I'm reminded that all this tenting and de-tenting is a little like the nomadic earthly life of Abraham:

Hebrews 11:9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Or, as one well-known gospel song goes, "This world is not my home; I'm just a-passin' through. If heaven's not my home, O Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore."