We Are Home

We're Back!!

We got off the ferry yesterday at 2 PM. We drove to Fredericton & stayed at U.N.B. residences last night (a donation) and had an all-you-can-eat breakfast there this morning.

We got to the West Island around 5:30 PM earlier than expected, & so glad to be home after nearly 10 weeks away!

More later, time to celebrate!!

From Brian

It is the day that we will eventually catch the ferry. We leave at midnight tonight and should be home late on July 5th.

It is interesting now that it is all over. I am so used to getting up at 6 AM that I do it automatically and then have to force myself back to sleep. I am also so used to checking to see if there are winds and in which direction they are blowing; would we have a headwind, a crosswind or a tailwind?

We took the last June 29th & 30th and rode at a relaxed and reflective pace; in fact, those 2 days took what we normally did in 1 day. We had tailwinds both days, mainly sunshine and few hills. That allowed us the pleasure of enjoying our accomplishment, the people of the area, and the scenery.

We also marvelled at our luck. Two old guys who set up a tight timetable that we were able to keep. We did not have 1 flat tire on the trip but we did change our tires in Montreal. At that point I had 8000 kms on my old tires and did not want to take a chance. Paul's Cycle fixed up our bikes with new chains and cassettes which is usually a major area of concern on a long trip. We realized how fortunate we had been with bikes, traffic, weather and health.

We also reflected on the presentations that we had done. Tom figures that we spoke to over 3000 students and each presentation was different; either because of us or the students involved. In my closing remarks at Confederation Hill, I mentioned that being able to speak to students as we crossed the country validated what we had hoped to accomplish. Many other bikers we met expressed the thought that they wished that they were crossing Canada with a purpose.

We have connected with Bren(Ben) as you know and he had us over to his house. He, Joan, her daughters and friends took us to parts of Newfoundland to see the capins running. That was a great experience and I took many pictures.

There are so many people and memorable experiences that has helped make this adventure the success that what it was.

Brian

From Tom

I would first like to thank all the friends and family members who took the time to send words of encouragement throughout the two months we were in our saddles.

I would like to send a special thanks to Kit from Child Find, and Pina and Susan from Missing Children for all the support and the wonderful receptions we received in Regina, Winnipeg, Montreal, and St. John's.

As we crossed the country, giving presentations to over 3000 children, it became a tremendous source of personal satisfaction to be associated with organizations that are doing so much for child safety. Working with truly dedicated individuals such as you has been a priviledge and an honor for me.

I owe my deepest gratitude to my family for all your concerns and for keeping track of my progress. And, to my dear wife Claire, wonderful daughters Andrea and Kristi, precious grandchildren Elizabeth and Toria, big brother Rick, ever-encourging sister-in-law Eva and neice Jessie, you were the true inspiration and motivation during the ride.

Having finished, and knowing all the things that could have gone wrong, I truly feel that the positive feelings and prayers that were sent our way are the real reason we are here today. I can't imagine that the good luck while on the highways, the great weather, and the fact that our aging bodies didn't break down in the whole process could have all happened by chance.
I feel that if we helped just one child make the right decision, choose the right path in life, or avoid the serious dangers in the technological world of today, then our mission was a success.

Tom

Some extras

We did 6849 kilometers on bikes, without a single flat tire.
**
Wayne did over 10,000 kilometers in the Hyundai Entourage van in which we'll all be riding home. Wayne is still very much enamoured with this great van and the wonderful reception that Hyundai dealers across the country have given him. There have been a lot of enquries and expressions of interest shown whereever we've gone and we have been extremely proud to show it off!
**
The rock group Spin Doctors was playing on George Street, on Canada Day, appealing to a younger crowd, which is why we went to see the Navigators.
**
Tom lost 14 pounds.
**
Wayne, er, um, didn't and looks forward to getting back to his regular fitness routine.
**
Our site traffic has gone beyond 5000 hits. Thank you!

July 3

Today, July 3rd we visited Signal Hill, from where Marconi sent the 1st radio signal to England. We could also see the military significance of the port of St.John's as it was well protected from attacks from the sea.



Brian bumped into Katherine Baker on the grounds. Katherine was showing her visiting sister from Pointe Claire around. Brian coached Katherine in soccer at Lindsay Place High School from which she graduated in 1995. She's here working on her Masters Degree and playing soccer for Memorial University. She saw Montreal on my shirt and when she saw Brian she thought she'd recognized him. I was just about to zip up my jacket & the Montreal on my shirt wouldn't have been visible. So many coincidences! This trip was meant to happen!

So nice not to have to rush around now. Well, we're soon off to get to Argentia for the ferry.
Wish us luck getting a bunk!

We don't know yet, whether we will have a dorm bunk on the ferry from Argentia, to the mainland tonight. We need to be there an hour before its 11:59 PM departure. There were no cabins available on the way over and we learned that these have been booked since January as this is a long weekend. At least on the return journey, we will begin to recuperate time in the time zone changes, gaining 1/2 hour as we get off the boat, which is a 14 hour trip in itself. We didn't find anyone who managed to get the internet on the boat on the way over.

More comments and pics to come!

more from July 2

July 2nd.

It was great to get to sleep in and follow our own individual schedules. Brian walked all over the downtown area, Tom had a workout & Wayne caught up on the blog.

We arranged to go over to Ben's place and he and Joan had arranged to have some friends over to meet us, leave it to Ben, they were mostly women!

We had a lot of fun acquiring local terminology. We were only partly joking in a previous blog when we said that we needed Ben as an interpreter, We learned that Newfoundlanders are either 'Townies' meaning they're from St. John's, or 'Baymen' meaning they're from elsewhere on the Island. We're CFA's (come from away). There was considerable discussion by the women whether 'Baymen' accurately represented women too, i.e. politically correct.

After a scoff (food) we went to Middle Cove where we observe plenty of families milling about and catching caplins, small fish that Ben and others were catching in buckets.







These spawning fish also attract whales and we will try to catch a glimpse of these off Signal Hill or 'The Gut' where, we were told, there have been whale sightings.

We're not done yet

There is still so much to share, from the remainder of our time in Newfoundland, odds'n'ends and Nancy asked us to share some of our thoughts/reflections. We also have a plethora of more photos to continue adding to the album, so please keep checking in for a while yet.

More Newfoundland fun (July 1st con't...)

July 1st - evening...

Kit told us that a local group who have donated CD royalty funds to Child Find were performing at an evening concert at Quidi Vidi Lake prior to Canada Day Fireworks. The girls (sisters), known as The Palmer Girls (a different link here) were very versatile singing in harmony and playing different instruments. Tom purchased their CD and we had our pictures taken with these five sweet, wholesome, well brought-up young ladies.







We then moved on to the famous George Street which had a $10 cover charge which provided access to all the bars without a further cover charge. We watched the main show initially, however, it was intended for a younger audience, so Ian and Kit, joined us in O'Reilley's Pub where The Navigators were playing traditional music with guitars, flute and fiddle. Most of the patrons there seemed to know all the words to their songs when asked by the group to join in.

Wayne remembers visiting O'Reilley's Pub when he was there last year for a counselors' conference and being sent pictures the following week of Russell Crowe singing with his friends from the Newfoundland group, the Great Big Sea in this same club. George Street was replete with young revellers into the wee hours and long after we left.



Here are some more pictures from our truly memorable day:













Check the album for them all. (click here)

JULY 1st - WE DID IT !

July 1st - Happy Canada Day!



Yes, we Made it!

137 kms on Canada Day, July 1st. (the beginning of our 3rd month away from home).

Speaking of sleep deprivation...Wayne had endured another 'night from hell' sleepless night due to a 'Jurassic Park' type snorer opposite him in the ferry dorm then another on the other side intermitently, occasionally providing a 'stereo chorus'. The sounds were more disturbing than the cumulative amounts endured over the 2 months of hearing Tom & Brian's snoring in the rooms we've shared.

Here at the Delta St. John's we were given 2 rooms. Wayne has a room to himself, apparently because he won the contest as the loudest snorer among the three of us. We all have empathy for what our wives endure!

Sorry for the delay, in getting the blog out, we've had a whirlwind of activity since arriving in St. John's, and wish to do justice to each of the many things that happened but no longer want to keep folks in suspense. We got up around 5 AM today, (July 1st) had breakfast on the ferry then landed on 'The Rock' to prepare for the final leg of our 6849 kms to the Atlantic Ocean, shrouded in fog (as most of our ferry ride had been).



We had the benefit of having Ben with us to interpret the language (OK, just kidding) he has done this route from the ferry terminal in Argentia to St. John.s before, so he could guide us.
It was very cold and windy until we moved inland a bit and eventually the fog and light rain lifted. We noticed the flags at the visitor's welcome centre at half-mast which were to be that way 'til noon as it was to commemorate the 90th anniversary of tragic losses in a First World War battle where only 68 of 801 members of the Newfoundland Regiment survived the opening of the Battle of the Somme.

There were a lot more hills than we had anticipated and we knew that the Newfoundland Child Find Director, Lisa Brown had hoped we'd make it to Confederation Park in St. John's for early in the afternoon. We e-mailed her that we didn't think we could make it that early. Wayne received calls in the van from Child Find Canada's National Co-ordinator, Kit Anderson (who had taken vacation time from her main job at the Justice Dept. in Mantoba, to greet us here) verifying our progress at various stages as a police escort had been lined up to direct us to Confederation Park in St. John's (a.ka. Pippy Park). (We knew that Ben would be getting off at an earlier exit.)

Around the time that the police escort expected they might have to abandon the wait for us, Wayne received a call in the van from Constable Pat Marrie of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulery, the escorting officer enquiring about our whereabouts.

[It was only after viewing the pic with Brian & Ben at the border (Wayne was half asleep at the border) that Wayne realised there was a law against cell phone use in cars].

Wayne arranged to meet Constable Marrie & they both sped back to locate us, (Wayne clocked 150-160 km/hr amid the safety of following the cop car). Constable Marrie showed us the way to go, then, (when he and Wayne got their vehicles onto our side of this 4 lane highway), Constable Marrie led us with flashers going and through red lights to the awaiting crowd.

We attended the Canada Day function at Confederation Park first, where entertainment and festivities were taking place. Child Find Canada's National Coordinator, Kit Anderson, whom we had met in Winnipeg, greeted us along with the Newfoundland Child Find Director, Lisa Brown and were introduced to the crowd who had applauded our arrival on bicycles, much to the surprise, and probable chagrin, of the performers on stage at the moment. We were presented with beautiful Inukshuk mementoes by Child Find President Ian Coulridge.



We then continued the journey down to Quidi Vidi a picturesque little village a stone's throw from downtown where we realized we could dip our wheels in the Atlantic in "the gut", a small opening into the Atlantic which leads to Quidi Vidi Lake. (The port of St. John's is not conducive to plunging in, which is what Tom wanted to do following the dipping of the wheels). Both Tom & Brian went in after the ceremonial dipping of the wheels.



Wayne rode one of the bikes to complete his more modest desire to cycle in every province and our activities attracted the attention of many of the neighbours in this predominantly residential village.



When we informed one of the neighbours what was going on, [She reminded Wayne of CBC star, Mary Walsh (she really sounded like her, although Ben says 'they all do')] she suggested we visit the Quidi Vidi microbrewery next door who (after this lady called them) were kind enough to give our heroes a 6 pack each. Generous guys that we are, we shared these at a picnic table overlooking "the gut" with Kit, Ian, Lisa, neighbour Annette Power, and her sister.



Tom didn't get Screeched yet, Brian & Wayne have already been Screeched in, in previous visits to Newfoundland!

More 2 come later!

Photos

We just added 14 new photos to the album, such as:

Beautiful sunset at Creignish


Tom itching to windsurf


With our Creignish B & B hostess Susan


Enjoy!

June 30 - North Sydney, NS

June 30 - 58 kms - On our way to Newfoundland on the ferry!

We're at the ferry terminal in North Sydney, got here before noon with time to spare. Already met Ben from St. John's whom we biked to Wawa with back in Ontario. We're getting caught up with him, he had his wallet stolen off his bike near Quebec City. He's looking forward to getting back & trying on his new leather thong ordered by his wife Joan and made by his brother who's into leather work!

We wish all our former colleagues and other educators and students a wonderful summer vacation. We remember how we looked forward to summer vacation ourselves, now it's all a vacation (really, some vacation?) in retirement. We're working harder this trip than ever, our days have been choc- full. Wayne can't believe he's completing his 1st of what he hopes will be many decades of retirement.

June 29 - Baddeck, NS

Baddeck, N.S. 87 kms

Enroute to catching up with us, Wayne again noticed Matt Lottes and Cindy Cheslock from Ottawa, the young couple who are getting married soon and are aiming for the Cabot Trail. He told them they were included in our blog, which we notice, has almost 4700 hits.

We had a more relaxed day today with some wind at our back and reduced mileage. It was beautiful and sunny and we again got to our destination around 3 PM with enough time to relax poolside before our scrumptuous buffet dinner. Not only did Dan Coffin, the General Manager of the Silver Dart Lodge in Baddeck donate our room for tonight, he gave us a complimentary voucher for the $25 (each) dinner buffet. Needless to say, Tom does well at buffets, he's been talking about them almost all trip long, but Wayne is also no slouch in that department either. Brian did all right too! This is a really classy place with a spectacular Dining Room view of the Bras D'Or Lake.

Tomorrow, we are travelling to North Sydney to catch the ferry to Argentia, Newfoundland. It's an overnight trip, so we will arrive on Canada Day with another 122 kms yet to cycle before reaching St. John's, NF.

June 29th - Cape Breton, NS

We had a wonderful visit and stay in the home of Sandra Buker and enjoyed meeting her other guests. Sandra's Creignish B&B apparently is listed with B&B Canada. Sandra gave away her computer, saying she was getting bogged down with e-mail and questions about her place without having time of her own. She says she feels sorry for a lot of today's young business people who are almost being held captive to their cell phones and Blackberrys.

Sandra was active in supporting the Trans-Canada Trail despite the fact that it traverses the access to the water from her property but is very disappointed that it appears to be in disrepair and not that amenable to cycling. ATV'S sometimes speed along it, however owners of motorized vehicles, (snowmobilers included) have often been the volunteers who have been instrumental in hauling out the tree stumps and rebuilding the trail from its original railway bed. In a later phase, Natural Resources will be in charge of maintaining it. Sandra is concerned that uprooted trees and drainage ditches have been done at considerable taxpayer expense without allowing a more natural approach to get rid of water. Cyclists reportedly complain about it regularly.

Wayne talked with Blaine MacEachern, the vice-chairman of the Trans-Canada Trail Nova Scotia committee, who indicated that this 92 km section of the trail is still officially 'under construction'. The Trans-Canada Trail is such a wonderful project when those in leadership make it a priority, we sincerely hope that the critical mass of those who believe in it do get involved in helping the attainment of the goal of completing the trail by 2010. The Olympic torch is expected to follow the trail all the way to Vancouver, that's the vision. Blaine told us about http://www.velocapebreton.com reps and others who would be interested in our mission. Blaine lives across the street from the Gateway Hyundai Dealership in Port Hawkesbury where Wayne was having the Entourage van washed. There was a great deal of interest from all the employees of this dealership and Sales Manager, Ken Tate, allowed Wayne to use his office to make this contribution to the blog. Business manager, Trina Samson told Wayne about a friend and former school mate of hers and Ken's wife, Nathalie. Kimberly McAndrews went missing in 1989, shortly after moving from Port Hawkesbury to Halifax. She was never found, Trina showed Wayne her picture that she had printed from the Child Find website.

Trina got a reporter from the local paper,The Guardian to come over and took a picture of the newly-washed van and the Gateway Hyundai staff. The Guardian will likely conduct a telephone interview with our cyclists after our arrival at the Silver Dart Motel in Baddeck who have kindly donated a room for tonight.

Off to find 'Les Boys".

also from June 28...

While playing catch-up, yesterday Wayne spotted 2 cyclists & slowed down, only to notice that it wasn't us but a male and female couple, Matt Lottes and Cindy Cheslock who had cycled from their homes in Ottawa and are aiming for the Cabot Trail. They're camping along the way and are getting married July 22nd! Wayne told them it reminded him of a theory espoused by his former Sociology Professor Dr. Harold Potter (no relation to Brian he was a brother, but not Brian's) Dr. Potter hypothesized that if couples who planned to marry were to take a 2 week canoe trip together prior to marriage, there would likely be fewer divorces because they would be exposed to each others strengths and weaknesses and learn to pull together!

June 28 - Port Hastings, N.S.

Port Hastings is where we stopped today after being helped along by a tailwind. It was sunny and hot, but we finished early (about 3:15 PM) after 127 kms for a current total of 6563 kms.

Wayne found us another donation 11 kms up the coast of Cape Breton at Craignish B&B. Sandra, the owner, loves cyclists! Her cozy place is a rustic, converted old schoolhouse which has a record-winning stuffed tuna hanging in the entrance way. It has a magnificent view of the water and Sandra let us do a wash which is hanging outside to dry while we have come in to Port Hawkesbury to use the internet in the public library, then get supper.

See where we are on the map. Port Hastings not on this one, but you can find Port Hawkesbury.



We will need to 'van it' back to Port Hastings tomorrow morning before heading to Baddeck. We have two relatively easy days before catching the ferry to Argentia, Newfoundland on Friday. We're awaiting information on activities in Newfoundland for Canada Day and the next day.

Monday is the night we're on the ferry back to Nova Scotia (actually wee hours of July 4th). We can't wait til we get home - single life on the road sucks! Don't get us wrong, we're in great company, this whole trip requires goodwill, teamwork, compromise and a positive attitude, which is usually in plentiful supply.

We've seen spectacular scenery in this magnificent country of ours and met some wonderful people along the way.

Tomorrow night and Wednesday the 4th of July are our only unknown accomodations now. We should be home a week TOMORROW, albeit late, after a likely marathon drive from New Brunswick!

Correspondance

We've been getting correspondence on this trip, e-mail is great.

One from Corky, where she indicated that on the day we left, Paul proposed to her at St. Andrews, where they went to for a drive to in Paul's sporty new Poniac Solstice (which bears the licence plates CORKY). Paul has been a widower, Corky was divorced and they met over the internet. Paul will move into Corky's home in Hampton N.B.

We also heard from Newfoundlander Ben, who cycled with us from Wawa, that he's booked for the same ferry to the rock (Newfoundland) on Friday. We still can't figure how he got ahead of us!

Thanks Claire and Eva for the kind comments re the blog. It's fun knowing that others are vicariously enjoying our travels minus the hardships!

We should be home a week today, albeit late!

It's now 2 months since we flew to Vancouver!

June 27 - Nova Scotia!

Pictou, Nova Scotia - 139 kms - Total 6444 kms

We're now in Nova Scotia, our 9th province, but came close to missing the ferry, despite our early 7:20 AM start. (we had awakened at 5:45 AM) to accomplish the trajectory across the Island.

Wayne visited the impressive P.E.I. Visitor's Centre when it opened at 8 AM and asked if they had a cyclists log, mentioning that Manitoba's Welcome Centre had one. The attendant, Lisa MacLeod, said they didn't, but thought it was a great idea, mentioning the fact that they do get a lot of people cycling the island. So she got a book and we became the first entry in the new cyclist's log.

Brian has cycled the island three times before, once with his wife, Michelle, and twice with kids from school. Wayne's daughter Wendy did it a while back as well. It would have been nice to trace something like this back if there had been a log then!

We ended up getting to Charlottetown early (10 AM) however we couldn't advance the pre-arrangeed schedule to visit West Royal Elementary School. We met Child Find P.E.I. Executive Director, Lori St. Onge who was in the police escort vehicle around 11:15 AM and we were led to the school. As we climbed the hill, amid sounds of the police car's siren, we noticed that the whole school population had been assembled outside to greet us with applause, which was captured by the CBC 6 o'clock news cameraman. The warm reception was greatly appreciated, especially as it was the last day of school for the students.

Tom, Lori, Brian


We didn't have a computer set up for our usual audio-visually assisted presentation, however Wayne felt it was one of our best, even if we were 'winging it'. Lori did a great job of lining things up, a reporter from The Guardian was there as well as a radio station Magic 93 radio, along with CBC TV.

Following the presentation, we hurried off because we knew we had a lot to finish getting to the ferry. It became tougher when we faced headwinds again. Brian indicated that we might not make it because it was farther than anticipated.

Wayne went ahead to check the degree of flexibility for catching the ferry and was told that they could wait if we were close. He then came back to us to indicate we had 8.2 kms left so we booted it even more quickly, getting onto the ferry before the large trucks loaded. Tom fell asleep and Wayne sunbathed on the front deck during the 75 minute ride to Caribou, Nova Scotia.

We saw this in the Pictou Harbour:


We're staying in a family suite at the Braeside Inn in Pictou, N.S. tonight.