Leaving Boston for home

Left our motel and drove our little Ford Focus back to the rental company in the pouring rain, then caught the shuttle to the airport. We were hours early, so a long day/night was ahead.

Our plane left at 5:50 pm and got to LA at 11:10 pm Boston time - or 8:10 LA time, then we had a 5 hour wait for our flight to Sydney. 

QANTAS was fantastic. The crew were great, friendly and helpful, the food good too. The flight was great, so smooth, we managed to get a few hours sleep and arrived in Sydney 8:15 am Sydney time, to wet weather. 

Caught the train to Meadowbank where David and Jan were waiting to pick us up. 

What a holiday we have had. We have looked at brochures and maps and listened to a navigator until we can't bear to look at another one.

We have been away for over three months, have had many interesting experiences, seen many fabulous places, caught up with people we haven't seen for ages, taken thousands of photos. 

We've had an amazing time, but for now ... It's great to be home.

Until next time....

Boston

Over the next two days we took the hop-on-hop-off bus around Boston. The drivers are fantastic, very knowledgeable, helpful and quite amusing. 

Wandered around Harvard, saw many churches and interesting buildings. Had a beer down at the waterfront, then dinner at the Beantown Pub to watch some of the ice hockey. 



Boston is a lovely city, but the traffic is atrocious. It is one big traffic jam, all day. 

                     

Salem_Boston

Headed off on our final leg towards Boston. On the way, we stopped at Salem where the 1692 witch trials were held. Did a very interesting tour of the Salem Witch Museum.

On to Boston where we spent one night in a hotel not far from the city, but had trouble finding anywhere for the next two nights as the ice hockey finals - the Stanley Cup - were being held in Boston. In fact the Cup was lost in Boston the next night.

Eventually got a room at a hotel way out at the historic town of Concord. Had to drive to the railway station then get the train to the city.

 

Concord

Belfast_Litchfield

On to Belfast where we set up camp for the night and went for a lobster dinner. 

                       

                

Next day we headed for the Blistered Fingers Bluegrass Festival at Litchfield. Set up camp in a horse stall as rain was predicted. Spent the day and night listening to bluegrass - quite a good day but one day was enough. Poured all night but the tent didn't get wet. Luckily, as we needed to get rid of all our camping equipment before heading home. We sold it all next morning.

Maine, USA

Finding somewhere to sleep for the night isn't always easy. Typically, when you are ready to stop, you can't find a motel or campground for miles, and after crossing into the USA we had to drive quite a distance, to Jonesport, before we found somewhere to set up camp for the night.

      
                   Americans love their flag





Our scenic drive continued and we drove on to Bar Harbor, a really busy tourist spot with heaps of people and shops, very pretty place but very touristy.

 

    

Leaving Canada

Leaving Moncton we visited Hopewell Rocks, also called the Flowerpot Rocks, formations caused by tidal erosion in the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick. The Rocks stand between 40-70 feet tall. We were there at near high tide so didn't get the opportunity to walk on the ocean floor at low tide, but they are pretty impressive anyway.

             

On to Saint John and the Reversing Falls, then sadly left Canada and crossed the US border at Calais where a happy, friendly border guard let us back into USA, no problem.

  

 

PEI 4

We continued along the north shore of PEI down to Summerside at Spinnakers Landing with its colourful huts (shops) then left PEI by the Confederation Bridge, a 12 km bridge linking PEI with the mainland. We were delayed as a full sized house was being towed across from the other side and our side was closed.

 

Drove coastal drive via Cap Pele to Moncton where we stayed the night and went to watch as the famous tidal bore came in. Lots of people there to watch.

PEI 3

Over the next two days we travelled round  the island and went to a couple of concerts which were part of the Festival of Small Halls, one off concerts held at various small community and church halls all around the island over 11 days. Some great acts, and we Aussies were singled out because we came from the furthest away, and won a CD, and Barry was taken up on stage to play the violin with one of the acts. (No, he doesn't even play the violin) lot of laughs.

 Hired some bikes and did a section of the Confederation Trail, a bike/walking trail which follows the abandoned railway lines and extends from one end of Prince Edward Island to the other. The part we did was one of the most scenic parts of the Trail, running beside the water most of the way, past bays, boats, old bridges, lovely farms and houses. Nearly ran over a squirrel and a snake on the trail, but alas, we have seen no bears or moose.

We finally did some camping on PEI as the weather was warmer and drier than it had been. People think there are a lot of flies and biting things in Australia, but they have nothing on the flies we encountered here. Barry and I both had enormous bites on our legs, face and necks for many days. 

PEI 2

                                     

 

 

Charlottetown above and below

Typical PEI scene

PEI

Prince Edward Island was our next stop. Caught the car ferry across from Pictou to Wood Island then did a loop on the eastern shore and headed to Charlottetown and set up camp at Cornwall, just outside the city, by the river. 

                     

We had been told that there were a couple of ceilidhs on that night so off we went, found the hall, and ... nobody. Drove to the 2nd one, and same thing. Very disappointed, but didn't give up and went into the city but it was very quiet. Found a young singer-songwriter and watched him for awhile then went back to campground.

Next morning, awoke to a beautiful day.

 

Barry getting breakfast by the water














          

                                             View from our tent
       

Cheticamp

Spent the night in Cheticamp. Went looking for some live Celtic, Cape Breton type music. Found instead a scratch country band who sang all kinds of songs from the Beatles to John Denver and more - not quite what we had in mind. We were a day early as we were told there's a really good gig on Saturday night. Also a couple of weeks early as there will be lots happening in a few weeks when summer starts.

We lunched at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre in Judique where a young fiddle player and a lady playing piano entertained us. Went on to Antigonish and stopped for the night in a 'cabin' in a van park. It was actually a big mobile home with 2 queen bedrooms, a full kitchen, big living room and bathroom. I think I could live here (Barry couldn't - no shed). Unfortunately, we couldn't find any more music (there will be some tomorrow we were told) so just went for a drink and a chat at a little pub around the corner.  

Cabot Trail

Friday dawned slightly clearer, at least it wasn't raining. Headed off to do the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton National Park. It is a wonderful drive with changing scenery, fishing villages, wild rocky coast, then sandy beaches, and steep winding roads through mountainous regions. There are also lots of artisans dotted around the trail with some really good stuff, so we stopped a lot.

                            

 

Fortress Louisburg

Left Halifax in the rain and drove all day in gross weather. Driving along by the water, the Atlantic Ocean, was still good, but not for photos. We stopped in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain at the studio of a well known folk artist, who makes all kinds of weird and wonderful creations from local wood. Some other tourists were there and guess what, three were from Sydney. Small world.

Stopped overnight in a cottage in St Peters on Cape Breton Island on the shore of the largest salt water lake in the world, Bras D'or Lake. Not the best time to view the lake, but at least we stayed dry. Next day we had less rain, but it was really cold and windy. For goodness sake, it's June and only 8 degrees! Bring on Summer.

Continued on to Fortress Louisbourg, North America's largest historical reconstruction of the 18th century French fortress. It was bitterly cold, so not at all pleasant, but we still loved it.The employees dress in the clothing and take on the role of the soldiers and civilians of the day. Some parts are not open as it's not high season yet, but we got to see quite a lot before moving on, crossing the lovely Mira River and on to Sydney, North Sydney actually, to spend the night.