The Palmers’ month-long adventure in Nova Scotia saw them pass through Halifax, Lunenburg and St. Andrews. When we last checked in they were rounding up their stay in St John. Here’s how the final part of their grand tour went…
“We once again hit the road. Driving along the Bay of Fundy through the Fundy National Park, we arrived in the small town of Alma and ate lunch at the Alma Boathouse - I would definitely recommend.
Continuing via Hopewell Rocks, where we walked on the ocean floor, we carried on to our hotel for the night, the Delta at Moncton.
Moncton was a very pleasant town. As we ambled along the river we noticed a group of people seemingly waiting at a viewing point. A few minutes later they all rushed to the point hotly pursued by us and we saw a tidal bore with a surf rider coming along the river. The bore (by now minus the surfer) continued along and entered the various river tributaries. The water was a dirty brown colour and affectionately known as the “Chocolate River’. This apparently happens twice a day.
We could not leave Moncton without visiting the Magnetic Hill (where a vehicle in neutral is pushed up a hill backwards – still not sure how that works) and we then headed towards Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island.
Our stop for the night was the Great George Hotel, which turned out to be the best hotel so far. We had a one-bedroom apartment rather than a room. It was extremely well appointed with all the mod-cons. We were very impressed with it.
Embarking on the Anne of Green Gables coastal drive was a good move. We stopped at a small coastal village for lunch and during a little stroll came across an osprey nest on top of a telegraph pole with two young fledglings practising their flying skills.
We were sad to say goodbye to the Great George and Charlottetown, but it was time to catch a ferry to Caribou on the northern shore of Nova Scotia and begin our journey to Ingonish.
We joined the Cabot Trail and followed the coast road weaving and winding our way until we arrived at the Keltic Lodge. This is a stunning-looking hotel situated at the top of the cliff overlooking Middle Beach. An absolutely beautiful spot on an isthmus.
An unplanned early wake-up call the following morning began our second day of travel on the Cabot Trail. Most of the journey took us alongside the coast and we had spectacular views.
Our arrival at Inverary Resort in Baddeck found us at a hotel complex overlooking an inlet quite a distance upstream from the sea.
The town itself, like many Nova Scotian towns, has very little in the way of shops so we drove along the rather quaint Main Street and made our way to the Fortress. By now sadly, it was raining, but we were not going to be defeated and, donning our wet weather gear, spent the next three hours watching and learning about the fort. There were numerous staff on duty dressed in their character costumes and speaking as though they were people in the 1700s. It was an incredible visit.
We left Baddeck to drive to our penultimate hotel on the trip.
We followed the itinerary until the Casno Causeway and then took the coast road down to Liscombe. The Liscombe Lodge was like something out of a WWII war film. It was in dire need of renovation and the security of the French doors left a lot to be desired. The one plus point to this hotel was the birdlife visible from the patio and the views of the river.
Setting off for the final drive back to Halifax, we were at the Lord Nelson by midday. We were rather early for our room so took the time to unload the car and return it. Having driven 3,500 kms, the car had done a superb job.
We spent the rest of the day packing our bags to prepare for the two-day train ride from Halifax to Toronto and the final part of our month-long Canadian adventure.
Our train was due to leave Halifax at 1pm and we were the only passengers who had upgraded, meaning we had the whole carriage and train attendant to ourselves.
A larger printed itinerary and some more inspiring accommodations would improve such an adventure, but we would definitely go again. Overall it was a fantastic trip.”
If you’d like to take on the roads of Canada, you can get in touch here.