Trip highlights

[vaneramos]

Wake of the Grand Manan Island ferry, New Brunswick, August 22


We returned safely on Wednesday, but my Ethernet card is apparently shot so I don’t have connectivity in Guelph. The girls and I have come to Toronto for the weekend. Our trip was fantastic. I took 1,250 photos.

Here are a few highlights:

• The Cape Breton scenery was stunning, dizzying: cliffs dropping 435 metres (1,427 ft) into sea.
• We spent an idyllic afternoon on Brier Island, Nova Scotia, poking for crabs and watching seabirds.
• I added four bird species to my life list: black guillemot and common eider (Brier Island), willet (Cavendish Beach, Prince Edward Island), and greater shearwater (Black’s Harbour, New Brunswick).
• The studios and shops in Victoria, PEI, impressed us all. Thanks to lilactime for recommending it.
• We watched minke whales and the full moon rising from our cliff-edge campsite on Grand Manan Island, NB.
• Old Quebec was charming.

Ontario seems so flat! The Niagara Escarpment is nothing compared to the Laurentians north of Quebec or the cliffs of Cape Breton, northernmost end of the Appalachians. But arriving home after 7,200 km (4,474 miles), we were comfortably received by the long, soft arms of a familiar evening sun.

Further photos and reflections on the trip as time allows.

Comments

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks, and yes, the hug was seriously missed.

[ghostsandrobots.livejournal.com]

Hooray, Van's here! You were missed.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Missed you, too. xoxo

[chrisglass.livejournal.com]

That photo is scary. And I like it.
1249 more eh?

Look forward to seeing others.
Welcome back.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It was a great excursion. Seashores are beautiful and yet, as I discovered, difficult to photograph well. I have a few good images to share, though.

[apel.livejournal.com]

Welcome back, Van. Good to hear that you had a nice vacation. It's the kind of things that memories are built of.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Memories, yes. That was my plan. :-)

[dakoopst.livejournal.com]

Three things:

1. What a LOVELY photo! It would have taken me a few minutes to figure out what it was without the caption.

2. Ontario IS flat. Of course, I grew up in rolling hill country here in Georgia, so I probably notice it a bit more. :)

3. Welcome home. You were greatly missed.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

When we drove past Rattlesnake Point Wednesday evening I realized how puny it must have seemed to you. Marian commented that, until this trip, that was the biggest thing she had ever seen.

Missed you too.

xoxo

[blt4success66.livejournal.com]

Glad you're back safely...can't wait to hear more from you. I've missed you.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Paul. Soon summer will be over, and then I'll have a chance to catch up. Hope you're doing okay.

[blt4success66.livejournal.com]

I'm still breathing, that's good, isn't it?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

It's a good place to start.

[leafshimmer.livejournal.com]

It all sounds wonderful.

Nova Scotia, Cap Breton, Quebec City and Northern Quebec are all on my list of places I would love to visit (though I probably won't get to until/unless there are some serious changes in the current structure of my life).

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I was disappointed with the famous Peggy's Cove, NS: total tourist trap. But just outside the village stands a low hill covered with irregular boulders like a circle of old wise people. I thought at first someone must have placed them there, but judging by the surrounding landscape, it was probably the work of glaciers or something. There were no signs pointing the way, but all three of us were attracted to it. It felt like one of the most sacred places I've chanced upon, and made me think of you. It's one memory among many I want to post more about. I might also post a picture of the Laurentian Mountains where we camped about 50 km north of Quebec.

Do try to visit some of those places. This trip was such a whirlwind tour, barely skimming the surface. I hope I have the chance to revisit parts of it alone or with another who can settle into the rhythm of Just Being, which I like so much. I didn't have much opportunity this time. I did a little writing, but not every day, none since last Friday.

Quebec City and the lovely countryside eastward to Riviere-du-Loup, along the mouth of the St. Lawrence, I would like to explore with someone like Danny. A friend of a friend has a B&B near Quebec City. Maybe someday.

[writer00.livejournal.com]

Sounds so beautiful. How many birds are now on your life list total, and when did you start counting?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

It has been several years since I added to the list so I will have to check the total when I get home, something like 240. That's relatively small, because I haven't had much opportunity to birdwatch outside Ontario. I would have liked to spend more time on several of those sites, and a companion more experienced with shorebirds and seabirds.

I have birdwatched since childhood. I didn't start keeping a life list until about 1982, but it includes a few earlier records of rarities and species observed on trips to Florida and British Columbia during my teens.

[writer00.livejournal.com]

Have you ever seen a bird that is now extinct?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

No. Probably the rarest bird I saw was a Kirtland Warbler, which is endangered and breeds only in a tiny range in Michigan.

[detailbear.livejournal.com]

Welcome back. HUGS.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks Kevin. I look forward to seeing you after Labour Day.

[mattcallow.livejournal.com]

Welcome home!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It's good to be back.