The End, for Now

When I started out on this bike trip, it was my intention to end in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Due to a death in my family, I have decided to finish my trip in Halifax instead of carrying on east. Newfoundland isn’t going anywhere, and I can always come back to Halifax and continue on for the final stretch of this trip at some point in the future. 

Though I am ending my trip earlier than I originally planned, I am still really proud of how far I’ve come over the past five and a half weeks. I have biked 2,989 km since the start of my trip and climbed 18,890 m in elevation. While I knew this trip would challenge me physically, I didn’t realize how mentally challenging it would be. From waking up in the middle of the night freezing and wet in my tent, to finding myself on top of a mountain at a dead end road with no cell signal and little water, there were times that I felt unsure about what I had gotten myself into. But the warm and friendly people I have met along the way and the amazing landscapes I’ve seen have made this experience all worth it. I wanted to experience more of Canada, and that’s exactly what I did. 

I would like to thank everyone who welcomed me into their homes along the way, fed me, offered me rides when my bike broke down, gave me advice, or contributed in other ways to this amazing experience, including:

Daniel (Cornwall)

Deb (Bainsville)

Emily, Ryan, and Evan (Montreal)

Marc and Laurie (Quebec)

Dénis and your family (l’Île d’Orleans)

Tracy and Michel and your family (Fredericton)

Maryanne (Shepody Mountain)

Lisa and your family (Fundy)

Mat (Moncton)

Heather and Joe (Murray Beach)

Nathan (New Glasgow)

Alanna and Jim (Montague)

Richard, Genevieve, and Justin (Caribou-Munroes)

Amy and Bruce (Truro)

Nevin (Gaspereau)

Thor, Heather, and Magnus (Halifax)

And Jess, Zac, Jacob, and Maw for the moral support along the way. And to my parents, who despite not being the most thrilled when I told them about my plans, have been very supportive throughout this whole trip. 

This won’t be the last of my pedalling! 🚴🏽‍♀️

Days 38-39: The Ovens

From Halifax I decided to do a round trip to The Ovens, which is just south of Lunenberg. Heather had told me about The Ovens, where there are these caves on the ocean that you can hike around and camp at. So I set off on Friday morning towards Lunenberg. 

Leaving Halifax was confusing, as the signage in Nova Scotia is very poor. So after biking on a terrifying road with cars speeding past me, missing my exit, and crossing over a 4 lane highway to turn around, I finally got on the road heading in the right direction. I was just passing through suburbs for the first 25 km, until I reached Head of Saint Margarets Bay. From there, the road followed along the coast, so I got some really nice views as I went through the small communities along St. Margarets Bay. I passed by a few beaches in Queensland that were packed because of the nice weather. The road then just went through a bit of nothingness while I continued on until East River, which had a really pretty picnic park right in the water where I had lunch. 

From East River, the road started to get pretty hilly as it followed the shoreline of the Mahone Bay. It was pretty hot and the constant up and down was exhausting. By the time I got to Mahone Bay, I had already gone 100 km and had about 25 km to go. I saw a sign for the microbrewery Saltbox as I approached Mahone Bay, which I figured would be a good spot for a break. So I just pushed myself for those final 3 km by telling myself: 10 minutes to cold beer!

I sat in the shade at Saltbox and was still sweating so much. It was 5:30 PM and still somehow 35 degrees. I’ve been told that this heat is very unusual for Nova Scotia, but it’s been unrelentless. Saltbox had a lobster beer, which, as much as I like both those things, initially sounded pretty gross to me. But they let me try it, and it was actually delicious, so I ordered one of them. It was so nice to sit down and relax with a cold beer, but eventually I had to will myself to get up and continue onto The Ovens. 

I had two options, to either continue along the shoreline, or to cut straight down. I chose cutting down, as I’d save about 5 km, and then realized I made a terrible decision, as the road was full of extremely steep hills. I was running low on energy as I approached a monstrous looking hill, but there was an intersection just before it. I was really hoping that intersection would be my turnoff, as my legs did not have much left in them for yet another huge climb. Thankfully, as I got closer, I saw that it was my turnoff, so I was spared at least that one big hill. 

After that it was pretty flat, winding along the coast, passing cottages, until finally I got to the turnoff for The Ovens, and then just had 1 km of an unpaved bumpy road to reach the campground. Once I was there, I took advantage of the pool at the campground and had a dip to cool off. I pitched my tent looking out over the water and collapsed with exhaustion once I was done dinner after such a long day. 

The next morning, I had breakfast by the water and then went over to hike the caves. The town was built following the discovery of gold on this beach in 1861. The gold rush only lasted a few years though, and by 1867, the town had all but been deserted. You could walk down to some of the caves, and hear the waves crashing inside them, which was pretty cool. As I was walking along the caves, I saw the Bluenose II sailing just off the shore.

After the caves, I packed up camp and set off towards Lunenberg. The city is a UNESCO heritage site for being the best preserved British colonial settlement in North America. The houses there are all painted different colours which was cute. When I got down by the water, the Bluenose II was back in the harbour, so I saw it close up. Thor and Heather were telling me though that it’s really like the Bluenose III. Apparently the 2nd version was pretty old and dilapidated and needed to be replaced, but the government was only willing to provide funding to restore it, rather than replace it. So they pretty much rebuilt it from scratch, reusing a couple small pieces of the original skeleton, and are still calling it Bluenose II. I also saw the oldest salt boat in the country, which is a boat where they preserve the fish with salt immediately while on board. So it was a very historical morning. 

There was a bike trail that ran almost parallel to the road I had been on when I came, that was an old railroad track, so it was quite flat. I had avoided it when coming, as it wasn’t paved, but after all the hills in the area, I figured I’d hop onto it at least until East River. When I came out of the trail in Chester, it started to rain, and there was a small shop and museum there that had been a former railway station. I went in and the friendly women working there let me eat my lunch inside to get out of the rain. When I was ready to go, I geared up, and went out to brave the rain. Just before leaving I ran into a couple outside the station that I had passed earlier on in the trail. I started chatting with them and they told me they were from Truro. When I mentioned that I had just been there and stayed with the parents of a friend from Truro, she asked me who my friend was. I told her, and it turns out she worked at the high school my friend went to and knew him. So yet another small world connection on this bike trip. 

I hopped back on the trail and continued on in the rain until East River. From there I got back on the road, as the worst of the hills were over, and I can get more momentum going when I’m on a paved road. It was a pretty miserable ride back from there, as it was just pouring. My raincoat was quickly soaked through, and I could feel puddles in my shoes everytime I pedalled down. When I finally got back to my cousin’s place in Halifax, I was really glad to be able to jump into a hot shower and sleep in a real bed, rather than trying to pitch a tent in the pouring rain. I’m happy I went out to Lunenberg and The Ovens, but it was pretty far in each direction—coming back was my longest day yet. 

Halifax—The Ovens

Distance: 124 km

Elevation: 1,175 m

The Ovens—Halifax

Distance: 129 km

Elevation: 1,102 m

Days 36-37: Halifax

This was my first time in Halifax, so it’s been nice to take a couple days exploring the city. Tuesday I was happy to sleep in a bit and do some laundry before heading downtown. First I went to the Africville museum, which tells the history of the former community of Africville. It was a black community in the north of Halifax, and despite the residents paying taxes, they didn’t receive any services, and it was viewed by many outsiders as a slum. City officials first tried to drive residents out by installing a dump, a jail, and an infectious disease hospital in their neighbourhood. When that didn’t work, they came in the night and tore down the church, the heart of the community, and then evicted the residents. This history was largely ignored/covered up by the city of Halifax until 2010, when finally the city issued an official policy to the former residents and their descendants. They have now rebuilt the church and turned it into a museum about the history of the community. 

After that, I headed down to my cousin’s virtual reality cafe, Nearby Planet, and tried out VR for the first time. I’m not a huge gamer, so I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was super cool! It was crazy how realistic it seemed with the goggles on. He also showed me some of the VR videos he’s made which was pretty cool. 

I then headed downtown and walked upto the Citadel to get a view of the city, before going down to the boardwalk to walk along the water. The boardwalk was really nice, if a bit touristy, and had a bunch of informational panels about the Halifax Explosion and the history of seafaring in the province. I finally meandered my way down to Pier 21, where the Canadian Museum of Immigration is, but it was closing soon, so I didn’t go in. Once I started heading back towards Nearby Planet, I saw a bunch of historical buildings and then a bunch of microbreweries. 

I came back to Pier 21 this morning and spent a few hours there. They had a temporary exhibit on refugees, which I thought was done really well. They had it organized thematically, rather than chronologically, so there was content about the Nazis and the Pinochet era next to content on the Syrian refugee crisis, which I thought was effective at showing the parallels between historical and current day events. Upstairs they had two permanent exhibits, one on the history of Pier 21 itself, and one on the history of immigration both in Canada and globally. I spent the whole morning there and thought the exhibits were really well done and balanced in their presentations. 

There is a farmers market next to Pier 21, so I went in there to grab lunch afterwards. Donairs are the official food of Halifax, so I figured I should try one. They’re similar to a shawarma, but the meat is like made into meatloaf first and then sliced, and instead of tahini they have donair sauce, which consists of condensed milk, vinegar, and sugar. It was disgusting. The meat was a really weird texture, and the sauce was so sweet. I really don’t understand the appeal; I would take a falafel or shawarma over that any day. 

After recovering from my lunch mishap, Thor took me over to meet some of his friends at a yacht club who took me sailing! We went out for a couple hours along the south arm, and saw the weekly race put on by one of the clubs. The weather was perfect, and it was so nice to be out on the water again—Matt, the skipper, even let me steer for a bit!

Overall my time in Halifax so far has just been great. I hadn’t seen Heather and Thor in a long time, so it’s been nice hanging out with them and exploring the city along the way. Heather has camped all over the province, so she has been telling me places in the area that I should check out while I’m here. So on her recommendation, I’ll be heading to The Ovens in Lunenberg tomorrow. 

Day 35: Gaspereau — Halifax

I could not get moving this morning. After sleeping in, I had a very slow start, and didn’t finish packing up until about 11. Once I hit the road, I had to head back to Windsor before continuing onto Halifax. I stopped at the Tims there for a snack and to use the wifi, because it turns out downloading different navigational apps really ate up my data and I’m almost at my limit. While I was there, a man on the patio started chatting with me and asking all about my trip. He thought what I’m doing is so cool, but was surprised I was out biking on such a hot day (I think it was the high 30s with the humidex). I have to say, as much as I normally love the heat, I did find biking all day in this heat to be a bit insufferable, but I’d rather take the heat than the cold any day. 

From Windsor I took the highway 1 which cuts straight down to the south shore of the province. And along the route I had to pass over Mount Uniacke. It was nowhere near as steep as the mountain I had to climb to get to Cape Split, but it did seem never ending. At least I was getting some nice views, but the view of forests gets old pretty quickly, so once I reached Lakelands, at the top of the mountain, I was seriously happy to see something other than trees. It was really pretty up there, and it looked like a lot of people had cottages around the various lakes. I was tempted to go cool off in one, but it seemed the access to all the lakes was through private property. Also, since I had such a late start to the day, I figured I should keep going to Halifax. 

I stopped in the town of Mount Uniacke to eat and was texting my cousin who I’m staying with in Halifax.  He scared me into thinking I had another mountain to climb after Uniacke, but that didn’t end up being the case (he thought I was on a different highway), so at least I just had to cross over the one mountain today. 

I have come to realize over the past few days though that Nova Scotian drivers are terrible. There’s not a shoulder on a significant number of the roads here, but I was staying on the old highway, which runs parallel to the new multi-lane highway, so I feel like if drivers are in a huge rush, they should just go on the big highway instead of ripping past cyclists on the only road that we can be on. It’s like the drivers here never got the memo that they’re required to give cyclists a one metre berth when passing. All the other provinces I’ve been in the drivers have generally been very considerate towards me, and then the Nova Scotians just seem to get road rage anytime they have to share the road with a slower vehicle. Like some of them squeeze past me so close I could probably touch them, rather than waiting the 10 extra seconds for oncoming cars to pass and then go around. I’ve seen cyclists in Toronto riding around with pool noddles strapped on their back rack to remind cars how much distance they need to give while passing. After today’s ride, I want to get a noodle that extends 90 cm out from my bike with a razor blade on the end, so the next time a car tries to dangerously squeeze past me, they’ll fuck up their car in the process. 

Once I started getting close to Halifax I recognized the generic suburbia that I have to pass through to get to most large cities...the big box stores, the multi-lane roads with no cycling infrastructure and drivers who are seemingly shocked to see anyone outside of a car, the sub-developments full of cookie-cutter houses, the soulessness... I had to pass through that for a solid 90 minutes before reaching Halifax proper. Finally I made it to my cousin’s neighbourhood. All that stood between me and his house was a terrifying multi-lane roundabout, and a really steep hill. It seems as though many of my days end with steep hills, which feel ten times worse than they really are when they come after the 100 km mark. But finally I made it to Thor and Heather’s place, where they welcomed me with a bbq, beer, and a real bed indoors. I’m going to spend a few days exploring the area here, and enjoy being with family and a place to sleep that actually has walls. 

Total distance: 106 km

Total elevation: 1,166 m

Day 34: Cape Split

I did a day trip today from Gaspereau which was great, because I got to leave all my gear behind and ride my bike without being fully loaded. The whole reason I came to Gaspereau in the first place is because my friend in Toronto, who’s originally from Wolfville, had said that the Cape Split hike was amazing, and that I should definitely do it while in Nova Scotia. 

So before I left, I took just the essentials, threw them into a backpack, and strapped it onto my back rack. To get from Gaspereau to Wolfville I had to go over a ridge, but Nevin had warned me that it was nothing compared to the ascent I would have to do closer to Scots Bay. 

I didn’t see much of Wolfville, as I biked straight to the bike trail on the north side of the town which took me all the way to the highway I needed to take. From there I went through a few different towns as I approached the ominous sounding town “The Lookoff.” And then the climb began. It was 30 degrees and this ascent was so steep and just kept going and going. Usually with these steep climbs there are at least some flat bits to temper the incline, but with this, it was turn after turn after turn of just going straight up. I was really happy I didn’t have a loaded up bike at this point. 

As I was going up, I was thinking that Rick never mentioned this mountain to me when he told me about Scots Bay. But when I finally got to the top and saw the view, I realized that it was so worth the climb. You could see over all the towns below, as well as into the Minas Basin, which is part of the Bay of Fundy. And there was an ice cream shop at the top! At this point in my trip, I have convinced myself that daily ice cream is part of a healthy and balanced diet...I might need to reassess that when my trip is over, but I definitely got my fill of ice cream at the top after that climb. 

After climbing that steep mountain though, I had to go back down the other side to get to the trailhead. Which normally is the best reward after a hard climb, but knowing I had to go up and back down that mountain again to get back to Gaspereau was a little daunting. I finally got to Scots Bay, where the trailhead for Cape Split is, and already the view along the shore was beautiful. 

The signage welcoming you to the park said that the hike was about 8 km in each direction and would take 4-5 hours round trip. It was already 1:30, and I still had to bike back to Gaspereau at the end of the day, so I was a little nervous for timing, but figured even if I had to bike back late, this is the whole reason I came to this region in the first place. There were a fair number of people there, I guess because of the long weekend, but a lot of them just came and saw the view at the trailhead and then left, discouraged by the posted length of the hike. 

Once I got started, I realized it was a fairly easy walk. It was through the forest, which was nice, but nothing out of this world. I passed a fair number of people, some that were even taking breaks to rest even though it was a mostly flat walk that was under 10 km in each direction, with a shade cover. So this is when I started to realize it wasn’t going to take me 4-5 hours to complete the hike. 

I had started on the hike at 1:40, and by 3 I reached the end, which opened out onto this incredible cliff top point on the Bay of Fundy. We were so high up with a few rock formations just separated from where we could walk to, which were covered with birds, in front of a backdrop of the vast Bay of Fundy. It was pretty awesome. 

I stayed at the point for a bit, had a snack, and took a bunch of photos, before heading back. When I got back out to the other side, I saw that the round trip had only taken me two and a half hours (excluding the time I spent at the cliffs), so I feel like they should adjust their signs to be relevant to more than just the least fit person on the planet. 

Once I was ready to head back, I was trying to psych myself up for the mountain climb, and then when I got going, I realized it was not bad at all. Whereas the other side had been a super steep climb, this side had a mix of climbs and descents to get up, so I had momentum to get me up half the ascents. I was feeling fine by the time I got to the top, but figured I should probably get a 2nd ice cream now that I was up there. The girl working at the ice cream shop also refilled my water for me. And now that I was at the top of the mountain, I realized it would be super easy to get back.

I sailed down the mountain, reaching speeds of 45+ km/hr which felt awesome, and ripped through the community of Canning. Once I got to Wolfville, I came up off the bike path I was on a little earlier so I could actually see a bit of the town. The town itself only has about 3,500 permanent residents, but it doubles in size during the school year with Acadia there. For a small town though, it has a lot going on. There were a bunch of cute little shops and cafes and pubs with patios. I guess because it’s a hub for the surrounding communities, and also there are so many tourists in the summer because of the wineries, they must support the economy quite a bit. 

After Wolfville, I was only 5 km from Gaspereau, and the little ridge I had to cross over (less than 100 m climb) seemed effortless after going over the mountain twice today. Once I got back and made dinner, Nevin invited me to join him and some friends to watch fireworks for Canada Day. They came and picked me up and took me to a neighbouring town to meet up with a few more people. Once we were parked, we started heading towards the park where the fireworks would be. Just as we got to the park, a few fireworks went off, so we thought they were warning shots for the start of the show. But then they just kept going, putting off an entire arsenal of fireworks over the course of just a few minutes. It looked great while it was happening, but it was super short...I don’t know if they accidentally ignited them all at once or if that was the town’s intention, but it was a little disappointing how quickly they ended. We just ended up hanging out at one of their friends’ places for a bit before heading back to Gaspereau. Despite the fireworks being a bit of a letdown, I saw some pretty spectacular views today, so I wasn’t too bummed out about it, and I enjoyed hanging out with Nevin and his friends. Cape Split was such a great recommendation—I’m glad I made the detour. 

Total distance: 81 km

Total elevation: 988 m