Nova Scotia or Bust!

[paulfj03]

After dinner it was getting dark out so we were just going to head back to the cabins and relax/crash....  Along the way, on Main St., there was a Timmies, so we had to stop in there....

WOW!  What a day!

[paulfj03]

Tuesday July 23: Day 4

The plan for the day was to relax, enjoy a ride on the 'Mini Breton' lead by Big H, and then head out for a tour of the
shore line and for a nice barbecue at his place.  Rain was in the forcast for some time early afternoon, so we had to get
in as much riding as possible before then.  We all had breakfast at the mini restaurant in the owners' home.  They did the
cooking and serving and it was just like a 'bed and breakfast' . Homey, quick..., good food.... excellent!  Wifi was available
there too.  That was a bonus as I had no phone reception there.

Big H showed up on his 90 and we all got ready for the ride and headed out.



The Mini Breton was an amazing road!!! Big hills with the tight curves.   When we neared the end of the peninsula Big H led us up a gravel road to some steep hills .  Up and down we went on this gravel road.  The gravel was loose, and the inclines were steep, so we took our time, and.... wondered where the heck we were being taken to... LOL.  We came to a scenic lookout called Cape D'Or.  The sights were amazing!  The shoreline there was made up of high cliffs and we would have a closer look at from down below at the light house. 





Looking down at the light house and cafe halfway down to the water:


We all walked down the trail to the bottom and took some pictures, and .... almost went swimming..




4cross decided to climb down to the point


He would have to be quick... the tide was moving in fast


About 15-20 minutes later, the plateau he was standing on, was under water (this pic is without the zoom lens).


The tide came in quick on GP.  He almost got wet.



After a drink and a snack at the cafe, we made the trek back up the trail to the lookout and the bikes. A slow and careful ride back to the hardtop would prove uneventful , and we would continue on hwy 209 around the cape.


Around the other side of the cape, the road would not hug the coast as much and it would straighten out just enough for us to pick up the pace nicely. Traffic was almost nil. We only had to pull over once for GP there as he was trying out the larger fuel filter on his bike.... it wasn't working as it had starved the carbs... so, quickly he by passed it until we got back to base camp. 

Roadside pics




When he fired the ninja up again he led us on the way back on a brisk fun ride.  We had lunch at the only restaurant in a hamlet called Joggins.  It was pouring rain when it was time to head back.  I was the only rider who had neglected to bring a rainsuit! Man, did I get soaked and cold. It rained so hard all the way that the 20 minute ride turned into a 45 minute one. We made it back though, crisp and clean, no caffeine!

[Firehawk068]

I love the pics, and the ride report.......................Sometimes I miss being near the coast, but I sure do love the Rocky Mountains...............
Excellent post!

[paulfj03]

When we arrived back to the cabins, the owner made good on his offer to store all our bikes is his garage to keep them out of the rain. Wow! He was serious... slowly but surely we fit all 7 bikes into the half of their garage.  "As long as there is room for the mrs to pull her car in." The owners were really nice people! He collected a few liscence plates too....

We got the bikes in.... no prob!








In an hour or 2, big H , and Mrs Big H, would bring a couple of vehicles to pick us all up to take us out to their place for a nice barbecue.
On the way there we stopped into the local grocery store and stocked up on the necessities.... such as steaks and beverages and snacks... We were treated to a tour of the shoreline by their home too.  We were taken to a local dock to see how it and a local's boat dealt with the tides going up and down so much.  I think the pictures tell the whole story... We all took lots.
low tide:



A muddy Bay floor:



Compared to high tides:

The same dock:

The bay inlet is full



After digesting the tides there, we loaded back up and headed to Mr and Mrs Big H's home just up the road.

[paulfj03]

Their home is a beautiful spot with a view of the changing tides that are less than 100ft in front.  We relaxed, and had a few laughs, and relaxed some more on the front porch while taking in the view and the fresh air.




At the end of his driveway, across the road, is an inlet of the bay during low tide.



Then high tide:




I loved the genuine 1970's rotary dial telephone they had there!!!! So Cool!!


Zigzag gave us an excellent demo on how to use it!


We ate an awesome meal there and relaxed..... then it was time to head back to the cabins.  
We partied on like crazy when we got back!!!


GOOD TIMES!!

[paulfj03]

Day 5: Wednesday July 24/13. Parrsboro, N.S.

On my list of 'must do's' in the maritimes on the FJ is to ride the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton.  I was hoping to be able to cross that off my list on this trip. Wednesday was another relax, or ride, or visit day, so it was a perfect time to look into it. I also had a relative in Halifax that I wanted to catch up with and I was hoping to fit that in too.  Some of the group was going to have a 'down day', and some were going to do some bike maintenance.

I was in the mood for another good ride and 4cross was keen as well. As much as we wanted to, though, the Trail was just not in the cards.  After looking at the travel time to get there (even on the FJ), completing the Trail, and making it back to Parrsboro, we were looking at a 12 to 14 hour day. The kicker was the damp weather...... and the chance of riding through rain here and there just didnt 'turn our crank'.

We looked at a ride on the Mini Breton locally, again, or a possible run to Prince Edward Island.  After looking at the weather in the area of the island, we decided to make that run. We would cross the Confederation Bridge from the mainland over to the island.  The bridge is a 13+ km ride out over the ocean.... a pretty cool ride in itself! A small town called Cavendish, on the far (east) side of the island, had a nice beach and tourist attractions.  It seemed like a great spot to see, take a rest, and stick our toes in the Atlantic.

Checking air pressures before the PEI run:



So, with a plan, now , we fed and watered our steeds and prepared for a fun ride. I borrowed John's scala that was already
paired with 4cross' so we could communicate the whole way. It is a G9 that fit and worked fine in the G4's cradle attached
to my helmet.  Too easy!   If I recall correctly, the rest of the gang would visit Big H again, look for a message parlour, and
complete some maintenance on the bikes.

The run to P.E.I. would prove to be an exciting, fast run for 4cross and I as the weather cleared more and more as we
neared the bridge, and the traffic was light. At fuel up in Parrsboro, however, I happened to check my tire pressures
and had to top up the front alot more than normal.... hmmmm.... I thought at the time that I should keep an eye on that...

By the time we were ready it was close to noon, but the island wasnt that far away and we werent going to stay long.
The ride to the bridge had us riding out on the roads we rode in on and I really noticed here how awesome the roads were!
We made very good time out to the big highway, and then from the exit to the bridge on hwy #16. That was a fairly straight
road and the wind was behind us, so the bridge came pretty quick.

Awesome! The weather had then cleared, the sun was shining and there was no humidity.  Perfect!!  Surprisingly, the traffic
on the bridge was almost nil, so we could poke along, take pictures, try to knock a few seagulls off the side railings, watch the
mainland dissappear, and PEI get larger in front of us...  In a car, it is hard to see over the sides of the bridge, but,
sitting up on a bike, ... the view is much better!!!!

Crossing the Confederation Bridge
On the horizon is Prince Edward Island


New Brunswick in the background


4cross was getting very good with the camera, and I wasnt worried about my picture happy habit anymore....



Almost there


When we arrived on the island, we took some pictures, and set the gps to get us to Cavendish using the backroads, only....
It is not really a big island, so getting lost was not really an issue. If you went to the wrong end of the island you would
still only have a 30 to 60min drive.  

Confederation Bridge, Prince Edward Island



So we set off... those backroads to Cavendish were amazing! They werent tight twisties but nice hilly sweepers that had
beautiful views!!  We kept a decent pace and chatted all the way...

[X-Ray]

Fantastic! Great write up and pics.

That tidal inlet looked pretty wacky. So the green grass that gets covered by seawater stays alive? Talk about adapting to conditions, lol.

[paulfj03]

Fantastic! Great write up and pics.

That tidal inlet looked pretty wacky. So the green grass that gets covered by seawater stays alive? Talk about adapting to conditions, lol.

Yeh!   The grass is called sea grass. ....... Pretty cool eh?

[fj johnnie]

 So the day that GP and 4cross went to PEI I ( fj johnnie ) was left behind to keep track of all the happenings. We all got up later than usual on Wednesday as it was a late night Tuesday. As you could see in the pics from Wags we stayed up and partied hard. At least until 11. I know crazy eh?
GP had an idea to add drain lines to his carbs so at each fuel stop he could drain out the rusty crap in his float bowls, without dripping fuel onto a hot motor.  I had to replace two bolts which had broke on my Givi rack which I custom built. ( Turns out Ikea furniture bolts were not as strong as I thought they would be ) . Flyboy wanted to go to Halifax for a massage/ manicure/ pedicure/ coffee enema or something. Smoky and the Bandit needed to do laundry, tighten Suzie's chain and do some chillin. Also it turned out that Smoky's Suzie did not like the rain and refused to turn over.
GP headed to the NAPA store to get some fuel line and fuel filters. They were small, and cheap so he bought extra. As he was re-assembling his Ninja he showed Wags and I the extra line coming from his fuel petcock that he didn't know where to put. Wouldn't you know the Ninja has a vacuum operated petcock similar to the 84-87 FJ. Naturally we gave him a tutorial on the petcock. I am sure he listened attentively as everyone does when we wax on about our FJ's. GP disassembled said petcock , removed all the debris etc and re-assembled everything with his new fuel drainage lines.
While doing this work I managed to find a local garage with the bolts I needed. (Napa did not have them but sent me to someone who did.) My rack was quickly re-installed and was better than when new. Also Flyboy quickly realized that manicures, pedicures, massages  etc  where not a popular in Nova Scotia as in perhaps Tokyo or Singapore. Or wherever he's from. So he went to an airport to look at plane porn. Not plain porn!!
So all our repairs were made and all we needed to do was tighten Suzies chain. Well Suzie did not have a  wrench to fit her wheel nut so off she went as a damsel in distress to see if someone in town could tighten it for her. Although the garage had the tools they refused to work on motorcycles. Lucky for the damsel BigH happened to be riding by. He convinced them to lend her the tools and did it for her. While her chain was being attended to GP, myself and Flyboy drove to the same garage to get fuel. GP undid his gas cap, removed the key and set them on his gloves.  Which were real close to the open tank. Can anyone guess what happened next? Sure  enough the keys fell right to the bottom of his tank. At this point I wanted to tell him he should have a floating key chain. As he was none too happy I kept my sense of humor in check, if only temporarily. The garage lent him a magnet on a stick but to no avail. So we went to get the spare key I made everyone bring and he was at least able to drive back to the cottages. Once there he got a coat hanger and promptly fished them out.

[paulfj03]

So the day that GP and 4cross went to PEI ...

Ooops... That's Wags and 4cross went to PEI.
... Hard to keep track eh...

Sure  enough the keys fell right to the bottom of his tank. At this point I wanted to tell him he should have a floating key chain. As he was none too happy I kept my sense of humor in check, if only temporarily.

Man, that's hilarious!! What he will do for attention! LOL!


Big H tightening Smokey's chain

[paulfj03]

Day 5 : Wednesday July 24, 2013 cont'd

Maintenance on bikes back at the cabins




3 FJs at the cabins

[fj johnnie]

 Looks like BigH is getting a hole in his haircut.

[paulfj03]

Day 5: Wednesday July 24/13. Parrsboro, N.S.  ... the PEI ride cont'd

We rolled into Cavendish and, of course, we homed in on the beach there.  I had heard it was a large beautiful beach and a must see the next time I was onto PEI.  It is located in the Prince Edward Island National Park.  We parked the bikes and headed down to the water to check it out and get some pictures.  It was fairly full at the time and the water wasnt too bad.  A beautiful day!

This day was also 4cross' 25th birthday!! What a great ride to do on a birthday... Prince Edward Island's backroads and the
Confederation Bridge in the maritmes, Canada.  JohnnieV also tells me it is a milestone for him too.  On this day 25 years ago he returned home from his motorcycle trip to Victoria, BC with his brother and a buddy..., and then later that same evening he met his future wife! Very cool!

Cavendish Beach



The beach sand dunes in the background


Prince Edward Island National Park


We got lots of pictures and I did dip my toes into the Atlantic... and looked to see if I could see Newfoundland...lol.  Nope.
We then were ready for a bite and a drink and since time was a factor, we decided to eat back at the tourist shops closer to town.  We were going to ride around the south end of the island back to the bridge and hopefully get the same type of riding in. 

On the way there, however, we saw a few cars pulled over with people taking pictures of some thing along the roadside...
We stopped and had a look and took some of our own pictures of 3-4 foxes watching us, and waiting for some more tourists to throw food at them. Cute eh?



Since no one tossed food or snacks to them, one fox thought he would give us his regards:


We then rode on and stopped and grabbed a bite.  Then we filled our tanks and set the GPS again to take the back roads back to the bridge around the island as best we could.  The rush hour traffic was starting to build and get in the way, ...but we did pretty good for getting around it. The sun was starting to get a bit lower in the sky as we paid the toll to get back to the mainland.  Its free and easy to get onto the island, but not as free and easy to get off.... Sort of like Australia? ....no?.....LOL!

The ride back on the bridge was just as fun and we took our time again since the traffic was light.... Back on the mainland in New Brunswick we made very good time heading back to Parrsboro.  The roads were awesome riding off the main highway again. However, I remember thinking , is it just me? or is the front end of my bike stiffening up a hair? I wasnt going to stop and check as we were having too much fun, and we were almost there.

Back at the cabins the gang was there outside as we pulled up. We all exchanged stories of the day over a cold one, as they had had an eventful day too.

Happy Birthday 4cross!!



After getting settled I thought it might be a good idea to head into town, fuel up my bike for the ride to Maine tomorrow, and grab a pizza or 2 for us to munch on.  I went to the end of the main street and since I didnt see anything, yet, I turned around and headed back.  The stores didnt seem to be open....  Well, I saw some fellas outside at Timmies and they looked like locals that would know...
The small town shut down for the evening pretty quick as usual.  They mentioned that the pizza place closed at 6pm, as did the only gas station!  Wow! I was directed to a grocery/convenience store up the street that may still be open.  The may have food there...

Well, instead of coming back with pizzas and a full tank of gas, I came back with frozen pizza pockets and sausages for the microwave.LOL

I would have to get fuel in the morning, too!


Another great day!!                  Time to Shut her down.








 

[Capn Ron]

I wanted to thank you for this trip write-up...It brings back such great memories!!!  I took the ferry over to PEI on my FJ...spent three days riding around, camping, enjoying the sights and taking in the warm hospitality of the locals there.  Great trip report!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[fj johnnie]

 Correction Mr Wagar. 25 years prior I was riding the east coast when 4cross was born. On an FJ 1200.