DAY 79: KENTVILLE TO HALIFAX, 123 KM

19 August 2007

We've done it--we've finished cycling across Canada!

I quite enjoyed today's ride, knowing it was the last of the trip. The day was sunny, and the terrain was awesome--scattered with short, steep climbs and descents. I had loads of energy, and the ride seemed to go by quite quickly, despite having made a few wrong turns thanks to some poorly-marked highway junctions.

As we approached Halifax, we stopped at a visitor's centre to find out where the hostels were. Apparently, Halifax is very busy in the summer, and all of the hostels were booked solid. The lady at the info centre recommended we stay in the residence at Mount St. Vincent University, just outside of town. We rode the final 20 km of our trip, facing an extremely steep climb into the residence building, which was literally on top of a "mount".

So, now we're finished. And it feels... well, anticlimactic. I mean, we arrived at Mount St. Vincent, and it felt just like we'd finished another day of cycling; the only difference was that there are to be no more days of cycling after this. Perhaps if we'd gone down to the water to dip our tires (this didn't happen because the beach was out of our way, and it was getting late--we did it the next day), or had a crowd of people welcome us to the city (this didn't happen because... well, we're just not famous enough) it would have been different. But we were too tired to experience the emotions that I'd imagine many cross-Canada cyclists feel upon completion of their journey. We were too tired to feel excitement or a sense of accomplishmet, to party, to have a crazy night out. We went downtown and had an amazing meal at the Economy Shoe Box, a trendy little bar owned by the father of the drummer of the Trews. When we told our waiter what we had just fnished doing, he gave us two free pitchers of some excellent Nova Scotia beer. All in all, we had a good night and felt quite satisfied with ourselves.

Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you to everyone who has been kind to us along the way. You have been so generous--opening your doors to us for a night or two, feeding us (no small feat!), offering anything of use. You have expressed such a keen interest in our trip, offered words of advice, shared your knowledge. You have made this trip worthwhile, and shown us that Canada is a beautiful country inhabited by amazing people.

Finally, thanks to all who have been following my blog. Your reading this makes my writing worthwhile and fun! Perhaps there will be more blogging to come!

DAY 78: UPPER GRANVILLE TO KENTVILLE, 76 KM

18 August 2007

What a miserable day for cycling! It began with a light rain, which turned into a heavier downpour, and then a full-blown thunderstorm. We rode 10 km before stopping at a visitor's centre to warm up and hope for it to blow over. It didn't, so we visited the nearby library to use the computers for a while, and then sat in Tim Horton's and ate way too much food.

Finally, we forced ourselves to move. This ride wasn't going to be pleasant, but it had to be done; we were just too close to Halifax to spend too much time dilly-dallying. So, we toughed it out. We went outside, got on our bikes, and pedalled as hard as we could to warm up. Although our energy soon faded, we persevered, and took only one quick bathroom break for 60 km of riding.

By the time we were nearing Kentville, my whole body ached and I couldn't feel my feet. I was so looking forward to reaching some little restaurant or coffee shop that we could warm up in before pitching our tents, when I decided to ride over some tiny, sharp object that punctured my inner tube. As soon as we pulled over to change the tube, it started to really pour hard. Once we finished the repair, we decided to stop at the first restaurant we saw, which happened to be yet another Chinese-Canadian place.

A change of clothes, a few pots of tea and some dinner and dessert were just what we needed to feel better. We sat in the restaurant for quite a while, before deciding that it was really high time we sought out a camping spot. Luckily, we found a nearby field covered in long grasses that made for a cushy mattress. Tomorrow we finish our trip!

DAY 77: ST. JOHN TO UPPER GRANVILLE, 57 KM

17 August 2007

Since we had camped outside the ferry docks last night, all we had to do this morning was get up, buy our tickets, pack up our stuff and get on board. The ferry left at 9:00, and we had a nice cruise across the Bay of Fundy into Digby, Nova Scotia. Once we reached Digby, we bought some more propane and made some pasta for lunch. Then, we bought our groceries for the evening and the following morning. By the time we actually got cycling, it was almost 4. The ride was so scenic, and we were dying to go for a swim, so we decided early on to take it easy and spend three days traveling the ~250 km into Halifax, rather than just two. We stopped at a nice rest area, went swimming, and had food. We pitched our tents there, and went to bed. In the middle of the night, we had visitors: a group of teenagers had decided to pull up, beam their headlights at our tent, and honk--loudly, and many times. Luckily, they were harmless, and left after a few minutes.