A Quick Recap

Sorry about the lack of posts in the past few days. Throughout Quebec and New Brunswick, Internet access has been difficult to come by. Here's a quick recap of the past few days!

Day 53: A day off in Montreal! Cam and Christine rented a car to visit Cam's grandparents while Jennica and Alisha toured around downtown Montreal with Jennica's friend from Canada World Youth, Lysanne. It was a really hot day (44 degrees once the humidex was added)! A huge storm that night made us really happy to be inside!


Day 54: Montreal to Louiseville

Distance: 120 km

This morning we rode out of Montreal, which took much longer then expected. As we were riding, we got another downpour which made camping seem not so appeasing. We therefore decided to hit up a motel room for a night. You never knew 5 people + gear could fit in a single room!


Day 55: Louiseville to Neuville

Distance: 132km

Today we were able to see the beautiful Quebec landscape!! There are so many cute towns along the way and they are all so historic. Some of the churches were built in the late 1800's!

Day 56: Neuville to Quebec City

Distance: 136km

This morning we slept in a little then rode into Quebec City to the University of Laval where we spent a couple of nights in the residence. After a little laundry and dropping off bikes at a bike store for a tune-up, we took in downtown Quebec City! We walked around the old part of Quebec City, looking in stores and getting authentic french food.

Day 57: Quebec City OFF

Today we took the day off to enjoy the "Fete de la Nouvelle France", a festival looking at Quebec's history before it became an English colony. Many people were dressed up in costumes of the period and there were performers, food, wine tasting and shows (too bad the shows were in French.....). As well, Cam, Christine and Alisha took a walking tour around the citadel, learning about some of the military history of Quebec.



Day 58: Quebec City to St. Jean Port Joli

Distance: 108km

After a challenging time getting out of the city, including a flat tire and a ferry ride, we got to tour more of the Quebec landscape. This time, we were on the south shore of the St. Laurent. An excellent ride, the landscape was flat and the houses were so cute! This evening we even camped along the St. Laurent.



Day 59: St. Jean Port Joli to St. Antonin

Distance: 110.4km

Today we headed East until Riviere-du-Loup then headed South towards New Brunswick. We met another cyclist today, Evelyn, who is a Masters student at the University of Laval and who is touring the maritimes. We even took in some of the TransCanada Trail tonight on the way to our campsite.


Day 60: St. Antonin to Edmunston

Distance: 115 km

Last night we had tons of rain but today was beautiful and sunny! Today we rode into New Brunswick and were re-introduced to some hills, as well as introduced to a new time zone. We are now on Atlantic Standard Time. This has been the easiest time zone to adjust to as we are all so tired....feeling asleep at 9pm is no problem at all....

A Special thank you to Bob and Tammy at Iroquis River Campground. This is their first year of running the campground, and they gave us a special deal as fundraising cyclists! If you are ever in Edmunston, check it out! The facilities are great (with recycling!)


Day 61: Edmunston to Bath
Distance: 135km

We took the scenic route on the old highway from Grandfalls and met some short, steep hills. Beautiful farmland.

Thank you SO MUCH to Pearl and Lloyd McNair (Jennica's friend, Nicole's grandparents) for putting us up at their house and feeding us a lovely meal in Bath.


Day 62: Bath to Hawkshaw

Distance: 101km

Visited Hartland where we went through the world's longest covered bridge!
After this, we were back on the #2 were we again experienced the hills of New Brunswick. Did anyone mention how cold it has gotten since we have been here? It has reminded me of our first couple of weeks in BC with showers, sunny periods and some cold breezes.


Day 63: Hawkshaw to Cole's Island

Distance: 156km

Our longest distance yet! A quick visit in Fredricton and then off to Cole's Island on the old highway. It was longer than we expected so we arrived really late, but the route was beautiful! Really flat for the first stretch along the St. John river and than into some little hills through the country.

Thank you to Nicole's aunt and uncle, Allan and Marg McNair, for looking out for us on our late ride, and making us feel really at home during our 14 hour rest! (And to John, their son, for his bike mechanic skills and his effort to give us free help !)


Day 64: Cole's Island to Moncton

Distance: 105km

Alisha's grandparents, George and Margaret came all the way to Cole's Island to pick up our gear - what a relaxing break! We leisurely left the McNairs about 1130, and headed out on the old highway which was pretty flat.

Jennica says she isn't superstitious but after saying at breakfast about her touring tires and having had no flats.... she ended up with a front flat in the morning and a rear flat just rolling into the house that evening! What luck!

We also visited magnetic hill, as all tourists must do - and yes it does work on the bike!


Day 65: Moncton

Distance: 0km

Alisha, Klara and Jennica went to Shediac with Margaret for "Summer Church". We were lucky to be there on the one day in the summer when a men's quartet comes to sing! They were fantastic!

Went out to Hopewell Rocks to see the flowerpots - these are in the Bay of Fundy where the largest tides are in the world (?) Of course the weather was unpredictable with a fair amount of rain throughout the day, but luckily it cleared up enough to take the little trail down to walk on the ocean floor at low tide!


Day 66: Moncton, NB to New Glasgow, PEI

Distance: 132km

George again drove all our gear out to meet us at Confederation Bridge (which i must says makes our day a lot easier!) A nice easy 85 km to the bridge where we hopped on the free shuttle (with a bike trailer of course) across the 12km bridge.

What a neat environment that met us on the other side! An open-air musician was "playing in the park" and the little village of stores was bustling with people. We looked around for a bit before we got on our bikes to head North the 45 km to friends of Alisha's family, Jim and Betty's bed and breakfast.

A beautiful dinner awaited us (they operate a certified organic farm ) with fresh, organic veggies! Delicious! Thank you so much!

If we don't have internet access for a bit....I'll let you in on the secret schedule....we plan to leave PEI on wednesday morning and head into Nova Scotia. If all goes well, we will be on the boat heading to the wonderful province of New Foundland on Friday (14 hours at sea!).

Before you know it, we will be at home, sitting drinking tea together and sharing photos and summer stories! Thanks for being so patient and checking in on how we are doing!