New France New Scotland

[GB]

I hope your high and dry after hurricane igor passed close by..

[yellowknife]

Tuesday I took the Canso causeway to Irvings for Breakfast, had coffee in Antigonish with two ladies riding back to Ontario, and then weaved my way to Moncton on Route 6. The G.P. was needing some mechanical love in the form of the 10 k check and new tires. My dealer said I could choose Tourances or nothing so I went with the Metzlers. I must say they do a better job then the factory continentals.

Wednesday afternoon the bike was ready to ride and into the storm I rode. Hail and torrential rain are my excuse for no pictures as I made my way to Truro to resume the traveling. The next destination is the French Shore and New France - to the SW corner of Nova Scotia. First up - Mavillette. The temperature this morning was 5 Celsius and I must admit it was testy. The operative word today is Coffee - hot and lots of it.



This is the view of the town from the seaside restaurant. The beach is long and wide. The sand is great. Obviously you can see the crowds were out in force on such a warm day. Different view of same sand.



Here is the fishing fleet. Aline - the owner of the restaurant told me a few interesting things. This area is the breeding ground area for lobster. The king of taste in fish - Halibut is caught here in June and is served fresh at here fine establishment. She also offers fresh - Tuna, Scallops, and crab.




Being adventurist to a point I wanted some French food, since seafood is always available to me. I was hoping for meat pie, but it wasn't available so I took a chance of "Rappie".



Ok - I know what your thinking - mmmmmm that looks good. And you would be right if you were French. Lets just say that this potato and chicken dish is an acquired taste. I added molasses to it and it did help a bit when washed down with large glasses of ginger ale. Next time I am going to have seafood.

[yellowknife]

Originally Posted by Gadget Boy

I hope your high and dry after hurricane igor passed close by..

We only saw some bands of clouds high up but the hurricane mostly gave us a miss this time. I am in the Annapolis Valley which saw more of hurricane Earl. Weather this weekend is calling for a twisted throttle with gusts up to 80 miles per hour which is the best one can wish for...

YK

[yellowknife]

I do believe Mavillette Beach does not allow motor vehicles on it, but kids being kids - two outlaws decided to do some wheelies the length of the beach. This guy cartwheeled his ATV and of course his helmet was not tied down so it flew a mile as did he. Luckily he didn't get hurt and this pic shows him walking to the scene of the accident. I would love to tell him to tie the helmet on but it is too hard to push a rope if you get the drift...

[yellowknife]

The best part of today was riding the number 1 highway back to Digby from Mavillette. You will pass through a ton of fishing villages. St. Anne university is on this route with one of the largest wooden churches in North America here. I hope some of you appreciate the architecture of the next few pictures. It is quite a building.

[yellowknife]

Saint Bernard is home to one of the largest Stone Churches in North America.







The one item that really struck me about this next picture was the spectacular view. This place was absolutely beautiful and peaceful. Perhaps the perfect spot to gather ones thoughts about living.

[yellowknife]

It appears my ritin skils are lackin cause i messed up.
Before Mavillette was Smugglers Cove. I apologize for this error and being a non drinker I cannot blame it on the local rum. Nevertheless during prohibition in the USA it was not uncommon for smugglers to smuggle fire water from Nova Scotia to the USA.

Smugglers Cove had this well concealed cave (60 feet long by 15 feet high) for storing liquor in until delivery could be arranged to the thirsty folks in the south. The history of pirates and rum runners extends through all parts of Nova Scotia. Here are some pics of this particular area. I was hoping the tide would go out for some inside shots but it was not meant to be. For scale look to the building on top of the hill. This is a big Rum Cave



Here is a placard with the history.

[yellowknife]

New France - (Electric City) - Here is a link to an interesting Wiki Article

The linked in story explains the history - Basically French folks fleeing their home due to an evil government. History always repeats itself.

The daily plan was to ride to New France and tour around. The 7 am temperature was a brisk plus 5 Celsius again. One hour into the ride I hit a local coffee shop to defrost. Here is a pic just past the coffee shop showing lots of fog on the bay which is just starting to burn off.



The turnoff is on hwy 101 into Weymouth. Here is a shot of an abandoned rail bridge. This part of Nova Scotia is fairly quiet as most industry is leaving or left the area. It is possible to ride up to the end of the rail bridge for some nice pics.



Some wildlife on the Weymouth turnoff.



Take the road to Southville and keep a sharp eye out for the New France turnoff (the beginning of the gravel to fire road to trail to walking path to dead end route).



Here is the sign - don't blink. This is not the easiest place to find with a paper map.

[yellowknife]

In a nutshell this was an awesome place to ride and I plan on going back to do some fishing and camping here. There is no one around and lots of good dirt tracks to get lost on. Here is the initial logging road that starts right at the turnoff. The route is 17.5 km to the old site of Electric city.



After a few miles you turn down this dirt - one lane road.



The old site was torn down to the foundations in the 50's but the road is kept clear and is open to the public for educational purposes. Less than 1000 people go here every year according to some info available on the net.



Rock Foundations of the little town.






Here are some pictures of Little Tusket Lake that flows into the Silver river. This area was damned for power generation and some of these pics show wooden structures laying in the water - probably foundations for the DC generators.

[yellowknife]

Wooden Foundation in the Silver river coming off of Little Tusket Lake.





Just more awesomeness! I have to admit that having this all to yourself is a ten out of ten.

[yellowknife]

I noticed a few trails and thought to myself - what is down that trail. 5 miles later I crossed this little bridge and found the end of the trail. The G.P. was put through some deep puddles up to 1.5 feet deep I would guesstimate, and being only semi skilled I dropped the beast in the biggest puddle not once but twice. I would have taken pictures for you all, but the camera was in the pannier that was under water. Thankfully the camera was in a water tight bag, unlike all my other items.

On the return trip I had a little hiccup getting over the walking bridge.
Here she is stripped down so I could lift it after doing some bridge repair with large boulders and that piece of wood you see at an angle. Yes I put the big rock there too in order to get to this crashed position! Total time spent here - half an hour - and it was a sweaty job.

[yellowknife]

I noticed another fire road with an upside down sign pointing to a Balancing Rock. Of course I had to check it out.



The hike in from the trail to the rock was a healthy 2 or 3 hundred feet which is right up there with many of my other great hiking expeditions
And by golly there she was - two rocks mating behind trees. The ride in was fun though.

[yellowknife]

So this is the end of the formal RR. Here is a pic of the G.P. before it went down the trail of broken bridges to take a bath. The picture puts a big grin on my face just thinking about the fun I had on this trip riding and meeting all sorts of Adv Riders.

I found the Cabot Trail is nice, but recommend you don't skip the rest of the province - especially the French Shore, South Shore, and the Annapolis Valley if you come to visit. These areas are just as or even more spectacular in my opinion. There is also many places to camp in - paid or free - such as around New France.

Lastly - leave a comment - it helps me give back to Advrider - if you leave some feedback whether good or bad. Being semi-retired the plan is to do a lot more reporting on Nova Scotia if it is of use to you. Thanks for coming along.

Yellowknife
and the G.P.

[NB_CRF'er]

Nice job documenting your travels! I agree that all of NS is a dualsporters paradise. I seen your bike at the Irving big stop while having breakfast. I was just getting back from a vacation from the rock...in a car with the family.
Enjoying these local ride reports.

[yellowknife]

I believe we need to get a ride organized for the locals and anyone else interested in going to some of the sweet spots in the Atlantic Provinces.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthrea...5#post14100325

this post is for ATL riders.



YK