Author: maherrv

In Toronto, we had to get the car serviced before leaving for Nova Scotia. We retraced our route. Enjoying the drive on Highway #7 from Peterborough to Madoc, down south to Belleville. It was a long day on the Highway 401, Route. 20 East through Montreal. Late evening, we again stayed at the Howard Johnson in Woodstock, New Brunswick.

Today, Sunday, we were up early, truckers breakfast at Murray’s and arrived home in Paradise, Nova Scotia, mid-afternoon.

While in Toronto, we visited Allan Gardens Conservatory.

Afterwards, we walked to the House on Parliament for lunch and a beer with my brother, Peter.

On another day, we wanted to find Just Be Woodsy (see my blog post Home Place). We were staying at Julia’s house at Kingston Road and Warden Avenue. It seemed like a simple walk North to 772 Warden Avenue. In fact it was a two hour Return walk.

Our rationale, our neighbours in Paradise, NS, who bought Andrew’s farm, across Highway #201, Rob Jarvis and Sinead Wills own this business. In fact, 772 was a few blocks too far.

Our objective for the road trip was to see if we could navigate the drive to central Canada. This we achieved. The second objective was to bring home our new canoe from Peterborough. Given the rainy conditions, we decided to leave the canoe for another day.

Lessons learned:

1. Peterbough is a very manageable southern Ontario town, well positioned to cottage country.
2. Greater Toronto is much more challenging — a stark contrast to rural Nova Scotia (Really?)

Acknowledgements.

Thanks to Julia, Jason, Carole and Peter in Toronto; Pat, Emily, Fraser and Logan in Peterbough for their hospitality. Heather shared the driving. Edward edited the graphics.

References

ExploringToronto Gardens, toronto.ca/gardens
Just Be Woodsy, justbewoodsy.com

We have been travelling for a week. Hence no blog. The purpose is to pick up our canoe from Patrick’s house in Peterborough. We left Paradise on Tuesday afternoon, after our latest doctor’s appointment and car service. We drove hard to reach Woodstock, New Brunswick, by late evening.

On the second day, we survived the traffic in Montreal and managed to travel Highway #401 to Belleville. This allowed us to cut North to Madoc and then Highway #7 into Peterborough — essentially, 2000 kilometres in twenty hours of driving.

Peterborough has changed significantly since the days we lived there in the 1990s. At that time, we worked for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

In contrast to the Annapolis Valley, Peterborough seemed to have maintained a dynamic economy in the face of COVID. Besides visiting family, we were able to enjoy the MindGame cafe, various second-hand bookstores, and Wild Rock Outfitters.

Our second adventure was to visit my brother and family in Toronto. This required us to head down to Highway #401 and negotiate the suburb of Scarborough. We arrived safely after several hours in Toronto traffic.

A few salient observations …

It was a shock to drive through Montreal on the TransCanada, especially as we did not have a Quebec map. Once we reached the Ontario border (and Highway #401), the biggest surprise was the volume of truck traffic. The goods that are being moved by truck through the industrial heartland of Canada and the expenditure of gasoline to fuel these trucks must be massive.

Of course, we endured changes in the weather: cold rain, ice pellets, and snow. And yet in Toronto, we saw flowering cherry trees, forsythia. In the gardens of Peterborough, were harbingers of Spring: cardinals and robins.

Visiting Patrick, Emily, and Peter, I have accumulated a long reading list. That, I will save for another day.

We plan to return to the Valley by May 1st.

Heather attended Jane White’s presentation at CORAH, NSCC Middleton campus, ‘Return of the Birds’.

This motivated us to drive down to Annapolis Royal to birdwatch along the French Basin trail. There was an amazing variety of ducks (see French Basin Trail video in my post Walking Paths).

Afterwards, we stopped at the Sissiboo coffee shop.

While there, I noticed a book on the shelf. ‘Puzzles for Spies. GCHQ’. This took me way back to my time working for IBM in Cheltenham , England.

In 1967, I was a trainee Systems Analyst. My first assignment was with the Government Communication Head Quarters (GCHQ). IBM computer technology was used to monitor foreign communication.

Our second stop in Annapolis Royal was MareGold bookstore, an excellent addition to the town. It complements the Mad Hatter Books..

I wanted to see a copy of Steve Skafte’s new book ‘The Dead die twice – abandoned cemeteries of Nova Scotia’. I decided not to purchase. Instead, I picked up Robert MacFarlane ‘The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot’.

From GoGeomatics, I received the Canadian Spatial Times for April 12, 2023.

In the magazine section,Tim Webster contributed a profile on the Applied Geomatics Research Group (AGRG). AGRG was founded in 2000 by COGS faculty members.

Earlier in the day, I stopped at COGS to catch up on the programs in Lawrencetown. I happened to meet Wayne Regier, Darren MacKinnon and Andrew Hannam. From the bookshelf, I picked up a copy of the Graduate Profiles 2021-2022. There have been many changes since I left in 2011. However, the parking lot remains full.

Acknowledgements

The CORAH talk set the tone for the day, giving us an excuse to walk the French Basin trail. It was also good to see old colleagues at COGS. Thank you Heather for the company. Edward, thanks for the graphics and links.

References

Puzzles for Spies, GCHQ, 2022, Puffin Books.

Steve Skafte, 2023, The Dead Die Twice: Abandoned Cemeteries of Nova Scotia, Nimbus Publishing.

GoGeomatics April 12, 2023, Canadian Spatial Times, AGRG profile.

Robert MacFarlane, 2012, The Old Ways: a journey on foot, Penguin Randon House.

Centre of Geographic Sciences, Graduate Profiles, 2021-2022.

In New Glasgow, Heather picked up the book, Woman, Watching, at Coles in the Highland Mall. I had the chance to start reading this biography of Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay by Merilyn Simonds.

It starts in Scandinavia and Russia; moves to Canada. She is involved with the Dionne quintuplets in North Bay, Ontario. The next section covers her enthusiasm for ornithology — hence the book title. Heather has reclaimed her book. I will finish it later.

In an e-mail, I received the Spring 2023 Bras D’Or Lake Biosphere Reserve newsletter.

I recall time spent in Cape Breton in 2011, transferring our knowledge of SNBRA (Southwest Nova Biosphere Region) to BLBRA. Checking with David Colville, I discovered that Nick Hill has been providing a newsletter for our biosphere reserve (see SNBRA newsletter) .

Sunday was a good excuse to visit to Hampton Beach at low tide. Afterwards, we followed the coastal road to Parker’s Cove, then back over the North Mountain to Annapolis Royal and home.

From Woman, Watching, the description of rural life in Northern Ontario rings true of the rural economy in Nova Scotia; the need for multiple short-term jobs that will allow sufficient income for a living.

Listening to the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) I realized the importance of local knowledge (geography) — the culture, the nature and the human infrastructure (road system). This cannot be acquired via an urban environment. There is also a need and value to travelling the backroads, walking, canoeing and other means of transport (bicycle, ATV, snowmobile).

Finally, a shout out to Junction Sixteen (formerly, End of the Line Pub) on our list for lunch this week. Thanks to John Montgomery for the link , and the reference to Ernest Buckler.

Acknowledgements

Heather researched the book, Woman, Watching. David Colville and John Montgomery provided email links. Edward added the graphics.

References

Merilyn Simonds, 2022, Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay, ECW Press.

BLBRA newsletter.

SNBRA newsletter.

Junction Sixteen web site