'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 9

Episode 9

"The afternoon knows 

what the morning never suspected."

- Robert Frost

Grand Manan, 

New Brunswick, continued...

*

It is our last full day here, warm and sunny. 

We head out for a long(-ish) cycle to 

The Anchorage Provincial Park,

parcsnbparks.ca

five klicks or so from our cottage,

on past the working harbour that we cycled to on 

our first day.

We are in t-shirts, shorts and sandals.

It's that warm, 

(wool socks and bulky sweaters not needed),

maybe ten degrees celsius warmer than on Canada Day.

I have packed a towel in my bike basket, 

(just in case), 

as there is a lovely beach.

We know this, 

having been to the other end of the park on our last visit.

We take the first right off Ingall's Head Road,

and then the next right off of that one,

angling our way toward the beach.

These roads are much less busy, (nothing traffic-wise), narrower and a wee bit rougher.

The paving ends, and becomes 

a gravel road.

The gravel ends, and becomes 

a Grand Manan reddish-brown

dirt road.

The GM reddish-brown dirt road ends, and becomes

a track.

The track ends, and becomes 

an uneven and deeply rutted trail.

The trail ends.

We are, in fact, at

Ox Head.

We are near The Anchorage Provincial Park,

in fact we can see a long stretch of beach waaaay, way, away

off in the distance.

It is low tide, 

and to get to the beach would involve a long clamber over 

a difficult rocky shoreline.

 As my footwear is not the best for this,

and I don't have my trusty walking stick, I perch on a large rock 

and leave the exploring to Doug.

Meanwhile, a bit about Ox Head...

One hundred and sixty years ago, Ox Head was a tiny coastal settlement,

engaged in fishing and farming.

It is now part of a migratory bird sanctuary and lies adjacent to 

the provincial park.

It's beautiful and wild.

It's also very quiet, (except for the Bay of Fundy breezes), 

and rugged -

 sky, water, rock, wild roses,

and a lot of shaggy wind-blown grasses.

⬇

Doug makes his way back over the rocks, deciding that 

there must be a better way 

to access the eastern approach 

to the park and beach.

We scramble up the slope, surrounded by wild rose bushes,

and attempt to cross a scrubby bit of field, making our way back to where 

we left our bikes.

Just as we're nearing them,

we hear a bird chittering madly. A flash of bright yellow, she flies close to us,

hovers,

and is gone. 

All of which is too quick to allow me to fumble about for my camera.

One thing for certain:

she clearly doesn't want us there.

We hightail it, leaving her, (and perhaps her young family),

in peace.

We leave the question of 

how to access the beach from Ox Head

for next year.

*

A bit of research when we are back at the cottage...

(which is relatively easy as we had a fleeting, yes, but clear look at her), a

 Northern Yellow Warbler.

Granny on her eBike, Ox Head, 

Grand Manan, NB

Stay tuned for Episode 10....

 

'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 8

 

Episode 8

"All of my childhood punishments have become my adult goals: 

eating vegetables, 

staying home, 

taking a nap, 

going to bed early."

- Anon

(We override this second 'adult goal' at the end of June.)

We load our two bikes and two kayaks into the back of the truck 

and secure them well. 

We pack the rest of our gear into the back seat cargo area - 

clothing, rain gear, 

boots, bike helmets, pfds,

a bit of food and bev.

Before sunrise the following morning, we are 

en route.

We are making our way, eastbound via Highway 401, toward Quebec. 

Our destination is Woodstock New Brunswick, which we reach around 6:00 pm,

(5:00 pm our time),

about a twelve hour drive. 

Early afternoon the following day, we are on the ferry from

Black's Harbour NB

to

Grand Manan Island.

⬇

Grand Manan Island bound, with a view of the 

Black's Harbour bound ferry - Bay of Fundy.

We are staying in the 'Grand Harbour' area of Grand Manan. 

It is about halfway down the length of the island, 

about a fifteen minute drive from the ferry terminal in 

North Head.

Grand Manan map (detail)

It is less hilly than 'Seal Cove', where we stayed three years ago. 

That, 

and the fact that 

'Granny Bought an eBike',

are good news for us doing a bit of cycling while here.

We are right on Grand Harbour 

and our cottage stares out at the bay. 

It is beautiful here - sunny with gentle breezes. 

And quiet.

View of Grand Harbour and our campfire pit.

We try out our bikes, and cycle up Ingall's Head Road to the actual harbour,

a working harbour with fishing boats and the terminal for the

White Head Island ferry.

It is a relatively flat ride and not busy with traffic.

"Yes, I am comfortable biking here", I think.

"This is going to be good."

There is more to explore by bike further on past the harbour,  

but that we will leave for another day.

Doug cycling - about halfway along the pier.

While staying in Grand Manan,

we visit a few of our favourite spots, including the 

Grand Manan Museum, 

an absolute treasure and well worth a visit.

*Note: Grand Manan fisherman's socks

We also have some pretty spectacular lunches,

lunchtime being our chosen time of day

to sample the local fare.

Our  favourite eatery 

is a wee bit too far from our cottage to cycle

 and involves a sometimes busy road 

so we decide to drive.

It is a little window,

 outside a typical Grand Manan shingled building,

a locally owned fish market.

⬇

Several picnic tables are handily positioned outside, 

a place to sit and wait for your order,

and/or a place to eat.

While the window can be quite busy, 

on this day we seem to be the first ones here.

The kitchen, (the other side of the window), 

is run by a beatific woman, an island resident, who takes our order with 

a gentle smile on her face.

When we are done,

she reaches under the counter for a stainless steel bowl

and begins to concoct the mixture which will become the 

heavenly filling of a 'Large Lobster Roll'.

Sitting at one of the picnic tables,

the sound of seabirds high above, 

sunny and still,

consuming these can only be described as

a spiritual experience.

The lobster filling is spectacular, 

but a few words for the actual 'roll' part of this Lobster Roll:

soft, buttery, yeasty.

Delicious.

And also locally made.

Oh, I do love bread.

It is one of four meals we enjoy this trip at outdoor eateries...

all involving seafood.

Lobster, 

(of course, lobster fishing being one of Grand Manan's main industries),

haddock, clams, scallops,

and shrimp.

🦞

On Canada Day,

a bit of a change in the weather.

Cloudy and cool.

We cycle up to our local pub, 

and spend the afternoon listening to live music on the deck.

The music has a Caribbean slant, 

but is also so profoundly Canadian, that we 

order a couple of beers and sing along like any 

red-blooded Canadian,

in our bulky sweaters and (local!) wool socks.

A Grand Manan moment. 

*To be continued.*

Stay tuned for Episode 9....

'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 7

 

Episode 7

"Getting old is like climbing a mountain; 
you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better!"

- Ingrid Bergman

May,

and the snow (and ice) 

has gone.

I resume my daily ride to the mailbox.

As soon as it is dry enough, I ride up the field north of the house to the 

entrance into the wooded trails.

The main trail, 

(the one that for part of the year you can actually drive a car through, 

a trail that we call 'Gord's Road'),

leads, if you keep going east, to our neighbours' horse farm. 

I, (yet again), 

spend some time clearing the sticks and tree limbs from this trail.

⬇

The secondary trails, still quite muddy,

are avoided.

For now.

As we are planning a road trip in June,

(a car trip but one which includes bikes), 

we are eager to go for a longer cycle to get ourselves, at least somewhat,

into biking mode. 

We carry on with our exploration of the Trans Canada Trail, 

(tctrail.ca)

and over the next few weeks cycle a couple of legs of the eastern end of the 

Lang-Hastings Rail Trail. 

Spring this time, 

with scents of new leaves and lilac and freshly mown grass. 

We pass farm buildings and fields, creeks and back roads, and are rewarded with glimpses of the narrowing eastern end of Rice Lake almost to where it meets the 

Trent River, both part of the 

Trent-Severn Waterway,

(parks.canada.ca/trentsevern)

In spite of having lived in Peterborough County for nearly thirty years, 

I don't know Hastings - 'The Hub of the Trent' - very well. 

Well truthfully, 

I've been through it many times, without spending time in it.

It is actually in Northumberland County, (just at the South-eastern edge of Peterborough County), and is quite picturesque with the river running through it.

The population of Hastings would be around 1500, but I'm guessing that that number balloons in the Summer, with the draw to cottaging, touring, boating and fishing.

Fishing is big in Hastings.

We have many times, when setting off on a holiday, made our way down to Highway 401 through Hastings, over the bridge in the centre of town where it is not unusual 

(even in the wee hours), to see a number of people on the bridge - 

fishing.

And another thing close to my heart. Hastings, 

(if I can say this without sounding like an ad for small town Ontario),

has a really terrific little pizzeria.

Really terrific.

(Tip ➼ Google 'pizza in Hastings Ontario.')

So, we do plan to ride the easternmost stretch of the Lang-Hastings Rail Trail,

the stretch that goes right into Hastings, sometime soon,

and perhaps wander around Hastings a little bit. 

Maybe later in the Summer.......

But now, it's early June,

 and we are in full planning mode for our out-of-province road trip. 

Stay tuned for Episode 8....

*We don't know it yet, (it being June), 

but we will spend a glorious afternoon in Hastings later in the Summer,

with a boat trip on the Rice Lake portion of the Trent-Severn Waterway, 

followed by a magnificent lunch on an outdoor patio overlooking the water.

All this in celebration of a grandboy birthday...

🧡

'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 6

 

Episode 6

"Old age is an excellent time for outrage. My goal is to 

say or do at least one outrageous thing every week."

-  Maggie Kuhn

December to April - snow, snow and more snow.

My eBike lived indoors throughout December and January, 

within reach, but unused.

I occasionally turned it on for old time's sake, gripped the handlebars, sat on the seat, and once (just once) took it for a short indoor ride through the living room. 

 I told it that we would be out on the land again.

Soon.

February.

There were a few sunny days when it seemed like a good idea to go for 

a gentle spin to the gate and back, and as long as I stayed in the car wheel tracks, 

(which provided a bit of texture),

this was largely successful.

It was in late Winter/early Spring that I was fooled.

Our laneway looked benign enough,

just like it had earlier in the Winter.

(Just like the above photo, the one with granddog Sully.)

Yes, it looked safe, and I was SO eager to resume my daily cycling routine.

However, it was what lurked below the inch of compacted textured snow that was 

the problem.

A skating rink.

All went well for half of the outbound trip to the gate. 

At the halfway point, (where our little cabin still stands), is a curve in the laneway.

Perhaps it was the slight change in direction.

Perhaps it was due to that area being a bit more open,  

and the sun hitting the ground there, causing the laneway to thaw slightly,

then freeze, then thaw, then freeze........

Perhaps I momentarily lost my concentration.

No permanent damage. 

A couple of bruises, and a resolve to 

WAIT.

  

March and April = maple syruping in this neck of the woods.

All-consuming.

I would have loved to spin over to the sugarhouse on the eBike, but the snow there was dense and deep.

The trails were cleared, but not fit for any vehicle other than 

'sled' (snowmobile) or 'bike' (four-wheeler).

More waiting.

But the proverbial light 

was just beginning to glimmer at the end of the 

long, long, LONG Winter 

tunnel.

Stay tuned for Episode 7....