'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....