Narnie Comes To Visit and Other Stuff Sept 2016

We took advantage of the end of the gorgeous summer weather and visited Upper Clements park.  Upper Clements is Nova Scotias amusement park and I'd heard a rang of reviews on the quality!  It turned out to be a really good day out and a lot of fun.   Once you were in you pretty much had free range and coud go on whatever rides whenever.  The rides were more aimed at younger kids, and some were a bit dated, but we had a blast.  We started on the bumper boats and minigolf (always great with little kids), before heading for the paddle boat. 
We walked by the rickety looking (and closed!) wooden rollercoaster and on to some of the other rides. We waited patiently for the haunted house, but not one of us made it past the first room so that was a bit of a wipeout!!   I went with Amelia and went round and round the truck ride and the plane ride while the boys waited for the ferris wheel.  
The wait was worth it as it turned out to be the (scariest) fastest ferris wheel I had ever seen!   Owen wasn't too happy!!  Amelia and I then went on the gorgeous carousel while the boys waited for the bumper cars.
  There were only three bumper cars so the guys got them to themselves which was good fun.  Then we all had a go on the carosel before Amelia and I reluctantly (too small) watched the boys do the log ride which looked like a LOT of fun... 
Around to the vintage car ride and then down to the pool for a swim and some waterslides.  We walked up and out via the zip lines and finally, exhausted, back to the car!

We drove on a bit and camped the night before a day in Digby.  We had inadvertantly planned to be in Digby at the same time as the Wharf Rats Motorcycle rally which made for an interesting day!  The town was shut off and heaving with hogs :)  We walked the streets looking at the bikes and the stalls, and watched stunt bikes on the wharf with the scallop gathering boats dockd alongside.  We didnt bother looking for somewhere to have scallops (town heaving) but did manage ice cream in the heat of the day.  We stopped just out of town to watch some truck pulling and headed for home all a bit busted!!

Then it was back to school....  and off to ballet for Amelia and her buddy Imogen!  They are so cute!!!

Narnie arrived with much cheering and hugging and we set to showing her around our lovely province. Our first stop was (of course) that damn lighthouse.  The boys were at school so we had a lovely girls day out and it wasn't even too cold!



The big trip of the visit was our trip to Prince Edward Island (finally!).  While we didn't take in any of the 'Anne of Green Gables' hype it was definitely worth the trip!  We loaded up super early and drove up to the ferry terminal in plenty of time for our crossing.  We had brekkie on the boat (go the weetbix!) and were ready to go when we disembarked. 

The weather was a bit gloomy but we didnt let that stop us (kind of).  First stop was the Point Prim lighthouse.  The landscape was more like home than Nova Scotia - wide open paddocks with a few scattered trees, and a two lane road max!  The lighthouse was pretty standard - tall and white with a red top.  What I do remember is that I was the only one who got out of the car - loaded up with everyone elses cameras - because no-one else wanted to brave the wind and rain...  Cool rocks on the beach tho :) On the way back to the main road we stopped in at a quirky little place called 'Hannahs bottle village'.  Some old bloke had built a wee town out of bottles. 
The kids were fascinated!  I wondered where all the bottles had come from - thats a serious drinking habit..  The fave of the day was Gars weather forecasting stone.  Alex is pretty sure we need one...

We drove on to Charlottetown for a bit of a wander round and our first taste of the (to borrow the phrase) world famous in P.E.I chocolate covered potato chips.  They are strangely appealling... something about the salt/chocolate combination I guess! We walked around town looking at all the lovely old buildings and admiring the little community gardens everywhere.

  We drove out to the Cows Creamery ice cream factory for a tour and obligatory ice cream.  Delicious!  All back in the car we drove up to our accomodation with the lovely Mac and Cathy at their 'cabin' up near Souris.  It was just gorgeous and we had a lovely evening chatting :).

Next morning we got up and walked down along the harbour edge to a bald eagles nest.  Narnie and Alex had a lovely time sifting around looking at the bones and things left behind at the bottom of the tree, but there was no-one at home upstairs.  We did see eagles flying around, but none in the nest.

The kids had a puddle round in the water before we headed back and set off to see some sights.  We headed up around the coast and did the obligatory stop of photos at the signpost to New Zealand which is a small settlement inland. We paused in Souris long enough to establish that the famous lobster roll place was shut for the season and had a scavenge on the beach for seaglass.  First real tourist stop of the day was Basin Head Beach which is famous for its singing sands.  It must have been a bit wet or cold or something because we only managed a squeak here and there.. 

The boys had a swim (freezing!) while we admired the lovely golden sands then it was back into the car to warm the kids up and head for East Point Lighthouse and visitor centre where we climbed the lighthouse, admired the wild vistas and had some lunch.  We drove back down the opposite coast through some small fishing towns to Macs place for another lovely meal and drinks.

Mac convinced Matt and Alex that they should take the kayaks out the next morning so Owen and I wandered along the waters edge while Alex and Matt paddled up into the harbour.  Narnie and Amelia very sensibly retired indoors to keep warm and dry!  After lunch we went for a walk on one of the Mac's favorite beaches.  The boys headed off with Cathy to hunt for seaglass and Owen returned victorious with a selfie stick he had found in the dunes!

Another lovely dinner and evening later we retired to bed for our last night on the island.

We packed up in the morning and headed out.  We drove back up to the other coast and went into the PEI national park where we set off to walk the Greenwich boardwalk walk out to the coast.  the walk took us thru some open areas and nice little foresty areas, but it didnt get really spectacular (or cold) till we got to the boardwalk across the wetlands behind the dunes.  It was just gorgeous.

We picked up a few apples and spotted some lizards on the way back to the car.  From there it was the drive home.  We had decided to ferry in and drive out, so we drove out over the 12.8km Confederation Bridge.  The bridge is the longest in the world covering ice-covered water and considered to be one of Canadas biggest engineering successes.  It certainly is spectacular and we stopped on the mainland side to admire it a bit more from a handy info centre and lookout!

After that we recovered with a few ballet lessons and small outings around town.  We visited the art gallery and familiarised ourselves with the work of Maude Lewis, one of Canadas most famous folk artists.

We took Narnie (and our very patient kids) on a (long awaited and last trip of the season) tour of the Halifax harbour with the harbour hopper.

  The kids were super impressed that our guides name is Alex, and how many interestingly useless facts he knew about Halifax.  The tour was great - a good historical introduction to the city, its founders and significant points in history.  The most exciting bit (of course) was the transition from road to water and everyone enjoyed putting round the harbour getting a different view of the city!  Was a little chilly but we filled up with beavertails (like a big flat doughnut covered in cinnamon or any number of other over the top horrendous stuff....) after the ride so everyone was happy :)

With our last few days we took Narnie on a wee road trip down the coast and up to Butlers Lake.  There was a scarecrow festival on in Mahone Bay which was really awesome, and Lunenburg and the Ovens as gorgeous as ever. 

We stayed the night at Butlers Lake and she was trreated to a good long look at the baby racoons munching on the food in the bird feeder on the deck - a great way to end a great trip!