Saint John was behind us, however, the weather forecast for the next few days was unfortunately not the best. We knew that we would not really be able to avoid all the rain clouds ibahabs. And so it was, unfortunately. Already shortly after our departure we came into the "enjoyment" of the first real rainfall in Canada on the bikes. The temperature got cooler and cooler and we got wetter and wetter. When then also our visors began to tarnish constantly and we could hardly see anything of the road, we had to take a break willy-nilly. We found again a Tim Horton, where we could warm up with hot coffee. Our rain gear was dripping wet and we certainly looked like a pair of drenched poodles from afar.
To make matters worse, Andreas also put his helmet briefly on the ground, where a small puddle had already formed. After some time, when we wanted to check the weather report and log into the local Wlan, we noticed that we were actually sitting in the wrong area: with Tim's stuff in the Burgerking area! Only now we noticed the looks of the Burgerking employees. However, since we were already almost dry and wanted to continue driving soon, we ignored them studiously.
As we drove on, we noticed that our communication devices no longer worked as usual. Normally, the battery of Kerstin's Cardo wears out first, while Andreas could still listen to music for hours. After Kerstin thought that this had happened again, she spent the rest of the drive to Truro just singing to it. Somehow you have to entertain yourself in this weather. Well, she couldn't know that she had not only entertained herself, but also Andreas. Because Andreas Cardo still functioned - only his helmet microphone no longer! This seemed to have "drowned" in the water bath. And so he could only listen silently, but "unfortunately" not make himself heard!
During the drive we could see some interesting things with normal visor again: the famous ski slope in Wentworth, "Super Bingo" announcements at some city halls and traffic signs in heart shape (like the "Caution" signs at our place)! We had learned quite a bit in Montreal about traffic rules as well as traffic signs. But the sense from these signs did not open to us here.
As we drove along the highway we passed a sign announcing a tollbooth. Basically there are only two toll roads in Canada and this should not be one. However, since we did not necessarily want to spend more money than necessary, we swerved over a kind of country road to get to Truro to our next Airbnb.
Once there, we found a really cozy and warm apartment that left nothing to be desired. We could dry everything and warm up with a hot shower. In the meantime, we had received some nice messages from our hosts, whom we had not seen until this point. After they had already seen our bikes including luggage outside, we were asked if it was possible to learn something about our trip. On our suggestion that we could meet with pleasure, Derek and Darcy surprised us with the fact that in the charming garden a campfire was lighted. The rainy weather here had cleared a few hours ago and almost everything was dry. At the warming campfire we enjoyed the exchange with Derek and Darcy with shandy, cider and rum.
We learned again a lot about the area and also about our next destinations and got many good tips that would help us again later. And we also learned again something about road signs: the "Herzerl" signs are only around Truro and the sign is rather a logo of the area. Truro is located in the middle (i.e. "in the heart") of Nova Scotia. And you are equidistant from the other major cities from here in almost any direction! About our detour because of the toll Derek had to laugh: because this road would have been paid off years ago and there would be no toll at all anymore! Well, that must have been the reason why we had not found this route online as a toll route in advance. When later also glow worms came out and the fire slowly became less, we finally ended this day.
The next day we left later than planned. Andreas helmet microphone was dry in the meantime, but still had dropouts. Therefore we tried to contact our families to have a replacement microphone sent to Canada together with the spare parts for Kerstin's suitcase in one package.
With only a little drizzle and no more heavy rain, the driving was almost "pleasant". If only the roads had not been so much dirtier than the day before. Also the temperatures left something to be desired.
In Quebec City we had also gotten the tip from our host Sylvain, if it is possible to visit Cape-Breton-Island. Here there would be a road around the island, which is nice to drive and there should also be campsites around. One of our weather researches had shown that the forecast for Newfoundland had changed again, so we gave Cape-Breton the preference. Here it should become at least after two or three days again sunny and warmer. We had found a place to stay near Port Hawkesbury that had everything we needed to take a break for a few days and get everything back in shape.
Towards noon we discovered a nice lighthouse in Arisaig along our route, which was perfect for a short break and a little walk on the beach. Something that hadn't really happened to us until this point caught up with us here. Namely, the distances between gas stations were getting longer and longer. Andrea's dashboard indicator started flashing at some point and jumped to reserve. We had our tank bags from DesertFox with us in our luggage, but so far we hadn't seen any need to fill them up. Andreas only made it to the next gas pump with difficulty. Probably there were not even two liters left in the tank! After this somewhat unpleasant tense ride, we once again visited a Tim's - this time in Antigonish. While at the parking lot outside our bikes including luggage were clearly the attraction between all the big trucks (pick-ups), we could warm up a bit inside.
In the dry we could also complete the last part of our trip to Port Hawkesbury. Well - almost dry, because in the last ten minutes a cloud caught us and so we arrived "drenched" and dirty at our next quarters.
Also here our bikes were very welcome and we got the meanwhile already accustomed pitying look (the poor bikers at these temperatures and this weather)! Therefore ours were allowed to park exceptionally before the garage - because in the next days it should give minus degrees and partly snow. From the following day it would rain heavily again in any case.
So only briefly unload luggage, then back up on the bikes to stock up on food in the next town. Here we learned that apparently every Walmart has a different assortment, because we could not find fresh vegetables anywhere. Also our engine oil (we had forgotten to buy this in the larger cities) we could not find here unfortunately likewise - even if otherwise apparently any engine oil was present. Another discovery we made: in the province of Nova Scotia, in contrast to the province of Quebec, you can buy neither beer nor wine in the supermarket. Imagine Andrea's face when every can and bottle of beer says only "0%" or "non-alcoholic"! A hint would have been perhaps that these had been offered in the middle of the assortment of mineral water, fruit and child juices.
Since a few days break were announced, we looked for a NSLC (government store for sale of alcohol in Nova Scotia), whose location we had learned from an uncomprehending looking supermarket employee ("Why should there be alcohol in the supermarket?!)". At the NSLC, we also had a greeting from home for the first time: Stiegl Radler! The second thing we learned here was: you can't buy individual cans - everything is only available in "bulk packs"! From "Sechser-Tragerln" as at home one can only dream here!
Back in our apartment a few days of break were waiting for us, which came just right, because with the last rain was really almost everything wet again.even our backpacks and tank bags! So ibahabs times the hair dryer was unpacked to dry and the world trip only in the Navi pre-planned!
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