Cape Enrage

TOO bad Hopewell Rocks didn't have lockers for us riding tourists.  We would certainly have liked to stay longer but as it was, the sun was passing it's high point when we left the gate and started the V-Strom up yet again. 

Cape Enrage looking across Fundy to Nova Scotia

Old lighthouse keeper's...

Staying on 114 until the 915 turn-off to Cape Enrage, we slowed to a more reasonable pace on the narrow and rough black top.  Lots of dips and broken pavement isn't conducive to high speeds.  A road like this is better suited to my XT 600 with it's high clearance and lots of suspension travel than the "Adventure DL 650."  A couple of times my engine skid plate touched down in quick dips. 

Now a cozy little restaurant

At a glance you could be in the back woods of Kentucky except for the occasional views of the Bay of Fundy in the near distance. 

300 Million year old rock reef.

About 20 minutes of 915 we saw a small sign pointing to the turn-off that would take us to the Fundy coast.  The access road to Cape Enrage is narrow, with several switchbacks and steep short climbs.  It's not a place to play Ricky Road racer with the occasional Motor-home taking up the entire road and literally blocking the tighter turns.  Once up the mountain though, you'll be in for incredible views of the far side of the Bay, ancient rocky reefs and wind swept beaches.  I was here last year while running the D2D on my 225 Serow in a crowd of other like motorcyclists during rainy weather but today we had a sunny (and hot) bird's eye view of the point.  There is a small fee for entering the facilities and on this day we were the only bike among a parking lot of vehicles, mostly SUV's and a few R.V.'s.



A Big bike can be a bit of a handful getting here but the view is pretty spectacular if you can make the trip. 

We enjoyed wandering to the lighthouse over look, watched some zip liners zipping down the cable and would have had a meal at the restaurant had we not eaten an hour previously.  Certainly not everyone will enjoy getting there, but once there, you can't help but admire the views.

 

Zip lining

I took the opportunity while there to stiffen up the pre-load on the Suzuki's suspension which gave us better ground clearance but of course made my already tall and precarious perch even taller.  Riding the V-Strom on my own I can run with a little less clearance, even though I am tip toe on the ground. 

Having the bags and trunk attached and Brenda mounting from the left, by standing on the foot peg and then after lifting herself up, swinging her leg over the bike as I do my best to keep us from falling over, reminds me once again of the benefits of lower, lighter motorcycles.  It's always a compormise, that's why I have different bikes!

Wharf at Alma N.B.

We left via the access road heading down the valley this time and after getting back to 915, turned left towards the cute little community of Alma.  Ideally, for a motorcycle (or even a car trip like this) you would have unlimited time and the ability to stop over at any point. 

The Fundy tide, the highest in the world was coming back in even while at Hopewell Rocks, soon the fishing boats would be floating once again.

I took a few photos of the temporarily stranded fishing vessels just prior to heading into Fundy National Park and what was soon to be many construction zones.  This is where an Adventure bike has some advantages over a street bike with it's greater ground clearance and comfier suspension, although my XT 600 would have been an even better choice pretty much everywhere but on the Trans Canada, more on that later.

Hopewell Rocks

V Strom V Twin gets good fuel mileage.

WE have rare moments when Brenda and I can actually indulge in adult adventures.  First of all, like an MG... the motorbike only seats two. That pretty much means one of them is left out as I generally sit at the controls.

Yes... what would a PEI adventure be without the Bridge.

No biggie as it turns out, Brenda is perfectly happy being a passenger and Anna does pilot the Big Bear at times with either Mom or I as pillion.

With this being Annaawayatcampweek... I had a nice circumnavigation of New Brunswick planned.  My first choice of the Sunrise/Cabot Trail was a wash as the forecast was for lots of rain and cool temperatures.  It's one thing to encounter wet weather while enroute but having to start, ride and finish in wet weather is not a whole lot of fun and restricts what you do.


 

From the look out.

We were looking good for a clockwise 1300km tour with stop-overs somewhere around St. John and again around Bathurst up in the far north, just shy of the Quebec border.

With the V Strom prepped, tires pressures adjusted, oil level checked and chain lubed...



I packed our luggage in the side cases and we had the trunk pretty much free for locking purses and other electronic gear.  No tenting... this was going to be an indoor accommodation ride.

Ya gotta be in good shape to do all this walking and climbing.

Getting away pretty much at the planned time Tuesday we rode in bright sunshine to the other side of Moncton, crossing the city into Riverview, where I once had a shop and then down the Fundy Coast to Hopewell Rocks. 



Having never been here I really didn't have any expectations, thinking there would be a look out of sorts and a little parking lot to park the Suzuki.  First of all, highway 114 is a twisty little road that I had ridden on last year's Dawn to Dusk ride, in the rain no less.

Well... you can't imagine what the area is like, built up with several motels, restaurants and camping parks, the Rocks tourist attraction itself has many large and very busy parking lots.  Having paid the admission, we walked through the gate and into the main building looking for lockers to stow our gear.  Second surprise, no such facility! 

Islands at high tide, we'd be 40' under!

What... with all the motorcyclists on the road these days in such an accessible and well built up facility, having no locker is a major faux pas and I made a point of bringing that to the attention of the reception desk and the comment sheet I deposited in the box.  I was told that many riders and passengers opt to leave their gear next to the bins on the outside of the building.  This is hardly an viable alternative, riding gear can be extremely expensive and leaving it exposed to any would be thief unconscionable. We locked the helmets to the bike and carried our coats with us which made for some awkward moments and extra fatigue.  My jacket alone probably weighs close to 7-8 lbs!



Brenda and I did the downhill walk of some 800 yards to the look out to Flower Pots Rocks and then several flights of stairs to the beach itself, in very warm weather and no breeze to speak of.  While most people are there in shorts and sandals/flip flops... we were trudging in boots, jeans and jackets on our arms! 

If you've never been here via this obsure tiny little back woods NB road... you are in for a surprise.

In one word; Fabulouso!

Washing off the muck!

We walked all the way to the emergency stairwell at the far end of the beach and with a gradually incoming tide that measures 46' from bottom to top, it's quite the experience.  Your admission covers you for two days in case you want to view them at both low and high tides.  If you only have a single choice, chose low tide, when you can walk the gravel (and sometimes muddy) beach and revel in the enormity of these formations of nature.

By the time we'd walked back up the 800 yards of the well groomed pathway, we were ready for a bite to eat at the very well kept cafeteria style eatery on site.  You can chose the Low Tide cafe or of course the High Tide cafe.

WAS it worth the admission and extra trouble carrying our riding gear... yup!  Next time I come here, we'll be driving the three of us and spend an overnight at one of the nearby motels outside the park.  At high tide you can kayak the many Islands now surrounded by the waters of Fundy.

Looking back to look forward!

First ride after buying the T Bird.

 It's Sunday, warm and humid near the north shore of PEI Canada.

There's only enough breeze to fool you into thinking it'll take the edge off what could be the warmest day of a rather cool summer.

Mile 0 Trans Canada highway, from one coast, to the other!

I've had a rather hectic few months, between the constant service of my own vehicles, bikes that belong to friends, cutting grass, my long trip out west to visit, returning to cut what is now hay, difficulties with launching Moto-East, a Maritimes local color ragazine as I like to call her, driving around to visit dealers near and far drumming up advertising support... I've decided to "take the day off".

to Charlottetown PEI

Diversion 600 at the Brandenburg Gate Berlin

Road food in Europe

Now in my vocabulary during my lifetime, 'taking the day off' has been a way of stating that I am going to change the rear tire and counter-shaft sprocket on my 1992 XT 225 or maybe dusting off the canoe for a paddle on the Dunk river, or maybe even sharpening the blade on the lawn mower.  Hardly what passes for an actual "day off."

That's Lake Geneva in the background on the French Swiss border.

Yup.

Me and Saskia in the south of France

22 Countries in total

Pasta/ the Island of Elba

Lots of these running around over there...

And these too!

I don't have to tell you what this is do I?

French Alps

Sun setting on Elba

Andorra and the Pyrenees.

South of France

The Atlantic coast, Portugal

Catching up on world news!

Southern Spain

Swiss Alps

BC Ferries.


Today... I have tried to actually veg for a whole day or as near to it as I can.  True I do indulge in a summer only delight of watching CFL games between Friday and Sunday (sometimes Long weekend Monday) today I have been reading old Geographics, snoozing in the R.V. or simply lazing about petting an available cat or three.

After two hours of reading about twins, walking the footpath of ancients, and being bored nearly to tears by the intricacies of the human brain, I hopped off the couch and here I am thinking about the past.



Not formation of the earth type past, nor even my family tree past, just recent past, more specifically the period in my life from about 2006 to 2011.







Maybe it's because I am getting more forgetful as I age or simply something that triggered that time period, I lay with the NG magazine by my side as my mind drifts off to acquiring the Triumph Thunderbird, planning the European adventure of a lifetime, and on to the steps leading up to this huge life-changing move across country to PEI and another past, but thinking about the future with Brenda and her daughter.





Not exactly nomadic to be sure, but definitely life altering stuff.

Back around 2005 shortly after a triple by-pass, I thought about buying another bike.  Yes... go ahead and laugh all of you that know me as the Dr.



Yeah, I've bought many bikes, but this was going to be something different and special.  I narrowed the purchase options at the time to two very different motorcycles.  Walt Healy was offering a new Bandit 650 for right around $7000 plus those ridiculous after sale charges like Pre delivery Inspection GST etc. 



The Yamaha Seca II then sitting in my garage was both a bonus and detriment to this choice.



The Bandit was very similar, not cutting edge but certainly 'sport tour-able' and I liked that style of riding a great deal.  

The other option was to find and purchase one of two bikes, a Triumph Thunderbird or the sportier T Bird Sport.  Not sports touring but modern, unusual and retro. 


I passed on the Bandit and went searching for a T Bird.  I eventually found one in Victoria and after making arrangements to fly over and ride her back, I was very happy.  Taking the 'low' road returning to Calgary via the Crow's Nest pass, a new era of slower and gentler was forming in my mind.  I still ride this very same motorcycle after transporting my favorite bikes east with me during the BIG move.

Charlottetown on the east coast.

Late in 2007 I began planning my oft delayed and much regretted lamented European ride.  Some of you may know that I was born in a land far far away during a very perilous time, Hungary just prior to a revolution against what was then akin to a flea swatting at a Bull elephant, Russia.

My trip wasn't about chasing those days down, but about connecting with the family tree, and doing what I wanted to do in my 18th year.  Ride a 600 cc BMW across the 'continent' of Europe.


I went looking for a suitable bike during 2007 and although that didn't turn out to be a Beemer it was indeed air cooled and 600 cubic centimeters.

I arranged to "buy" as foreigners can't actually own anything there, a Yamaha Diversion 600, in fact a bike very similar to the one in my Silver Springs garage.

I departed in summer 2008 for a 5 month trip riding as much of the European continent as I could stand.

Between that initial trip and a subsequent follow- up the next spring, I covered 22 countries many more than once and over 20,000 km riding the fiery red and reliable Yamaha.

Heading east to Calgary

As this is the 500th installment of the Blog, this which I initially began on the urging of Holly my traveling daughter as a way to keep in touch with friends and family as opposed to finding unreliable internet cafes with keyboards in languages I didn't know trying to upload photos to send to 20 different people, the Blog was and still is the primary way for people to pop in and see what's happening in the life of Dr. N.

In those 500 blogs, I've covered a heck of a lot of ground as you are aware.

This is a look back over those years...

Like Father... like Daughter

This... is PEI

Holly learned to ride a PW50 Yamaha out back of my newly constructed shop in Southport PEI, back in early 1986.  She was barely 6 years old at the time. 

Charlottetown across the bay.

I outfitted her with kid's duds including a child sized full face helmet, went over the limited controls (throttle, two hand brakes) as she listened to Chief Instructor Dad patiently, then went right on out and not only did the straight line portion but rode the little Shaft drive bike in a gentle arc at the end of the lane back to the start.

Fort Amherst Prov park.

As she got older, we rode portions of the forestry trunk road in Alberta, many back roads leading into the foothills around Calgary, Drumheller, San Felipe Baja and eventually PEI.

Narrow channel connecting Charlottetown to the Northumberland Strait.

Since those days, we have tried to get together to ride whenever possible out west, something not that simple as she was out of the province much of the time working on some degree or other.

Once we moved to the Island, our opportunities have become less frequent but we always make time for a day in the saddles. 

The capital city in the distance

A wee bit of history here!

Most recently, with Holly and Kevin visiting in July, we geared up and did several hours on my two XT models, Holly on the 225 and Dad the 600.  We typically don't cover a lot of ground but we explore, taking our time, stop for lunch or just a chit chat and photo. 

Warm day, always park in the shade!

This last trip we covered a large loop from my home in Spring Valley. 

She doesn't ride often so it takes a few kilometers to become familiar once again with the familiar Serow.

This trip we stuck mostly to paved back roads on the North side, of which there are many on the Island, with the occasional clay road tossed in for variety.  We met up with our other halves at our half way point just outside of Charlottetown for a little rest break and from there bypassed the city and headed to Rice Point and Fort Amherst park, this being the defensive fortress overlooking Charlottetown harbor, during the days of constant war between the English and French in the 1700's.  Although the Interpretive center has been closed down (a shame) you can still walk the grounds and there are several interesting

signs giving various details.

Our sea side view

From here we made our way to lovely Victoria by the Sea where we sat outside for a late lunch in warm sunny weather, perhaps the best day of the year to date.

As the shadows grew long, we cut across country, eventually arriving back in Spring Valley 7 hours after we'd departed.  Putting the trail bikes away I felt satisfied that we are keeping the tradition alive by taking the time to do this as father and daughter.

Having lunch on the water Victoria by the Sea