On the road ..

After a final check at Autoport in Halifax we took delivery of our bikes and brought them back to the hotel for our last night in the city. The bikes were ridden from the secure section of the docks by a guy from Manchester, as he arrived a bike pulled up ridden by a Brit who was shipping back to the UK after 8 months on the road, great to have a chat and get some pointers from them both.

First coffee stop

We set off the next day, Thursday, and rode for 370 miles, across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, we spent our first night in a Yurt at a campsite in Campbellton, a cheap night but beautifully located inside a forest. Really interesting ride up, easy to notice the changes amongst the Canadians we met, both English and French speakers, or Arcadians. Stopped in a coffee chain for breakfast after around 100 miles and then went off the highway and had lunch in a small town where they all spoke French. Landscape mostly flat with occassioanl rolling hills, mostly forestry with some agriculture. The roads were great, dead straight, it was like riding in a computer game or sat watching a movie pass by, we reckon on about 5 gear changes per 100 miles. It's hard to get a sense of how big this country is, although riding for over 5 hours and then looking at the map and seeing how little we had covered sort of helped.

Yurt living

On Friday we left our Yurt after a night spent enjoying freezing temps, multi layer sleeping. We took the 132 and rode into Quebec, first thing you notice is the lack of English, all road signs in French. Beautiful riding whch eventually returned to long straight roads as we came alongside the St Lawrance river. After another 200 + miles we agreed to stop and rest at Riviere-du-Loup, this time in a motel with amazing views over the river.

Pulled up by the St Lawrance

And a tributary of the massive river 

The Canadians we have been lucky to meet have been both friendly and helpful, many have gone out of their way to help with transport and directions, as we pull up on the bikes we always end up in conversation and get some great advice for the ride ahead. Special mention must be made here for Carol at the T-Bar restaurant at the Sugerloaf Park where we stayed in the Yurt, Carol makes the best cup of tea in Canada, really, so if you're around Campbellton check out the T-Bar and ask Carol for a tea.

The view from the motel at Riviere-du-Loup

Off tomorrow towards Quebec City and then heading west.