Distance: 86km
Elevation: 805m
After the late evening yesterday, we all slept in.
Michèle was packing up her house because she wanted to rent it out as an AirBnB while she was working on her PhD in the UK (and be much closer to John).
So, when John wanted to make me porridge and tea, there was no milk. Michèle went for bicycle training, so after some chatting with John, I ventured off to get us some milk and other groceries.
John and I had a very good and personal conversation. I enjoyed it.
When she returned from her training, I needed to speed up packing because she wanted the two lovebirds to go kayaking again.
What an experience! I rarely had felt so much like a fifth wheel in the past decades.
I was in the saddle by 11am still feeling both amused and irritated. I mean, I had offered to stay in a campground because I had felt early on that something was off. But anyhow – it sure made for a good story to be told at a campfire.
I was following the Kennebecasis river in a North-Easterly direction. After a rough start on the TransCanada Trail, it was a beautiful route through hills and passing by farms and small townships under a blue and white sky.
It was tough cycling but also pure joy! I was very happy and thankful that Michèle had invited me down here.
At one point I needed to cross the river with a ferry, which was for free and ready to launch when I arrived.
Immediately my neighbor, his name was Robert, started chatting me up and wanted to know what I am up to. This happened to me 3-4 times every day since I am here. People are so open and friendly. It’s really amazing and I wished, Germans were more like that.
The route continued to be amazing. Around lunchtime I had a break in a small place called Hampton.
I made it to Sussex as planned and found a nice campground. After I had set up my tent I was checking an idea that I had developed during the day.
Since I had replanned my ferry to Newfoundland and would skip around 800km of shoulder-less highway together with many trucks, I had some time available.
During the last days, I had kept in touch with Mathieu who was cycling together with his girlfriend Claudia and their daughter from Montreal to Halifax.
We had met in Rivière Ouelles on day 12 of my tour and there had been an immediate chemistry.
They were a couple of days behind me and would skip Prince Edward Island. When I would go to PEI and then turn South to Halifax to discover the coastline of Southern Nova Scotia, they should be ahead of me and I could catch up to them for a reunion.
I told Mathieu and Claudia about my idea and they liked it immediately. So, that meant I had a new plan which I was looking forward to.
As the sun went down the temperature dropped sharply and I was in my sleeping bag by 8pm.
When I got up during the night for a bathroom break, I saw a pretty big animal sneaking around my tent. It was a badger (Dachs) I believe.
I was a little bit scared and rushed back into my sleeping bag.
What a great day!