Halifax or bust

I had to make a decision: Nova Scotia or Gaspésie. (Gaspésie is the peninsula south of the St. Lawrence River where Quebec Province meets the Atlantic.) Labrador and Newfoundland were definitely out of the question, given the limited time. In the end I decided it was Halifax or bust. So in the early morning rain, I started towards New Brunswick. The only reasonable place to stop was Campbellton, where the youth hostel is a lighthouse.

Highway 20 east is unremarkable, the land gently rolls around the Fleuve St. Laurent. I began to lose sight of the opposite bank of the St. Laurent. At Mont Joli I turned south towards New Brunswick. The road ran along the Matapédia River. This valley is very scenic. But the rain and mist were so thick that at some spots I couldn't see more than 200 metres ahead.

I wished I had more cassette tapes, I like Flora Purim but I was getting sick of listening to Nada Será Como Antes for the twentieth time. But what can you do, even a dozen is a lot to carry.

I also lost an hour crossing to the Atlantic time zone, but I didn't expect crowds at this hostel. I heard French at the dépanneur. They spoke English with equal facility. There were half a dozen other people at the hostel. Troy, a clear-faced youth managed it. It was quite small, located at the base of a lighthouse overlooking the bridge across the head of the Matapédia River. It is one of a pair of lighthouses. Vessels can navigate into the harbour by keeping the pair in line. It was also the last night of the season for this hostel.

All of the people here came by motorcycle or car. There are jokes about NB in Canada. If you tell your friends you intend to go to NB for a vacation they smile at you sympathetically, as if you were an idiot.  Who wants to travel NB? Well, the scenery is good in places, but tourism isn't well developed.  People here just, well, get along. The hostel management is so sure they won't be getting any more Afghanis or New Zealanders that they have already written the totals for those countries in the summary sheet.  While we were having dinner, Troy relayed the occupancy figures over the phone to his supervisor. The decision came back: shut down tomorrow.  This hostel was very clean and neat, the best hostel of the whole trip.