Woke up shivering in my tent, it was freezing out! The rain overnight had cleared and therefore there was no longer an insulating cloud cover and it was chilly! and windy! I finally forced myself out of my sleeping bag and shedded the many layers of clothing I had worn to bed to get dressed. Tearing down camp was not fun as my fingers were soon numb and I couldn't get my tent undone with no feeling in my hands. Finally I was all packed up and ready to hit the road, I couldn't wait to get moving and hopefully warm up with some exertion. I didn't have to wait long, as soon as I left the campsite I was climbing a huge hill. My body was quickly warmed and just my feet and hands remained chilled. Broke out the gloves for the first time that morning!
I had a great tail wind for the most part of the day so even though it was cold at least I was going quickly and it wouldn't be too long of a day. My spanish podcasts kept me entertained until lunchtime at which point I couldn't take anymore of the cheesy intro jingle and had to take a break. There weren't really any towns to speak of for most of the day and since I was down on food supplies lunch consisted of a muffin and power bar. Gone are the days when we used to have a big spread for lunch and dinner!
I've noticed a few interesting things about New Brunswick so far, things that are different then any other province we have come through.
1. They all have these big wooden trunks at the end of their driveways. I thought maybe they were for packages in the post or then I thought of dowry trunks but after having asked a local I found out they are just garbage storage trunks. Much nicer then the big bins the rest of us use!
2. There are sooooooo many churches! Every little town has at least and Anglican, Baptist and Presbyterian church and some of them have even more!
3. Lots of the houses have metal stars on the outside, usually attached to the siding near the front door. I had no idea what this symbolized and again thought up many different reasons they could be there but when I asked it turns out they are trendy right now and solely decorative. So much for all my crazy ideas!
4. Lots and lots of dogs which really like to chase/bark at me. I'm sure most of them mean no harm but when two big dogs are chasing you as fast as they can run and I can pedal it's a little frightening! It's happened a few times over the last couple of days and i'm paranoid they are going to bite me and/or get caught under my wheel and cause a big accident both to me and them. Luckily most of the dogs are tied up so the most they can do is bark.
Anyways getting back on track, I got into Woodstock pretty early in the afternoon and had time to go to the library before checking into my "hostel". Note the quotation marks around "hostel" what a wierd place it was. There was no reception, you had to call to be let in, instead of some young foreign person working it was an older local woman, all the rooms were singles, it was in the basement of an apartment building, when the other residents heard I was a "traveller" they were surprised. Apparently it was more of a residence for people in between houses, in between jobs, or recently immigrated to Canada. I spent most of the time in my room. I must admit though, wierd as it was I had a fabulous sleep!
Woodstock -> Fredericton
Another very cold morning on the road but this time it was clear and sunny and warmed up fairly quickly. I decided to take a back road into the city instead of following the highway. I thought it would be a short cut. In distance it was for sure but time wise I'm not so sure since it was not very well paved it was pretty slow going for the first 40km and lots and lots of hills! Again almost no towns along the way but at least this time I had bought groceries in Woodstock and had food for lunch! The ride was pretty uneventful, I think I may have seen a moose but not quite sure, some sort of large animal from quite far away can be anything if you use your imagination a little :)
I got into Fredericton around 4pm surprised to see how little it really is! Apparently the population is only around 60,000. I spent last night at Jessica's, a girl I contacted through couchsurfing.org. We built a fire and hung out telling stories and making s'mores, a good Saturday night! Today I'm taking my first rest day since Ottawa and then tomorrow it's back on the road again!
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