Fireworks, Beach Days, Kayaking and a Day Trip

It was a weird summer.  The weather had a lot to do with it.  Rain was forecast more often than not so it was hard to plan camping outings out of town like I usually do.  That being said, I made the most of it closer to home.  

I have a beautiful, sandy beach only a ten-minute drive away from my house so I spent a lot of time there walking, beachcombing and swimming in water that seems to be much warmer than usual.  

 I don't usually go out of my way for fireworks but when I saw that the fireworks for Glace Bay's Harbourfest would be held in a location visible from Big Glace Bay Beach, I thought that would be a nice outing with a friend I don't get to see as often I'd like.  I didn't know what kind of view we'd have all the way out there but turns out, we had the best seat in the house.  We found a nice spot in the sand and enjoyed the display over the water.  We also had the added bonus of seeing all the boats that were a part of the Parade of Sail that happened right before the fireworks parked just offshore.  

The last few summers, I enjoyed going to Mira Provincial Park to do some paddleboarding through CBRM recreation but this year all the spots were booked up.  Luckily, I was able to do some kayaking with a friend who had an extra kayak.  Not the same thing but just as fun! 

I did manage to get one day trip in to Inverness in early summer.  It was a perfect day, too!  The wind, temperature and surf were just right to enjoy a swim at one of my favourite places in the whole world.  The only thing missing was an Inverness sunset.  I usually stay until the sun goes down but not that day.  

 

I Finally Learned to Paddleboard

Ever since I first watched my sister paddleboarding on lakes in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, I wanted to try it.  It was only this summer that I finally got that chance.  

I from many people that it was super hard but I knew I wouldn't find it as hard as most people who try it for the first time because I have experience surfing and kayaking. 

I wasn't ready to go out and buy a paddleboard without knowing if it was something I wanted to do or not so when I overheard some people at work talking about lessons at the Mira Provincial Park, I had to learn more. 

Long story short, I signed up for a lesson, headed out to Mira after work one fine evening in July, learned the basics before paddleboarding for an hour on the Mira River and fell in love!  With paddleboarding that is.  While I love surfing and kayaking, by the end of the summer, I realized that I actually like paddleboarding even more! 

I left work and drove to Mira almost every Thursday evening to hone my paddling skills. I surprised myself and was able to stand up on the board the very first night, but not for long.  By the end of the summer, I was an old pro, paddling out further and further each time and getting strong and more stable on the board.  On the last night, I stood up on the board the entire lesson!

Most evenings were calm on the water but there was one that stood out from the rest for being particularly windy and choppy.  I didn't have any difficulty paddling out but coming back was another story!  No matter how much I paddled, I just couldn't get the board to turn around to head back to shore.  I just kept drifting out toward the island.  The instructor yelled directions to me to try but nothing worked and eventually, I had to be towed in.  Let me tell you, I got quite the workout that evening!  I was exhausted when I got to shore but was glad to have gotten a lesson in what can happen when high winds come up!

I think it's pretty safe to say that I will be attending these lessons next summer too if they're offered.  Or maybe I will just go out and buy a board of my own!

Summer so far....

About a month ago to the day, I was wondering if we would even get a summer here on the East Coast of Canada.  Into the first week of July, it was still cold, foggy, rainy and even snowy in higher elevations.  Now?  Well, let's just say things changed completely around and we have been in the midst of a major heat wave.  In fact, I just heard today, that we basically shattered all weather-related records for highest temperature and longest stretch of extreme temperatures.  The temperature today was 30 degrees Celsius and 39 with the humidity - that is almost unheard of in this part of the world and it's been like this for weeks now!  I'm quite sensitive to the sun (not so much the heat and humidity as long as I'm out of the sun) so I've been staying indoors a lot more than I usually would.  My walking/biking workouts take place much earlier in the morning before the heat peaks and when I am not hunkered down in my cool-ish apartment, I am at Dominion Beach swimming and sipping on a cold beer in the shade.

All in all, summer has been going great for me.  While everyone else complains about the heat, I make the most of it.  I recently acquired a new toy - a canon DSLR camera with interchangeable lenses and all that fun stuff so I've been busy trying to master it.  I did a lot of the usual summer things too.  I ventured out to Rendell's Farm in Bras d'Or and picked some strawberries so I could skimp on groceries, save some money and eat nothing but strawberry shortcakes for two weeks.  I also spent a week in Newfoundland and the Canada Day long weekend in Margaree with fireworks, beaches and hiking.  Of course, Canada Day itself was spent at the Fortress of Louisbourg as it has been for the last 6 or 7 years.  I've been on a few hikes in the Framboise area too. Last weekend, I spent the day roaming the Cheticamp/Margaree/Inverness area beach-hopping, swimming and getting to know my camera better. Ive also been following a family of endangered piping plovers at the beach near my house.  They are flying now but I first spotted them only hours after they hatched. 

As for the final leg of summer?  Hoping to get some kayaking and camping in before the cold weather returns.  Hiking can wait until the fall and swimming will take its place until than.  I hope you all are enjoying summer (or winter depending on where in the world you are I suppose!) and please stay tuned for more posts about my adventures around Cape Breton and hopefully Alberta if I get to go there as planned later in the fall.

Kayaking St. Esprit Lake

I get a lot of invites to go for coffee or to go hiking or to walk the beach but I usually don't get invites to go kayaking. I only kayaked a few times and really like it but I don't have a kayak of my own and don't know too many people I can go kayaking with. My wish to get such an invite came true a few weeks ago when a friend who kayaks asked me if I would like to spend a day kayaking on St. Esprit Lake near Framboise. Of course I said yes...but with some reservations. For one, it was late in the fall and the air was starting to cool so I was concerned that my inexperience would make me more likely to tip the kayak and end up in the water.

I packed a lunch but had a hard time packing for the actual kayaking. The weather can do anything that time of year and I had no idea what to wear. I ended up packing shorts, tanks, sweaters, jeans and splash pants and a couple of jackets of various thickness and sneakers, boots and sandals. I also packed extra of everything so I had something dry to wear for the drive home if I happened to fall in the water.

Usually I take the shorter way through Gabarus and Forchu to get to the Framboise area and take the long way via route 4 home but on this day, I took the long way there. I arrived ahead of time at what I thought was Lake Esprit and waited for my friend to show up. And waited. And waited some more. After twenty minutes had passed, I drove up and down the stretch of road to see if I could see her anywhere and to make sure I was at the right place. I saw no sign of anyone and returned to the same spot near a lake that was near a sign that said Lake Esprit.

After an hour had passed, I began to again wonder if I was in the right place. I drove up and down that strip of secondary highway again but this time I went a little bit further and that's when I learned that I had been waiting in the wrong place all along. Fortunately, it was only noon and there was still almost 7 hours of daylight left so we had plenty of time to still enjoy a nice afternoon kayaking on this lake that is much larger than the one I had been waiting near.

My friend reassured me that it would take a lot to tip the kayak and, at first, I thought she might be just saying that so I wouldn't back out. Getting the kayaks off the car proved to be a little difficult but putting them back up proved to be more difficult as I found out later that evening. Decked out in my silly-looking water shoes and life jacket with my waterproof camera in hand, I waded out a few feet and hopped into the kayak. Once I was on my way, it didn't take long to realize that yes it would, in fact, take a lot to tip the kayak! I bounced up and down and swayed side to side and was unable to cause the kayak to even near tip. This gave me some reassurance for the rest of the trip and I was able to relax.

I got soaked pretty much right away but the air, even on that October day, was warm and the water was surprisingly warm too. I did well for my third time kayaking and was doing well keeping up with my more seasoned guide. I earlier told her I would prefer to stay closer to the edge of the lake but found myself leading the way toward the middle of the lake. I felt so comfortable out there on the water.

The weather held up all afternoon. I couldn't get over how well everything came together that day. The lake was as calm as anything. There was hardly any wind. The sun was shining. It was warm.  Loons were calling nearby. The sound of waves crashing onshore could be heard on the nearby beach (the lake was near the ocean). It was perfect. It was wonderfully serene.

It took about an hour to cross the lake and reach the beach. We pulled the kayaks onshore and found a nice spot on the beach to take our lunch. After tea and egg sandwiches, we took a little hike along that beach and stole a glimpse of the rough Atlantic surf which had tossed up a bit of seaweed during recent offshore storms.

On the way back to where we started, we did a few detours and ventured into some unknown corners of the lake around some unknown bends. Some places looked dangerously shallow but we made it through the thick grass and rocky bottom and were back to smooth sailing.  Although the weather held up, it did turn cool quickly but not cool enough to keep the flies from coming out. Darkness was coming fast too and although neither one of us wanted to return to dry land, we knew we had to soon or risk hypothermia. Also, if we stayed out too long, someone was bound to spot our cars parked on that dark road and wonder if we drowned while out on the lake. If not for those two factors, I would have stayed out there on that wide open lake all night long listening to that loon and gazing at those stars.

By the time I got back to my car, my feet were so cold, I could no longer feel them. I changed into dry clothes as discreetly as I could behind some trees. With the kayaks finally secured on the car and a clear night sky above, I drove the long way home with the heat up as far as it would go. I made a little detour to St. Peter's where I stopped at a Tim Horton's to grab a coffee for the long drive home. A kayak purchase may be in my near future. This is totally something I picture myself getting hooked on!