Canadian Maritimes Day 5

Woke up and took some time to break camp and haul all our stuff back to the van. We had planned to sea kayak at Meat Cove, but they're not renting kayaks right now. Drove a little way down the road and found Eagle North Kayaks - a small, family-run outfit that rents kayaks by the hour. The woman who greeted us reminded us of Aunt Michelle. :)

We kayaked for about 2 hours. M and B in one and J and I in another. We found them to be very comfortable and easy to maneuver, but my arms got tire. We saw some giant seagulls, piping plovers, moon jellies and huge purple jellyfish with long tentacle-things. We paddled around the bay to a beach that separated the bay from the ocean where we had a break and a snack. M & B dunked in the ocean and J hunted for more cool rocks. Then we paddled back. We weren't careful enough and ran aground a couple of times. Oops. Standing birds are never a good sign.

After kayaking we drove to Black Brook Beach for a picnic lunch, then to Mary Ann Falls - M's highlight of the trip. There was a swimming hole at the bottom of the falls and some college guys were jumping from a rock about 30 feet high into the pool. Of course, M couldn't resist. He ended up doing it 3 times and was so happy. The guys even gave him a beer after the first jump.

B did a lot of swimming and rock jumping, too. His highest jump was from about 6-8 feet up and it looked plenty scary to me.

When we'd had enough, we walked back to the van and drove toward North Sydney where the ferry leaves for Newfoundland. On the way, we had to take a mini-ferry (about 2 minutes ride) across a river. We asked the ferry attendant where to eat in N. Sydney and he recommended Jane's. We went there for pizza (kids) and seafood (grown-ups). We were hungry when we got there and stuffed when we left.

We're supposed to be at the Marine Atlantic ferry at 9:30 pm, but we got there around 7:45. There was already a line. Lots of time to wait.

Boarded the ferry around 10:30 pm. Found our cabin - so cool: 2 bunks on each side, a small table, medium window, small flat-screen TV and a bathroom like in an RV - with a shower! We dropped off our stuff, then explored the ship. We were glad to have a room! There was a restaurant/bar with live music, arcade, gift shop, cafe, kids' play areas, seating with movies, quiet seating, etc. Then we went back to our room and settled into our beds. My shower felt soooo good. Kids fell asleep quickly and slept until the wake-up calls (1 hour before and 1/2 hour before disembarkment).