TOURISTS IN OUR OWN BACKYARD
It was calling for rain today, so we decided not to venture into the trail. Instead, we’re walking from the Bay Bulls trailhead of the Mickeleen’s Trail up to wherever Amélie can get to.
It’s a lucky break, since we spot a young humpback whale feeding at the head of the bay. It comes up a few dozen times during our walk around the harbour, and Amélie is very excited about trying to spot it before we can!
We take a few snapshots of Amélie at the O’Brien’s Boat Tours and Mullowney’s Boat Tours wharves. We then make our way towards the church. Amélie keeps saying that we are going to go see Rachel and Nora – the two girls she normally sits with during mass.
With so many distractions, it’s easy for Amélie to keep going. The boats, the water running in the ditches, the buoys in the water – all of these are fantastic motivators. When Amélie finds a little ball in a ditch, she’s distracted by it for another good long while.
We stop on a park bench for a little snack, and despite the cold wind and the drizzle, Amélie happily walks all the way to Captain Wayne’s wharf, a little over 3 kilometres away.
A few days on the trail followed by this breezy stroll in Bay Bulls makes it very obvious that walking on the roadside is much easier than hiking the rugged East Coast Trail!
AMÉLIE’S PROGRESS
- 0.150km (Our house to Alder Hill)
- 1km (Alder Hill to Bears Cove Inn)
- 1.65km (Bears Cove Inn to Tobin Memorial)
- 1.5km (Tobin Memorial to Otter Cove)
- 1km (Otter Cove to Upper Red Cove)
- 0.6km (Upper Red Cove to South Head)
- 4km (South Head to Bay Bulls Trailhead parking lot)
- TODAY: 3km (Bay Bulls Trailhead to Captain Wayne’s Excursions)
- Amélie’s total progress: 12.9km/316km
- Distance walked by the adults today: 3km
- Total distance walked by the adults: 34.1km
- Total time invested today: 3.5 hours (includes prep, driving/walking to hike’s starting point, total time on the trail, and the drive/walk back home).
- Total time invested in the effort: 24.5 hours
At this rate she may be the youngest to walk across Canada!