We can smell the Atlantic!

Ahoy there!

Well, it's official, we have made it to the east coast and can smell (and taste) the lovely salty atlantic ocean.

Here's proof of us entering Canada's only official bilingual province...








We're currently in Miramichi, NB and are working our way south towards PEI. We're at 6472 km and have only another 9 days of biking and 3 more provinces before we reach St. John's!

We've been blown away by the spirit and the warmth of people across Canada, but more over the last two weeks than ever we have been spoiled time and time again by people offering directions, advice, food, lawns, showers, beds and best of all stories! Andrew is best at asking the hard, uncomfortably questions that lead to the best conversations (during many of which I've had to do simultaneous translations!), and as a result we've learnt about the fate of Catholicism in Quebec, perceptions of francophones with regards to anglophones, the expulsion of the acadians, and most importantly "where the really strong east coast accents start."

Acadia celebrates national Acadia day every aug 15 so houses all over NB are decorated right now with red white and blue flags and streamers, stars and banner with the names of some of the original Acadian families.

It's really hard to imagine that this trip is coming to an end and that in less than two weeks Andrew and I will no longer be professional vagabonds/cyclists/hippies... That said we're both getting so excited about being back at school and seeing people other than each other every day!

Mel xo

P.s. Meant to post this yesterday morning... See next post for latest update!

La belle province!

Bonjour les amis! Nous sommes finalement rendu a Quebec! Au revoir Ontario la grande!













We have made it to la belle province and are currently in Montreal staying with fellow bike tourers Jessie and Jackie!

About to go have some Montreal smoked meat at Swartz, poutine and maybe a crepe for dessert?

Bisous!

Location:Rue Saint-Jacques,Montreal,Canada

New Photos!

It seems as though we've been getting a little behind on updating our photos (last upload was in Calgary.. and now we're in Ottawa...)  I just put 88 more up on flickr though, so enjoy!

Mel and Andrew's Photo Journal

Home to me

Inspired by Andrew's post about home, I've decided to put my thoughts about the concept into words.
Less than a week into the trip I wrote a short entry about how I was feeling about home at that point.  It's stayed true and been proven time and time again throughout the trip...

Home is wherever you make it- wherever you want it to be.  The idea of choosing a single place, an address, a piece of land, is frightening.  How can I possibly establish roots when there's inviting soil everwhere?   Why not just bring home with me wherever I go?

Home is whatever you make it - it doesn't need a fixed place in space and time, just your knowledge that it is there with you.  What makes somewhere home to me requires nothing more than what I could carry with me... it's about the people, the fun, the interactions and the feeling of fulfilment. 

Coldwater Road, Roche Lake, Site 1 at a campsite in Kelowna (and now) the Rockies (all of them!), a wheat field, Montreal River, Huntsville, the Ottawa Valley... These places are just as much home as anywhere I've lived.  I'm sure the list will grow!

I have found "homes" all across Canada.  I'm not yet sure if this will make it much harder or easier to feel at home in one given place... I guess time will tell!

What is home to you? Where do you feel at home and what/who makes you feel that way?  Leave comments below if you like :)

Mel xo