My summer vacation started on July 19th. I flew home to Toronto to spend a week with my family before continuing on to the Maritimes.
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| Korean Cultural Center in the Incheon airport. You can paint a traditional fan! |
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| I did this while waiting for my flight to Toronto |
On Saturday, July 20th the whole Soles clan went tree top trekking for mine and Andrew's (my brother) birthdays. It was fun, and quite a lot more dangerous than the trekking/ziplining I'd done in Gatineau and Costa Rica. There were no brakes!! They just expected you to barrel toward a padded tree at full speed, grab the green rope, and pull yourself up onto the platform. Well, it happened a few times that the rope was missed, after body slamming into a tree. Seriously Mom, I wish I had that on video.
On Sunday, the lovely Maryse came to visit me! It was so nice to see her and even nicer that she drove all that way. After having lunch with my Grandad on Tuesday, I made my way to the city to have dinner with Sandhya. She always treats me so well! We had delicious Mexican food and Cold Stone for dessert. I was ecstatic to be back in the land of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.
The rest of the week was spent enjoying my grandfather's company. Being 90 means time is extra precious. Knowing that he cannot travel far, I really just came home to see him. Getting on a plane used to be exciting because it meant you were going on vacation, but now when I get on a plane back to my life 10,000km away, it's more emotional. Saying good bye is always the hardest part.
I flew to Moncton, New Brunswick and met up with JM late Thursday night. JM's friend Kris was getting married on Saturday, and while we were supposed to have Friday as a day off for touring, torrential downpours kept us indoors. But it was ok! We hadn't watched any English TV in a really long time. So catching a few reality shows about the Canadian Border Services and home design was kind of relaxing.
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| JM's beautifully wrapped gift |
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| Barn wedding! |
For our 2 year anniversary, JM had booked us a romantic getaway at Kindred Spirits, a cute B&B in the Cavendish region of Prince Edward Island. Our package included chocolates and sparkling juice in our room, a single fluffy robe, national park and Green Gables passes, a picnic basket for two, homemade breakfast, and more. We thoroughly enjoyed driving around PEI and exploring the north shore, with the sand dunes, the ocean, and the eroded red sandstone. We even walked through a red fox pack!
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| Enjoying Green Gables! |
Going for a walk on Lovers Lane (from the Green Gables books!)
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| The Green Gables house |
Our prime picnic location .. a private locals only beach (ie: not on the map!) on the north shore!
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| Our picnic! Baguette, meat, cheese, apples, pecan tarts, and Raspberry Cordials! |
Cool rock formations. Clearly seeing the layers!
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| Panoramic of the view |
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| The sun finally came out! The sand colour was so much more beautiful. |
Some interesting architecture in North Rustico, PEI. The right one is called the Mother In Law's Door.
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| Our B&B - Kindred Spirits |
The next weekend we scooted up to Ingonish in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Friends of mine from McGill, Mal and Ben, were on an Eastern Canada bike trip. They were passing through Cape Breton the first few days of August so we met up with them and camped for two nights at Broad Cove Provincial Park. This was my first time in the Highlands National Park and it was beautiful! I had no idea that it was so mountainous. Together we hiked the Franey trail, swam in the brook at Broad Cove and then made a great camp dinner of sloppy joes. The next morning, JM and I got up at 5am to watch the sunrise and we saw some seals in the water. After camping, JM and I drove the rest of the way around the Cabot Trail, stopping to hike a few trails along the way. We saw a waterfall, a bog, and even a MOOSE! It was an amazing weekend.
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| Sunrise over the ocean from Broad Cove campground |
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| View from top of South mountain |
The next few weeks were spent between Cape Breton and Halifax. JM's niece was born August 5th, which he was really happy to be in the country for. We spent lots of time with friends and I even got to tour the department I'm interested in at Dalhousie University. I packed up and said good bye to Canada on August 16th, only to come back to Korea and have a few more holidays before starting my NEW JOB! All in all it was a great summer!
Jennika
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