Travel to Nova Scotia

The dream of the early 1970’s was to backpack across the country and work your way over to Europe on a “tramp steamer.” Well, Louis Lamour and Ernest Hemingway did not speak highly of working on a freight boat although I knew a couple of my peers who said it wasn’t that bad.

In addition, staying at a hostel was the way to go. I stayed in hostels during my 3 month stint across Australia and met some great people. I still write to a guy in Sweden named Bo.

Hosteling meant you stayed dormitory-style in a small room with iron bunk beds. Experienced hostelers had their own sewn bed sheets but I was happy with my sleeping bag. In the morning you got up and cooked your own meal and then did chores. Then the doors were locked and you went out by yourself, in groups or joined a low-budget (only in price) hostel-sponsored tour.

In Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, there is a hostel called Yarmouth Backpackers Accommodation. It is an old house fixed up to accommodate people from as low as $22 for dormitory stays to $50 for a single room.

Yarmouth, of course, is right on the ferry route to the U.S. so it is really convenient. Shops are close and you can take a bus to Cape Forchu Lighthouse for a great vista and local history. Backpackers coming in from the U.S. can catch the South Shore bus to Halifax (Trius Buslines).

The owners come from both Calgary and Sidney, Australia (Lee Whetstone and Cathie O’Brien respectively) and have transformed a 130-year-old home to a beautiful accommodation for the traveler.

It’s nice to see that you can still have a beautiful place to stay with coughing up $150 a night.

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I’m really glad that our country is taking a step toward the treatment and disposal of waste from RV holding tanks and other camping disposal techniques. Many RV owners do not know this but they are buying toxic chemicals for use in their waste systems and are equally unaware of the consequences to the environment when using these products.

What they may not know is what rural landowners already know: that bacteria is needed to break down waste material in septic and holding tanks. By using the popular laundry detergents, odor killers and cleaning solutions what they are doing is disinfecting the tanks and thus creating a toxic slew of human waste and chemicals. Sure, it smells okay but it’s not doing anything to break it down. And then when it’s dumped from the on-board system to the campground holding tank it kills the bacteria there, as well. Now you have a bigger toxic and human waste tank.

Here’s the natural fact. Your RV holding tank should only contain urine and feces a small amount of toilet paper. Not a great topic to dwell on, but true. Because bacteria found in human waste is the beginning of the decomposition process to compound beneficial to the earth. To promote this break-down, instead of putting in chemicals try adding Septo-Bac or some agent that will speed up the process.

The RV companies should be doing more to promote “green” discharge of toilets. The good thing is that they are frantically trying to manufacture vehicles that burn less fuel.

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It was bound to happen. First there was the bag of Goldfish instead of a lunch and now Air Canada has levied a $25 surcharge on each extra suitcase. But the meteoric rise of oil has to leak out somewhere and baggage is just the start.

Massive quarterly losses for U.S. airlines have led to increases of 3 to 6% since last fall when the rise in oil was steep but not to the degree as it has in the past week. In fact analysts say that fares would have to up to go up 15 -10% to keep pace with a $120US barrel oil price.

What this means for Nova Scotia - and the rest of the world - is that air travel, and travel in general, will be a rationed commodity. The unfettered days of the 1970’s through to now heralded world travel never dreamed of before and that many be flatlining. (Signs of it were in effect at the turn of the decade when internet teleconferencing began replacing face-to-face business meetings.) Tourism-based areas rely on travelers but if the price of an airline ticket climbs higher then people will stay home.

But what will the stay-at-homes do there? Well, when the ferry service to Nova Scotia from Maine was interrupted and the schedules changed the U.S. traveler was not as anxious to come here and the innkeepers were hit by less hotel room night at their establishments. However, whet they have noticed is that there a lot more locals and central Canadians coming here.

Now, with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative on the books (requiring passports for air travel to the US and the rise in cost of fuel we might see more locals discovering their own back yard.

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I don’t think I’ve ever rented a vehicle where it wasn’t kept in a dark parkade.

In Calgary, I hopped off the WestJet flight and into the convenient rent-a-car mall where i was handed the keys to a Toyota Matrix. Right off the bat I did 2 things wrong:

1. Never checked the “Condition Sheet.”
2. Never took digital photos of the car with a time-stamp.

When I got out into the bright Alberta sun I looked up to see two rock chips on the upper windshield - where the black defrost area is - blemishes that were not apparent int the dank confines of the rental garage.

Now, pulling off Deerfoot Trail going either north or south is no picnic but I pulled over and phoned the rental agency. The fellow said that he would note the chips on my file. Then I left a message with my travel agent, Toots, who booked the car.

When I returned the car a week later the nice young fellow said that the chips had been noted on the car’s ID file and that it was no problem. I guess I will see when my VISA bill comes in.

Anyway, even us old guys make rookie mistakes! So beware.

In southeastern B.C. there is a triangle of land about half the size of Nova Scotia called the Kootenays. It is bordered by the B.C./Alberta Rockies on the east and Montana, Idaho and Washington state on the bottom. In this small piece of Canada is a total of 23, 18 hole golf courses!

Most of the course are mountain view, or right in the mountains whcih makes it hard to concentrate on your game, from Redstone in Rossland to Fernie. From the Big Bend  country up north at Golden - Kicking Horse - to the St.Eugene in the south the courses are also mirrored by world-class ski hills.

You can fly into Cranbrook airport from Calgary or Vancouver and be on a course in less than 20 minutes.

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