Kilometer 2450
Gaspé, QC
A full month, it took me, but I reached the end of the Gaspé Peninsula. Most of the day was spent biking and hiking out to the very tip, but now I've reached it, so I can rest at ease.
Animals seen today: a loon, a pack of seals, a porcupine (crossed the path just five feet from where I was standing), and a whale. Conspicuous flag usage seen today: a truck passing me at least three times, waving Chilean flags high in the air (Copa America celebrators?); the Québecois flag raised jointly with the Tibetan flag, at a house across the street from a Canadian-flag-waving post office.
Day 31
Kilometer 2575
Gascons, QC
Shouldn't I at least be in a new province by now?
Day 32
Kilometer 2712
Nouvelle, QC
It took me about 17 Canadian flags on stores and passing cars to realize that today is Canada Day, the 149th anniversary of Canadians politely accepting the self-governance given to them by the queen. No war, no tea parties, nothing.
In other news, New Brunswick is in sight. The hills on the far of side of the Baie des Chaleurs ("Bay of Warmth," apparently) have been getting larger and larger all day. I've even heard some English being spoken.
Day 33
Kilometer 2849
Belledune, NB
8:11 am: Holy shit, I'm cold. Turns out the tent is, um, not as waterproof as it claimed. Like, at all. I woke up two hours ago to rain coming down on my face soaking my sleeping bag. Virtually everything I have is sopping wet now. I did manage to save the food and some clothes by putting them in the sleeping bag bag. I'm now cowering in a rest stop bathroom until I muster the courage to go back out there. Maybe when I stop shivering.
11:56 am: I have found my Lord and Savior. His name is Tim Horton, and he has a franchising agreement with someone in Campbellton, New Brunswick to provide hot, hot coffee to shivering bicyclists in need. Once my remaining limbs have thawed, I can take stock of the fact that I just biked over a thousand miles across Québec, but at the moment my sole concern is imbibing as much heat as possible from this cup of Tim's (blessed be His name).
4:32 pm: Things I love about New Brunswick so far: 1. It's flat. 2. It's not currently raining. 3. That's it. Two things. That's all that's required to earn my love.
5:09 pm: Okay, I have three more things to say about New Brunswick, actually.
First, language: in New Brunswick (Canada's only officially bilingual province), as well as on the South Shore of Gaspésie, people seem to switch seamlessly between standard, accentless North American English and the strangest-sounding dialect of French I've ever heard. It sounds like they're using the growly English Rs instead of the throaty French ones. And of course, that leaves me constantly confused about which language I'm being spoken to in.
Second, flags: I don't know what's with me and flags the past week, but I have to comment on New Brunswickers' seeming obsession with them. In the past hour, I've seen Canadian, Québecois, New Brunswicker, Acadian, British, French, and Irish flags everywhere, and some I didn't recognize, often all strung up together. Make up your mind, New Brunswick! What defines you?
Third, time: I just noticed that my watch and my phone are displaying different times. Apparently I crossed into a new time zone when I entered the province. It's a little strange, actually. After two and a half days of biking westward, I end up in the next easternmost time zone. I'll get an extra hour of light at the end of the day, though I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
9:45 pm: Okay, I take back two things. First, my approval of the weather. It's rained four times since I wrote so highly of New Brunswick. Second, the accent. I just heard three guys talking in English, and they sounded like a drunk version of the Swedish chef. If the Swedish chef was also Irish. And just had dental surgery. Drunk Irish Swedish chefs high on anesthesia. That's what they sounded like.
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