Finally, Pete finds a wheel that's strong enough!

Acadian village is a highlight. No-holds-barred authenticity.

5,000 miles and counting.

Caraquet, NB August 9

Today local riding, Total 1,300 km.

First off, for those of you who pay attention to these things, what we craved last night was a few beers, not bears! turns out we got neither, brewskis are not as accessible in New Brunswick as in Quebec. We found a decent seafood place, then Pete went home to crash while I stayed to see the Son-et-lumiere. This was a great production, with audio-visuals and pyrotechnics backing up live singing. Unfortunately my french didn't let me follow the plot in detail, but it was along the lines of girl meets rascal, girl loses rascal, girl's dad dies when blacksmith shop burns down. But I enjoyed it, then rode back to camp in the dark.

This morning, I slept until 7:30, first time since starting out. After a brief discussion between tents as to which of us was most proficient in keeping the other awake with nocturnal noises, we rode 4 km into town to get some breakfast and to explore the picturesque fishing harbour, with the boats decked in red white and blue bunting in honour of the festival.

On the way back to camp, Pete turned over 5,000 miles on his odometer since the start of the trip. Fantastic achievement, my friend!

I decided to spend the afternoon at Acadian Village, a local historical park. It was well worth the effort, I have seen a number of similar exhibits in different parts of the world, and none of them can equal the attention to detail and authenticity here. Every house and business has its inhabitants in period costume (even down to appropriate spectacles), no watches, jewellry or piercings. Blacksmiths, coopers, weavers, millers were all proficient in their crafts, and fluent in French and English. The park itself is in a beautiful setting, with a river (with covered bridge and mill-weir) and live farm animals. It is largely self sustaining, even the building materials are milled in the park's sawmill. Worth coming to New Brunswick just to see this.

When I got back, Pete had left a note that he was at (surprise!) the Subway. I noticed that my carefully pitched tent had developed a strange twist, with half the pegs pulled out. Turns out that some people had arrived next door and got their knickers in a knot because I was too close to the property line, so the camp manager had to be called to satisfy their territorial instincts. Get a life, folks.

It was a beautiful, restful and rewarding day, and my batteries are fully charged. Tomorrow we move on, although the forecast calls for light rain.

Don't forget to check Pete's blog www.transcanada09.blogspot.com

Barney