Day 107: Perth-Andover to Millville

Trust Google?

We did, and paid for it. Not that the detour we took was sketchy or anything, but we did an extra 15km's up a forestry road that went nowhere! And it was hot.

Today started like any other. A phone alarm would go off, get snoozed, ring again. We would get up, have breakfast, pack the tents and wheel out in a very lazy manner.
We had slept well last night, the campsite was quiet and the sun didn't come up until a bit later as we were behind a hill.
While eating breakfast I watched a fledgling Bald Eagle get fed by its mother, a majestic bird.

We were on the rail trail again this morning, and it was somewhat better than yesterday's stage. Smooth gravel all the way into Bristol, where we stopped for mid-morning tea/coffee. In these small towns, the elderly seem to gather in the Tim Horton's and discuss everything. There are no secrets in these small towns.

After Bristol, we rolled into Hartford, home to the world's longest covered bridge. Aaron and I rode it twice, once over the river and again to come back.
By now the sun was beating down, so we stopped in the shade of a tree and grabbed a bite to eat. From here onward, the road would kick up a little, so we wanted to be fuelled for the afternoon.

Trusting the map Google had supplied us, we spun down the road, and then headed up a forestry trail. We climbed higher and higher and then, suddenly, reached a dead end.
The trail just stopped.

We back-tracked and headed out on the 104, good old Pole Hill Road.
What an experience.
The road surface was a patchwork of fifty shades of grey, each shade covering, hopefully, a pothole. Some potholes were fresh and hadn't been covered, so our eyes had to be watching for the danger.

Our destination didn't seem to be getting any closer, so we reassessed the situation and decided we would try our luck in Millville.
Speaking to a farmer just outside of town, he said Millville wasn't worth the effort, and that we should push on.
Non-cyclists have a warped sense of what a cyclist needs from a town. We need simple supplies and fresh water, a place to sleep, and that is pretty much it.
When we arrived in Millville, it had all of the above, so we decided to try and pitch tents in the church yard.
While we were deciding this, a guy walking his dog approached and so we asked if it would be OK to camp in the church. He said yes and then said, "Why don't you come and stay with me, I have two spare bedrooms?"

Aaron and I looked at each other and nodded in agreement. This was perfect. We could shower and have a good sleep. We wheeled our bikes to the house, dumped our bags in our respective rooms and went down to the kitchen to talk to Andrew. He was busy replacing the windows in the house, so it was a bit a mess, a light layer of sawdust covering most of the lounge area.

Chicken soup and bread for dinner. Winner. Andrew's wife (she was at work) said he should make us granola bars for the morning, so he did that while we ate dinner.
Andrew then started telling us all the places we need to go in Halifax, as he had spent loads of time there. The list of places grew and grew, and soon we had days mapped out.

Our eyes were starting to droop, so we said our goodnight's and headed upstairs.

Once again, hospitality is found where none is to be expected.

Distance: 111 km
Time: 5:48:46
Height gained/lost: 999m /-956m
Calories: 3513