We had a long drive from Quebec City to Halifax - over 1100 kms without any side trips. We try to only drive 320 - 350 kms per day (around the 200 mile when travelling in the U.S.) so we knew that we would have at least two nights enroute. We planned on this northern trip from Durham to take us about six to seven weeks and this means that we are really just scratching the surface and have no hope of seeing everything. It would take us six months or more to do it in depth and we just don't have that time. So it meant that once we left Riviera du Loop in Quebec State we rejoined the four lane highway and headed into the State of New Brunswick. There is a lot of construction work taking place and it is really necessary as the roads get damaged with the snow ploughs etc and there are quite a few pot holes and lots of areas re-tar sealed. We stopped for the day at Edmundston which is in New Brunswick. We try to stay two or three nights in camping grounds and then a couple of nights free camping. This certainly helps our accommodation budget. In Canada the camp fees for the two of us are around $C55 to $C60 per night which is $A58 to $A63 or $NZ63 to $NZ69 so they soon add up. After four nights in camping grounds in Montreal and Quebec City it was time for a couple of free nights. Walmart in Edmundston was our destination and also that of about forty RV's. We have never seen so many people free camping in one place in either the U.S. or Canada. Besides most of the big rigs we looked very small. We always start our day with a coffee - imagine my shock when I tried to turn on the gas to heat the water and the cylinder had run out over night. Not happy Jan! Yes, we could have walked over to the McDonalds within the Walmart store and bought a coffee, but we still had no hot water for showers etc. So instead, we dressed, pulled out of the carpark, found a propane refilling station, refilled and returned to Walmart so we could start our day properly with a coffee, breakfast and showers. You may think why didn't we notice we were just about out of gas. Well there is no gauge and as it was the cylinder on the caravan when we bought it we had no idea how much had been used. Sound fair? In normal circumstances Edmundston would just be bypassed by most travellers. There is little to see other than houses and a large timber production plant which is not surprising considering it seems that the whole of North America is covered in trees! When Peter was having the propane gas refilled the guy was telling him that last winter was terrible. One snow fall resulted in fifteen feet of snow and it was days before some people were able to dig snow tunnels from their houses. So back on to the highway and we continued East. You may wonder how we fill in all the hours driving. We chat about what we have seen, what we plan to see, the condition of the rural houses as so many of them are quite overgrown and run down, the variety of old cars just left to ruin pushed into corners of properties, the number of antique shops and sales, if we have heard the news we discuss that, I keep Peter informed in any changes in speed limits, then I assist him to drive from my seat just so that he does it correctly, listen to the radio if we have reception and if not Peter sings and eats lollies! The hours go by. It can be quite boring on these long drives. The highways bypass all the towns and with the thick trees lining the roads we often don't see any houses or signs of life. There is always a reasonable amount of traffic. The exit signs show what fast foods are available, then a second one shows gas availability, and the third what lodgings are available. There are very few rest areas as such. It would be very easy to bypass every town but sometimes a signpost catches my eye and we pull off. One of these was the small town of Heartland in New Brunswick which boasts to have the longest covered bridge in the world. It also has "Mary"s Bakery" which reminded me of my mother so I had to go in. Her name was May and she was a baker and love baking every day. This shop was very much a home bakery and they made beautiful lemon syrup cake which we can vouch for. We had another stop in Fredericton which is quite a big city of about 60,000. We had met a couple, Maurice and Suzanne, while in Quebec and they lived in Fredericton. We couldn't just bypass without a drive through! They told us that during the last January and February the temperature was around d minus 30 degrees every day. Just can't imagine it. Continuing on we eventually arrived in Moncton, our planned stop for the night and another Walmart car park where we joined about thirty other rigs. The girl at customer services said to me when I checked in with her that we would be able to have a party in the car park that night! Surprisingly there is rarely any noise, no groups of teenagers roaring through the car park or anything similar. It was cool with temperature around 10 overnight but nothing like minus 30. We have gas ducted heating in the caravan so we are okay! Soon after leaving Moncton (a city of around 70,000) we crossed the State border into Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia has quite a rugged coastline with many lighthouses so no surprises that they had a lighthouse at the Information Centre at the border crossing. It had been quite cold over the last few days and was now only 15 degrees - not my kind of summer, and had been raining on and off for twenty four hours. We continued the long drive into Halifax and booked into a camping ground hopeful that the rain would stop. Sightseeing in the rain is not pleasant at any time, let alone when it is cold. We decided to have a rare afternoon relaxing in the van. The camp ground advertised as being the best and closest to Halifax. Let me tell you, it may have been thirty years ago but not now. We were not impressed and didn't use any of the facilities other than the water, which was marginal at best. Fortunately for us Sunday morning the sun was shining. First planned stop was the Immigration Museum (my wet weather plan). Peter's great uncle had immigrated to Canada from England in 1912 and I was keen to see if they had any information that I didn't. Sadly the only records they were accessing was through ancestry.com which I already have access too so no help. However, the museum itself was excellent. We really enjoyed the informative tour, the displays and the videos and spent a very interesting three hours. Fresh fruit and nuts from the indoor Farmers Market, then a meander along the revamped lively waterfront to the ferry terminal. We had been told a perfect way to see Halifax was from the water during a ferry ride to Dartmouth across the harbour. Like many European and Canadian cities, Halifax has a magnificent citadel high on the hill overlooking the city and positioned to defend the area. We didn't go inside as time was running short but we were able to see from the outside and also the old turret town clock at the base of Citadel Hill which still stands nearby. It was built in 1803 to keep the garrison and the townspeople punctual. Peggy's Cove was our next stop which is about thirty kilometres south of the city. This is the most photographed area in Nova Scotia. The lighthouse draws thousands of visitors each year and people clamber all across the smooth rocks. Apparently from time to time there are treacherous waves and sadly at least two people have lost their lives on the rocks in the last year. You wouldn't have thought so seeing the people climbing the rocks when we were there. Fishermen and their families live in the small village as they have done for the past century or more. They fish for lobster mainly. The lady in the Information Centre showed us photos from her 'phone of the area and the rocks and lighthouse after heavy snow last year. The photos were amazing. Again we would love to see. She told us her mother's car was left out during a snow storm last January and wasn't visible again until April when the snow thawed. Unbelievable! We made a stop at the memorial to those lives lost in the Swiss Air tragedy in 1998. The accident occurred about five miles off shore and the people of Peggy's Cove and surrounding villages assisted in the rescue. The memorial now sits prominently on the headland. Pouring rain again the next morning and we packed up to head out of town. Before starting our journey we decided that safety first, we would replace the tyres on the car. We knew it needed a new set of tyres when we bought the car, and as our two rear tyres were losing significant pressure each day we didn't want a blow out or similar. New tyres on, we headed out of town, back to Moncton then on to Saint John. We knew it was cold and the sign saying 13 degrees confirmed it and it was still raining. Saint John is back in the State of New Brunswick and is also on the coast. We visited three places all in the rain - the reversing falls which are the result of exceptionally high tidal changes where the water enters the harbour through a very narrow inlet and the pressure of the change of flow when the tide changes. A series of under water ledges cause the water to roll causing significant navigation issues for boats despite the depth of the water. We saw the falls at low tide, and then again a few hours later but not at high tide. Next was a visit to Carlton Martello Tower which was built high on a hill to protect the town back in 1812 and had military significance until after WWII. Unfortunately after paying our entry into the tower we were told that the tower was closed due to engineers checking it, we could only visit the museum and watch a movie. Really disappointing. Next stop was Fort Howe which was built in 1777 by the British during the American Revolution to protect Saint John from further American raids. With rain continuing we decided it was time to head south hopefully to warmer and drier weather but of course this means a border crossing from Canada to the USA. We had purposely run down the amount of food stocks we had in the caravan and stopped just prior to the border to hard boil the eggs we had. We approached the customs officers, yes we were stopped. We had to hand over the keys (at least we could stay in the car this time), confirmed we had no persons or animals in the caravan, and it was inspected. Sure enough, out came the eggs and also three pre-packed capsicums. Everything else was okay. I explained the eggs were cooked and the guy said he wondered why they were hot and thought perhaps our fridge wasn't working! So the eggs were given back to us but the capsicums retained. We were back in the USA. Good bye Canada - we don't plan on revisiting this trip.