A Day Late.

Sorry this is a day later than normal - well for those that religiously check out the blog on a Monday anyway. We were away for the weekend. It's Victoria today (Monday) which was originally celebrated because of Queen Victoria's birthday. However, it was kept and we now celebrate Elizabeth II offical birthday on this day and the whole of Canada has a day off (except for those that work in shops as most of those were open today!).
Anyway, I digress. We managed to get a good deal for the White Point Beach Resort so we drove over there on Saturday morning and returned this afternoon. The resort itself is located on the South Shore near Liverpool (which is on the River Mersey!!) and is a lovely spot. Some would say it's rustic, some would say it's just old, but it does have some good points. The food there is excellent. There are some new cottages being built and the Golf Course is being extended to 18 holes. I will include some photos here that were taken over the weekend, but I've included a link to the right for you to check out them all at Photobox. You can even buy some if you want!
We set off around 10am on Saturday morning in the sunshine. Took us a while to get the car loaded and we took Mine and Matthew's bikes with us. We were going to take Emma's as well, but it wouldn't fit easily on the rack, so we decided to hire one there for Emma if she had an overwhelming urge to go out on her bike. As it happens she didn't, so I'm glad we didn't take it for a road trip...We stopped at Tim Horton's at Tantallon for Coffee, Cheese Croissants and a box of Timbits (drive-through coffee shops - what a great idea....) and then we took a slightly scenic route down as we didn't have to be there until 2pm. We did run into a bit of mist/drizzle but it didn't last and by the time we stopped for Lunch at Hunt's Point it was brilliant sunshine and the blackfly were just beginning to make an appearance. We drove through a place called Port Mouton. The reason I mention this is because of the ludicrous way it got it's name. Mouton is french for Sheep and this place got it's name because a sheep fell off a ship here. I think it might have been a french ship, but even so it's a ridiculous reason is it not? Made me laugh though.
We checked into the resort okay. The room was small, but clean and had the usual facilities. That afternoon, Matthew and I set off on a bike ride. There is a disused railway bed that runs parallel to the road for a number of miles, so we set off up this. At one point we had to cross the road, and despite the fact that Matthew had just ridden 3 miles on a rough dirt track, he manages to fall off on the smooth road bit. He actaully came down with a bit of a clatter and now has a nasty graze on his chest where it contacted with the edge of the handlebars. The ride was cut short and we had to head back. I went out again on Sunday, but this time I went on my own as he didn't feel like it.
One of the 'features' of the resort is the amount of rabbits. Strangely not the typical wild brown variety, but white, black, ginger, you name it they are there, everywhere. They give out free food at reception so all the kids have a great time pursuing these rabbits to feed them. Needless to say if they aren't overweight, they're traumatised!
As I mentioned before the restaurant food is very good. The chef used to be head chef at the Delta Barrington in Halifax and he's done a good job. On Saturday, Deborah had the signature Planked Salmon. This is quite a local speciality where the fish is cooked on a small plank of wood. The fish then takes in a bit of a woody flavour and is delicious. You can buy the planks for doing your own in the barbecue. All you need to do is soak the wood for about 4 hours prior to use or you end up with charcoal flavoured salmon. We then had the buffet on Sunday evening which was a choice of seafood, or Hip of Beef which was delicious. Wine was a little pricey, but then isn't it always.
We did plenty of walks on the beach with Bella (it's a pet-friendly resort). Emma even attempted a little paddling, but as you'll see from the photo, it wasn't really warm enough for that! The beach was sandy, but had a band of rocks to cross to get to it. There were also lots of rocks just off the coast which allowed for some good photo opportunities.
We set off home at around 10.30 after an excellent buffet breakfast (dinner and breakfast for the adults was included in the price) and again took the scenic route home taking in a trip across the La Have river on the cable ferry. We kept running into showers, so after a short stop in Mahone Bay we decided to press home and get all unpacked and start preparing for the rest of the week at work.
Talking of which, we had two new people start this week. One of them on Monday, the other on Wednesday. The first guy is Chinese, and although he is quite fluent in english, it is very accented and really difficult to understand. It'll be okay once we get used to the way he says certain things. The other is from Halifax, but of Portuguese extraction, but no accent problems there. He sounds Canadian. Even so, it will be nice to have another English speaker!!
Just managed to complete uploading some more pics to this site, so hopefully they are looking okay. Funny how some days everything is slow....I'm now adding these bits at work, so better go off and get a cup of tea and do some work....Have a great week.