Monday 12^th November

The town of Amherst has some lovely homes built around the end of the 1800’s and early 1900’s which we decided to view.  They are mostly two or three story buildings with attics, otherwise known as “dormers” on the 2^nd floor and I suspect basements as well.  This time of the year presents a seemingly never ending battle with the leaves from “fall” which multiply on the ground (or I suspect the home owners think they do). 

We saw quite a few people raking up and bagging these leaves, but I am sure if we walked passed the house tomorrow there would be more laying in wait. The walk is about 4.5 km from where we are staying so when we arrived in town we made a beeline for Tim Hortons, a Canadian establishment serving fast food, coffee and donuts.

For a little background on Tim, he was born in Cochrane, Ontario in 1930.  He was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1949 and played hockey for 22 years.  Outside the rink, Tim was just as sharp.  He realized that his hockey career would not last forever and sought to find a clever way to add to his hockey salary.  After many summers trying to make an off-season living, Tim decided to try his luck in the coffee and donut business.  The first Tim Hortons franchise opened in 1964 in Ontario.  Today there are more than 3000 restaurants in Canada and USA.

After re-tracing our steps home again the sun had come out and we had to dispense with a few layers of clothing – it was about 17 degrees – quite a contrast from yesterday at about 5 degrees.

 The Joggins fossil cliffs are the preservation site of age old tree and footprints of creatures as they froze. We took a 30km drive through some rambling countryside to see these cliffs and the interpretive site, however the building was closed for the winter.  Undeterred we found a cliff side walkway which led us to a beach/mud flat which enabled us to see the remnants of the trees and to also see a few people enjoying the walk along the beach.  From the number plates of the cars in the car park I think others like us had driven there expecting to go inside and learn more about this site which I understand to be UNESCO listed (United Nations Education and Scientific and Cultural Organisation).