Saturday and Sunday, Canada

Saturday, Sydney, Nova Scotia
The rain and winds continued as we sailed away last evening. We went to our first show this cruise – a very good banjo player from Maine. Rocking and rolling again as we went to sleep.
This morning we docked in Sydney at 8.00am. Us Aussies have the Big Banana, the Big Merino, the Big Pineapple; Sydney, Nova Scotia has The Big Fiddle – right on the cruise ship pier! It's a symbol of dancing and parties. We took a walk uptown along their main street – George Street, which is crossed by Pitt Street and York Street! Late morning our excursion took us through North Sydney and 40 mins to the north, where we hopped on a little power boar and sailed for about 45 minutes to the bird islands. For the next hour or so we puttered around two rocky outcrops watching the bird life; at this stage in spring the pairs are nesting and the eggs are about 3 weeks away from hatching. There were hundreds of birds, about 10 different kinds, including the very cute puffins; so lovely to see them all sitting in pairs on the rocks, or to see two little heads peeping out from a hole in the rock. We even saw a bald eagle and a couple of seals. Today was very cold and windy, but sunny.
We learned that the Maasdam is the first cruise ship of the season to arrive in Nova Scotia. It will be followed by about 45 cruise ship visits over the next few months. When we got back to the ship, at sailing time, there was a scottish brass band sitting on the shore playing. A vocalist sang the US and Canadian anthems, to great applause from the ship's deck – it was a really fun atmosphere.
Sunday, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Well, for all you Anne of Green Gables fans, we're here! This is the capital of Prince Edward Island; about 38,000 population. This is the Queen's Birthday Weekend (Victoria); normally no shops open on Sundays until this w/e, when they open from noon to 6pm, then this continues throughout the summer until September. This morning Graham had a sudden attack of vertigo; he wanted me to still go on the excursion, so I did; it was wonderful but sad to be on my own. (You non-fans will probably find this boring.) First we drove by bus across to the other side of the island to the Anne Museum, the house of her aunt and uncle where the author, Lucy Maude Montgomery lived for 15 years; we were greeted by a youngish “Matthew” on the porch and then Anne gave us some raspberry cordial and I had a picture taken with her. The house is still set up in late 19th Century style: very beautiful and I bought some souvenirs for the Anne fans in our family. Then we went to Green Gables – yes, THE house. Anne actually lived over the field in her grandparents' home but spent lots of time with her cousins at Green Gables; I have lots of pics of the rooms, the Lake of Shining Waters, Lovers' Lane, etc to show you when we get home. On the way back we stopped at a lobster fishing village and also spotted an osprey nest.
When I got back to Graham he was still in bed and pretty much out of it, so I had some lunch and now I'm on the dock using free wireless. Tonight is a formal dinner, so we won't be going to the dining room; if Graham wants anything, we'll eat in the Lido restaurant, otherwise I'll get a tray and eat in our cabin. I'd be grateful for some more prayers for Graham, please!