Carter Beach - Nova Scotia

Carter Beach is located at the town of Port Mouton, Nova Scotia. It takes about 2 hours driving from Halifax. This beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in the north. When you visit the beach, you will have the same feel like the one in Miami.  The water is blue color. Not many beached in the north have blue seawater color. The only different is the temperature of the water. The water is cold. This beach is famous with its sand dollar. Lots of people go there to look for them.

When I got there, there is not much parking spaces only fit for about 8 cars. The rest has to park in front of other people houses. Also, there are lots of fly everywhere in the beach and some of them are horsefly. 

Part of the beach is separate by a small stream. Therefore, in order to walk all the way, you have to get wet by passing the stream. The water in the stream is about knee to waist height.

Grand Hyatt Seoul - Review

Grand Hyatt Seoul is located at Mount Namsam in Yongsan district.The views of surrounding are nice and beautiful. You can see the Namsan N Tower from the hotel. The hotel located near Itaewon. We drove a car when we check in. The GPS takes us to the back of the hotel and I had to asked people for direction. The lobby for this hotel located at the 1st Floor.  When we got at the lobby, the receptionist welcomed us. The service in this hotel is not as great as the one in Park Hyatt Seoul Hotel. The receptionist let me know that my room was upgraded to the suite with a swimming pool and Hangang river as the view. No one take us to the room like other Hyatt hotel in South Korea. The lobby itself is very crowded all day long.

Our room located in the corner of the 11th Floor. There is a welcoming gift from this hotel, a box of chocolate, fruit plate, and a bottle of wine. The room was big with a big sofa. The TV desk between the bed and the sofa can be rotated so that you can watch the TV in either at the bed or sofa. The closet was a walking closet with a dresser. The bathroom was nice but you can see it from the bed and you cannot close it like the one in Courtyard Seoul Times Square. The toilet bowl was equipped with a bidet. There is also a table bar next to the sofa.

There are two club lounges in the hotel, one is on the 15th Floor and the other is on the 17th Floor. Both served the same food and drinks. Both consists of a few separate rooms with tables and chairs with a wall of windows overlooking Hangang river.

I did not have time to spend on the fitness center nor the swimming pool. The swimming pool was very beautiful. I heard lots of complain regarding the fitness center and swimming pool since they allowed outsider to use the facilities. Therefore, I cannot give my opinion regarding the facilities. The lounge was great and not many people as others describe. The food was great and nothing to complain. Two thing that I did not like was the light at the room. All the lights were connected in one button and therefore, if I turned the lights in the bed, the lights where the sofa and the table bar located were also turned off. The air conditioner was not working as it should. The room get so hot. The air conditioner was very loud and noisy. It sounded like someone knock the door all day long. Other than that, everything is great. I would rate this hotel at 4.2/5.

Percé - Bonaventure Island Trip

Bonaventure Island View fro Perce

Percé is a small city that located in the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, Canada. It takes about 8.5 hours drive from Quebec City or 10 hours from Portland, Maine. During the summer time, this small city become a very popular tourist attraction. The two popular attractions in the city are Percé Rock and Bonaventure Island. 

  
Percé Rock is a natural rock formation located close to the town of the Percé. During the low tide, people can walk up to the hole in the rock. For better viewing, it is recommended to take a ferry to the Bonaventure Island. Bonaventure Island is located just in front of the town of Percé. People used to live in this island until bought by the Parc Canada. Since then, the Bonaventure island became a national park known as the Parc national de l’Ile-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Perce. This island is populated by different species of birds with Gannet as a majority species. For better viewing of the Percé Rock and the different species of birds, it is recommended to take a ferry. It costs around CAD$30/person. The ferry takes you to a closer look of the Percé Rock and observes various species of marine mammals such as seals and whales.

Perce Rock from Ferry Boat

Perce Rock from Boat Landing

White and Grey Seals

 

 

From far away, looks like a horse is drinking water

Bonaventure Island Boat Landing

Town of Perce from Ferry Boat

Small Sand Beach at Bonaventure Island

 

When you arrive at the boat terminal in Bonaventure Island, you will ask to wait and a park ranger will explain about the island which I did not understand since he spoke in French. After that you will go to the ticket counter and pay the entrance fee to the park. The cost of the entrance fee is CAD$7/person.

 

It is recommended to take a des colonies trail to get to the Gannet Colonies and back thru Chemin-du-Roy trail that passes thru more Gannet colonies, sand beach, and ocean view.