We've now been home for about a week and have had a little bit of time to reflect on the overall trip.
The pace: I think the pace we had set for ourselves was pretty much perfect. In general, our longer days tended to not go beyond 600km. That still allowed us to get to our destination by late afternoon/early evening. The shorter days we had interspersed throughout the trip were also great and allowed us to see some extra things and reduced overall fatigue.
Nova Scotia: We're definitely going back. There are some more places we'd like to visit, even in areas we frequented on this trip. For example, I think we'd like to spend another 2-3 days in and around Lunenburg alone. Not to mention, we'd like to do the northern coast of Nova Scotia as well.
Rain gear: Ah yes, our favourite topic of the trip. RAIN! It was abundantly clear that we got quite wet on this trip. Having said that, it's also evident that the rain gear we had helped a great deal. The Frogg Togg oversuits would eventually allow water through (especially under higher speeds) but they greatly reduced the amount of water that our riding gear retained. Hell, we were able to put our jackets on the next day without spending hours drying them!
Scala Rider Q2 units (aka bluetooth communicators): I can't stress enough how fantastic these units were. Being able to continually communicate with Cess allowed the riding time to still be time we were spending together, instead of two individual rides. Provided that the speakers are mounted correctly in the helmets, we were able to hear one another at up to 130-140km/h; that's impressive!
Touring on an Aprilia Tuono: Ok, so it's not the sort of bike people think of when you say touring. You know what though, the bike did perfectly fine. The ergonomics, power, and range were great for the sort of touring we're doing. It's certainly no Gold Wing but then again, it doesn't pretend to be. The only thing I think I'll have to change for our next tour; the seat. Pain in the ass. Literally.
So... where to next?