Nova Scotia - Sep 15 - 20

Sep 15 - we went back to Digby, walked along the Admiral's Walk on the harbour front. Tide was low, it's amazing to see all the boats stranded there until the next high tide. From there we wandered along  on the coastal drive, we visited an old granite church and the tallest wooden church in North America. We stopped at a couple lighthouses, at one Denis bought me a pair of gloves from the gift shop. We ate lunch at Weymouth, which was a ship building centre  and now a very sleepy town. Continued on to Yarmouth and had supper at Rudder's Seafood Restaurant & Brew Pub, Denis and Sandra enjoyed the beer and we all recommend the seafood.

Digby scallop fleet at low tide

Sep 16 - Denis enjoyed a visit to the Firefighter's Museum and I ambled around downtown and visited a small gallery and bought a couple prints. When we met up again we walked along the waterfront, after lunch we drove to Cap Forchu lighthouse. Then we took to the road again, saw the oldest courthouse/jail in Canada in Tusket. We bought Eel Lake oysters directly from the sea harvester, an oyster shucker I'm not! I managed to gouge myself in two places and the oyster was still safe inside it's shell. Now I see there's an oyster shucking glove to go along with the oyster knife, maybe it's made of kevlar. We camped for the night at Wood's Harbour.

Sep 17 - we continued along the road less travelled to Barrington where I visited the woolen mill and Denis checked out the Seal Island lighthouse museum, a replica of the actual lighthouse. We visited the Baccaro and Clark's Harbour lighthouses on our way to Shelburne. We camped at The Islands campground across the harbour from the town. It's a very interesting town, the movie the Scarlet Letter was filmed there. For the movie they demolished and rebuilt one building and built another. They say that one intersection is unique in North America as all four houses were built before 1785, only slightly spoiled by the satellite dishes sticking out. We found a fish monger and bought lobsters for supper.

Sep 18 - we visited the Black Loyalist Historic site in Birchtown. We enjoyed the lobster so much we bought more before we left town. The town of Shelburne was all geared up for a cruise ship visit but the captain decided he didn't want to come into the bay so the businesses are very disappointed. We wandered along to Liverpool and tried to visit the Hank Snow museum, their hours sign said they should be open but the 'Sorry we're closed' sign was up. Sandra had visited it the day before. We had to make do with a visit to Fort Point historic site and bonus - a lighthouse and cannons!

Fort Point - lighthouse, cannons and non-operating pulp mill across the bay

The google car passed us near Vogelers Cove and then again at Broad Cove where we had stopped to watch some surfers. Will have to check Google some time later when they revise that area! We camped for the night at Risser's Beach Prov. Pk.

Sep 19 - we toured around the area and visited Petite Riviere winery. After picking up the trailer we headed up to Bridgewater. We decided to book into a spot for a week and found a place near Peggy's Cove. We'll do day trips from here. We've clocked up 20,000 km, Denis says he now understands how Glen and Debby put on 27,000 km.

Sep 20 - we backtracked and visited the Swissair flight 111 crash memorial at Bayswater. On to Lunenburg, another great place to visit. The Bluenose II was in port so we ogled it along with 5 bus loads of other tourists. We had lunch with Sandra and then walked around the beautiful old buildings. The old town has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. We found ourselves at the Ironworks Distillery so made a stop there, Denis got rum, no surprise and I got Rhubarb Esprit, no surprise either, everyone knows how much I like rhubarb! We drove to Blue Rocks, couldn't see any blue rocks, guess it's just the name of the village. Then we headed out to The Ovens which are some sea caves in an area where gold was found in 1861 but the rush didn't last long.


Beer, sunshine & Bluenose II in the background, he's holding up the lobster alarm

Note the gloves, it's been darn cold here!

Sep 21 - backtracking again today we visited Mahone Bay another beautiful town, then toured around Chester and had a late lunch. All the little towns are very pretty, built around the bays with boats bobbing on them. We came back a bit early and cooked a small pork loin, I think we were both surprised how much we enjoyed the change from seafood, but it's back to seafood tomorrow. Tonight there was entertainment at our campground, a kitchen party, but it was outside and you had to bundle up; it's been pretty chilly! Down 2 degrees a couple nights ago.

Nova Scotia Sep 10 - 14

Sep 10 - we headed northwest from Dartmouth towards the Bay of Fundy, Denis had a winery all scoped out. We arrived at Avondale Sky winery just as they opened at 11:00, a bit early but we forced ourselves to taste a couple wines. The tasting room is an old church that was moved to the site by floating it down the river on a barge. We continued on from there to Grand Pre where we camped in the Land of Evangeline campground. After lunch we continued our touring in Sandra's car, went to Blomidon winery and stopped in Medford for ice cream and to watch the tide recede, at least 15 feet while we were there. On our afternoon tour we went to Kentville and had beer in a bar in the former Cornwallis Inn, which in the 1930's was a grand CP hotel. It's now being used as offices and businesses on the main and lower floors and apartments upstairs. There are glimpses of its former grandeur but kind of shabby. We stopped at the Wolfville Farmer's Market for supper and bought lovely homegrown tomatoes and cucumbers. We wandered around and took pictures of the beautiful old buildings of Acadia University then back to the campground to check out the tide flats at Evangeline Beach.

Bearded Birdhouses in Canning

Clock Tower, Kentville with Cornwallis Inn in the background

Sep 11 - we started our day a few miles down the road at the UNESCO World Heritage/National Historic site - the Landscape of Grand Pre where  the Acadians dyked and drained 2745 acres of tide flats. After 2 to 3 years it was naturally desalinated and became very fertile land. The basic premise of the valves they used is still used today although the materials have changed. And then the English deported them. We were back to Wolfville and after a few issues with parking the truck and trailer we went  to Paddy's Brew Pub for lunch. We continued the trek westward and with some difficulty found our way onto CFB Greenwood to visit the Aviation Museum. Leaving Greenwood we continued to Dunromin Campground, just outside Annapolis Royal and we are done roaming for 3 days and will do day trips from here.

The church at Grande Pre, reclaimed land and Cape Blomidon in the background

Sep 12 - we went into Annapolis Royal and visited Fort Anne, it is just as beautiful as I remember from 15 years ago and the weather was a bit better. Sandra and I walked around the historic old town while Denis finished his visit to the fort. We had squash and apple soup for lunch, very tasty. Sandra and I visited the Historic Garden and Denis found the German bakery and bought pretzels and rye bread (which is hard to find in the Maritimes). On the way back to the campground Denis and Sandra visited the Tidewater Power Generating facility which we see across the river from the campground.

Oh look, another cannon

Sep 13 - we started the morning at the Annapolis Royal Farmer's Market, they had lots of fresh veggies, bread and other baked goods and crafts,even a winery and distillery. After we stocked up we headed to Port Royal to visit the recreated French 'habitation' from 1605. We really enjoyed our visit especially the knowledgeable costumed interpreters. After lunch we headed to Digby and then drove down the 'neck' to Westport on Brier Island, taking 2 ferries in the process. Denis and I did a short, steep hike (256 stair steps included) to see the Balancing Rock. Then it was back to Digby for a supper of their famous scallops.



Not sure if this one's a big gun or small cannon

Balancing Rock, it's on the lee side of the island

Tomorrow it's on to Yarmouth.

Nova Scotia - Sep 5 - 9

Sep 5 - 6 reluctantly we left our spot on the beach and headed to Port Hawkesbury, we found a Laundromat and now we have clean clothes again. After replenishing the larder we headed north to St. Peter's where we spent two nights in Battery Park. We watched a boat pass through the 'historic' canal between the Atlantic and Bras d'Or Lake, depending on the tide the lock might have to raise or lower the boat. We also drove to Point Michaud beach, beautiful sand beach but the wind was blowing and you are at the mercy of the open Atlantic. There were people in the water and some guys trying to surf. While we were up there we went to Little Harbour, the home of Lobsters'R'Us, and bought our first live lobsters. So it was cooking lobster that night. On the way back we stopped at a produce stand at a gate and bought beans, beets and squash.

Sep 7 - farewell to Cape Breton and across the Canso Causeway to the eastern shore of Nova Scotia. Through small towns, I loved Guysborough, Stan Rogers home. We went to Canso, where is a National Historic Site but it was closed and it looked like it might not have operated this season. We continued southeast and camped at Goldboro.

Sep 8 - we took a ferry ($5.50 kind of the size and distance of Shaftsbury Ferry) from Port Isaac to Point Bickerston. We hiked around the lighthouse trails until the place opened up and then went in for a visit. We continued on to Sherbrook, a good portion of the village has been turned into a living museum. Of the 30 or so buildings that are open to the public only 2 have been moved, one across the street and one about half a block. There's also a sawmill and a stamp mill. We really enjoyed the village and the people working there were great. One of the build.ings is the Temperance Hall which was built during  one of the 'dry' periods. Later it was used as a supplementary classroom for the school, eventually it was purchased by the Legion. So now the museum uses the main floor to demonstrate the traditional crafts and the legion has the basement. But, and this is the truth, it's a 'dry' legion out of respect to the original occupants. We camped at Ecum Secum with an bay view.

Sep 9 - along the way today we found smoked fish, a good bakery and a fish market, called Lobster World but we bought scallops. Denis says we should have brought a deep freeze. We stopped at Fisherman's Cove in Eastern Passage, on the out skirts of Dartmouth, where we met a very elderly gentleman who is a very accomplished painter in his retirement. Sandra joined us for the night in Dartmouth and we be spending a few days travelling along with us (in her vehicle).

Nova Scotia Sep 1 - Sep 4

Aug 31 – we made our way to the ferry and much to our chagrin Agriculture Canada confiscated our remaining beets and carrots, even the carrots we had purchased in the grocery store which came from Nova Scotia. We were not aware that due to a soil disease here vegetables cannot be taken off the island and we were really looking forward to snacking on those fresh garden carrots! C’est la vie, one step forward and two back!

The ferry ride has been uneventful again, which is a good thing. We are on with an American caravan of sixteen rv’s, they are planning to travel the Cabot Trail tomorrow so some of the hills could be interesting.

Sep 1 – our plan was to stock up at a larger grocery store, but I guess the holiday is actually a day off here. We took to the highway and connected with the Cabot Train heading to Ingonish we left the trailer at Broad Cove campground in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. They have the red chair thing here so when we find one we take a pic, just don't enter the contest. We went for a short hike at the Keltic Lodge and then looked around the lodge itself, it’s kind of similar to Jasper Park Lodge. We went for a walk on Ingonish Beach, of course I managed to get my rolled up pants wet but just a little too cold to get in the water. When we got back to the campground a couple from Florida invited us to share their fire and a man from Ontario also joined us also. Eventually we got to comparing heating vs AC costs.

That's me way up in the red chair

 

Obviously we're wimps, other people were in the water 

Sep 2 – we got on the road again for a short drive to Cape North, where we once again left the trailer at the campground and drove to White Point, New Haven and Neil’s Harbour. We saw advertising for lobster sandwiches so we thought that would make a nice lunch, but it was their last day for the season and they had no lobster also had to pay cash because they didn’t want to pay for the debit/credit for the month. On our drive we noticed that quite a few places are closed already. The afternoon drive took us to Bay St. Lawrence and Meat Cove and then before heading back we checked out Dingwell. There are not a lot of campgrounds in this area but many cabins, chalets, B & B’s and rooms to rent.

Sep 3 – heading to Cheticamp, the scenery is beautiful and the weather co-operated, it was sunny and nice for a change. We stopped at Lone Shieling, a Scottish crofter’s hut in a forest of 350 year old sugar maples. I will let Denis described the hills, grades up and down challenging the Beast. Two big hills with 13 and 14 degree slopes ranging from 4 to 6 km long up and down! The reward is the Gulf of St. Lawrence coastline that you see in all the pictures of the Cabot Trail…priceless!

Denis contemplating the Cabot Trail from a red chair

Cabot Trail in the background, windblown wanders in the foreground

We camped just outside Chiticamp and toured around town, found some fish & chips for lunch. I watched a rug hooking demonstration, I’m fascinated by the craft and these ladies make it seem easy but I know different. We saw some people erecting a lattice-like structure, so we stopped and asked what it was. It is a new roof for the farmers market, it is an experimental design by students at Dahousie University. We headed back to the trailer early, it had started to rain and just after we got inside the storm really got going, lightening, thunder and the skies opened up. We were watching a tent a few sites away and wondering if they’d pack it in and head for a hotel but they stuck it out and looked bright and cheerful this morning.


It will be covered with shingles of clear plastic, about milk jug weight

Sep 4 - we left Cheticamp headed southwest, stopped for lunch at Glenora Distillery, where they distill single malt whisky (can't call it scotch if it isn't from Scotland). Lunch was great, there was live entertainment and the grounds are absolutely beautiful. Denis resisted sampling and bought a bottle. Beautiful sunny day, we are camped at Port Hood, great beach here and Denis had a swim.

Sunset over picturesque Port Hood Island from the beach where we spent a couple hours

 

Newfoundland Aug 27 - 31

Aug 27 - we continued southwest on the T.C.H. to Stephenville, once again we dropped the trailer off and drove to the Port au Port Peninsula. This small peninsula has a couple dozen tiny fishing villages, the population are descendants of Acadian settlers. The weather was very windy (again) and a bit rainy so we only made a couple stops. We were driving along this rustic coast and came over a rise and there's a huge mining operation, it's a limestone/dolomite mine. They load the product on to ships right there. Back in Stephenville we drove around town, it was a US Air Force base until 1961. There are acres of tarmac going to waste, the local airport does use one runway. There are also several hangars and other buildings only a few in use and maintained. Denis has been looking for back tires for the trailer and a small OK Tire had them so we'll do that in the morning.



Wild waves, Port au Port Peninsula

Aug 28 - took the trailer to the tire shop and true to their word we had two new tires and  were on the road by 8:30. We went directly to JT Cheesman campground about 10 km from Port aux Basque, we'll stay here for 3 nights. We have the luxury of wifi in the trailer but not cell coverage. We toured around Port aux Basque, the terrain really defines the town, there are pockets of development inlets and  bays. We then drove east along the south coast to the end of the road, about 40 km. There is a very unique lighthouse at Rose Blanche. It is a granite house and light tower, it's been completely rebuilt. The tower was still standing but the house was in ruins. On our way back through Port aux Basque, Denis gave in and bought a bottle of screech.

Rose Blanche Lighthouse

Yards are small and not level, note the clothes line over the trampoline net....

Sharing our Screech

Aug 29 - we headed north and explored a couple side roads that we'd passed up on the way here. We went to a couple more lighthouses at Cape Ray and Cape Anguille. Denis visited a small museum/collectible shed that we happened upon on a side road. The terrain changes very quickly here, if you go 10 km to the south and then east it's all rock, 10 km north it's heavily forested slopes. The highlight of the day for me was garden beets and carrots we bought along the way, Denis finally got his 'blue' potatoes but they are actually purple. Along with salmon we had a very tasty supper.

Great old Ford at museum

Newfoundland Aug 24 - 26

Aug 24 – the ferry ride back to Newfoundland was uneventful, oh we did see a few dolphins/porpoises to liven up the trip. We stopped in at Port au Choix National Historic site, four different native cultures inhabited the area over the centuries. The land is limestone barrens and very little grows there and what does grow is quite rare but the sea provided abundance for the natives and still provides a good living for the shrimp and snow crab sea harvesters. We camped for the night at Shallow Bay and had the luxury of a good wifi connection right at our campsite and acceptable showers near at hand.

Aug 25 – heading south, we haven’t had cell phone coverage for a few days, we’re feeling out of touch! We took a boat trip on Western Brook Pond, which is a fjord but over the eons it has been separated from the coast and only has the brook outflow to the sea. First step on the tour is a hike over bog/marsh and moose pasture, we chose the 4 km route because we had time to spare. We learned a new term – a slow, barely flowing body of water is called a steady (at least in Newfoundland). The boat trip is two hours through the spectacular glacier carved valleys of Gros Morne Park. We took the shorter 3 km hike on the way back because the weather was less than perfect, but we were glad that we hadn’t waited until later because the fog and drizzle settled in. On the road again early in the afternoon, we explored around Rocky Harbour and then continued to Wiltondale where we headed west. We left the trailer at Lomond River campground and continued on to Woody Point, where we visited the Discovery Centre, Denis took in the exhibits and I enjoyed an art exhibit. We continued on to Trout River, quaint fishing village where in April of this year a dead blue whale was washed up on the beach.  It has been removed to Ontario but we aren’t sure what the final plan is for the skeleton. We had dinner at the Seaside Restaurant, where David Suzuki has eaten, and that’s where we learned the whale tale.

These red chairs are scattered around the province in Federal parks, this was at the Western Brook Pond

Aug 26 – we left Gros Morne Park and continued south to Deer Lake and on to Cornerbrook. We dropped off the trailer and drove west along the Humber Arm to the end of the road at Little Harbour. We stopped at Bottle Cove and hiked to Captain James Cook’s lookout, beautiful warm sunny day but still very windy out there. I guess that’s why the park and some other places are called ‘Blow Me Down’. On the way back to Cornerbrook we visited the Woods Island Re-Settlement House Museum, I can’t get over the fact that all this re-settlement happened in the 50’s and 60’s, I thought it was longer ago. The lady at the museum said her family was relocated in 1961, when she was 6 years old. We came back to Cornerbrook and toured around and are we be leaving for Stephenville in the morning. We have a reservation from Port aux Basques to Sydney on August 31.

Here I am on Sunset Rock but it's not sunset and I didn't let the wind 'blow me down'

 

Captain James Cook Lookout

I changed the color to red so our route shows a bit better

Newfoundland & Labrador - Aug 19 - 23

We've been having issues finding a wifi spot, even some campgrounds that advertise it have very poor signals.

Aug 19 - from the campground we headed to Lewisporte for a brief look around, in the rain, and then continued on to Gander. Denis, being an aviation buff, has been looking to visiting there. He toured the aviation museum, which was smaller than expected but good all the same. We went to the airport but it was a quiet day. Then we headed out on the T.C.H. (Trans Canada Highway) for a long drive to Deer Lake, having decided that we would have to miss the Baie Verte Peninsula. The periods of heavy rain made driving less than ideal but Denis persevered and we arrived safe in Deer Lake for the night. 

One more place off Denis' bucket list

Aug 20 - Our plan was to head to St. Anthony's, at the extreme northern end of the peninsula, as quickly as possible and then take our time coming back, but the sun was shining and we just had to stop and enjoy the beautiful sights a bit. We camped for the night near St. Anthony's.

And here we are on the Viking Trail

Arches Park

Aug 21 - We made our way about 30 km to L'Anse aux Meadows, a National Historic Site and UNESCO Heritage site, where the Norse, wrongly called Vikings, arrived in North America 500 years before Columbus' discovery. Very interesting site with replicas of some of the buildings that were there and very good re-enactors. The archaeologists discovered the site in the 1960's, previously it was thought to be a native village site. The weather was not cooperative - cold, wind and a bit of rain or we could have spent all day there. Denis comment - L'Anse aux Meadows is the apogee of our trip!

Denis about to enter the Viking lair

In the bay at St. Luniare there was a smallish ice berg so we walked down for a closer look. Denis retrieved a piece of ice from the floaties near shore. As we were watching a large chunk broke off (calved) and then as we were leaving a kayaker paddled between the two upright pieces which were still joined under the water.

This one floated into the bay from ice berg alley

We went to St. Anthony's and Denis toured the Grenfell museum and I toured the Grenfell house, remarkable man who did wonderful work in this part of the world.

Aug 22 – we drove to St. Barbe, weather still foggy and rainy, we got on the ferry to Blanc Sablon, Quebec. We had a quick look around the town, got some essentials (wine & lobster) and then headed to Labrador. The weather improved and we actually saw the sun. At L’anse au Clair we stopped at the information centre, they had a quilt embroidered with scenes from the past. There was one of a woman carrying two pails of water, the caption was ‘lugging water’ and I thought how apt the term lugging was in that situation. Another interesting piece of information, prior to joining Canada Newfoundland tried to sell Labrador three times. Denis visited the lighthouse at Point Amour, it’s the tallest one in the province. We continued on to Pinware River campground and had a nice site with a view of the river flowing into the bay right outside our door. And three mosquito coils kept the black flies at bay.


Never thought I'd be in Labrador!

Aug 23 – we headed down the road again through some beautiful scenery on our way to Red Bay National Historic site, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site last year. In the 1970’s, as a result of investigating archives in Spain, archaeologists started excavations and discovered 500 year old evidence of Basque whaling operations here. In the bay they found the wreck of a ship and several smaller boats. These wrecks were very well preserved because of the cold water and being under layers of sand.  The afternoon was very pleasant, sunny and quite warm, we drove back to Blanc Sablon and camped beside the beach. We replenished our stock of lobster and wine and also bought shrimp and scallops. We’ll be taking the ferry back to Newfoundland in the morning.