Nova Scotia

The ferry that plies between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia is heavily laden with brochures to inform the visitor to Newfoundland, but it was completely bereft of information about Nova Scotia. Never mind, there is sure to be a visitor information centre as we drive off the ferry.

There wasn't.

We did have some ideas about the best places to see from travellers we had met along the way. And Google Maps compensated in some degree for the lack of a paper map of the province.

The first recommendation was the Cabot Trail. We knew that, in broad general terms, we should turn right after leaving the ferry. Malcolm-Edgar found a hotel with Cabot in its name somewhere in his memory so we crossed our fingers and followed that hopeful lead. Success! We very soon passed the first of many signs that confirmed we were truly on the Cabot Trail.

In case you missed all the road signs, this store also reminds you that you are on the Cabot Trail. We didn't try the lobster sandwiches. At the time we thought that putting lobster in a sandwich was rather naff. We have since modified that opinion.

The Cabot Trail is a scenic drive round the Cape Breton Peninsula in the North of Nova Scotia. It is very pleasant to simply drive the whole way, but there are plenty of places to stop and enjoy the scenery, read information on the history of the area or go for a ramble. Our lunch stop was in a tiny rest area by the sea, where we foolishly forgot to take any photographs.

Much of the peninsula is steep and covered in lush forest.

We didn't attempt any of the more arduous trails, but we did immerse ourselves in the forest a couple of times.

Inside the forest.

A short trail led to a picturesque waterfall. Along the trail we met and chatted to a nice American couple. When we returned to our vehicle we found they had left a note under the windscreen wiper inviting us to have a meal with them when we got to Washington. And so we did.

Our last stop was the most interesting. It was the French Mountain Bog. The trail is almost entirely a level boardwalk, and there are many information boards to explain what the visitor is looking at and how the plants and animals have adapted to the moist conditions. The stars of the bog are the carnivorous plants, which are more numerous there than at any other location we have visited.

An open pool in the bog.

The crimson sprays mixed in with the moss are the sticky, fly-catching parts of sundew plants.

A pitcher plant's pitchers.

A pitcher plant's flower.

Eve was particularly taken with the local architecture. She photographed many buildings as we drove by. Despite the difficulties of being in a moving vehicle with mirrors and wipers and what-have-you to intrude into the picture, and the unpredictable reflections in the windscreen, she managed to take some portraits that are a lot more than just personal mementos.

We completed the Cabot Trail, but were still on the Cape Breton Peninsula, when we stopped for the night at the Judique Picnic Area.

Our next destination was not from the any guide book. Rosie and Keith Hare live in Newport and had generously invited us to stay. We hurried on from Judique so as not to miss the local garlic festival. Garlic is the main crop from our little farm and we were keen to see what we could learn from the Nova Scotian growers. We did have some friendly conversations with them, but what we mainly learned was that the festival was held at a small winery, whose output had to be tasted. It was found to be very palatable.

We also met some of our hosts' other friends, amongst whom was a John, who inspected the scratches suffered when Gregory scraped the concrete block in Newfoundland and reckoned he could fix them. Thank you, John. You did a great job.

Rosie and Keith hang out bird feeders. The hummingbirds had flown South, but the resident avians were enthusiastically helping themselves to the free seeds.

The dominant species is the Blue Jay. They are the biggest and bossiest and have first go at the feeder.

An American Goldfinch waits for his chance.

Our hosts' house, built in the local style.

After leaving Rosie and Keith we did a rough anticlockwise circuit of the Southern part of the province. The key places were:

Windsor.

If we had done all the things recommended by the lady in the information centre we would still be in Nova Scotia. We did taste the produce of a local winery, which has earned some justified praise for its blueberry wine. We also visited a fromagerie, but that was a disappointment.

Annapolis Royal.

The fort built by the early French settlers has been reconstructed.

Some of the Parks Canada staff are in period costume to add to the history.

There is also a well regarded botanical garden in the town, but we didn't go in. It was raining too hard even for Eve to be tempted.

Kejimkujik National Park.

Rosie recommended a beach in the park, but the road was not paved and the potholes became too numerous for safe travel. We did stop at a wharf, though, and the views were worth the drive.

Carters Beach

This was accessible, although there was not much room to turn Gregory round.

Acres of pale sand.

A stream makes its way down to the sea.

A flock of Sanderlings displaying typical feeding behaviour. They run down the beach as a wave recedes, picking up morsels dropped on the sand, and then scamper back up the beach as the next wave chases them.

Some nice asters growing just beyond the high tide line.

Lunenburg.

We were recommended to take the slower, but more scenic coast road and the LaHave ferry. The route was indeed scenic, but the ferry was out of commission for a week so we had to keep on driving.

As we drove to Lunenburg we spotted this sign. A shortcut home?

This port town is well known for its colourful buildings.  Many of them feature the famous “Lunenburg bump”, a large dormer popular in the late 19^thcentury.

A particularly nice example of the Lunenburg bump.

And some nice boats.

We'll have 2 Kalaharis and an Atacama.

An eye-catching spraxia.

Peggys Cove.

Yes, there should be an apostrophe. Write to the council about it. (We didn't.)

Tourists are urged to admire and photograph lighthouses all along the Atlantic coast. There's something about the one at Peggys Cove that particularly pleases the eye. We concede that this one is worth the time. Maybe it's the bare, almost-white rocks it's perched on.

The classic shot.

While we were there the sky was competing with the lighthouse for our attention.

We found space in a car park to stay the night. We got into conversation with a Ukranian-Canadian who was preparing to sleep in his car, and Ievgen stayed for dinner; the first time we had hosted a guest for a meal in Gregory.

The next morning we set off for the ferry to Prince Edward Island.

The lakes near Peggys Cove were 'steaming' attractively as we drove by.