Farewell to Nova Scotia ....

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Nova Scotia - Canada's Ocean Playground (as their license plate says)

Indeed the province is almost surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. A province of 1 million people (Sask size) - mostly Celtic (Scottish and Irish) origin, 18% French Acadians, 4% Blacks and 20,000 Mi'kmaq'. The Mi'kmaq of course were here first, the French were the next settlers but most were expelled by the English in the great deportation in 1755, some to Louisiana where they became Cajuns (southern term for Acadians). The Blacks are from the post-slave era in the Caribbean and 13 colonies of the States. An interesting mix of cultures. Nova Scotia is a province of the great outdoors with biking, bird-watching, camping, canoeing, fishing, golf, hiking, sailing, kayaking and whale watching. But like home, the summer is short here. We've had nice weather for September - lots of sun, just a couple rainy days, but pants and sweaters most of the time.

We survived our 15 hour ferry ride from Argentia, NL to North Sydney, NS on Sept. 19th very nicely. Kelsey survived in a kennel, but broke all records for not going to the bathroom for 17 hours. Well she had the opportunity, as we could walk her twice on the car deck, but only cement and no grass was not to her liking. We found grass as soon as we got off, but she still had to sniff it out, so wasn't in too much pain. We drove south through Cape Breton on the main highway through Canso Causeway (the only way Cape Breton is accessible by road from Nova Scotia) and cut across the province to Sherbrooke on NS's east shore. We were surprised by a beautiful scenic drive across the province, amoung lakes and trees which were starting to turn fall colors. Surprised, because the province has numerous scenic routes to follow which are mostly all along the coast, but this was not on the list and was one of the prettiest roads we have taken. Shrebrooke has a historic village to wander about back into the past. The new village of 300 people looked as old as the old village to us! The province is narrow so you are never more than 50 km from the coast.

On the 20th, we drove the beautiful north east coastal route to Halifax - or at least the guide book said it was. We saw fog and trees and a glimpse of water now and then. But you can't sit still and wait for the weather. We arrived in Halifax, right smack in the middle downtown Halifax -of more than 350,000 people, thanks to Ms. Nuvi leading us to the visitor information centre. Bad choice on our part to tell her to take us there. I just punched in the address out of the Lonely Planet (my travel Bible). Coming in from the direction we came and not from the west as most visitors do, the main thoroughfare and our Ms. Nuvi funneled us straight downtown. Thank goodness we weren't pulling the fifth wheel. We saw the visitor info but no parking of course. We found our way to the Citadel (the most visited National Historic Site in Canada) and parked in a permit only zone (not us) and walked to the visitor center. We found out all we needed to know including where we could park close to downtown Halifax, and didn't even get a ticket. It was still early afternoon so we headed for Pier 21 - Canada's Immigration Museum to see where over 1.5 million immigrants entered Canada between 1920 and 1970. Many interesting stories and 1 in 5 Canadians can trace their history of themselves or relatives arriving at Pier 21. We camped at Woodhaven RV park for the next two nights.

Halifax is a beautiful city, built on hills surrounding its harbor. Much like St. John's, NL but is much bigger city with a lot of history and architecture. It lacks the charm of smaller St. John's. The fact that the Rolling Stones were arriving on Sat. - 3 days hence was probably a factor. Some streets were closed and traffic was congested. We found parking down at the harbor both days we were downtown which worked great but took a while to get there and from. On Thur. the 21st, we parked at the harbor and hopped on the city tour bus. It is the best way to get your bearings and learn the history and get a quick view of the major attractions. Since it was hop on and hop off all day we hopped off at the Citadel. As I said previously, it is Canada’s most visited Historic Site. It's easy to understand why Halifax became a major port and is still the major cultural and economic centre of the Maritimes. The Citadel is a fort on a huge hill that looms over the city and has protected it from military assault for over two centuries. The harbor it protects is the second largest natural harbor in the world (after Sydney, Australia) and it is so deep is doesn't freeze in winter. It became a strategic point of protection of the North Atlantic for the British in the 19th century.

Now, you have to realize that Kelsey has to play a huge part in our tour planning. After the Citadel, we hopped back on the city tour bus, back to the parking and took her out for a walk. Across the street, was strategically placed the Alexander Keith brewery tour. Larry thought that would be interesting. It was fun and we got 2 beers for $15 each too!! We had tickets for the evening to a musical show at Pier 20. It was called Drums and was really excellent. It was billed as 4 peoples, 4 cultures, and 1 heart. It included music, from the Mi'kmaq, the Acadians, Celtic and the Blacks. It was so good and embraced the fact that the people and their culture and music has and is blending into a truly Maritime culture of its own.

Next day, the 22nd, we spent the morning at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. We especially like the exhibits on the Titanic disaster in 1912 and the Halifax explosion in 1917. It was the largest man-made explosion until the A bomb on Japan and killed almost 2000 people, shattering windows 100 km away. We left Halifax after lunch, avoiding the expected crowd of 60,000 for the Stones concert the next day. Tickets were not all sold but we were never big Stone fans anyway. We drove to Peggy's Cove, about 35km south of Halifax. It is interesting more for its landscape than anything else. The forest gives way to bare rocky outcroppings due to the salt air, and the fact that the soil has been eroded by the wind and rain to shrub and moss covered rock. The village is only about 40 people and I think they all run gift shops. The famous lighthouse is surrounded by huge granite rocks with bus loads of people on them. Can't imagine how many there would be in July. A kilometer down the road is the memorial to the 229 men, women and children of the Swiss Air 111 disaster on Sept. 2, 1998.

We continued to drive the south shore through Chester and Mahone Bay to Lunenberg. A really nice area. Looks like lots of money and is reputed to have well to do Haligonians and Yankees having summer homes there. The harbors look more like marinas full of pleasure boats. Great looking golf courses. We stopped in at the course at Chester - a fabulous view - but couldn't get on so just took a few pictures. Many interesting looking shops - no time Larry said. We stayed overnight at Lunenburg. Can't explain how picturesque it is. It is a UNESCO Heritage Site and is world famous for its history and architecture and as home to the Bluenose II. (We saw her in Halifax.) We visited the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic - excellent - we learned so much about ocean fishing and history. So many fishermen died trying to make a living it is unreal. Out of season storms were one major cause. We took a horse and buggy ride around the town which was a great way to see the architecture - "the famous Lunenburg bump" - a sort of bay window built above the front door. Also many homes had belvederes or widow walks on top of the houses - built so the wives could watch for the husband coming home from the sea. They were very superstitious and it was bad luck for the women to be at the wharf. We fit in 9 holes at the Bluenose Golf Course which was across the harbor from the town so got some great pictures.

We drove south to Liverpool and then cut across the province to the South West shore along the Bay of Fundy to Annapolis Royal on the 24th. The Annapolis Valley is Atlantic Canada's richest agricultural region - at present day includes beef, dairy, orchards, wineries and blueberries.

We toured the reconstructed historic site of Port Royal, complete with guides in the dress of the day, the home of the first permanent settlement in Canada where the French set up a fur trading post until the English kicked them out 8 years later. It changed hands back and forth several times until the great deportation of the French by the English in 1755. The Acadians built many complex dyke systems to reclaim land along the shoreline for agriculture. Eventually many of the French made their way back to Nova Scotia but had to again start rebuilding their livelihood.

Also a first for the area is the worlds first Tidal Power Project. A guide gave us a great explanation of it's workings as well as an interesting discussion on Nova Scotia's present day economy. We visited the magnificent Historic Gardens - you'd have to see our pictures. We finished that day with a scenic drive out to the Bay of Fundy.

Tomorrow we drive to the south tip of the province to Yarmouth to board the ferry for Bar Harbor, Maine. From there we will drive south westerly towards Boston. We had thought to cut across Maine, but our trip planner software tells us the Interstate 95 is the fastest route. In a couple of days we hope to reach Niagara Falls and into Ontario to tour around the area of both our ancestors before heading home.

And if you managed to read through all of this blog, thank you very much and I'll try not to be so long winded the next one. We are starting to get anxious to see all our friends and family back home.

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Photos

The Bluenose
She is on the back of a dime (prior 2001)and she won many races for Canada.

Peggy's Cove
Just a little village of 40 people with a huge reputation.

Lunenburg Bump
that is the bay window above the front door. Unique to Lunenburg architecture. Built by the Germans who first immigrated to farm but were forced to turn their hand to fishing and ship building and became masters of both trades within a generation.

Fishermen's Memorial
So many were lost to the sea, they quit putting fathers and sons or brothers on the same ship. The ship owners purchased shares in numerous ships to cut their losses if one went down.

Historic Gardens at Annapolis Royal
We took a lot of pictures of the beautiful gardens, but hey, I liked this one.

Port Royal
this is a re-creation of the first permanent settlement in Canada in 1605. It was a fur trading post led by Champlain.