Advertisement
Published: October 12th 2006
Atlantic view
Another view at Peggy's Cove looking out towards the Atlantic.We've gone from Old Scotland to New Scotland in our last few blogs. This trip was to Nova Scotia or New Scotland, on the East Coast of Canada. The last time we both came here was nearly 2 years ago before we left on our trip. This time no trip sadly but good to visit.
Before we flew to Halifax we made a quick pit-stop in Toronto. Our good friend Sudha's (whose family we visited in India last year) brother was marrying his lovely fiance Sherrie. We were lucky enough to be invited.
We arrived in Toronto early Saturday morning after getting a lovely Harmony red-eye flight from Vancouver. So, after no sleep and a drive around Toronto on the look-out for wedding presents we arrived at our friend Ben and Jen's house late morning. We needed a quick nap by this point as just a wee bit sleepy and the dialogue coming out of our mouths was nothing but rubbish. After our shut eye we were much more conversational - or slightly more understood and we quickly adapted to the joy of afternoon drinks. This escalated with Jen cooking a fabulous roast dinner and our other good friends
farmland sky
view from the front door step of Mike's parents farm. Frank, Suzanne, Rai and Soup coming over to join us. Such a great evening, although the Jen measures ensured that the next morning was a bit dodgy. We made it to bed at 4am and remember, we hadn't encountered much sleep and had to be up at 8am. I was fine until I got in the car and then the game was a bogey. Life was much better upon fresh air and a wee walk to the marquee tent at the other end.
The wedding was held at the Kortright Centre for Conservation, which had a great setting in the country. The weather wasn't the best but thankfully the rain held off. The ceremony was great and very interesting and for us unusual as we hadn't attended a Hindu wedding before. Sherrie looked beautiful in her saree and had the custom henna on her hands. We watched traditional aspects of their wedding such as agnikunda which is a fire that they walk around. The tying of the bride's saree and the groom's dupatta (shoulder cloth) to symbolize their union. The bride's brother putting her foot on a rock - to make them as strong as a rock. The groom
cats
doh, no sorry - it's a horse farm. putting sindoor (red powder) in the parting of the bride's hair. All very interesting. After the ceremony it was lunchtime and as their family is South Indian it meant all our favourite snacks from our time in India - yum... The evening party was held in Downtown Toronto in the Spoke Club and we had fun chatting and dancing. So thank you to Sherrie and Srinivas for inviting us to their special day and all the very best for a wonderful life together.
The next day we jumped on a plane and flew over to Halfiax, Nova Scotia. As you can probably guess, Nova Scotia has something to do with Scotland. It's a fairly long story as to who settled Nova Scotia and how Scots came to be there so I'll keep it short so as not to send you to sleep. Ancient Indians were the first to live on the land around most of Northern America. Europeans reached the shore in 1604 when the first European settlement was created by the French. In 1620 a British company was granted a royal charter to found colonial settlements along coastal areas of North America. This is the point when Scots
loch or lake?!!
Pool of water in the lunar like landscape surrounding the town of Peggy's Cove. first hit the shores. France and Britain tussled over Nova Scotian land for years and it wasn't until 1713 that Nova Scotia became a British colony. The British at this point pushed out many Acadians, who were French subjects and among the first European settlers. As they got pushed out many others came to settle. Nova Scotia still has a strong Acadian flow. During the late 18th and early 19th century many Scots came over the pond to make new roots - as did a few farming torags from Northern England. Nova Scotia joined the Canadian Confederation in 1867 and by this time there was a fair bit of Scottish blood flowing through the country.
Now, one of the things I love about home is the social life. That certainly got brought over on the boat. Nova Scotians are very friendly people and I have to say, there are quite a few bars to be found over there. Great fun. They love their music and meeting new people. Halifax is also a University town and classes had just resumed when we visited so there were many young faces floating around.
Of course going home is always busy but
cheers!!!
yummy dinner at Jen and Ben's. we found some time to do a couple of day trips as I've not seen a lot of Nova Scotia. We went to the famous village of Peggy's Cove. The village was founded in 1811 by six families. It is said that the cove got it's name from a shipwrecked schooner that ran aground by the lighthouse. There was only one survivor - a lady by the name of Margaret. She became known as Peggy of the Cove. It is also said that the name comes from it's locale at the head of St. Margaret's Bay. The landscape surrounding Peggy's Cove has a strange lunar quality. This is due to the ice age and a huge ice ridge that melted and as it did so pulled away the top soil, scoured huge marks into the land and dropping off boulders in random locations. These boulders still sit in the strangest of spots. The day we visited the weather wasn't on our side and the sky remained pretty gloomy for much of the visit. A few rays managed to squeeze through for a few pictures though. Peggy's Cove is also known from a sad event, the crashing of Swissair Flight 111
Peggy's Cove
View from the small town of Peggy's Cove towards the Atlantic Ocean, bbrrrr. in 1998 - which saw 229 people lose their lives. This is also one of the first big stories that Mike worked on when he joined the CBC.
We also had another trip down the coast on what's called the Lighthouse Trail, which hugs the coastline of the South Shore. There are historic towns and small villages. You can eat seafood and shop for antiques. We visited the town of Mahone Bay which has 3 churches sitting by the water's edge. To Mike's horror I bought an old pepsi wooden crate in one of the antique shops. We used it to carry home his pickles. We also went to the town of Lunenburg. In 1753 it was established as the first British Colonial settlement in Nova Scotia outside of Halifax. It's early settlers were from France, Switzerland and Germany. The town's stronghold is from fishing and shipbuilding. In 1995 Lunenburg became a UNESCO world heritage site due to it's history. The world famous ship the Bluenose was built in Lunenburg and launched into the waters in 1921 to compete in the America's Cup Races. The Bluenose snank in 1946 and a replica, the Bluenose 11 was built in 1963
hurrah for girlies
so much better looking than the boys :) and can still be seen in Lunenburg today. Canada's 10 cence coin has a picture of the original Bluenose.
We enjoyed a fish and chip lunch in Lunenburg and then had a small hobble around town - Mike broke his ankle two months ago so couldn't go fast as he was still in a lot of pain. We then drove round to the golf course which overlooks the town from the other side of the water. We had fun as we got stuck behind a car of wee American ladies who didn't know how to drive or where to park. Mutter, mutter, mutter. He he.
That was our tourist activity. The rest of our stay was with Mike's Mum and Dad who live in The Valley which is a 45 minute drive West of Halifax. They have a horse farm there and it's where Mike grew up. We spent a few days with them and Mike and his Mum made jars and jars of Nova Scotian pickles. We spent some time in Halifax looking around and met up with Mike's friend Dan for a few drinks in one of the many bars. We spent a night with our
cassius and checkers
Cassius and Checkers looking out for carrots. friends Chris and Caren. Mike and Chris are childhood friends so a trip to Halifax wouldn't be complete without a night at thiers. We all went out into town and met up with my good friend Jacqui who was my first neighbout in Canada and her boyfriend Brent. We had a great evening of dinner and drinks and a chance to catch up.
We spent our last night with Mike's Aunt and Uncle, Annie and Deke and thier woofies Oscar, Seamus and Tessa. Mike cooked a curry and gave Annie some hints on how he prepares his spices - all good tips we picked up in some of the great countries we visited last year.
Our visit was quick and it was soon time to head back to Vancouver. A horrible day of travelling and waiting around in Toronto Airport led us home again. Next time we visit Nova Scotia hopefully we'll make it a bit further afield. There are many beautiful areas that I haven't seen. In the North there is the Ceilidh Trail with names from Scotland - Craigmore, Glencoe and Campbell. They still celebrate Scottish heritage and it's something that I would like to see,
Srinivas and Sherri
on their wedding day. so next time.
That's it for this blog. Hope everyone is well. Bye for now.
Love Mike and Charlotte xxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.206s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 27; qc: 150; dbt: 0.1459s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.5mb
chinesegirl
chinesegirl
I really love this photo
I want to add this travel note to my blog. Can u give me one permission? my blog is X Travel Notes: http://xtravelnotes.blogspot.com