Halifax and Peggys Cove – 1 September 2016

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Halifax and Peggys Cove – 1 September 2016



We checked into the Chocolate Lake Hotel (yes it was next to a brown lake) for our last 2 nights in Nova Scotia. We had dinner in the hotel which we rarely have done on this holiday. The next morning, we got up early (well 7.00am is early!!!!) as we were heading west along the southern coast for Lunenburg and on the way back, Peggys Cove.



What a fantastic day we had. We decided to drive along the freeway out to Lunenburg and drive back to Halifax along the coast.



We easily found a park in Lunenburg after an hour’s drive from Halifax. Lunenburg is a small fishing town in Nova Scotia first established in 1753. The Old Town of Lunenburg was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995. It was full of coloured buildings, very old churches and a little harbour that was full of notable sailing ships/boats



The town was easy to explore on foot with streets designed in a grid system. Also, there were little maps on corner posts frequently seen around the town. We also had great information from the Visitors Centre which was on the Harbour side dock.



The Bluenose II, a replica of the original Bluenose sailing rig which is featured on the flipside of Canadian dimes, spends much of the season in Lunenburg, where she was built.



There was a Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Commemorating Atlantic Canada's fishing tradition as well as a memorial for fishermen who have lot their lives at sea over the years.







We visited the Knaut-Rhuland House Museum where the guide was dressed up in period 1800 clothing which Lunenburg was young. This is one of the town’s oldest buildings where we experienced a rare glimpse of a house as it appeared 200 years ago. From well-warn stairs to stories, the home’s succession of occupants – Knauts, Rhulands and Creightons – were all brought to life. Treasures such as hand-blown window panes, remarkable large fireplaces (seven!) and unadulterated, classic Georgian architecture were fantastic.



The black and white Anglican Cathedral was burnt down on Halloweens in 2004 which was a tragedy for the town. It is now rebuilt. One advantage of the fire was that they found an additional 3 bodies in the crypt which added to the 20 known graves.



After a lovely cup of coffee at one of the many cafes, we set on our beautiful drive which was actually called the lighthouse drive. The coast line curled in and out with the road mostly hugging the beaches but occasionally floating over the hills. This side of the Island wasn’t as rugged a coast line compared with the eastern side.



Chester was one village we drove through which was founded in 1759 during the French and Indian War. It played host to several historically important instances during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Today, because of its stunning location on the St.Margaret's Bay, the village is a vacation and resort destination and so has a large number of businesses which operate on a seasonal basis. It was a beautiful area.



After Chester we continued to take the scenic St. Margaret's Bay Road, which followed the coastline and passed through beautiful seaside towns like Hubbards, Queensland, Black Point and Ingramport. The payoff of travelling the winding, slow road was some of the most spectacular vistas we found in Nova Scotia as we drove along the south shore of the province.



This part of Nova Scotia is remarkably diverse, Mi'kmaq, Scots descendants, black Nova Scotians, French Acadians, Annapolis Valley farmers, Cape Bretoners and Haligonians all forming distinct groups with their own unique quirks, culture and language. The novel "Rockbound" is written entirely in the South Shore dialect of the fishermen of that region, a fusion of Shakespearean English, German and unique local idioms.



Nova Scotia used to be known as "Acadie" when it was claimed for France in 1604. French immigrants settled the area and became prosperous farmers and fisherman until officially expelled by the British in the mid 18th century - their lands especially on the South Shore to be repopulated with "foreign Protestants" meaning mostly Dutch and German. Many areas still retain a strong Acadian French culture, including the largest francophone municipality, Clare in Digby County and Argyle, in Yarmouth County.



We were really excited about visiting Peggys Cove lighthouse after driving along the Lighthouse Trail. Peggy Cove Lighthouse, 35 km SW of Halifax is a lighthouse on rounded rocks. The lighthouse is a post office. There is a restaurant and tourist information but otherwise it is just big rocks with a dozen small house and 60 people living there.







This area was a photographer’s dream. I am no photographer, but I just loved it!! I hope you like my photos.



It was lunch time and I spotted a little café selling Lobster Rolls which were on my must-eat list in this part of the world. For $15 we got a tasty bread roll filled with lobster which we drizzled with melted butter and lemon juice. It was accompanied with coleslaw that had shaved ginger in it. It was yummy! Potato crisps were served with it as well.



Next to the café was an art shop which had colourful wellies for sale as well as paintings and photographs done by a local artist/photographer. I couldn’t help myself from buying a little shot of the lighthouse, the most photographed in all of North America and a real symbol for Nova Scotia.







What a great day!! We drove an hour back to Halifax to finish off celebrating Tom’s birthday. Thank you to all who sent him birthday wishes through Facebook. And of course he really enjoyed the phone calls from Kerrie & Gemma on the way to school and from Adam who was on uni/work lunch break.



HALIFAX



We didn’t go back to our hotel before driving into Halifax city. Our hotel was about 4 kms away from downtown. We first visited the Halifax Citadel which is right in the middle of Downtown. We arrived ½ hr before closing so they let us in for free! The citadel has never fired a shot in war but became an important deterrent and message point for the unstable 1800s. It was very well preserved since it was founded in 1749 as a strategic base for the British Royal Navy. What we were looking at was actually the 4^th citadel. The previous 3 were wooden structures. Even though the Citadel served and survived the Seven Year War, the American Revolution, Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, in 1815 British authorities decided to build a permanent stone citadel which is what we looked through.



We then parked along the harbour side of Halifax and went for a fantastic wander along the harbour, from the Cruise ship Warf to the Casino. The area was packed with restaurants, breweries, tourist outlets all of which were quite colourful but very tastefully done.



Halifax the provincial capital and largest city in Nova Scotia. East Coast base for the Canadian Navy and a major Atlantic port, home to several major universities, with plenty of opportunities for travellers to experience local history, culture, food and drink.



Halifax, is one of the oldest cities in North America and was a critical sea link during World Wars I and II. The infamous "Halifax explosion" caused by collision of two ships in Halifax Harbour in 1917 was the worst man-made explosion on Earth until Hiroshima in 1945. Halifax today is an education and high technology centre with over a dozen post-secondary institutions including Dalhousie University and substantial operations by major high-technology firms. Academics have unusual influence in Nova Scotia perhaps because of the concentration of them in the capital. Many have even written legislation.



I was told that unless you are a winter surfer, or like to snowshoe, then it is probably best to visit Nova Scotia sometime June-Oct when the weather is warm, the skies are blue and the water may be less frigid. The day we were there was a little overcast and only during our last 10 minutes of being in downtown, it started to rain so we were very lucky.



We found a lovely restaurant right on the harbour boardwalk for dinner but made sure we left enough room to have a Cows Ice cream after dinner!! It was a G&T time and yet another toast to Tom. I had the most unusual salad ever. It was goat’s cheese, greens coated with berry balsamic, non-sweet granola, strawberries, red onions and blueberries. It was fantastic. Sheryl had really interesting nachos and Tom had bacon-wrapped scallops and soup.



After a lovely evening we went to Cows, again, having to line up and wait to be served at this popular Canadian ice cream outlet. A we were walking along the harbour boardwalk, it started to shower with rain. We made a dash for the car so didn’t get too wet.



That night we unpacked the car ready to pack our bags to fly back to Vancouver on 2/9 for the last stage of our 8 weeks in Canada.



Our flight from Halifax to Toronto, then onto Vancouver, where we lost 4 hours all went smoothly. The flight from Toronto to Vancouver was around 5 hours so similar to Brisbane-Perth….a big country.

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