Blogs from Nova Scotia, Canada, North America - page 11

Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, 30 August 2016 Our hotel the Louisbourg Fortress Inn also had a nice restaurant so after a tipple of malbec in our hotel room we had dinner over more great conversation. The next morning after packing up, we headed for the highlight of this historic town of Louisbourg. The Fortress of Louisbourg located about a half hour's drive away, is a reconstruction of the 18th century fortified French town whose presence plagued the British colonies of New England. From 2005 they have rebuilt the Fortress City from scratch. Many archaeological digs have occurred over the decades and 1000s of pieces of information uncovered, facilitating the reconstruction of some of the life of the people of the 18th century fortified city. We were bussed to the fortress from the large Visitor’s Centre. After walking ... read more

Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia, 29 August 2016 From Port Hood we headed for the famous Cabot Trail including around Cape Breton Highlands National Park. One problem, it was raining and we had planned to go for hikes in the highlands. One advantage was that it wasn’t too cold but the wind at photographic stops was strong. I was the keen photographer so battled with the wind but oh it was worth it! The scenery was stunning. On the way we stopped at Grand Etang to visit a very interesting Mask Museum, the Centre de la Mi-careme. Mi-Careme is an ancient tradition developed in France to relieve people of the sacrifices of Lent. Since that time, the event has been lost in several places and modified in others. The Arcadian region of Northern Cape Breton has successfully ... read more

Having recently completed a 1300 + kilometer bicycle voyage from Montreal, Quebec to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, I was feeling satisfied but pretty tired and sore. Bev had made her way from Montreal in her black Chevy Sonic hatchback to meet up with me at the end-point of my cycling trip. Together, we had an ambitious plan to explore more of the Maritime Canadian provinces. It’s been quite the privilege to have had the opportunity to explore a good part of the world, but lately I had been having this nagging feeling in the back of my mind about discovering more of my own country. It seems that lots of people want to head off into parts unknown, far away from wherever they call home, and sometimes don't give their own countries enough credit. In my case, ... read more

In the past month Melodeon has been to the 'boat spa' to have her under-parts spiffed up (ground, scraped, pressure washed, osphoed, epoxied and painted) by a dedicated team of volunteers. At the same time all systems except sails have been reviewed and renewed. After a four year hiatus on the hard we are thrilled to say she's in great shape. Apparently R&R in the company of proper lobster boats agreed with her. She went into storage in 2012 just as hurricane Sandy was tearing up the eastern seaboard. She did well in the commercial Shelburne, Nova Scotia boatyard, on high ground inland. One morning this past week she was trailered over to the launching ramp at high tide and plopped into the sea. Predictably the second she floated free of the submerged trailer the south ... read more

Geo: 45.5918, -62.6434The plan for today was to visit the eastern part of Cape Breton, so off we went at 8:15 AM and 66 degrees. We put Sydney, which is located on the northeast side of the island, into the GPS and at some point she said we would be on Route 4, which was exactly the route we wanted to follow because it hugs the coastline. But after we crossed the bridge onto the island, she pulled a switch on us and sent us up inland highway 2. Because the road signs leave something to be desired, we didn't realize it until it was too late to turn back. So goes the best laid plans…they never seem to happen the way you want them to. So we modified our plan and decided that we would ... read more