The Last Few Days in Nova Scotia

We’ve spent the past 2 days watching the tide go out; then come in; then go out; and then in again.  Aaah!  What a life.

We found a nice little campground and pitched our tent about 20 feet from the Tatamagouche Bay in Broule, Nova Scotia.  And since we had packed up a little on the damp side, the open space with lots of wind and a sunny sky was a welcome sight for us.

In short order we had the tent set up; but before we put the fly on; we used the poles to hang all our linens; to either dry them out or give things a chance to freshen up a bit.

And then we just sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the view in front of us.  We have been pleasantly surprised with amazing sunsets while out East.  We thought for sure that we would have to get up pretty early to see some spectacular sunrises; but that hasn’t been the case.

The first night there; once the tide had gone out; with the aid of binoculars, you could see all kinds of seals.  Playing and cavorting with each other.  The next morning; the tide had gone out again; and with just your eyes; you could see all kinds of seals sunning themselves on the exposed rocks.  As the tide came in, they would seek other places, or just start swimming around again.

There was also a family of 4 who went in swimming just in front of us; and they had a couple of seals swimming not far from them.  The water was pretty cold; but we did manage to wade around in it for a bit.  Not hearty enough to actually swim in it though.

When Mike went to the office to get wood; he asked where there was a nice place for seafood in town.  The workers response was the Chatter House.  A few hours later, when heading out; we stopped and checked with the fire guy to make sure that we were on his list (as they delivered the wood to your site); and asked him about this Chatter House; told us it was good; and about 10 minutes away.  So off to Tatamagouche we went.

Driving through the town, we often read out loud names of places, especially when we're looking for a particular place.  Within a few minutes, we passed the Chowder House.  Hmmm, could both of the workers meant the Chowder House and not the Chatter House?  Turns out that the accents here are a little strong; and yup, the Chowder House was what they meant; and it was very tasty.  No lobster; but scallops and a seafood bake instead.  I told our server the story; and she got a laugh out of it.

Also the past few nights; after being awed by incredible sunsets; within short order a yellow/orange moon can be seen on the low horizon… nice.

Today, we left Nova Scotia; with a little sadness.  I totally fell in love with this beautiful province; and if it wasn’t so darn cold in the winters and so far away from our families/friends; might even consider buying out here.

We are now in Miramichi, New Brunswick.  We followed the Acadian Coastal Trail for most of today, we can’t seem to get enough of the coast.  And are currently set up in a quiet little park, far off the highway.

Feel free to click here to take a look a some more of Nova Scotia’s beauty.

A Few Days at the Tip of the Cabot Trail

The past few days have been filled with lots more of Nova Scotia’s beauty.  We headed up the Cabot Trail on Thursday morning; and unfortunately it was very foggy and misty.  And we didn’t get to see very much of the breathtaking views that it’s known for world wide.

We did however, arrive at the Jumping Mouse campground right on the tip of the trail at Bay St. Lawrence.  Our sister-in-law Rosie, has 2 sisters who live on Cape Breton Island.  Marg and her husband Fred own the campground; and have a beautiful place to call home. 

Shortly after arriving and setting up; we headed down to the harbour to give Fred a hand preparing their sailboat.  Within a short time Fred, Ken and Mike had a lot of the gear set and ready to go.  The sailboat hadn’t been used in 7 years and there was a lot of prep work to be done; before Fred, Marg and Ken headed out for a sail.

We got an unexpected sail on Friday; Fred wanted to give the boat a “shake down” cruise; and we were quite happy to oblige.  The day was beautiful; and it felt good to have the wind from the Atlantic blowing you along… nice.

On Friday, we met Rosie’s other sister, Claudia and her partner Rejean.  Nice couple and we helped them pick berries for them to bring to the local market to sell on Saturday.

On Sunday, we took a drive over to Meat Cove and the end of the road; literally.  The day was clear; and we were awed by the amazing views.  There’s a campground with a great view of the ocean and just around the corner, you’re in some guys driveway. 

We also got treated to a couple of saunas while here; and both times the heat felt wonderful.  Also enjoyed a full moon and a few fires before it was time to head.

Last night was spent at Cheticamp; a nice place beside a cove; and we finally got to enjoy our first lobster dinner… and mmmm mmmm was it ever tasty. 

Today, was spent driving along the Northumberland coast and we are currently camped about 20 feet from the Tatamagouche Bay… WOW  what a beautiful place.  We plan on spending two days here before we starting slowly heading West.

Overall, we have really enjoyed this trip and are glad that we did it.  Feel free to click here to see some of the beauty we’ve been seeing.

A Beautiful Drive along Nova Scotia's Shore

We packed up and left Sunday from Five Island Provincial Park before the rains started. 

And although it continued to rain steadily for most of the day, we still thoroughly enjoyed driving along the coast of this beautiful province. 

We are both really impressed with how beautifully maintained homes and yards are.  I was under the impression that the East had been hit hard economically; but so far, we haven’t seen any signs of that.

The houses here all seem to be unique; and although most of them seem to be white or beige; once in awhile you come across some outlandish colour.  Fuscia greens, oranges and pinks.  My favourite so far was the pink with green/purple trims.

Some of these houses have absolutely spectacular views.  There are plenty of islands along the coast; and lots of coves.  Mike mentioned that he’s never seen so many names with “cove” as along this coast.  Makes for a very interesting ride.

And curves!  Holy smokes we’ve gone around countless curves.  And although I miss my big, stinky, noisy truck, can’t say that I miss it on this trip.  Much easier to zoom around some of these curves in our Escape than it ever was in the truck.  Also much easier to stop at the side of a road for a picture, or to take in yet another breathtaking view.

After spending 6 months in Costa Rica, I can’t believe how clean things are in Canada.  Don’t think we’ve seen enough garbage along any of the roads to fill a small bag yet; and we’ve come a long way so far. 

Because of the rains on Monday, we totally wuused out and stayed at a B&B.  It was very nice on a quiet road, with the ocean right out the back.  There was also a nice tub, which I totally took advantage of; what a nice way to soak away 5 days of driving.  Our hosts were very nice; and after a hearty continental breakfast, we were on our way.

Part of yesterdays stops included The Bluenose II, unfortunately it’s under re-construction, so other than seeing a whole bunch of scaffolding, there wasn’t much too see.  Next we stopped at the Swiss Air monument, and then on to Peggy’s Cove.  Lots of people at both.  And with Mike’s hernia and my foot, we’re both content to see things from the car.  We do get out and walk short distances to see the things that we need to see, but the emphasis is on short.

Last night we camped in a very quiet campground on Murphy’s Cove (about an hour East of Halifax).  We were at the end of the road, nestled up to the water; and not a another person in sight or hearing range… nice!  And although it’s right on the Atlantic Ocean, we were nicely protected within the cove.

Today's drive was pretty much of the same.  We've been following trail markers and today's was the Marine Trail; oddly we hardly even saw the water today.  We did have to take another short cable ferry and the drive reminded us both of Northern Ontario along Lake Superior.

And after a long day's drive, we are camped at the head of the Cabot Trailer in Baddeck.  We'll head out late tomorrow morning and head for the tip of the trail to the Jumping Mouse Campground, and where our sister-in-law Rosie is house sitting for a while.  Looking forward to it.

All in all it’s been a great tip so far.  Here’s some of the beauty that we've seen so far.  Feel free to take a look. 

Summer of 2011 and East Trip

I’m not sure where the summer of 2011 has gone, but snap your fingers and here it’s already the first week of August.  I don’t know if the time is going faster cause I’m getting older, or I’m getting older cause the time is going so darn fast.

Our busy summer has been spent visiting with family and friends.  We’ve had BBQ’s, get togethers, poker tourney’s and lots of cards nights with Ken and Rosie.  Rosie loves to cook; Ken, Mike and I love to eat whatever it is that she comes up with; and the 4 of us love to play pepper.  It’s a win win situation for all of us.

We’ve also had lots of campfires at our place, but oddly, we’ve only burnt one load of wood so far.  The summer has been so busy, that we decided that it was time for a good old fashioned camping vacation.

So this past Wednesday, after loading up our new escape, we left Strathroy shortly before noon and headed East.  We had pretty heavy rain through Toronto and it wasn’t until around Kingston that it finally eased up.  We spent a night just West of the Quebec boarder.  Within no time at all, we had our camp set up. 

Mike and I haven’t been on a camping trip since the summer of 2004 and it felt pretty good to be spending a night in a tent. 

Thursday we continued along and found our selves in old Quebec City.  There was some kind of festival going on and there were 10’s of 1000’s of people roaming the streets. 

We ended up driving around as much as we could, as there was also a fair amount of construction going on.  After spending a good couple of hours driving around, it was time to head on.  We drove for a few hours more and found a campground for the night. 

The next night we spent in New Brunswick; and arrived in Nova Scotia around noon on Saturday.  Roughly 1900 kilometers from leaving London.  And only 3 ½ tanks of gas. 

The weather has been wonderful so far.  Mid 20’s and today is the first day of rain since leaving on Wednesday. 

We are currently camped beside the Bay of Funday in a place called Parkers Cove.  And we are heading counter clockwise around the province of Nova Scotia; along the coast as much as possible. 

This is my first time here; and Mike hasn’t been here in 40ish years.  It’s absolutely beautiful.  Lush green rolling hills.  Well maintained houses on beautiful lots.  And hardly a piece of garbage anywhere.  Most of yesterday and today were spent driving through the country side and we passed one farmers field after another.  And going through one little quaint village/town after the next.  What a great way to spend the day while driving through a beautiful province. 

We also stopped in at Anne Murray’s center in her hometown of Springhill, NS.  I’ve been a big fan of hers since I was a young girl; and it was pretty neat to walk around, see her history and hear some songs. 

Please click here to see our pictures.