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.