A Taste of Nova Scotia

08/11/2024-08/17/2024

This was a whirlwind week exploring as much of Nova Scotia as we could in 6 days! We even had a special visitor for a couple of days. 😊 Originally, we planned to spend two weeks in this amazing maritime province, but as we all know… plans change. Therefore, we attempted to cram as much sightseeing as possible into 6 days, well 5 days really because one of those days was used to travel from Halifax up to Cape Breton. So, here we go!

Nova Scotia is the second smallest province in Canada, Prince Edward Island being the smallest. It is, however, the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The province is made up of the Nova Scotia Peninsula, Cape Breton Island and over 3800 smaller coastal islands. We divided our short time between the peninsula and Cape Breton Island.

The Peninsula

Our arrival to Halifax was timed so we could get settled and pick up our special visitor at the airport on Sunday evening. Chris was able to take a few days off work and decided to join us and see the beautiful sights around Halifax. During our two days in this area we did quite a bit. One day was spent exploring the north side of the peninsula and checking out the tides at the Bay of Funday. The second day was spent exploring the many harbor towns along the south side of the peninsula.

Bay of Fundy

The Bay of Funday is located between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world. The average tide range is 47’ but the extreme range is 53.6 feet and that was recorded at Burntcoat Head. 110 billion tons of water flow in and out of the bay during each tidal cycle. That is a phenomenon we wanted to see.

Walking on the Ocean Floor

As luck would have it, we would be able to witness both low and high tides on the same day.  Burntcoat Head Park was chosen to see this phenomenon because it holds the record high tide. We arrived at the park around 9:30, 1 hour before low tide. During that one hour, we were able to see the bay recede several feet! It was incredible (and a little slippery) walking out on the ocean floor! We explored tide pools that were filled with hermit crabs, walked out to the water’s edge, climbed on rocks and wondered what this area would look like in about 6 hours.

Filling the Time Between Tides

Once we were done exploring the ocean floor, we needed to figure out how we would fill the hours between low and high tides. While researching the area, I saw a picture of a small harbor with the lobster boats sitting on the ocean floor during low tide. It was linked to the little town of Wolfville, which was about 1 ½ hours west of us. That’d be pretty cool to see right? There was also a tidal bore we could watch on the Shubenacadie River about an hour before high tide. That’d be pretty cool to see too. Let’s do both!

We loaded up and made our way to Wolfville, only to discover there is no harbor there, just a little bit of a bay. Fail on my part. Now with the journey back, we’ve wasted 3 hours of our day. We decided to get a bite to eat and then head back to see the tidal bore and hopefully we’d make it in time.

Break Time

We decided to eat at this cool looking place we saw as we drove into town. The Church Brewing Company is a neat little brew pub located in an old church. The atmosphere and beer were pretty good, but the service and food were not. It took forever to get our food and when it did come, it wasn’t that great. I kept looking at my watch and was beginning to realize we probably weren’t going to make it back up to the Shubenacadie River for the tidal bore in time. I was feeling pretty bad…

Tidal Bore

A tidal bore occurs in areas with a large tidal range and is created when the incoming tide is funneled into a shallow river. The incoming tide creates a wave and changes the direction of the flowing river. Sometimes the wave is large enough to surf on!  There is a group, River Wranglers, that takes passengers on motor-powered rafts up the Shubie on the bore.

We arrived at the Fundy Tidal Interpretive Center about 20 minutes past the “scheduled” arrival of the tidal bore but there were still people out on the observation deck. What?? I hurried everyone along, surely if there are still people here, it hasn’t happened yet. We make it out to the deck and I asked a lady standing next to me if they were still waiting for the tidal bore. She said that they were. I said, “I thought it was supposed to be here at 4:36?” (It’s now close to 5:00) She chuckled and said, “You are dealing with Mother Nature, right? Things don’t always happen on time.” True that! I was happy and relieved.

Around 5:00 we noticed the river starting to change. We could see little ripples forming about 100 yards down river and before we knew it, the river changed direction. Mind you, there wasn’t a big huge wave, like I was expecting but it was pretty incredible to see the amount of water flowing into the river and how quickly it came in. There was a sandbar in the middle of the river and I snapped a picture at 5:01. By 5:05 it was completely covered. Shortly after that, the rafters arrived. There must have been about 20 boats full of passengers riding up the river with the tide. Very cool experience.

An Epic Faux Pas

Full disclosure right here… after we got home, I went back to find out where I saw those boats sitting at the bottom of the harbor and why I thought it was in Wolfville. It seems one of the blogs I read mentioned Wolfville and nearby Neal’s Harbor. If only I had taken better notes, I would have known we needed to go about 30 minutes north of Wolfville to see the harbor. Sorry, guys. ☹

High Tide

It was time to book it back over to Burntcoat Head to see what the area looked like now that the tide was in. How much of a dramatic change awaited us? We were all surprised to see just how much the tide rose. It had to be at least 30’! Incredible!

Here are a few low/high side by side comparisons.

The Lighthouse Route

For our second day on the peninsula, we decided to drive a portion of the Lighthouse Route from Lunenburg to Halifax. The Lighthouse Route is one of the province’s most scenic drives. It winds along the south shore through fishing villages, along the rocky seashores, pretty beaches and passes a lighthouse or two.

Lunenburg

We started our day in Lunenburg, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Most of the buildings in this large fishing village date back to the mid-18th century. These colorful colonial buildings now house restaurants, breweries, distilleries and shops. We spent a good hour here, wandering the waterfront and popping into a couple of the shops for some souvenirs. Bill and Chris even found a salty character to hang with.

Mahone Bay

Just a short half-hours drive up the coast from Lunenburg is the cute little town of Mahone Bay. Our stomachs were beginning to grumble so we pulled in here for some lunch. We had THE BEST fish n’chips at Oh My Cod! (great name, right?) Our table was on the back deck overlooking the bay. Lunch with two of my favorite guys! Does it get any better?

Chester

We rode down to the cute little seaside resort of Chester and ogled at the yachts and sailboats in the harbor. Out on the bay we saw several sailboats either having a race or taking lessons, it was hard to tell but fun to watch.

Peggy’s Cove

Anytime you mention Nova Scotia to someone, the first thing they’ll tell you is to visit Peggy’s Cove. It is one of the most popular places to visit in Nova Scotia. Finally, around 4:30 we arrived at Peggy’s Cove and I completely see why this is a “Must See”. This sleepy little fishing village is adorable! There is a small harbor with a handful of boats, sea-weathered houses and a cute little lighthouse standing guard on the rocks. I love it!

We took our time roaming around, trying to get those “perfect shots” and just sitting and soaking up our surroundings. Even though there were tons of people around, it was still very enjoyable.

Aren’t these scenes begging to be painted?

Halifax

We finally made it to Halifax and did a quick drive through the downtown area. Everyone was pretty tired and didn’t feel like stopping and walking around. I will say this though, the waterfront area is very nice and worthy of some time. For us, however, it will have to wait for the next visit.

Fairview Lawn Cemetery

On the way back to camp, we did make a stop at Fairview Lawn Cemetery. Within this cemetery lies the gravesites of 209 victims of the Titanic. The White Star Line had offices in Halifax and they commissioned four Canadian vessels to search for bodies in the area of the disaster. Halifax was the closest major port to the area of the sinking.

It’s time to get things packed up as we get ready to move north to Cape Breton Island. There is so much more to explore on the peninsula, but like I said, this is just a taste of Nova Scotia. Before returning Christopher to the airport though, we had one last important item to check of the list… A Kit Kat Challenge.

Kit Kat Challenge

While we were visiting the Hersey Factory back in May (?) we learned that the Kit Kat bar is owned by Nestle Corporation, however, the Kit Kats made in the US are made by Hershey. The Kit Kat was created by a London confectionery called Rowntree’s. When Rowntree’s began expanding its distribution of the Kit Kat, he struck a deal with Milton Hershey to distribute it in the USA. Hershey would produce and distribute the Kit Kat bars sold in the US and they would hold that license as long as the Hershey company was not sold.

In 1988 Nestle purchased Rowntree’s and therefore acquired the Kit Kat, however, they could not produce and sell the Kit Kat in the US due to the license agreement with Hershey. What does that mean? All over the world, Kit Kats are made with Nestle chocolate except for the US where it is made with Hershey’s chocolate. So the question is, is there really much of a difference and which one is better?

We brought our US Kit Kats with us across the border and bought Nestle Kit Kats in Canada. The answer to the question, in our humble opinions, is… yes, there is a slight difference between the two. The Nestle Kit Kat has a thicker chocolate line between the wafers and the three of us all agreed, the Nestle Kit Kat tasted better. There you have it. Before leaving Canada, we purchased five Kit Kat bars to enjoy over the next few months. 😊

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton is home to one of the world’s most scenic drives, The Cabot Trail. This 185-mile loop around the northern tip of the island is our main reason for travelling to the island. The trail travels through quaint fishing villages up to scenic ocean vistas and across the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The road winds its way along these mountainsides offering breathtaking views around every corner. There are quite a few sharp curves and steep grades.

I couldn’t wait for this part of the trip, but first things first… it was time to refuel. One of the things we were dreading was filling the coach with fuel in Canada. We pulled into an Irving’s just before crossing the causeway onto the island. Yikes! But wait, after I did the conversions, we really didn’t pay too much more than we paid when we were in the Pacific Northwest last summer. Time to move on…

Getting to Camp

I found us a great little campground right on the ocean near Cheiticamp. What I guess I didn’t realize is we would be driving part of the Cabot Trail in the motorhome. Granted, the part we had to drive was not the super-windy part through the mountains, but it was certainly skinny. As we were making our way up a small hill, we came across a couple cycling the trail. They were peddling hard and as fast as they could, but there was no way to get around them until we got up and over the hill. I imagine they felt a little anxious with our big beast on their heels. I know I felt anxious looking down at them.

Our campground was “no frills” for sure, but who needs frills when you have a view like this?

Found Some Cousins

As luck would have it (and a little bit of planning), we crossed paths with some of Bill’s cousins from Florida. They are on a summer tour of New England and Nova Scotia too! We had the pleasure of driving the Cabot Trail, hanging out, campfires and visiting with Tommy and Tammy.

The drive was gorgeous! We had a few picnics, took a couple of hikes and enjoyed seeing the sights together. The weather changes quickly too! Each afternoon a little thunderstorm moved across the highlands. It was sunny, cloudy, stormy, foggy and sunny again all in a matter of hours. Cra Cra!

One of the hikes we took was the Skyline Trail. This was a 4-mile out and back hike that took us to some extraordinary views of the Cabot Trail, cliffs and Bay of St. Lawrence. If you do one hike in the area, this is the one!

Back in the USA

Vacation is over and it is time to get back to the good ole-USA. Over the last two weeks, I’ve gotten kind of accustomed to Canada, the metric system and some of the French words 😉 We found some Canadian treats we really like too. Our favorite being these wonderful little maple cookies that were an impulse buy at a small grocery store. The box was devoured in less than an hour! We ended up going back and buying 5 more boxes! I’m sure we won’t be able to get these back in the states either. LOL!

Stars and Stripes

The Stars and Strips quilt top is finished! I can’t believe how quickly this one came together! I am going to try and quilt this one myself with my little sewing machine. It will have to wait until November, though, when I have a large table at my mother in-laws to work at.

At the beginning of the year, I made a list of all the quilt projects I wanted to complete in 2024. I am happy to say, I only have one more item on the list. Yay! Will I get it done before the end of the year? Not sure, but I’m going to try.

What’s Next?

We will be spending the next two weeks along coastal Maine. This will most likely be my last blog entry, as well, for a couple of reasons.

The first reason is… after 3 short years, I am going to be returning to the workforce…full-time. 😊☹ I am happy about this opportunity but a little sad. Lately I’ve been feeling I have no real purpose in life. I mean you can only quilt, paint and blog so much. The social interaction with co-workers has been missed and I will enjoy having that again. I am a little sad though because I have really enjoyed my freedom, especially when we are in Florida and have so many friends and family members to visit.

The second reason is… after 3 short years, the cost to renew the domain name and blogging platform went from $120 to $400! That’s crazy! I like telling my stories but not for $400. Don’t worry though, I will continue to keep a journal for mine and Bill’s enjoyment and I will continue to post pictures on Facebook. 😊

Cheers everyone, it’s been fun!