08/30/09 Nova Scotia

Landing in Nova Scotia at 0600hrs leads us to a Tim Horton’s, Canada’s answer to McDonalds, with a cuppa and major fat pill for the early morn. As life is at pretty much a stand still this time of day in North Sidney, the visitor center doesn’t open for another 4 hours and I’ll be glued to the ceiling if I don’t get away from coffee.
Cape Breton it is following the Cabot Trail with hopes of finding something of wildlife. How is it when you are in Newfoundland for 3 weeks and total wildlife count is 3? This is suppose to be moose country to the max and the only thing that is encounted is Puffins and seagulls…………..Getting back to the Cape, up the east side to Bay St. Lawrence, then a little further to Meat Cove for a proper bowel of seafood chowder. The scenery is magnified coming down the west coast of the Cape, not to be missed and anyone that rides a bike will love it.

Next day it’s the Bras d’Or Lake drive around the southern part of the Cape with a stop at St Peter’s visitor’s center. Hurricane Bill is scheduled to hit the island the next day with rain and wind, not a good day to be on the road so its best to find a bar, beer, French fries and a large screen telly….. Anyway it’s up the east side to Louisbourg, National Historic site of Canada, for a quick stop at the site of the first lighthouse built in Nova Scotia. One of the lighthouse volunteers took a picture of the Hawaii License Plate after relating that they are expecting waves of 5 meters or more when Hurricane Bill hits the next day. Another feature of Nova Scotia is that some road signs are English/Celtic or English/French depending on where the original people settled first.

With Hurricane Bill in mind and the warnings running a miss, Halifax was next on the list to be when Bill hit. So after spending 8 hours on the road from touring Cape Breton, it was another 4hrs to Halifax for peace of mine. And did the wind blow and rain hit for the better part of the next day but being that I was staying in a Japanese Bath House for the duration and Mama-san was more then happy to accept my credit card. And did I mention that the bottles of 26 oz Japanese beer goes down quite well.

Of course with Halifax having a Costco, the tyres were again rotated and balanced and I stocked up on juice and organic chips for me next travels.

Heading southwest following the Lighthouse Trail around the southern part of Nova Scotia. You hit every fishing village, which becomes a blur after a while. One lighthouse after another and you are beginning to wish for Deer Flies and mosquito’s………… In all of my travels this year each state or province had something that just set it apart. For Nova Scotia it is FOG, that’s right, bloody FOG with a capital F!!!!!! Don’t even think about getting out early to sight see, its fog here, fog there and the only good thing that has come out of it is Tim Horton’s cuppa, mega-cuppa for that early morning wake me up. Usually by mid-day the sun has managed to burn off the fog enough that you can get around but fear not for by dark-thirty you can see the fog beginning to roll back in again.

Having covered the south end and most of the northern coast of Nova Scotia that borders on the Bay of Fundy. One of the best trips for this segment has been following the coastline from Hampton to Cape Split. You are away from the main stream with small villages, dirt roads and farm country.

It was another day of following the coastline around the Bay of Fundy with its many lighthouses. One that really stands out is the lighthouse at Burncost. Not only do you have the lighthouse to look at but also there is a walkway that leads to the channel bay bottom when and if the tide is out. Burncost is also listed in the Guinness Book of Records as to having the greatest tidal change, something to the effect of 10 meters. Have a tropical storm headed toward Nova Scotia this weekend so it’s either Saturday or Sunday that I will find some place to hide. If Halifax wasn’t so far away, Mama-san at the Japanese Bath House would have a returning customer.

Having found another secluded spot for the night, not known to me it was also the local spot for those intent on exploring thy partners external tissue. And there I sit with a copy of the Giddings bible in me hands waving it in the air to those sinners…….

Did I mention that I have regained the ancient art of peeling a hard-boiled egg out of the window while driving!!? Of course we do have the occasional mishap of dropping subject egg on the road to the annoyance of vehicle behind me though. I would pass this technique onto my friends south of the equator, but this means using their drinking arm to facilitate subject egg shell removal plus being that the earth rotates in the opposite direction, I wonder…………..

First lighthouse of the day was at Five Islands (Google) then onto Parrsboro, which is still active. The road from Parraboro west is all curves and a very scenic shoreline. Cape d’Or is not to be missed, gravel road is corrugated but worth the trip. It’s a bit of a walk down a gravel road to the lighthouse but the view is exceptional. The Cape is the last of lighthouses for Nova Scotia on the Glooscap Trail in the Bay of Fundy. Another night at a NS Provincial Park before heading out to Cape George for the last of last lighthouses on my journey through Nova Scotia. Tropical storm Danny is headed our way with heavy rains by mid-day through the night and Sunday. Getting back to Cape George, I need to read the small print, this was no bigger then the others viewed though constructed of concrete vice wood. It was a 7-hour trip out and back with crossing the border into New Brunswick, Cape Tormentine (Google) for the night. Stayed here back in July just before heading north to Quebec.

Factoids: 26,000 miles = 40,000 kilometers since May. Cost to date: Vehicle + food + lodging + petrol = $3.42 Any questions see my advisor Alan Greenspan (former chairman of the US Federal Reserve) ……

Norm
The Greynomad