Marvelous Mavillette

As Ginny has noted below, one of our stops today was at Mavillette Beach. In addition to the broad expanse of flat, wet sand (as opposed to dry, undulating, hard-to-walk-through sand), there were rocks near the high tide line, and marvelous grass-covered dunes, beyond which (further inland) was a marsh with various birds and wildflowers--irises, wild roses, ox-eyed daisies, etc., though none of the lupine that we have seen almost everywhere else--including at the Yarmouth Light on Cape Forchu. I was particularly delighted by the rocks at Mavillette Beach, one of which looked like a whale. Now if I had only found a moose rock...

Yet another excellent day

Just when I thought it wouldn't get any better, we had another fabulous day. It involved a beach, of course, two magnificent churches and a light house. The two churches are within a just a few kilometers of each other. One is granite and took 32 years to build. The other is the largest wooden church in North America. It is HUGE. It is supported inside by 75 foot poles of red spruce (covered in plaster). Mavillette Beach is a gorgeous sand beach. The tide was going out and the sand seemed to stretch out forever. We lunched at Cape Forchu, a light house near Yarmouth. The views were spectacular. We are still in Digby tonight and once again had Digby scallops for dinner. They are just too good to pass up.

We leave Digby in the morning, heading to Lunenberg on the south shore. Tomorrow, July 1, is Canada Day. There will be fireworks and parades just as we will have in the States on Saturday. It should be fun!

Another whale of a day

As Kathleen mentions below, we went on another whale watching trip today, this time out of Briar Island west of Digby. What she didn't mention is that we also saw gray seals and a number of birds including puffin, shearwater, guillamont, osprey, gray fumar, cormorants, and gulls of course. There was another passenger on the boat who was an excellent birder, and pointed out all the birds for us. We saw a bird and seal fighting over a fish - it was too far away to see what kind of bird or who won. We also saw a fish farm where they were raising salmon. My favorite days by far are the ones we spend on the water. In addition to the fact I love being on the water, there are no black flies. I am apparently quite a tasty morsel for those little buggers, and I react to the bites; it's not been fun.

Mystic Fog

Today was another water day--a drive down Digby Neck, including two ferries, in order to get to Brier Island. We arrived in plenty of time to look around at some little shops and have a picnic lunch on the wharf before our 1:30 departure to watch whales--or, as it turned out, to watch whale, a humpback that we managed to view several times in several locations. It was VERY foggy so we didn't really get pictures of the whale, but we did get some wonderful views of it, including its tail when it took a deep dive. Be sure to check out Ginny's wonderful pictures of the high and low tides--a red boat next to the dock where we caught the whale-watching boat. The difference between high and low tides here is incredible!

Diggin' Digby

Today we plan to go all the way down the Digby Neck, a trip which includes two ferries! Digby is a really picturesque little place and the inn at which we are staying faces the bay which is right across the street. We'll be here two more nights, giving us time to really explore Digby and it's enchanting enviorons.

Scallop Capital of the World - Ginny

We are in Digby at the Bayside Inn, a wonderfull B&B on the bay. Digby is the scallop capital world so of course we had to have scallops for dinner. They are melt-in-your mouth wonderful. We stopped in Annapolis Royal and visited Fort Anne. It's an interesting place; it changed hands between French and British several times over the years. It's the oldest National Park in Canada, established in 1917.

As I write this we are being serenaded by Bob, proprietor of the Inn, who was in several bands and toured for 17 years. One of the bands was called Jukebox Junkies.

We are in whale country again; I expect we will do another whale watch. It's not something we can do in the landlocked midwest, so we have to get enough to last us a few years. I've taken some video - of whales and the tidal bore. If I can figure out how to get them posted I'll put up the link.

Truro Is A Pheasant Place

Twice we have seen a ring-necked pheasant in a field near The Palliser Motel where we have been staying. It is quite beautiful, though too shy for photograps. Today we head for Digby, on the southern shore of the Bay of Fundy. More water, more beaches, more whales...and some historic sites. We continue to take lots of pictures; you are only getting a small sample on this page.

Not Since Moses - Ginny

We toured from Truro again today. This time to Five Islands Provincial Park, and to Joggins, a small village on the northeastern shore of Chignecto Bay near the head of the Bay of Fundy. We arrived at Five Islands at around 10:30 a.m.; the tide was completely out exposing more than a mile of tidal flats. We noticed quite a few people out on the flats, clamming. Then we noticed a long line of people in the distance, moving across the flats like ants to the first of the five islands. It looked like hundreds of people. What could they possibly be doing? We could NOT figure it out. A gentleman in the parking lot enlightened us: it was the third annual "Not Since Moses" 5 and 10 K walk and run, held on the day of lowest tide. More than 250 runners and walkers head out to the five islands between the 15 meter tides. http://notsincemoses.com/details.html.

Joggins is noted worldwide for its fossil cliffs. Exposed in the cliffs are beds of coal laid down from 310 to 300 million years ago. Joggins played a role in the development of evolutionary thought. T.H. Huxley used fossil evidence from Joggins in the famous debate between he and the Bishop of Oxford Samuel Wilberforce at Oxford in 1860. The beach below the cliffs is littered with fossils, to be found by anyone walking there when the tide is out. We found fossilized clams, leaves, roots, a stems, waves, and more. Way cool. There is a wonderful interpretive center there with excellent exhibits and knowledgeable staff. If you ever get to Nova Scotia I highly recommend it.

We returned in time to see the Tidal Bore once again. It's a fascinating phenomenon.

Off-Season Travel

Would you believe that the local high school's graduation exercises were tonight? Students here attend school for ten months out of the year. The "high season" for tourism begins July 1st. Consequently we have experienced very little traffic on the roads and semi-private experiences like the whale watching on Tuesday with only two other people aboard besides us and the boat's captain. We were the only two people out hunkered down looking for amethysts today...for 2.5 hours...in the burning sun... We DID see a moose today...a drawing on a highway sign. If there hadn't been a car behind us, we would have taken a picture of the sign. It was HOT on the rocky beach this morning, but lovely to be outside. We saw a deer (really!) on our way back to the highway after visiting the lighthouse at Cape D'Or--a doe, who vanished into the trees before we could obtain photographic evidence of her existence. Yesterday, as we were photographing the rainbow we saw a pheasant (really!). Goodnight!

Vacation on the Rocks

This vacation stuff is exhausting! I need a vacation from vacation to rest up. I'm sure not complaining though; each day is truly a new adventure. Today 's adventure was hunting for amethysts. The north shore of the Minas Basin and Bay of Fundy is full of Triassic and Jurassic fossils, as well as amethysts and other semi-precious stones. We spent about 2 1/2 hours this morning scouring the base of the the cliffs on Partridge Island, one of the promising amethyst sites near Parrsboro. They call it mineral hunting (not finding) for a reason. We didn't have any more luck finding amethysts than we've had seeing moose. We ended up going to the Fundy Geological Museum to look at amethysts that other people have found. It was some consolation that the woman at the museum said they aren't that easy to find. We did find some very nice quartz.

From Parrsboro we continued over to Cape D'Or, the spot where the Bay of Fundy meets the Minas Basin. The views would have been even more spectacular had there not been a fog bank. Some of the highest tides in the world occur here. Today's tide was just over 11 meters, over 30 feet.

Mind Boggling!

Last night at 9:15, I was faced with a MAJOR decision--whether to blog or to Boggle... Playing Boggle won easily--and then it was time for bed. We are headed out to breakfast and then along the Fundy shore where we hope to encounter many gems of nature as we explore the wonders of this place--which, by the way, for those who are wondering, is rather too warm for my tastes. If any of you are wondering about my fetching beach attire in the photo from yesterday--I don't "do" sun---and yes, I even had on my socks and boots; none of this naked foot stuff for me.

Another Day Another Beach

I do love beaches. For a girl born and raised in Illinois I'm not sure how I came by my affinity to oceans, but it's a very strong pull. Of course, climate change being what it is, with significant sea level rises on the horizon, it's probably just as well I don't live on a beach. But I want to. A boat might be okay though.

Enough about beaches. We came across this very interesting place on Highway 19 south of Cheticamp: Joe's Scarecrow Village. It's a field full of scarecrows arranged in a circle, holding hands (or they would be if they had hands). Faces are the kind of rubber people masks you see at Halloween. You know the kind - Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, etc. VERY strange.

We arrived in Truro just in time to see the Tidal Bore on the Salmon River at the head of the Bay of Fundy. Show of hands now - how many of you reading this know what a Tidal Bore is? No fair looking it up on the internet.

"Watch For Moose!"

So said the park service person from whom we bought our entry pass...
So said the proprietress of our lodgings in Cheticamp...
So said the clerk in the store at the visitors center...
So said the people with whom we watched whales yesterday...

So, we watched for moose--all day... We saw little stuffed toy mooses. We saw postcards of mooses. We saw a glass suncatcher moose. We saw moose on highway signs (the highway department's version of "Watch for moose!")

We saw moose tracks in the fen... We watched and watched and watched... There are no loose mooses as far as we can tell ANYWHERE in Nova Scotia!

The Cabot Trail and Cape Breton Highlands

Today we drove the Cabot Trail that circles the north part of Cape Breton and the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The Cabot trail is named for John Cabot who arrived at Cape Breton in 1497, thinking he had landed on the east coast of Asia. The park is breathtaking in it's beauty and wildness (and it's hair raising curves). Cliffs plunge to the water on the northwest part of the park where beaches are full of rocks made round and smooth by the waves. The sandy beaches are on the Atlantic side. We made several stops along the way; a slope fen was the first stop. This was very like the fens I know in Missouri; calopogon orchids were in full bloom. Unlike Missouri fens, this one had pitcher plants, and sundew, though I didn't find any of the latter. A little further around the park we stopped to hike to a lovely small waterfall. And we spent a little time on the beach near Ingonish. The day had dawned clear and beautiful until we reached the beach, when it started to rain.

Lobster and snow crab are in season and you can see lobster boats, and the buoys marking lobster pots, all along the coast. I have felt duty-bound to sample the local fare.

We leave Cheticamp and Cape Breton tomorrow; we will spend the next several days on the Salmon River at Truro in the Bay of Fundy. We have heard from several of you that have tried unsuccessfully to add comments. I think I fixed that; try again and let me know if it doesn't work. I'm still new to blogging and still learning.

A Day on the Deep - Kathleen's Reflections

We were obviously at sea level--but struck a new high in life experiences today with the two whale watches--soaring over the surface of the sea in Zodiacs (rubber rafts on steroids!)--one boat this morning and one this afternoon. Ginny and I would both like to note that the pictures posted on this blog have not been Photo-Shopped or otherwise enhanced in any way. We saw 30 to 35 pilot whales and several Minkes (pronounced min-keys, with the accent on the first syllable). Initially I thought we might come away with no photos because we set out in the rain and it was too wet to risk getting out cameras. But eventually the weather cleared enough to safely take pictures--which hardly do justice to the experience of having whales and dolphins come up from the depths right next to the watercraft--close enough to have reached out and touched them. Tomorrow we're off to see the Cabot Trail and Cape Breton Highlands National Park of which we had the merest taste today on the drive between Cheticamp and Pleasant Bay.

A Whale of a Time

We did have a whale of a time today. Kathleen decided to do a morning whale watch, and I went along for the ride. I thought I'd like an afternoon trip, and she came along with me. Her trip was out of Cheticamp; mine out of Pleasant Bay. Both trips were on Zodiacs - a large rubber raft. Whales are not disturbed by the rafts and we were able to get as close to them as 5 feet. We could lean over the side of the boat and watch dolphins and whales swimming alongside the boat underwater. We saw Minke whales on the morning trip, and Pilot whales, white-faced dolphins, a seal and jellyfish on the afternoon trip. It will be hard to top this day!

The Bag Ladies Go To Cheticamp - Kathleen

Since getting away from Halifax was tied to the liberation of Ginny's bag from customs, and since we managed to accumulate a number of bags containing groceries and a couple of souveniers during our unexpected touring of Halifax on Sunday, it occurred to me that this journey so far has been influenced greatly by BAGS--in fact, treking out to the car this morning before we even had Gin's bag from Customs, I commented on our giving the term "bag ladies" new meaning. None of which is particularly interesting, but it does explain the title of this post. We stopped for lunch at a lovely picnic park on the way to the Celtic Music Centre--tables by a brook. Fortunately, it was cool enough to wear our jackets; otherwise I believe we would have been carried off bodily by the mosquitoes. I have little doubt I ate several of the nasty beasties as they swarmed around our heads when we were eating. The vistas from the road have been majestic--even in the rain and fog. Tomorrow we plan to set out in a Zodiac (i.e., big rubber boat) to watch whales. Hopefully by the time we write again, we will report having had a whale of a time.

The Ceilidh Trail and Cheticamp - Ginny

My bag was finally released from customs about 9 a.m. and we headed up to Cape Breton. First stop was the Celtic Music Centre in Judique. We had a personal music and dance demonstration; a young woman played the fiddle for us, explaining the origins of Cape Breton celtic music and showing us the difference between a march, jig, reel, strathspey and slow aire. (Most of which I already knew, but fascinating nontheless.) She also demonstrated some of their dance steps. The exhibits included an area where you could follow along with a video and play a fiddle - we were able to squeak out a few decent sounding notes - and another area where you could try a few dance steps. The next stop was the Glenora Distillery - North America's only single malt whiskey distillery (it would be Scotch if made in Scotland). I sampled some and bought a bottle of the 15 year old. For the next three nights we are at L'Auberge Doucet Inn in Cheticamp http://www.aubergedoucetinn.com/. Lobster for dinner for me - it's in season now and readily available. I may be eating it three meals a day....

Still no bag. It's arrived in Halifax, but did not clear customs last night. A flight of 400 or so people traveling from JFK to the Ukraine was diverted to Halifax when a man on the plane had a heart attack. That doesn't happen often, but it happened just about the time my bag arrived. It's almost a comedy of errors, but I hope I get it soon or I won't be laughing much longer. Ugh! So we're packing up to head to the airport and will leave from there when I get the bag. We're headed to Cheticamp on the NW coast of Cape Breton at the edge of Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Kathleen's Impressions of Halifax

As cities go, it's pretty nice. It rained today with limited visibility along the shore. Ginny and I looked for postcards of Halifax in the rain. Would you believe we couldn't find any? I enjoyed the mist-laden wind in my hair, though it didn't do a thing for my glasses! It was nice to be able to find our way around on a Sunday when the traffic was fairly light. Lunch was fabulous at the brewery--and dinner will be, too, for I could only manage to eat half of it (burger & fries) at lunch time and brought the rest back. I know; I know. I'll get to the seafood. The burger thing was a result of existing on crackers and peanuts yesterday until 11 in the evening. I promise to take advantage of seafood opportunities hereafter! (Ginny had Digby scallops...)

Ginny

I finally arrived in Halifax about 2 a.m. My luggage was still in Detroit, and the only flight is the 5:11 - same time as the one I missed yesterday. I hope to see my luggage at about 9 p.m. The nice man at the Air Canada luggage office last night gave me a little package: toothbrush and toothpaste, hairbrush and a men's xl size t-shirt that made a great nightgown. Instead of heading to Cheticamp in Cape Breton today, we explored Halifax. It's 60's and rainy and will be that way for the next week. If I had my luggage I'd have a raincoat.

Arriving Alone!

Hi! I'm Ginny's friend Kathleen--and my first adventure this morning is learning to use her wonderful little Net Book computer. It's a baby laptop--no mouse! I'm not too old to learn new tricks (even though I had a heck of a time getting back to my spot after I accidentally hit the page up key).

It was weird arriving alone last night and then waiting outside the airport for the hotel shuttle. "Ten minutes," the desk clerk said. It turned into 35. The van had trouble with the credit card at the gas station. Just another adventure as I waited in the dark, alone, in the rain, in a foreign country...

It's morning now..,and Ginny is here! We will adjust our plans as we begin this day together on or marvelous adventure!

Already this is turning into more of an adventure that I anticipated! Kathleen just called me, having just landed in Halifax. I am sitting in Toronto. My flight out of St. Louis was delayed due to a mechanical issue with the airplane and I missed the connecting flight in Detroit by 10 minutes. Of course, the plane I was on from St. Louis just HAD to sit on the tarmac waiting for traffic at the gate in Detroit, and then it HAD to arrive at the furthest possible gate from the one from which my next flight was leaving. At least I got my run in. At any rate, I was able to board a flight to Toronto, and now I await a 10:45 pm flight to Halifax. I should get in about 2 a.m. Ah well, I've never been to Toronto, and now I can say I have.

Getting There

I'm on my way to Nova Scotia for 2 whole weeks with my friend Kathleen. We will meet up in Detroit for the last leg of the trip to Halifax. Tune in to keep track of our adventures. We'll post as often as we have internet access.