Nova Scotia: Wrap Up

The famous Bluenose schooner sailing in Lunenburg Bay. This historic reproduction sails much of the year from either Halifax or Lunenburg. We were lucky to get tickets early on. Seeing a real tall ship in action was a treat.

This ends my series on my vacation of Nova Scotia. I would recommend that anyone interested in nature, relaxation, and seafood visit this Canadian province.

Unless you have several weeks, choose either Cape Breton, the Fundy Coast, or the South Shore as your base and try to spend as much time there. It takes longer to get around than you think and there is more to explore than the guide books make evident.

For my next trip, I would like to return in the fall when the leaves have turned.

I mentioned seafood above....I went on a fall color vacation to Massachusetts a couple of years ago and was hoping for seafood. We hardly found any. Not so in Nova Scotia. If you love the fruit de la mer, you will love Nova Scotia. Mussels were everywhere. I could have eaten them for breakfast, lunch and dinner! We ate lobster twice and I even ate pickled herring one night since it is a local favorite.

Our base as you know was Lunenburg. There are many restaurants in this town to choose from, which is another reason to make it a base. Most of the places close to the wharf are touristy but are relatively cheap. We ate at the Grand Banker, the Dockside Cafe, and Magnolia's. Only the latter would I recommend. One street up is the Trattoria Bella Donna and the Fluer de Sel. Both are outstanding but pricey. My lamb at the Bella Donna was $30 and my butter poached lobster at the Fleur de Sel was $42. The Fleur de Sel won Nova Scotia's best restaurant award in 2008. Some locals sitting next to us kept raving about it. Had it not been for Hurricane Bill, we would have missed out on that treat.

Only one restaurant, the Bella Donna, carried any of the renowned ice wines of the area. It was sold in the liquor store, but I wanted to taste it before buying a bottle. Sweet wine goes a long way. I was also anticipating more of a selection of other Canadian ice wines, but no joy there. I am just going to have to order through an on line retailer and have some shipped to me.

Finally, I need to shout out a big thank you to Ethan and Nancy Evans who allowed us to stay gratis in their home, who allowed us to rummage through their drawers for shorts and t-shirts, and whose beautiful home was the highlight of the trip. A true catharsis.

I also want to thank the neighbors whom we got to know quite well and who regaled us with all sorts of stories about life in Nova Scotia, including their health care system. They enriched our trip immeasurably.

Sometimes I think we lazy Americans forget that Canada even exists. It is there, it is significantly less expensive than Europe, and is culturally and geographically diverse. All I can say is go...enjoy!

The author getting ready to set sail on the Bluenose.

Nova Scotia: Gaff Point Trail

Distance: 3.5 km
Elevation: 50 ft
Elevation Gain: Negligible

The wilder side of Nova Scotia, Gaff Point Trail

Gaff Point is a narrow headland that extends into the Atlantic Ocean near Hirtles Beach. Our original intent was to walk on the beach but when we arrived we realized the beach was not sand but large 30 pound cobbles. After a few steps we realized this beach had ankle twisting potential. A sign near the parking area told us about the trail, which was not mentioned in any guide book of the area, including the local gazetteer. We then drove around trying to find a way to get closer to the headland so that we did not have to walk very far on the rocks. We did eventually find a road, but had to park near someone's property and walk through another person's field. There was a sign that indicated that pedestrians were welcome, and a social trail was worn into the grass so we did not fee too badly. I was concerned that our car might be unwanted but there was not way to tell.

Looking south from the Hirtles Beach parking lot towards an estuary and houses beyond.

A view of the beach, the fog, the large rocks, and one brave surfer

Storm damage on the beach. You can see the imprint of the wave that brought all the large cobbles into the estuary and the overturned picnic table.

We hiked this trail two days after Hurricane Bill had hit the province and it was clear that this area had been impacted by some heavy waves. Large boulders were tossed up on the rocks, the the shale cliffs had been fractured and chunks were tossed about. These remnants made the trail feel even more primeval.

A small house we passed on the way to the trailhead

After cutting across some land, we came to the farther end of Hirtles Beach. Gaff Point is in the distance.

The lichen covered trees and moss covered ground of the inland forest

The trailhead is barely visible from the beach. A small placard marks it, but then you have to bushwhack just slightly through the shrubs.

The center portion of the trail crosses an exposed area of heaths. There are nice views of the cliffs here too along with social trails heading down either side to small, rocky beaches.

The latter half of the trail is a loop. Here is where it splits. Note the log and wood tailings trail construction. This was the state of the trail in the forest.

The trail eventually reaches the cliffs. This is looking back towards the beach, which is just of site.

The trail itself spends part of the time in the forest and part of the time on the cliffs, which are incredibly scenic. Storm damage aside, the rocks of the coastline are paper thin shale layers turned vertical by the forces of geologic time. I wanted to spend some time prying apart the layers in search of fossils. The trail travels directly over these area, the route marked in splashes of yellow paint. It was actually hard walking since nothing was flat.

Our first exposure to the vertical shale. The rocks look much thicker in the photo. They are in fact composed of many thin layers.

Looking down into the sea on a relatively calm day. It is not difficult to image what the sea was like during the storm.

The trail continues to skirt the cliffs

The forested part of the trail were unique to our Colorado eyes. Moss and lichens covered every inch. It was peaceful and yet mysterious at the same time. Too damp for fairies, which are admittedly delicate, it was just right for shore birds of various shorts. Chirps and whistles could be heard from the branches of the overhanging trees.

Here you can see the shale torn into chunks and scattered about

After rounding the point, more damage was evident. Large chunks of dirt had been eroded, leaving boulders lying on the rocks below.

We are about to head back into the forest

Gaff Point is a trail of the Canadian Nature Conservancy. Kudos to this organization for trying to preserve some natural space in an ever urbanization of Nova Scotia's coastline. We stumbled across this trail by accident, but I would recommend it to hiker visiting the South Shore. It was one of our trip highlights.

We took one of the social trails down to the shore from the center open area. The rugged beauty of the area is evident.

These flat cobbles are testament to the enduring power of the waves. Each of these stones started out as a chunk of shale scoured from the cliffs along the coastline. Time and the constant pounding of waves have turned them into tiny smooth rocks.

Nova Scotia: Lunenburg

Lunenburg waterfront

Lunenburg is billed as one of the most attractive towns in Nova Scotia and it is. I can also tell you that after visiting other supposedly attractive towns we came to appreciate it more and more. Lunenburg is filled with brightly painted buildings, excellent restaurants, and old fashioned sailing ships.

The back bay. This was the view from the porch of the home we stayed in. Anyone with less fortitude than I would not have survived tea every morning with this pastoral panorama.

Lunenburg is home of the Bluenose, an award winning schooner. We took a ride out on the Bluenose II, which I will describe in another post.

On the wharf

The town itself sits atop a hill and its gridded lanes are filled with 100 year old homes, flower boxes, and tall trees. Walking around town, particularly in the 30°C heat was a trial, however. The steep hills would normally have been trivial for us Coloradans but in the heat they resulted in near prostration. The town's real charm showed after Hurricane Bill had sucked the heat away and the fog returned. The old-fashioned signs, the filigree, and the street lamps all took on a special aura in the fog. This is a good thing since fog is Lunenburg's natural habitat.

The waterfront from out in the harbor

Because of the heat, I found myself drinking a great deal of beer on this trip. Most of the iced tea is sweetened and the sodas were sold by the can and also full of sugar. I found that the local brew Keith's fit the bill nicely and could be had in grog bowl quantities, a blessing on a hot day.

A downtown gallery

In 1995 the old town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While a boost for tourism the locals were less than pleased. As anyone who has lived in a historic district knows, maintaining a home to historic standards is a pain. Every possible modification has to be approved. God forbid indoor plumbing should be desired.

A few shots of Lunenburg Homes

Lunenburg was settled not by the British, but by German, Swiss, and French immigrants. A memorial to the early settlers exists on Bunkhouse Hill and the names engraved on the stones are still seen in the phone book today.

Walking down Kempt Street to the main harbor

There are decent shops and nice galleries throughout the town, which tempt the walker away from the waterfront. We found the restaurants right along the harbor to be quite average although seafood was plentiful. Lunenburg does boast two fine dining establishments, one of which, the Fleur de Sel, was voted the best restaurant for 2008 for all of Nova Scotia. It was quite good but pricey as one might expect.

Sailing seems to be the national pastime of Nova Scotians. There were many in the harbor and other bays and inlets.

Since we had a house to stay in, we decided to hit the grocery store and stock up. There are two in town and both were very small. Seafood was sparse and much more expensive than beef or pork. The vegetables were also lacking, which explained why we didn't get any in our dinners out. It seems that many of the locals drive to Bridgeport about 20 minutes away to really stock up.

Some colorful dories along the shore

Many of the folks that live in Lunenburg are retired. There is not much work in the area outside of the tourism industry.

Lunenburg's primary colors are best seen from the water. In town, they don't stand out as much.

As a base of operations, Lunenburg proved ideal. We could easily travel north to Peggy's Cove and south to the many beaches that dot the nooks and crannies of the coastline.

Nova Scotia Travel Diary: Overview

The far end of Lunenburg Harbor taken from the wharf.

I have just returned from 10 days in Nova Scotia. I decided not to bring my computer and blog as I went but wait until I got home. Being totally unplugged has its advantages. Below is a map of the province. The icons are locations that will be mentioned as I describe the trip.

Nova Scotia is an Atlantic province of Canada and is the second smallest after Prince Edward Island. There are only 32 million people in Canada, a mere 10th of the US population, so words "crowd" and "horde" must be taken with a grain of salt when referring to Nova Scotia.

What surprised us the most was how wooded the area is. All the photos you will see from my trip and others focus on the coastline. Those views exist of course, but there was a lot of driving through trees to get there. With all the hard woods I suspect that fall would be a phenomenal time to visit.

We spent most of our time around Lunenburg. My travel buddy's cousin owns a home there so we had a beautiful and free place to stay. We did take two days to drive up to Cape Breton Island to visit the National Park and drive the Cabot Trail.


View nova scotia in a larger map
We really screwed up in the planning for this trip. We checked the weather forecast a week out and visited several web cams that showed expected fog along the coast. When we got there, the province was suffering under an heat wave with 30°C/90°F weather and 100% humidity. We had to borrow shorts and t-shirts from the house. Five minutes outside and we were soaked through with sweat. Moral of the story, double check the forecast.

The other thing that made this trip interesting was that we got caught in Hurricane Bill, which hit the day we were supposed to fly out. I did not know that hurricanes ever made it that far north.

All of this and more will be described and I present my travel diary. Hopefully, you won't mind this digression from my normal Colorado posts.