Nova Scotia Bays

Saturday August 15th it was time to head to Nova Scotia. Our first night was on the opposite side of the Bay of Fundy, in a location called the Five Islands. It was just 40 miles as the crow flies from our starting point, but the drive itself was 110 miles. First we had to go inland 30 miles to cross the tip of the Bay of Fundy, before we could drive south. We learned again not to fully trust Google maps after it sent us down a 20 mile gravel road; yes it was the most direct; no it wasn't pleasant!

Diamond Shores campground was mostly seasonal campers who all know each other and were amazingly welcoming. We were invited to home made pizza night, followed by a great selection of home made desserts. We really enjoyed chatting to everyone and had a great evening. What a lovely experience. 

The next morning we watched the “Not since Moses” race across the mud flats at low tide. This race can only safely happen a few days a year during extremely low tides in the Minas Basin of the Bay of Fundy. The tides in the basin drop 50-52 feet, and the race course is across the seabed with a challenging terrain of thick mud, wet sand, slippery seaweed, tidal pools, and exposed rocks. Because the tides return rapidly and aggressively participants have a 90-minute cutoff time to complete the course of 10K or 5K, before the water rushes back. We had front seats to the event, and it was quite a fun morning. We had never heard of the race, so it was quite a surprise fun experience.

After the race we said goodbye to everyone, and drove to the south shore of Nova Scotia just past Halifax to King Neptune campground. The small campground had amazing views of the ocean and was just 2 miles from Peggy's Cove which has a well known light house and quaint fishing village. It was on John's list to photograph and we spent several hours before sunset walking around the village and taking photos. 

Monday Aug 16th we took it easy and enjoyed the nice weather and views at the campground. John worked on processing photos and Sara wrote the blog entry for Chebeague Island. Both take quite a bit of time and we are always on the go enjoying the trip so get behind on updates! The campground had a tiny little beach and Sara enjoyed an afternoon swim. The water is on the chilly side, but not too bad once you are in and keep moving!

The next day we woke to a wet rainy day; note to self put the outside rug up at night if there is a hint of rain otherwise you have a wet soggy mess!  We drove 60 miles further south to the town of Lunenburg and met up with John's eldest son John who was visiting his good friend Shamus in Nova Scotia. Very sadly sons John and Chris had just lost their mother Margaret, (John's ex-wife). John is proud of both his sons for the care and devotion they took looking after Margaret the last few years. Even though we were all very sad we did enjoy seeing each other and it was great we were able to connect so far from home. 

Shamus drove us around to see the beautiful Lunenburg area, a port town founded in 1753 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We enjoyed a great lunch of fish and chips and then headed to his off grid lake front property. It was a lovely location and blissfully quiet. Although it was still raining a bit, or drizzling as the English say, we enjoyed sitting under a tent canopy watching the fire that son John somehow managed to get alight!

We spent the next morning planning our first few campgrounds in Newfoundland. We had booked the ferry a few days previously which was a relief. In peak summer season the ferry has to be be booked months in advance, and most people had a grimace when we said we hadn't yet booked. Since we couldn't get the exact day we were planning we decided to drive the Cabot Trail when we returned, so as usual it worked out. 

The weather cleared to a beautiful sunny afternoon and Shamus kindly drove us around exploring Lunenburg, a tiny fishing village called Blue Rocks and Mahone Bay. We spent at an evening under the stars by the fire pit - what a great few days!

Click here to see the photos and video