Montreal to Halifax pt.2
Nova Scotia
27th September - Truro
Leaving an Airbnb can be hard work. We had settled in well and we had a lot of packing up to do. If you don't leave it tidy there is always the chance of a bad review from the host. TW is also fussy but we escaped ok and before check out time and our review was exemplary.
It was a relaxed drive to, and over the the bridge into New Brunswick. We stopped in Amhurst, quite a Scottish looking town, lots of stone buildings. Lunch at Brittneys was nice, a good steak and egg with potatoes. It was quite an old fashioned establishment, full of locals. We felt we were going back in time - but in a good way.
We stopped at a Provincial Park on the way to Truro and spotted this lovely tree. Autumn was bursting out in Nova Scotia.
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| TW likes her trees |
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| Clear water |
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Spot the ripple in Truro
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We set off for Truro where we were due to spend the night. The tides in the
Bay of Fundy are pretty extreme and we were excited to reach Truro and the
Fundy Discovery site in time for the natural phenomenon. The Lady in the tourist office was friendly and helpful but she had set our expectations a bit too high. When the
tidal bore arrived we were expecting a huge wave and rushing water. A flock of birds landed on a sandbank close to where the water was due to flood in and we were concerned for them. They were not worried in the least. They knew what what was coming. All we saw was barely a ripple making its way up river. We asked the lady at the Discovery site what had gone wrong, we had been worried about getting wet! Oh, the tides are quite low at the moment. Ah well, lets go for a walk.
We walked along the river and then a shared path before heading back to Sobeys to pick up Dinner. Berry's Motel on the outskirts of Truro was perfect for us and fully equipped to prepare a meal.
28th - 30th SeptemberWe seemed to be getting a much better balance between travelling and sight-seeing now. We were keen to have a look at the City of Truro before heading off in the direction of Wolfville. We are pleased to report that Truro is a nice place, a bit smaller than its namesake in Cornwall, and very quiet on a Sunday. We had a good look around before heading for morning coffee and cake at the Novel Tea Coffee House and Bakery. Lots of locals seemed to be popping in for refreshments. It was a nice place to be on a Sunday Morning in Canada.
Oh well, next stop Burntcoat Head Provincial Park. We chose a route that took us on the North of Nova Scotia via Burntcoat It's a great place to view the tides. It is alleged to have the highest recorded tides on earth. 160 Billion Tons of water flow in and out of the Bay of Fundy with each tide and the extreme range is 53ft. We had a walk on what they call the ocean floor and stayed for a picnic lunch. It’s an interesting place to visit but we were there at low tide. The tide did come in a bit but it would not have been high tide for another 4 hours or so. There is a webcam on top of the lighthouse to view it from home.
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| Flower Pot Island and TW |
We took the very quiet road
Waltons Wood Road down to Windsor rather than following the coast and it was a great decision. The trees were wonderful. To be honest we had assumed that a tree-lined road in Canada would have conifers either side. However, that is not the case at all. In September the trees were a riot of colour.
Our Motel was outside of Wolfville in an area known as New Minas. Exit 12 Rentals was a modern take on the Motel format. It had a separate bedroom rather than a single studio. It had a decent kitchen and a washer and dryer. We were quite happy there for 3 nights. There was also a Sobeys just up the road.
The traffic was quite heavy in the area which sits between Wolfville and Kentville.
29th September - Lucketts Vineyard
One of the waitresses at the Wheelhouse in Georgetown recommended we go to Lucketts. We had a late start as I was under the weather but after passing through some beautiful countryside we reached Lucketts Vineyard and it's Bistro for lunch. It was a really nice place, service was a bit slow due to staff shortages but we were not worried. The owner, Pete Luckett was working in the restaurant on Front of House. He's a bit of a showman and was chatting to some of the guests, including us. He told us he had moved to Canada from Nottingham where he was a Market Trader. He built up a successful business that he sold to Sobeys and bought the farm. Over time it became a vineyard and restaurant. It's now run by his daughter but he comes back to help out periodically. His new passion is a Hotel called Idonea in the Azores. Pete took the micky out of us, in a nice way, because we were not drinking his wine. We told him we were driving but would buy something to take home.
We bought a bottle of red wine cheekily called Old Bill. Tidal Bay, a white, is the popular wine of the region.
Down amongst the vines there is an old
GPO phone box. You can phone anywhere in North America for free.
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| Luckett Winery produce |
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| Fruit of the Vine |
After lunch we headed into Wolfville. Apparently it was originally called Mud Creek, we prefer its new name but there is still plenty of mud around. I thought it might be named after James Wolf but no, it takes its name from a prominent DeWolf family back in the 18th Century. It's quite an attractive place. It is home to a highly rated Acadia University. After a wander we had a coffee at Charts a cozy retreat in the town.
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| Wolfville - formerly Mud Creek |
30th September
We were on the Waterfront Trail in Wolfville today. It's mainly a long dyke that goes out in the estuary. It was a lovely warm day for a pleasant walk with good riverside views. Our loop took us back to Charts for a light lunch. It was quite busy with a mix of students and oldies. We thought we would have a look at a couple of wineries in the afternoon. It was a public holiday so the Lightfoot and Wolfville Winery Restaurant, close to town was quite busy. We had a walk amongst the vines and took in the great views over the estuary. We moved along to Benjamin Bridge winery. This was a lovely spot to walk around. They had a drinks licence so visitors were able to tour the estate with a glass of wine. We waited until after our walk and I enjoyed a very pleasant glass of their Tidal Bay, the signature white wine of Nova Scotia. The Benjamin Bridge winery slopes down to a small river and was in a very pretty country area. Definitely a nice place to cycle if based in New Minas.
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| Lake Lawson |
1st October - Heading for White PointWe took a very quiet road down to Chester. Beautiful and colourful trees lined our route. It was difficult to stop and take pictures as there were no verges or parking places on Highway 12. We turned off just past New Ross and stopped at Lake Lawson one of the many lakes in the region.
Our next stop, Chester by the Sea was a revelation. On a sunny day in October there is probably no better spot on earth to spend a few hours. We loved it. We had planned to stop at the Kiwi Cafe but had no idea the village was so lovely. We were very pleased with the Kiwi Cafe, our lunch spot. Chester has has an interesting coastline giving lots of opportunities for seaside living as it winds in and out. It looked pretty prosperous so hopefully there is not a risk of it being taken over by holiday lets and thereby losing its sense of community.
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| Kiwi Cafe |
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| Chester by the sea |
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| The Rope Loft in Chester |
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| Tancock Island Ferry |
There are many islands offshore, some with quaint names like
Big Gooseberry Island. This ferry goes to Tancock Island about an hour into the bay.
After a great visit we headed off towards White Point. On the way we turned off for on old fashioned General Store to pick up a few provisions. Mill Village on the River Mersey looked to have been by-passed when they built the new Highway 103. We only found it by chance.
White Point - 2nd to 4th October
White Point Resort is right on the beach. We saw it on Race Across the World and had the ambition to stay there. We were in a wooden building in the grounds. It was very although but the sea view was limited by trees. It was a lovely resort, a little bit old-fashioned and rustic. It has a Golf Course and also lots of Summer activities. After a walk on the beach we had Dinner in Elliots Restaurant, luckily we had booked in advance as it was full to bursting. There was a gaggle of Healthcare people also staying, on some sort of conference or team building, plus a lot other residents so it was quite lively. Next door, in the bar, a guy on a guitar was entertaining a big crowd. He was pretty good and we sat and had a drink after our meal.
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| Elliots Restaurant |
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| Dining out at Elliots |
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| Guitar Man |
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| Sunsetting at White Point |
White Point - 3rd October
We had a leisurely Breakfast Buffet in the Restaurant before walking a local trail and then had a paddle on the beach. We took a drive along the coast and ended up at the Quarterdeck in Somerville. What a view we had from our table. It was a beautiful sunny day and the beach was empty apart from one family. A nice local lass looked after us and we had a very good lunch. She recommended we pay a visit to Carters Beach, a local hidden gem across the bay. We duly obliged and it was lovely.
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| The view from the Quarterdeck |
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Carters Beach
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Carters Beach
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We met a lovely Nova Scotia couple on the beach. They had been in the Restaurant and were on their way to Yarmouth down the coast to scatter some ashes.
We were back in Elliots in the evening for another good meal. Guitar man was there again but this time there was no crowd so it felt a bit flat.
To Lunenberg - 3rd October
We prepared our own breakfast and loaded the car before taking a final walk on the beach. We would happily have stayed longer but it was quite expensive and, when we booked, only 2 nights were available. We gained the impression that White Point has quite a bit of repeat business, maybe we'll be back?
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| Sea View from our balcony |
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White Point on the Rocks
Typical coastal view |
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| LaHave Bakery |
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| LaHave Bakery |
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| At the wharf with Bluenose |
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| Up the hill - Lunenberg NS |
We hugged the coast heading back along the coast towards Lunenberg. We passed through Liverpool and regretted not having time to stop and look around. The Lighthouse Route was beautiful with very little traffic. We passed through a whole host of attractive communities on our journey. We decided to take the LaHave Ferry. Passage is free and it only takes a few minutes to cross the LaHave River. It saves quite a bit of driving as the bridge is some distance upstream at Bridgewater. Just before the ferry is a great Cafe, the LaHave Bakery. It's housed in quite ramshackle old building with lots of character. We had a good lunch and chatted with some Canadians also touring Nova Scotia. We gave them some tips on the places where we had been but not sure they took much note. I made the mistake of getting out of the car on the ferry to take some photos and was told in no uncertain terms to get back in the car. Sorry about that, we didn't see the signs.
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Illicit photo on the ferry leaving LaHave
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We continued on around the coast to Lunenberg and the Homeport Motel where we were booked to stay three nights. A nice motel, a little out of town but convenient for touring. We unloaded and then went on a 20 minute walk into town. We were expecting it to be touristy and it was busy by Canadian standards. We walked to the wharf where the Bluenose 2 docks and continued up into town with its steeply rising streets.
Brightly coloured wooden buildings many housing little shops and galleries. White and black Churches dotted around of various denominations. Most of the restaurant seemed to be just above the wharf. The weary travellers had a sit down in the sunshine by the shore before heading to the Supermarket and our Homeport.
4th October - Mahone Bay
Mahone Bay, a short drive from Luneberg was busy on this sunny Saturday. Lots of people were out to see the Scarecrow Festival. It goes on in the 3 weeks prior to Canadian Thanksgiving. It was an impressive show and we took a scary number of pics. Mahone Bay is a pretty little town and we loved the wooden houses.
After coffee and cake at The Barn we popped home for lunch. We headed for Masons Beach and Corkums Island in the afternoon and took a few photos.
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| Toilet Training |
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Is the tide coming in?
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| Across the bay from Lunenberg |
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Lunenberg
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| Corkums Island |
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Corkums Island
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5th October Lunenberg and the Ovens
In the Ovens
We were told that the Ovens were worth a visit. It is a series of caves dug into the shore down the coast from Lunenberg. Have to say it was a bit underwhelming but they are probably unusual for Canada. Also they would probably be more impressive at higher tides when the water crashes in. It's also home to a large campsite. We continued on around the coast to the
Rose Bay Bistro for lunch. Bit of a German thing going on here. Manner bars for sale in the shop. They even had schnitzel on the menu. I had a Lobster Salad and TW had Pulled Pork. It was busy today but the Bistro is even more popular in Summer as its only a 5 minute walk to the beach. Quite a nice beach but not White Point standard.
We headed back to Lunenberg to explore more of the town. We parked up the top by a large building that was once a school and did a circuit. Lunenberg is laid out in a traditional colonial format so no chance to get lost. We had a drink at one of the pubs down near the Waterfront, The Salt Shaker. A very busy and popular place on this Sunday evening in October.
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| Taking a breather at the Salt Shaker |
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| Follow that horse |
6th October - Fall River - Heading for Halifax
On the final leg now, up to Halifax. We left Homeport and continued in the direction of Halifax. We made sure our route took us through Chester so we could visit the Kiwi Cafe again and say goodbye to the beautiful town.
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| Filming in the Car Park |
Chester was very busy as they were filming a TV series in the Kiwi Cafe Car Park. We sat outside and watched the action. Brooke Shields was in mortal danger of getting blown up as her Jaguar had been booby trapped. Fortunately a blonde lady arrived in the nick of time and pulled her away with a Rugby tackle. Brooke did have a double on hand to get blown up in her place should she be needed. Happily we all survived.
Peggy's Cove was the scene of a real tragedy as a
Swissair plane caught fire in the air as it was flying from the USA to Switzerland and landed in the sea. All those on board perished. A very tasteful memorial site is just up the road from the Lighthouse.
We were a bit shocked when we arrived at Peggy's Cove as it was literally crawling with tourists. It is obviously on the Tour Bus itinerary. It is a lovely spot but we did not stay very long.
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| Tranquility at West Dover |
We opted to stay at Fall River, about 20 minutes from Halifax Airport. Trailfinders originally recommended an Hotel in Halifax itself. We could have saved two days car-hire by dropping off in the City but we would have had to take a taxi to the airport. We decided to stay out in the sticks by a lovely lake and drop off the car at the airport. Our final stay at Fall River was in an apartment on on
Lake Thomas. It was pretty perfect. Our host left us some lovely Danish Pastries so we sat by the water and watched the world go by for a while. Coffee and Cake by the Lake. Suitably refreshed, we took a trail through the trees to the lower part of Lake Thomas and revelled in the Autumn colours. Across the water we could see the
Inn on the Lake, our venue for Dinner. There was no boat so we had to drive around to the other side. I missed the turning but we arrived eventually. We ordered Steaks and they were very good.
7th October - Halifax
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| On the wharf |
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| Lock up your bike .. |
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| Halifax City Skyline |
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| The Old Clock Tower |
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| BOOM |
Rather than drive in to Halifax itself we were recommended to use the Park and Ride Ferry from
Alderney. I was driving but the sat nav instructions confused me and it was all a bit stressful. We parked up and caught a 15minute ferry to the
Halifax Waterfront. I didn't like the area much at first but it grew on me. We initially walked up-river and it still in need of a refurb. In the other direction we found restaurants and museums. We had lunch at one of the Restaurants, the
Bike Thief. It's a popular spot and we had a good table outside, right on the Waterfront. I had my final lobster roll and TW had Salmon. Once we had seen all the Waterfront, we walked through the City and then up to the Citadel. We had to pay to enter but it was quite interesting. We returned to the Waterfront and visited the
Maritime Museum. Halifax played a big part in the rescue of Titanic survivors so there are some relevant exhibits to view. We did not have time to go to any of the City graveyards where some of the poor souls are buried.
8th October - Homeward Bound
After nearly 5 weeks in Canada we had amassed quite a bit of stuff! With limited space we had to warn Jim, our host, that we would be leaving a few items with him. He was quite happy, he is used to it he told us. It still took quite a while to pack up but we were out of the flat by 07:30 and had dropped off the car by 08:00. Our Alamo Mazda had looked after us very well. We were told to be at the Airport 3 hours before the flight left. We thought it was excessive but the time flew by. We had a breakfast at the Flyer and Firkin before heading off on our little Air Canada 737 to Heathrow. Job Done
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