Nova Scotia 2007
Nevertheless, we’re up and ready to go in good time, but another rain squall is passing through Bridgewater, so we hang out for a while waiting for the weather to improve. By 9:30, the rain has ended and the road appears mostly dry, but we do the Dance of Rainsuit just in case. And as is normal for me, I leave my keys in my jeans pocket until after the suit is all zipped and flapped; then I have to unzip it, dig out my keys, and do the dance all over again. It’s a ritual that I’ve honed to perfection over the years.
We see a number of loons this morning as we wind slowly along the river, and we see a large gull struggling with what I’m sure must be an eel. The loons remind me of the Canadian monetary system, which has two-dollar coins called “toonies” and one-dollar coins nicknamed “loonies,” presumably because they have an imprint of a loon. They both look like quarters to me, so I always have to look carefully at what I’m giving or receiving in cash transactions. And thinking of money reminds me that one of the best ways to get Canadian money is not to go a bank teller, but simply use an ATM card in any bank machine. It will give the requested amount of Canadian funds and charge your bank account at home the proper amount based on the best daily rate of exchange for that day. Most of our transactions are done with credit card, but it’s always good to have some cash and we procured some in Yarmouth after clearing customs.
After a stretch on the “big road”, Rt. 103, where our rainsuits, waterproof boots, and gloves get thoroughly tested, we exit to Peggy’s Cove. Nearing the coast, the weather improves and blue sky once more dominates the seaward views. Behind us, inland, dark clouds still fill the horizon. 
This is our third visit to Peggy’s Cove, and I’ll be anxious to compare some of my photographs to those I took in 1986 or 1998. Peggy’s Cove has the only Canadian post office in a lighthouse. It is the quintessential harbor village and is featured in many pictorial atlases and on innumerable postcards dpicting harbors. I shoot about 50 digital shots, so I hope several of those might turn out to be photo-quality compositions.
We watch the Harbour Mist (a red fishing boat you may have seen depicted on many postcards) unloading mackerel to be used for bait. Six families originally settled Peggy’s Cove in the early 1800’s, and now 50 people make their permanent home there. It is still a working fishing and lobstering village in spite of the fame it has garnered thanks to its picturesque setting. We visit the Peggy’s Cove lighthouse and mail some postcards, and then take lunch in the dining room. After some more photographs and climbing around on the rocks, we’ve whiled away three hours and it’s time to head for the tiny village of Summerville, on the other side of the land mass along the Bay of Fundy, where I’ve made reservations in a little inn.
Directly in our line of transit is the dark heart of the storm we’ve been watching from the coast at Peggy’s Cove, where the weather has been cool but beautiful. British Emily Version 1.40 guides us flawlessly through the storm and the very complicated country routes toward Summerville. “I’d never try this without the GPS,” I remark to Kitty.
As we near the Fundy side of Nova Scotia, the rain clears a bit and we see that the tree-covered landscape has given way to farmland, much of which seems to be devoted to dairy farming. Our meandering route crosses a number of rivers with mud banks 15 or 20 feet high, and we know from prior visits that this is a result of the monster tides of the Bay of Fundy, which at Burntcoat Head has the highest recorded tides in the world at over 53 feet. At high tide, those mud banks are completely immersed! We hope to explore more of the Fundy coast tomorrow. Here’s something for you to think about: The amount of water that goes into and out of the Bay of Fundy approximately every 13 hours is estimated to be the equivalent of all the fresh water in every river, every lake, and every stream on Planet Earth!
As Emily gives the 850-meter announcement to our destination, I remark to Kitty, “For being half a mile from town, there’s remarkably little evidence that there is a town in our near future.” But sure enough there is, and we find the Shipwright Inn where I’ve made reservations.
It’s a post office, a hardware store, an “emporium”, a bed and breakfast, and it features a restaurant rated as one of the top restaurants in the province. There’s a bit of confusion about our reservation, and the young lady who greets us calls her mother, the owner, to find out which room she’s booked for us. We notice she is speaking German, which is Kitty’s and my native language, so we perk up right away. It turns out they are Swiss immigrants and run this place in this tiny town in Nova Scotia. The mother is out sick, but three daughters Stephanie, Yolanda, and Corinne, plus one employee, Natasha, are taking care of things this weekend. Except that Corinne seems to be on a camping trip and is nowhere to be found. The young ladies are doing just fine, and Stephanie immediately offers us coffee and a fresh cinnamon roll.
Yolanda takes us up the cleverly winding stairs to the Captain Armstrong room with its Jacuzzi tucked neatly into the eaves of the building. “Baby, you did good!” Kitty exclaims as the light dances in her eyes. It’s a fantastic room.
The Shipwright Inn has only one phone with dial-up Internet access, and Stephanie told me she’d be up until about 10:00 PM. It’s now almost 10:30 and my guess would be that this report will need to be posted in the morning.
Day 8: Saturday June 23
Copyright(c) 2007, Jim Beachy
The alarm on my new watch is set for 7:00 AM. Apparently it doesn’t sound. Apparently I haven’t developed the proper technology to manage my new watch. Apparently I accidentally turned off the alarm sound.
Nevertheless, we’re up and ready to go in good time, but another rain squall is passing through Bridgewater, so we hang out for a while waiting for the weather to improve. By 9:30, the rain has ended and the road appears mostly dry, but we do the Dance of Rainsuit just in case. And as is normal for me, I leave my keys in my jeans pocket until after the suit is all zipped and flapped; then I have to unzip it, dig out my keys, and do the dance all over again. It’s a ritual that I’ve honed to perfection over the years.We get back on Rt. 3, the Lighthouse Route, the slow road to Lunenberg and Mahone Bay. It’s a lovely winding ride along the La Have River through Riverport, with the wide expanse of the river off 
to our right. At Riverport is a ferry should you choose to cross the river there instead of riding the 20 miles or so to Bridgewater and back to that same point.
to our right. At Riverport is a ferry should you choose to cross the river there instead of riding the 20 miles or so to Bridgewater and back to that same point.We see a number of loons this morning as we wind slowly along the river, and we see a large gull struggling with what I’m sure must be an eel. The loons remind me of the Canadian monetary system, which has two-dollar coins called “toonies” and one-dollar coins nicknamed “loonies,” presumably because they have an imprint of a loon. They both look like quarters to me, so I always have to look carefully at what I’m giving or receiving in cash transactions. And thinking of money reminds me that one of the best ways to get Canadian money is not to go a bank teller, but simply use an ATM card in any bank machine. It will give the requested amount of Canadian funds and charge your bank account at home the proper amount based on the best daily rate of exchange for that day. Most of our transactions are done with credit card, but it’s always good to have some cash and we procured some in Yarmouth after clearing customs.
After a stretch on the “big road”, Rt. 103, where our rainsuits, waterproof boots, and gloves get thoroughly tested, we exit to Peggy’s Cove. Nearing the coast, the weather improves and blue sky once more dominates the seaward views. Behind us, inland, dark clouds still fill the horizon.
This is our third visit to Peggy’s Cove, and I’ll be anxious to compare some of my photographs to those I took in 1986 or 1998. Peggy’s Cove has the only Canadian post office in a lighthouse. It is the quintessential harbor village and is featured in many pictorial atlases and on innumerable postcards dpicting harbors. I shoot about 50 digital shots, so I hope several of those might turn out to be photo-quality compositions.
We watch the Harbour Mist (a red fishing boat you may have seen depicted on many postcards) unloading mackerel to be used for bait. Six families originally settled Peggy’s Cove in the early 1800’s, and now 50 people make their permanent home there. It is still a working fishing and lobstering village in spite of the fame it has garnered thanks to its picturesque setting. We visit the Peggy’s Cove lighthouse and mail some postcards, and then take lunch in the dining room. After some more photographs and climbing around on the rocks, we’ve whiled away three hours and it’s time to head for the tiny village of Summerville, on the other side of the land mass along the Bay of Fundy, where I’ve made reservations in a little inn.Directly in our line of transit is the dark heart of the storm we’ve been watching from the coast at Peggy’s Cove, where the weather has been cool but beautiful. British Emily Version 1.40 guides us flawlessly through the storm and the very complicated country routes toward Summerville. “I’d never try this without the GPS,” I remark to Kitty.
As we near the Fundy side of Nova Scotia, the rain clears a bit and we see that the tree-covered landscape has given way to farmland, much of which seems to be devoted to dairy farming. Our meandering route crosses a number of rivers with mud banks 15 or 20 feet high, and we know from prior visits that this is a result of the monster tides of the Bay of Fundy, which at Burntcoat Head has the highest recorded tides in the world at over 53 feet. At high tide, those mud banks are completely immersed! We hope to explore more of the Fundy coast tomorrow. Here’s something for you to think about: The amount of water that goes into and out of the Bay of Fundy approximately every 13 hours is estimated to be the equivalent of all the fresh water in every river, every lake, and every stream on Planet Earth!As Emily gives the 850-meter announcement to our destination, I remark to Kitty, “For being half a mile from town, there’s remarkably little evidence that there is a town in our near future.” But sure enough there is, and we find the Shipwright Inn where I’ve made reservations.
It’s a post office, a hardware store, an “emporium”, a bed and breakfast, and it features a restaurant rated as one of the top restaurants in the province. There’s a bit of confusion about our reservation, and the young lady who greets us calls her mother, the owner, to find out which room she’s booked for us. We notice she is speaking German, which is Kitty’s and my native language, so we perk up right away. It turns out they are Swiss immigrants and run this place in this tiny town in Nova Scotia. The mother is out sick, but three daughters Stephanie, Yolanda, and Corinne, plus one employee, Natasha, are taking care of things this weekend. Except that Corinne seems to be on a camping trip and is nowhere to be found. The young ladies are doing just fine, and Stephanie immediately offers us coffee and a fresh cinnamon roll.
Yolanda takes us up the cleverly winding stairs to the Captain Armstrong room with its Jacuzzi tucked neatly into the eaves of the building. “Baby, you did good!” Kitty exclaims as the light dances in her eyes. It’s a fantastic room.
After I clean and cover the bike, we wander through the hardware store and into the restaurant, where we are in store for another fantastic treat! There appears to be no regular menu; they seem to fix 
whatever they have available, or, I think, whatever they feel like fixing. But you can’t go wrong. The food is fantastic, the dining room is tiny, the kitchen is in full view of the patrons, and the whole family atmosphere invites a comfortable, social setting. This turns out to be one of most unusual and extraordinary off-the-beaten-path places we’ve ever encountered. There's a web site, www.avonemporium.com. Bring your GPS!
whatever they have available, or, I think, whatever they feel like fixing. But you can’t go wrong. The food is fantastic, the dining room is tiny, the kitchen is in full view of the patrons, and the whole family atmosphere invites a comfortable, social setting. This turns out to be one of most unusual and extraordinary off-the-beaten-path places we’ve ever encountered. There's a web site, www.avonemporium.com. Bring your GPS!I find out that, about 10 clicks back, we passed the only gas station for the next 80 clicks. To be safe, I will backtrack tomorrow morning and refuel. When you're a Boy Scout it's fine to wonder as you wander. But when it comes to fueling my Gold Wing along the remote Fundy coast, I don’t want to wonder as I wander. We double-check with Stephanie to make sure the station will be open on Sunday morning. Today we have traveled 270 km. You can convert that to miles using the same formula you found for yesterday’s mileage.
The Shipwright Inn has only one phone with dial-up Internet access, and Stephanie told me she’d be up until about 10:00 PM. It’s now almost 10:30 and my guess would be that this report will need to be posted in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment