Day 24
Got up and had some cereal before packing things up for another move.
I continued along the Lighthouse Route and stopped at The Islands PP
for a look around. The day use area looks nice but the sites all seem
to be well wooded so I'm sure the bugs are swarming. From there I drove
through Lockeport and took a look around although there was little to see
through the fog.
The next stop was Thomas Raddell
PP for a quick bite of lunch and then some trails. They have a central
bike trail that links all of the hiking trails so I took my bike and headed
to the first trail. The fog continued but I enjoyed the coastline,
anyway. Back on my bike I head through to the campground to see what
the sites were like. They seemed nice and the showers looked pretty
good. It was surprising that there was nobody camping, though. I
started the trail back to the car and stopped at 2 more trails along the
way. One was supposed to be a loop but I couldn't find the second half
of the loop so I just doubled back to my bike.
The campsites didn't pull me that much so I headed back to Sable River
to Louis Head Campground and registered on site 7 for two nights. I
splurged and spend the extra 3 bucks to have electricity to recharge my shavers.
I set up camp but was being swarmed by small black flies and mosquitoes
soon after so I retreated to the car for a nap. I then quickly cooked
some pasta (too quickly since it wasn't quite done) and then connected to
the internet to check email and download some trail maps. I found a
few good ones near Halifax that I wasn't expecting. I may stay there
longer than I had planned.
Back at the site, I did some dishes and settled in for the night.
Day 25: Rain and Shine
Well, the day started rainy as I was awaked by its constant patter
on the tent at 7am. I decided to wait it out and ended up waiting until
11. I had a bit of breakfast and then headed off under mostly cloudy
skies.
I decided to do one of the longer
trails that go into the Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct Park from a nearby town.
After finding the trailhead to the left of a white church, I set out with
lunch and hiking staff in hand. I didn't get far before the trail became
a lake and nearly impassable without a canoe (or at least hipwaders).
After returning to the car, I decided to follow the normal entry route
to the park and headed around to the parking lot. I headed off again
and had much more success. After reaching the coast, I had the pleasure
of eating my lunch while watching some seals frolic in the ocean. A
few ventured closer to me but I still couldn't get any good pictures. I
was also surprised when, out in the ocean, I suddenly saw a white tower
illuminated by the sun. It was rather surprising but turned out to
be the Little Hope Lighthouse on an island a few km offshore. Again, the
camera wasn't up to the task.
I then headed off down the coast up until I reached the areas
roped off for the Piping Plover. I enjoyed the waves on the small beaches
and then headed back. I decided to take a different trail back to the
parking lot - one that hugs the far coast. I snapped a few pictures
but the trail was much longer than I expected and I was quite hot, a little
footsore and borderline-sunburnt. I refreshed myself with some cold
water and then headed off to find something to eat. I stopped at the
Grub & Grog restaurant and had a burger and fries (they were out of fish)
and a milkshake.
Back at the campsite, I sorted some of my pictures and connected to
the internet for a bit. I then did some writing and some reading before
heading to bed.
Day 26
I got up and had breakfast before breaking camp and heading out again
on the Lighthouse Route. I stopped in at the Summerville Beach PP and
went for a walk in the surf. The piping plover had taken over its small
plots of land but there was still lots of sand to wander over. The
water was considerably colder than the last beach but I still managed to
work my way into the surf while wandering. At one end of the beach
a river joins the ocean so there were a few interesting designs in the waves.
There was also a small pocket of water trapped on the beach which was
draining as the tide went out creating a quick moving stream in the sand.
I drove on to Liverpool and stopped
at their lighthouse museum on the waterfront. They have quite a few
intersting tidbits about the history of the lighthouse and the area as it
was prominent in the Privateering business. The highlight of the museum
was a video showing the son of the last lighthouse keeper describing some
of his experiences growing up.
I grabbed some lunch and headed off in search of a bed for the evening.
I found one at the Transcotia motel. After dragging in some of my stuff
for the night I headed off to see a few more lighthouses. First stop
was the Western Head Light. It is surrounded by a good deal of rocks
so I took it upon myself to wander a bit near the surf before heading on.
I drove around to the best vantage point to see the Coffin Island Light
but it was still a good ways off. They did have a good description
of it, though.
After a brief stop at the motel, I headed off to dinner. I was
in the mood for steak but the one listed at the restaurant I ended up at
didn't appeal so I got some chicken stirfry. It didn't appeal that
much either but the broccoli soup and dessert of strawberries and cream made
up for it.
I did some surfing on the internet (even though it cost me 50
cents for the local call) and then headed to bed - this time without the
buzz of insects surrounding me.
Day 27
Mostly refreshed, I slept in a bit but got on the road by 11am. I
had noticed a local stand selling strawberries on my way through town the
day before but I resisted and headed off.
I stopped to see the two lighthouses
around Port Medway. One was at the wharf and looked pretty worn down
so I headed off to the one out on the nearby point. Again, there were
a few rocks to wander over but the surf was quite a bit quieter this time
round.
The next stop was La Have where they have a museum describing the
arrival of the first French settlers who became the basis for the Acadian
people. They have a mock-up of a lighthouse on the property but the
most interesting part was the information that they had posted within in
- giving a brief description of the 13 lighthouses in the area.
I decided
to take the ferry across the La Have river instead of driving up to Bridgetown.
The ferry runs along a submerged cable that crosses the river and makes
two trips an hour. It was a nice trip and I chatted briefly with a
civil engineer from TO. Once across, I headed off to the next campground:
the Ovens Natural Park.
I described the kind of site I was looking for and was assigned #110.
It fit the bill perfectly, once I found it, and I set up my tent and
tarp. There were rumours of rain so I decided not to take any
chances.
I then headed into Riverport where I had noticed a sign for a
grocery store. I thought it would be a better idea to hit the local
place instead of the big superstores in Bridgetown. With my cooler
again filled, I headed back to the campground for a snack. My resolve didn't
last very long since I saw some strawberries at the store and picked up some
cream to go with it. I cleaned them up and had a few while sitting
on the shore watching the waves and birds.
The Ovens is named for a group of caves so I decided to check them
out. It's a short hike but lots of stairs. The most interesting
cave is the Cannon Cave where the waves funnel into a narrow opening and
then echo back the crashing of the waves when they hit the back wall. It's
kinda neat since there's a delay from when the wave goes in and the sound
reverberates back out.
I had tired myself out so I decided
to take a nap before dinner. With my strength back up, I cooked some
ham and instant potatoes. The ham was good. The sunset was soon
approaching so I took my camera and headed out onto the rocks that hadn't
been submerged with high tide. I snapped a few good shots and then
went back to clean up the dishes. I did some computer stuff, listened
to the radio for a bit and then turned in for the night.
Day 28
I woke to some rain but drifted off and got up around 9:30 with nice
sunshine. I had a bit of breakfast and then headed off to Lunenberg.
I did a quick tour of the town and then stopped at the Fisheries Museum.
Located in a converted fish processing plant, there are quite a few
interesting exhibits as well as an aquarium and two ships that you can board
and tour. Midway through I stopped at their restaurant for some delicious
maple glazed salmon.
I headed off towards Bridgewater but a sign for a C@P site caught
my eye. These are public internet terminals which are especially useful
for checking your email. I stopped and sneaked on to one of the terminal
while they were having a meeting. As I was leaving, one of the staff
handed me a map of the C@P sites throughout the province. I then drove
to the other side of Lunenberg to Blue Rocks. I didn't see any but
I could see across the bay to my campsite. I stopped for some groceries
before heading back to camp.
I had some hotdogs for dinner and then did some computer stuff before watching the sunset and heading to bed.
Day 29
Had breakfast and took down the site as I travelled on. Before
I left I cut up some more strawberries and had them at the shore's edge.
I stopped at Queensland Beach along the way. It was a bit cool
and windy to go for a stroll so I stopped and had some fish and chips at
the local establishment. There were a few people out and even a couple
trying their hand (or foot) at surfing - well along the small waves along
the sand, anyway.
My
destination was a campsite near Peggy's Cove so as I approached, I took a
quick glance at each one before stopping at the last one, King Neptune
Campgroung. It was the closest and also the only one that seemed to
be right on the ocean. I selected site 58 with the help of the campsite's
newest employee and set up my tent. I had noticed another C@P site
on the drive in so I headed there to check email. From there I headed
out to get some ice and to find an ATM as I was running a little low on on-hand
cash. Not every place takes plastic yet.
I made a filet of sole and some rice for dinner and then headed back
to the C@P site to surf for a bit. I tried to connect to Sympatico
while I was there with no luck. I called tech support but I couldn't
even get a temp password so the site won't be updated for a while.
I did a bit of writing at the site before heading to bed. I
wasn't even treated to a sunset as the fog had rolled in.
Day 30
I got up and had some breakfast before heading back to the C@P site
to send off some strongly worded emails to MTT (and NTL) customer support.
I'm not sure if it will help, but it can't hurt - there's nothing they
can take away from me!
Sufficiently vented, I headed
off to Peggy's Cove. There's a trail around Polly's Cove nearby so
I headed there and headed off. The landscape is fairly barren with
few tall trees and lots of shrubs and exposed rock. It reminded me
a lot of Killarney in Ontario. There was still a bit of fog hanging
around which added to the serenity of the place - it was quite nice. I
made my way down to the shore and wandered around some of the rocks and annoyed
the sea gulls. I then headed along to a spot where I could just see
Peggy's Cove in the evaporating mist. The pictures didn't turn out,
since my batteries were dying, but it was quite nice.
As the day was warming quickly, I cooled down at the car for a bit
before heading into Peggy's Cove itself. I
drove down to the lighthouse and parked
amongst the multitude of cars and buses. For Nova Scotia, it was quite
busy with many people meandering about the lighthouse and the rocks. There
were numerous signs warning of the dangers of the rocks (seems they lost
a tourist or two earlier in the year) but I didn't really heed them since
the waves were quite tame. I was able to get a few shots of the lighthouse
with few or no tourists (harder than you might think) and a few of the waves
as well.
I felt like seeing a bit of urban life for a bit so I drove to a
superstore mall on the edge of Halifax. I picked up a cheap pillow
(I don't think down pillows like camping) and headed to the theatre to see
Tomb Raider (not bad action but pretty straigtforward story).
I headed back to the site and finished off my strawberries and cream
before heading across the road to a fine dining establishment for dinner.
I had a steak which was good but a bit expensive. The dessert
of bananas flambe was delicious, though, and made up for it. I wandered
the attached gift shop for a while and picked up a few postcards for those
lucky people who I left working in Timmins.
I decided to make some hot chocolate and I enjoyed it on the rocks
at my site on the water's edge. The fog was coming in and it was
interesting to watch each island and point fade into grey. I moved
to the car to do some writing and listen to some mp3s. The rain started
soon after soI waited for it to lessen a bit before dashing for the tent
for the night.
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