Nova Scotia

We arrived in North Sydney at 2:30 pm but did not get out of the ferry until 3:30.  We were down in the hold in deck one. We did not realize there was another deck on the ship.  The whole third floor on the ferry had to unload before they could open the doors to let us out. 

We made a bee-line to Ft. Louisbourg to get there before it closed.  As it turned out we made it with only one-half hour to go.  We got in free and had a chance to do an extremely quick tour and watch them fire the 4:45 cannon.  Ft. Louisbourg is a completely restored replica of the French Fort constructed in the 1700's.  It was destroyed by the British in 1758.

We spent two nights in Halifax and one day touring Halifax. We started at the Citadel, the large fort occupying the high spot in Halifax.  The present fort was the fourth constructed in 1856.  None of the forts ever saw any conflicts.  Today re-enactors portraying the 78th Highland Regiment carry out life in 1869.   A tour of the Maritime Museum was next.  The museum has a large display of the Titanic with some of its artifacts.  Lunch was enjoyed on the dock. 

We visited St. Paul's Anglican Church which was established in 1749 and is the oldest still standing church in Canada.  We saw a piece of wood that was lodged into the wall of the church during the 1917  Halifax explosion of the  ammunitions ship at the harbor. We had a tour of the church and saw the royal pew (below).  This is reserved for members of the Royal family when visiting Halifax.

Royal Pew

That afternoon we took the short drive to Peggy's Cove.  Peggy's Cove is a picturesque fishing community south of Halifax and a favorite tourist site.  The site was mobbed by tourists, including bus loads of passengers from a Disney Cruise ship in Halifax.  We walked out to the lighthouse with the hoard.  Above is a photo of the colorful tiny harbor.

The next day we headed south to the Town of Lunenburg.  This charming fishing village was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995.  It is the only whole town to be so designated.  It is home to an extremelhy interesting fisheries museum including two old fishing ships at the dock.  It is also know as the home port for the Bluenose II, a reconstructed version of the famous schooner. We took a horse and buggy ride around town to see the many old homes with many interesting paint jobs, such as that above.

The Bluenose II was out of water (above) being refurbished.  It is expected to be launched again in a few months.

The final day of touring we travelled to the west side of the  peninsula from Liverpool to Annapolis Royal.  Here we visited the Fort Anne National Historic site.  This is the remnants of the last of four forts built on the site,the first constructed in 1629.  It has been controlled most of its early period by the French. The British took controil in 1710.  At that time Annapolis was Capital of Nova Scotia until the settlement of Halifax. The troops barracks remain today as a museum.  We also visited a beautiful 14-acre garden in town.

The  final visit was to the Habitation at Port Royal, across the river from Annapolis Royal.  This reconstruction is on the site of the first European settlement in North American during the year 1605.  After a quick tour of the site we were on the road again.  We spent the night at a B & B in Wolfville, famous as the area for deportation of the Acadians made famous in the Longfellow poem "Evangaline"

Friday we started back to New Hampshire and found that we were making better time than expected, so we cancelled our reservation in Moncton, NB and travelled on to Bangor, Maine, arriving at 7:30 pm.  Tomorrow the trip will end mid-day at Ossipee Lake.  It has been a great trip for the four of us.

We recommend such a trip to all.  The three primary Provinces visited were entirely different.  Prince Edward Island is a charming small island with many farms. The area is known for its red soil and potato farming.  Nova Scotia is varied.  In the south farming is common while Cape Breton Island is rugged with fishing dominant.  The heritage of the Scottish and French is obvious in various areas of the Province.  Newfoundland is totally different.  It is a rugged land dominated by small fishing villages along the coast.  The main lineage is English and Irish with some French in the west.  They are all different and very rewarding to visit.  Canadians we talked to who have been to Newfoundland say it is unlike any other place in Canada.  Try them all!

Northern Newfoundland

We left Gros Morne and drove north along the Northern Peninsula.  We again had great weather. 

Along the way we stopped to view the Arches. 

We stopped at Pt. Riche at Port au Choix.  This is one of the critical plant locations known as the limestone barrens.  Such regions along the peninsula harbor many rare and endangered limestone plants.  This was a short visit out to the lighthouse.

 

That night we stayed at the Tickle Inn B & B at Cape Onion.  This is the northern-most residence on the Island of Newfoundland.  The Inn is at the end of the road with the sea to the north and ledges and cliffs on either side.  This had to be the best place we stayed at. The Inn is over 100 years old, and the rooms were decorated reflecting the age. There were two other couples staying there at the time, one from Ontario and the other from Northern Ireland.  Before dinner we took a walk along the coast observing at least five humpback whales.  These whales were constantly breaching and laying on their backs with both flibbers out of the water.  This was by far the best display by the whales we observed.  That evening we enjoyed a great home-cooked meal.  We took a short ride after dinner at dusk hoping to see moose, but no luck.

 

The next morning we learned that the whale and iceberg watch boat trip was booked so we modified plans and decided to head out to Cape Norman.  Along the way we got two great views of two bull moose. Both were along side the road, standing still and allowing us to photograph them.  On the whole trip in Newfoundland only 5 moose were seen.  The last trip taken in 2004 we observed 34 moose.  It seems the populations are possibly eating out their food supply in the area and are moving to new sites.

Cape Norman is at the tip of the peninsula closest to the Belle Isle Straits between Newfoundland and Labrador.  The lighthouse sits on one of the most barren areas in Newfoundland.  The habitat is basically a rock strewn area with the many limestone plants.  Canada considers this the only tundra region on the island portion of Newfoundland.



St. Anthony is the "metropolis" of northern Newfoundland with a population of approximately 2500.  It has just about every essential needed.  In 1900 the Grenfell Mission was established in the the town.  They established health care for the area.  Today the town has an large hospital and extensive health care, plus a large facility for elderly housing.  In the spring polar bears often frequent the town riding the ice flows south following the seals.  They leave the ice flows after the seals and find themselves south of their normal range.  At this point they head west and swim across the Bell Isle Straits to Labrador and head north.

Icebergs are usually spotted from St. Anthony.  This year was no exception.  The huge iceberg, seen in the distance, off the end of the land in the photo above, was grounded in water 650 ft. deep.  Three other icebergs were seen in the far distance off northern Newfoundland.  The icebergs take two years to travel south through the Davis Straits from their origin in Greenland.

L'Anse Aux Meadows in northeastern Northern Peninsula is the only documented Viking settlement in North America.  It was believed to have been settled approximately 1000 years ago.  The site was located by researching the sagas (google L'Anase Aux Meadows).  Leif Erickson is believed to have been here and the settlement was used as a base for exploration of the North American, north Atlantic.  The site contains old remains of the buildings and a few reconstructed sites.  The proof of the settlement was the finding of a Viking cloak pin.  In the picture above the site is at about 2-3 o'clock just below the island at the top of the pecture.

Above, two reconstructed buildings that may be entered.  (I only had the telephoto lens on at this time hence the closeup).  We stayed at the Valhalla Inn, in Gunners Cove. the site where Annie Proux wrote "Shipping News".  I was told on a previous trip that the bay at the Valhalla Inn was the area where the scene of dragging the house across the bay was based.  That night we enjoyed a great meal at the gormet restaurant "The Norsemen".
 

On July 7 we drove south the long trip back to Port Aux Basques for the ferry trip back to Nova Scotia.  The next morning we boarded the ferry Blue Pettees for the 5 hour trip. The name Blue Pettees come from the leggings worn by the Newfoundland soldiers during the First World War.  The weather for our Newfoundland portion of the trip was very good.  Rain along occurred when we were in transit.  The temperatures along the coast was mainly in the 60's and warmer inland. 

We are now touring the eastern side of Nova Scotia.

Gros Morne N. P., Newfoundland

Gros Morne National Park is located on the west coast of Newfoundland.  The photo below is of the mountains seen entering the Park. We arrived late and the visitor's center was closed.  We were planning to go into Western Brook Pond, a freshwater fiord.  Since we were going to be at the park for only one day the decision was to go to the south side of Bonne Bay rather than undertake the hike into the pond.

We drove 50 miles to the south side of the Park to get around Bonne Bay. On the way we stopped to view a known site for the showy lady slipper (below).  The plants were blooming early this year due to the warmer weather early on. 

Bonne Bay (below) is an long inland bay which splits the park in half.  In the summer when the caplin (small smelt-like fish) arrive, whales are often spotted.  A ferry previously crossed the bay saving the long ride, but today only a passenger ferry operates.  The mountain in the distance which I say looks like a loaf of bread is Gros Morne Mt.  It is the second highest mountain in the island portion of Newfoundland & Labrador at around 2900 ft.

The highlight on the south side of Bonne Bay is the rugged Tableland. This huge land mass seen below as the brown-colored mountain is actually geologically called serpentine.  The brown-color is due to peridotite an ultramafic rock low in silica and high in magnesium. The rock is from the mantle of the earth and has been lifted to the surface.  Often the minerals show a green, shiny surface.  The area is almost devoid of trees, but contains many plants specific to serpentine.  Newfoundland contains one of the largest outcrops of serpentine in North America.

Another view of the serpentine tableland can be seen on south side of Trout Lake (below).  We enjoyed a nice fish dinner at a restaurant on the beach in the Town of Trout River.

While on the north side the fog began to creep into Bonne Bay.  The view below is from just north of Rocky Harbor.   That night we went to the pub in the Ocean View Hotel to hear the performance of the singing group "Anchors Aweigh"..  It consisted of the lead singer (guitar), bass guitar player, accordian and harmonica player, guitar and banjo player, and drummer.  They entertained us for 3.5 hours of Newfoundland and Irish music.

The next morning we headed north in the park past the site of Western Brook Pond.  We stopped for the view below.  Western Brook Pond is a freshwater fiord with mountains dropping 2000ft. to the pond shore. The pond is 1.9 miles in across a large expanse of peatlands.  The "pond" is 9.9 miles long and up to 541 feet deep.  We hoped to see moose or caribou on the peatlands, but we had no success.

We were now headed to our last adventure in Newfoundland the far northern end of the northern peninsula.  (next installment).

St. John's Newfoundland

We continued to have good weather.  All of the rain has basically come on travel days.  We spent a day in the St. John's area. 

The most eastern point in North America is Cape Spear, just south of St. John's.  The site has two lighthouses.  The one on the right is the old non-functioning lighthouse, while the one on the left is functioning.  On this site the movie "The Rare Bird" was filmed.  The hotel in the movie was a shell constructed on the packing lot.  On previous trips icebergs and whales have been spotted here.

Sign stating that "Canada begins here"

We drove up to Signal Hill.  The site was extremely crowded because it was Canada Day.  St. John's is the oldest city in North America, dating back to the 1500's.  The city is becoming very modern with the associated urban sprawl. 

Signal Hill guards the entrance to St. John's Harbor (above).  The city was fought over for many years between France and England.  Newfoundland was considered a Republic for many years before coming under greater British control.  The Republic flag looked like the Irish flag with pink replacing the orange on the Irish flag.  It is still flown around St. John's as a protest against Canada for closing down the Cod fishery and taking so much of the oil revenue.  In 1947 Newfoundland joined Canada.

While on Signal Hill this Newfoundland dog was photographed.  How appropriate!

Westtern Newfoundland will be the next installment.

 

Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland

We arrivedin Newfoundland on the west side of the island at Port aux Basques due to the Argentia Ferry cancellation. That night we drove as far as Corner Brook in western Newfoundland.  The next day we drove the rest of the approximately 600 miles to the Avalon Peninsula staying at the Claddagh Inn B&B in St. Mary's.  The next mornig we drove over the extensive peatland barrens (below) to Cape St. Mary's.

Cape St Mary's consists of extensive sea cliffs around 500 ft. in height.  The area is now a bird sanctuary where nesting seabirds gather to breed.  Northern gannets (below)s make up the largest group of sea birds.  Other birds included black-legged kittiwakes, auks, murres, and guillimots.  There are presently about 14,000 pairs of gannets here, making it the largest gannett colony in North America.  The weather was extremely foggy along the immediate coast, but we were still able to view the birds.

That night we traveled to St. John. The next morning dawned a beautiful day and we headed south to the Town of Bay Bull's for a boat trip out to Witless Bay.The bay is noted for both whales and sea birds. While at the dock we saw a white-sided dolphin. Then it was out to the bay to observe minke whales and humpback whales (below). The whales performed by surfacing and diving, displaying their tails

Witless Bay is mostly know for the huge Atlantic puffin population. It is estimated that as many as 320,000 puffins (below) gather to breed on the offshore islands, making it the largest breeding population in the world.  They nest for life returning to the same burrrow as the previous year. While at sea they seperate, retuning in the spring. Puffins were everywhere, on the island, in the water, and flying all around. They are small (about 8 inches Long) and are quite stocky. It is amazing that they can fly.

As the boat continued along the shore of the island we came across a huge population of common murres (below) clustered in one area.  It was estimated that the population was about 100,000.  Other sea birds seen were black-legged kitiwakes, herring gulls, and great black-backed gulls.

The next installment will feature our day at St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland.

Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

I am still running late.  We are presently in Newfoundland.  I will report on this later. 

We crossed the Northumberland Strait from PEI and spent the night in Antogonish, Nova Scotia.  The next day we drove northeast to Cape Breton Island.  Our first stop was at the Celtic Music Center at Judique.  We had lunch and were entertained by by two fiddlers playing traditional Scotch jigs and songs.  Then we headed to "Highland Village" a reconstructed village following the settling of Nova Scotia by Scottish immigrants.  We spent the night in Beddeck



The next day we drove north over the Cabot Trail traveling clockwise from west to east.  This took us up to the French side of Cape Breton and the town of Chetticamp.  The west side of the Cabot Trail is a beautiful highway that hugs the side of the mountains along the sea (above).  It then passes over the height of the mountains, past bogs. 

The eastern side is along the rocky coast of bays, inlets, and small towns.  At the site above we enjoyed watching the large northern gannetts diving over 100 ft. to get fish.  That evening we ate a restaurant where we watched a bald eagle flying over the bay.  It was back to Baddeck again for the night.

The first night in Baddeck we learned that our booking to Argentia, Newfoundland was cancelled due to ship problems.  We were booked instead onto the Port aux Basques Ferry which was a great inconvenience since we now had to drive the 601 miles to the eastern portion of Newfoundland.  Marine Atlantic refunded our money and gave us a free booking on the Port aux Basques ferry.  They also gave us a stateroom which we really didn't need for a midday sailing.  The next morning we headed to North Sydney to await our departure on the Highlander (above).

The Highlander is one of three new ships in the Newfoundland ferry system.  It started service last year.  It has two decks for carrying cars and trucks.  Each deck is 8 lanes wide (above). 

More to come.

PEI

The Halls and Hellquist departed Ossipee Lake, NH on June 24 for the Canadian Maritimes.  The day dawned a beautiful day and remained good until east of Bangor, Maine where we ran into rain for the rest of the day.  We crossed into Canada at the new Calais, Maine/St. Stephan, New Brunswick immigration facility.  We spent the night in Moncton, NB.  The next morning we "treated" Linda and Jeff to Magnetic Hill.  Here you drive your car down a slight hill, park at the bottom, put the car into neutral and back up the hill.  You really go up the hill, but how it occurs is curious.  Maybe you get a headstart but by the time we reached the top of the hill, I even had to break.





We drove north to the 8 mile long Confederation Bridge that crosses the Northumberland Straits to Prince Edward Island.  The photo above is from the New Brunswick side.  We stopped at the visitor center and then headed across the lush red-soiled countryside of PEI.  Farms cover the countryside with potatos the main crop. 

We stopped by the charming small town of Victoria for lunch.  The small town had a local chocolate shop and a small local playhouse getting ready to present "On Golden Pond".  The photo is Victoria Harbour.

Lupine is planted all along the highways.  This native of the Pacific Northwest is magnificent with blue, pink, and white flowers. 

Everyone travelling to PEI heads to Cavendish on the north side of the island.  Cavendish is well known as the site for the writing of the novel"Anne of Green Gables".  We drove into Avonlea which is a re-creation of the villlage of the novel, but decided not to go in.  We did visit the site of the home on which the novel was based.  This is under the Canadian National Park Service.  The site consisted of the "Green Gables" home and barn plus a visitor center.  After Cavendish we drove along the north coast and through Prince Edward Island National Park.  The beaches on this side of the island consist of  long sandy beaches. That night we stayed in the Provincial Capital of Charlottetown and enjoyed a leisurely dinner at a sidewalk bistro, then walked around the historical portion of the city. 

Tuesday morning we awoke to a rainy day and headed to the eastern shore of the island, stopping at the lighthouses at Panmure Island, Cape Bear, and Wood Island (above).  We stopped for lunch at Panmure Beach.  This is normally a popular swimming beach with over a thousand bathers.  Today it was pouring and no-one was there.  Jeff's desert was "the best bread pudding" he ever tasted  We boarded the ferry for the 75 minute sail across the Northumberland Straits to Nova Scotica.  When travelling to PEI we found that you pay to get off the island whether on the ferry or over the bridge.

note:  I am well behind due to our busy schedule, but will try to send other news soon,  We are presently in St. John's, Newfoundland and heading west to Gros Morne National Park.