Nova Scotia, September13th, 2016

Inviting adirondack chairs for tired travelers, Peggys Cove

From Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, we drove for 4 hours to St. Margarets Bay in Nova Scotia, a northeast province of Canada. The afternoon sun cast golden light on picture perfect scenery in front of us for miles after miles. Then Peggy's Cove and Indian Harbor came to view and immediately taken our breath away; a visually stunning display of colorful, rustic, houses on stilts mirrored on a deep blue  harbor. Beautiful colored fishing boats with tall masts dock lazily next to wooden piers. On old dock, lobster traps, fish nets, anchors, buoys in all shapes and sizes brighten the picturesque storybook scenes. One can easily drift into a carefree life and dream of ocean fresh steaming hot crustaceans.

We arrived at King Neptune Campground near Peggy's Cove late in the afternoon. Watching the sunset, soothing waves crashing on shore and cool ocean mist wet our tent from a mere 15 feet away, we immediately felt into deepest Indian Harbor slumber.

Boat dock behind King Neptune Campground

This was where we camped, right at the ocean edge

Feeling refreshed following morning, we head to the famed Ryer Lobsters market near our campsite for lunch. While waiting patiently nearly half hour for our lobsters, we saw other patrons already starting their feasts with a rapture like expression in their faces. Talked to a middle age man about his lobster; with a silly grin, bit of shells on his face, and lobster juice dripping down his chin "Very fresh, sweet meat and very tender!" He declared. When our lobsters finally arrived, in our famished state, we must have the same look of that half crazed man. Other tourists arrived by taxis snapped pictures at our still steaming lobsters, or maybe they were taking pictures of the half crazed tourists wielding shiny claw crackers fending off pesky intruders!

These crustaceans look the same as California variety, but made no mistake.. they are NOT the same 

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax has various Titanic artifacts that we found endearing. Since April 1912, people involved in rescue operations have collected shipwreck items for memento, few artifacts in this museum were donated while many other items are on loaned. There is remnant of mahogany deck recliner that once graced the Titanic first class upper deck, a pair of unknown baby boy brown leather shoes, pieces of partial carved oak grand staircase landings, or half of intricate oak archway once hung on top of entrance to first class lounge. Stroll through the museum, we realized the museum has even larger collections for Halifax disaster in 1917, large shipwreck collections, evolution of seafaring vessels, etc.

Number on the belonging bag indicates the sequence of body recovered

Oak archway once hung on top of entrance to Titanic first class lounge

Descriptions on the pair of brown leather shoes clued us to Fairview Lawn Cemetery, about 10 minutes drive from Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. After 96 years, the shoes and the boy body finally linked and DNAed to be of Sidney Leslie Goodwin. Along with others 120 headstones here, we were awe struck at the irony of the deceased date; so many and all in the same day, April 15, 1912.

Seeking some solitude and peace of mind, we visit nearby Halifax Public Garden. Strolling around the well manicured lawn, freshly pruned flower beds, and large elaborated water fountains relaxed our minds.

Gardener put on final touch to mosaic dedicated to contributions of women

We spend few days in Yogi Bear campground in hope of catching glimpses of some exotic animals in nearby Oaklawn Farm Zoo. A little zoo in the mist of farm houses in fairly remote  location usually doesn't appeal to us. And what is it with the name; "Farm" together with "Zoo" conjure the image of farm animals being fed to the large hungry cats or veracious reptiles in the pens, especially if the entrance fee is puny $8 per person. But from primates, to birds, to reptiles, to African, Asian, and American animals... they've got them all.

We were thoroughly and completely enjoyed and amazed at the variety of the animals here. We still snicker at one of the lion cage has a sign that reads "Keep Fingers Out". What stands between the hungry lion and soft tasty people is just a wimpy chain link fence. Sure, go ahead and tease the lion with your wiggling fingers through the fence!

There is an eclectic mix between wild animals and farm animals that are for sales. Turn the corner and you are face to face with a zonkey, a renegade donkey with stripes. Can't wait to meet a zorse. Turn another corner, you will find the brightest colors Himalayan pheasants which actually sparkle like diamond in the sun light. And there flock of white puffs of something that resemble big birds with the sign that says silkie chickens, that despite it snowy feathers, actually has cool solid black skin. And what are those tiny long mane hoofed animals roughly same size as fat dogs? People have to bend down to pet them, instead of riding them.

Ring-Tailed Lemur

Crowned Crane

Barn Owl

Barred Owl

Brazilian Agouti

China Red Golden Pheasant

Falabella miniature horse

Himalayan Monal Pheasant

Polish chicken

Silkie chicken

This spur-thigh tortoise will ram intruder with its shell and spurs on front feet

Zonkey

Stopover in Hideaway Campground near Dingwall part of Cabot Trail to take shelter from heavy rain, we ended up staying for 4 days in this gorgeous campground and its unique light house cabin. Glimpse into history of Cape Breton, one will find that the island have been occupied by the Mi'kmaq for 10,000 years, then the Viking explore this region in 10 century AD, followed by short live Portuguese in 1520, then the British and the French in 1605. Everybody left their marks, except for the elusive Spaniard Columbus. While the Mi'kmaq still live here, the remnant of Viking passing through according to a local researcher, the rune stone found on secluded beach maybe the only thing that tie the first European to north Americas.

5 miles stretch of secluded beach behind our campground

Taken on the famed Cabot Trail (actually, it is 2-lane highway) on northern part of Nova Scotia, the twisty road change elevation dramatically through many small fishing towns like Cheticamp, Pleasant Bay, Dingwall, Neils Harbor, Ingonish, and Indian Brook. Beside the amazing coastal views, one will feel like flying after driven 75 miles of abrupt elevation and blind tight curves, according Matt, a Maine motorcycle rider we met at Ponderosa Campground few weeks back. As the rain and fog continue to cover the beautiful coastal scenes, we turned to look for locally grown oysters and head back to our light house cabin for scrumptious dinner.

The famed Cabot trail in Nova Scotia

The Canadian native Mikmaq

Chat with the friendly locals, they all pointed us to Bay St. Margaret Buying Station for Atlantic fresh catch. But the fishing boat not back yet until later in the afternoon. So we patiently waited until 7pm for our mackerel boat to port. On the dot, the fresh mackerels have arrived; clear eyes, red gills, firm body and still slippery. All about 1 foot to 1.5 foot long each. We selected 2 fat body mackerels and asked how much, the young men working the net said "Oh no, it's free. You can take as much as you want!". That's when we knew our eyes are hungrier than our stomachs. There must be more than 100 mackerels in the barrel! Put 5 fishes in our freezer, and took off after saying good bye to the nice young men. We cleaned and salted all but charcoal grilled 2 mackerels immediately for our late supper. And what a treat that was; the smoky and salty skin blended well with the fresh, juicy, and firm meat from today catch was absolutely delicious.

Fresh mackerels from today catch

It looks like the autumn rain has finally catching up with us here in northern part of Nova Scotia. Lot of places that we missed will have to put on back-burner until the weather improving. Our plan is to heading to Maine for glorious falls colors which maybe happening in the next few weeks.

Previous Blog:

 New Brunswick, Cadana - September 8th 2016

 

GPS Coordinates:

Peggy's Cove - 44°29'47.0"N 63°54'44.7"W

Indian Cove - 44°31'06.5"N 63°56'06.1"W

King Neptune Campground - 44°30'59.2"N 63°56'08.6"W

Ryer's Lobsters - 44°30'59.2"N 63°56'08.6"W

Yogi Bear Campground - 45°00'04.7"N 64°58'26.0"W

Oaklawn Farm Zoo - 45°00'13.2"N 64°50'40.2"W

Cape Breton's Cabot Trail (Counter Clockwise) start - 46°16'35.9"N 60°32'45.2"W

Hideaway Campground - 46°53'13.0"N 60°27'36.6"W

Bay St. Margaret Buying Station - 47°00'09.1"N 60°28'02.6"W

-          References:

- Destination details were extracted from respective attraction, hand-out literature/brochure, or website, and Wikipedia

- Coordinates are from Goggle map in Degrees, minutes, and seconds (DMS)

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