Nouvelle-Écosse!

Nova Scotia, ahoy!

Wednesday 15 May

Greetings from Nova Scotia!

We're just outside of Halifax, staying next to a small lake with the delightful name of Chocolate Lake.  There are hundreds of small lakes all around the area here, so it's easy to find a place that's "on the water."  We chose this place because it got good reviews, and, most importantly, has a resident CHOCOLATE LAB named Cocoa!  Who is, tonight, having a sleepover at Duke's house, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow to meet her. <grin>

The weather today was sunny and fine all day, albeit a bit breezy.  We started the day in Saint John, chatting with the friendly hotel clerk, Inez.  She'd checked us in last night, and she wanted the full report on how we enjoyed our evening, and what our future travel plans involved.  (side note - yesterday, she and I had a discussion about Atlantic vs. Pacific salmon.  She's an Eastern Canada native, and has ventured west only once, to Edmondton.  She said "your salmon out there tastes different.... I don't think I like it as much."  I said "I have to admit, I'm not too fond of Atlantic salmon."  Respectfully discussed :-)

Anyway, we set off for the Digby ferry, arriving about 1.5 hours before sailing.  No worries, we parked the car, checked in, and settled in to wait.  It was a fine, sunny day, and although the ferry terminal is in an industrial part of town (actually, most of Saint John looked industrial!)  it is, of course, right on the water.  The tide was out, so there were exploration opportunities all along the beach. 

In the queue next to us was a woman with her gorgeous white Newfoundland dog, Rizzo!  Her car had Ontario plates, and she announced that she'd picked up Rizzo in British Columbia (I think she actually said from a prison there?)  He'd seen the Pacific, and now he would see the Atlantic!  Rizzo was very mellow, and also understood that he looked good.  He accepted adoration, then they headed off to the beach to explore.  The back of her car has a label: "Rizzo's Limo."

Rizzo

The Princess of Acadia looks like a small boat, but maybe I'm just comparing it to our Washington State ferries.  It's closed-hull, so you park your car, and exit to the passenger lounge for the crossing, which takes about 3 hours.  Unlike the Manx ferry, though, you get to just pull forward in the car and park it - no hairpin turns in tight spaces!  (last time I had a rental car on a ferry was returning from the Isle of Man to the British mainland, and I dinged the car on the ferry.  Ouch.)

The ferry was nowhere near full, even with about a dozen large trucks coming aboard.  We settled into the coffeeshop passenger lounge, and precisely at 12:00 noon, eased out of our berth.  The prerecorded announcements were signalled with the sound of an old-style nautical bell, and, of course, the announcements were in both English and French. 

The water in the harbor (sorry, harbour) around Saint John is really muddy - it looks all churned up.  We were fascinated by the gulls who followed the boat out to the main part of the Bay of Fundy - there were dozens of gulls cruising on the air currents, swooping down and around.  Must be some good eats, somewhere!

I wondered if we'd ever be out of sight of a coastline, but it's only about 50 miles/81 kms across.  As the NB coast got smaller, the NS coast got bigger.  Funny how that works, haha.  It was smoother water out in the Bay, a nice, gentle rocking all the way across.

We spent the time exploring (not very much open to explore, though!), reading, and taking pictures.  Pretty soon, we pulled up alongside the Digby dock, went to the car, and said farewell to the Princess, and Hello, Nova Scotia!

Nova Scotia gives the impression that it's a smallish bit of land.  Well, that was my impression, but I should know better!  Although it's Canada's second-smallest province, it's big enough once you start driving around on it. We thought we'd explore south a bit along the peninsula south of Digby, then head for Halifax, but getting stuck in road construction traffic soon changed that.  We turned around and took the direct route 101 to Halifax, which took about 2.5 hours.  I love seeing all the Scottish-influenced elements, starting with the flag & symbols of Nova Scotia!

The first part of the journey is through beautiful farmland - the broad, fertile Annapolis Valley is home to dairy farms, fruit farms, and (apparently) vineyards, too.  Nova Scotia has done a bang-up job on its tourism: everything's labeled and categorized, and every highway exit extolled the wonders that awaited off the highway.  There is a sometimes bewildering collection of icons, also, but it's nice to see the place is appreciated!  As in New Brunswick, there are a lot of evergreens mixed in with deciduous trees.

We made a stop about halfway, at a Tim Horton's of course.  Rolled into Halifax (well, our hotel, anyway) a little after 6PM.  Dinner here, a short walk by the lake, then a swim (of course!).  We're planning to stay here two nights, so that we can explore the southern coast tomorrow, and then head for Cape Breton Island later in the week.

Cheers,
--Kit and Nancy