Mahone Bay and Lunenburg

September 29, 2015

 Last night we stayed a short distance out from Peggy's Cove.  Here is a picture of our view from our campsite at sunset.

We continued on through a village called Mahone Bay and our plan is to go back up through it on the way out of Nova Scotia.  Here are some pics of Mahone Bay, a place that is a "must see" for anyone coming to Nova Scotia.

Apparently, we hit Mahone Bay at the right time of the year for the annual "Scarecrow Festival"

We continued on to Lunenburg where we ate lunch bayside, so we could look across the bay at the village.

When lunch was over, we drove down to the end of the peninsula to a small village call Blue Rock.  In the third picture down, you can see the rocks appear to be bluish grey in color.

We returned to Lunenburg to walk around.  The pictures below are from a micro distillery in what was formerly a marine blacksmith shop.

At the dock was a working sailing vessel.  It was unclear what kind of work it did, but the boat looked quite cool.

Inside this shop was a place where they built and repaired the masts of ships.

While there, this schooner rolled into the bay to dock for the night.  Schooners were used as fishing vessels in the early times, but were replaced by motorized trawlers.  This particular schooner is owned by the Nova Scotia Historic Preservation Organization and is what is duplicated on the Canadian dime.  Today was its last day in Lunenburg and will sail south for the winter.  Rumor has it that it will be in the Great Lakes next summer to show and offer short (1 to 1 1/2 hours) sailing excursions.

These pictures cannot capture the grandeur of the schooner, but it was magnificent.  The main mast was 125' high and about 28" in diameter at the base.

Of course I asked if we could board it!

The buildings in Lunenburg were painted many bright colors and, like the rest of what we have seen, are very well maintained.

I have had several people ask me about the weather here.  We have been very lucky in that the daily high is in the 70's, very low humidity, and we have only had one day of rain.  However, the current forecast suggests that is going to change in a day or two for a day or two.

OBSERVATIONS:

• There seems to be almost no litter along the highways
• A high percentage of Canadians fly their country's flag
• Here we are at the end of September and the leaves have barely started changing

Peggy's Cove on the south shore

September 28, 2015

We arrived in Peggy's Cove, NS today which is an incredibly quaint small fishing village that seems to be the place to see.  According to the tourist information people, the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove is the most photographed lighthouse in all of Canada.  I spoke to one guy who told me the main product the fishermen catch is lobster.  Cod, he said, is no longer sought here.  All of the pictures below are from Peggy's Cove.

This first picture shows just how large the sea gulls are up here :-)  It was carved out of one chunk of tree.

The picture below is the small opening to the cove through which the fishing boats pass.

The entrance channel to the cove is directly to the left of the smaller red boat below.

This is the "off" season, but look at the buses bringing visitors to Peggy's Cove.  I can not imagine what it would be like here in the summer.

Skyline and Acadian Trails on the west side of Cape Breton National Park

The Skyline Trail is just what it sounds like; you are up pretty high with quite a view.  The hike takes you through moose and bear habitat, although we saw neither.  Once again, summit hikes never disappoint.

When first starting out on the Acadian trail, I found a little Leprechaun sleeping on a moss bed.