Visiting the Maritimes - Nova Scotia
“More than ever was I convinced that the old way of seeing was inadequate to express this big country of ours, her depth, her height, her unbounded wildness, silence too strong to be broken. It has to passed through live minds, sensed and loved.” – Emily Carr
The Martimes, that mysterious Atlantic Coast of Canada which consists of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Located around the Gulf of Maine and the Gulf of St. Lawrence these are provinces that are dominated by all things to do with the sea.
As we traveled across the Maritime provinces, our mornings often started off with fog and sometimes a smattering of rain. The stunning coastline emerged looking even more beautiful and sometimes ethereal with the wisps of fog clinging to the water, houses and boats.
White clapboard churches, deer, and homes surrounded by flowers emerged every so often sometimes in groups or one of. Each home had a woodshed at the back, stacked full of wood telling us how cold it gets in the winter. A landscape as different as different can be from the ranch style homes that dominate the ocean landscape in the West Coast.
I landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia with its big city look, and small town feel after connecting through Toronto. How did I miss that there is actually a Maritime or Atlantic time zone and suddenly I was 4 hours ahead of the West Coast and the 7:00AM start in the morning felt so very long ago. On this first night I was content to check in, grab a bite to eat and head straight up to my room.
The next morning, we got to explore Halifax a bit and drive along the coast to the South Coast of Nova Scotia. Amongst places on our itinerary today were the so very picturesque Peggy’s Cove and steeped with history Lunenberg. Halifax also had a lot to offer with its many pubs and restaurants and busy wharf, port and gardens.
We traversed up Citadel Hill to the historic fort with its commanding view of the Halifax harbor but arrived too late to enter the fort itself. However, we spent a bit of time wandering along the hill and taking in the views.
The red and white conical stack to the left of the bridge marks the location of the disastrous collision of the French SS Mont Blanc with the Norwegian SS IMO. The Mont Blanc filled with munitions caused an explosion that decimated the port area with a lot of the shock absorbed by the citadel hill. At least 1782 people were killed in the explosion including many children.
The Fairview Cemetery serves as the final resting place for some of the bodies recovered from this great explosion but also about a hundred plus victims recovered from the sinking of the Titanic are buried here as well.
In the shape of a ship’s bow there are grave markers donated by the steamship line as well as markers put up by family members. It is hard not to be solemn in a place like this and reflect that if things had been managed better a lot more people could have been saved.
Peggy’s Cove is a picturesque fishing village that dates back to the 1800s. The dark rocks are dangerous, and tides have been known to come sweep people out to sea. Kinda reminded me of the black sandy beach in Iceland as our guide was talking about it.
As we drove into town, we saw stacks of the lobster traps or lobster pots lined up on many of the docks. While it was too early for us to eat, I believe this area serves up terrific lobster.
Walking along the cove, I came across the 100-foot sculpture of the local fisherfolk carved by Finnish artist William, De Garthe. The town is named for a book by William De Garthe of a schooner that was shipwrecked off Halifax Rock where the famous Lighthouse sits.
The iconic lighthouse which is symbolic of Peggy’s Cove in all the pictures of this area rose out of the fog. The haunting sound of bagpipes and people scrambling over the rocks added a poignant touch to the atmosphere.
Boat tours were ready to take the tourists on this early foggy morning out to sea but unfortunately our time was limited and we had miles to go and places to see which did not include a boat tour.
Off we went, driving along a scenic route that took us past bays and inlets where occasionally we could see a mass of homes and boats, including a flotilla of sail boats or sometimes a one of fishing shack with a boat bobbing at the dock until we came into the beautiful blue waters of Mahone Bay with its facade of three churches announcing our arrival.
Lunenberg, a UNESCO World Heritage town with its 18-century architecture sits dreaming of past glories. We enjoyed a walking tour of the town and explored the wharf area, cute shops and enjoyed a delicious lunch at a restaurant right on the wharf. Yum! the sea food is so fresh, and everything tasted fantastic accompanied by a nice glass of white wine.
The racing ship the Bluenose II was in port and a walk around the Fisherman’s Memorial, and other interesting artifacts along the water built up quite the appetite for lunch.
An interesting touch of more modern history with this segment of the Berlin Wall which was established here in 1990. It was brought here by James Kinley, then Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, to signify peace and unity. Mr. Kinley convinced a German businessman to donate this piece of the Wall to continue its deep-rooted ties with Germany as 1,400 German immigrants established the community of Lunenburg in 1753.
The Public Gardens in Halifax is an example of a Victorian era garden first established in 1867. It is free to the public and has been in operation for over a hundred years. The beautiful bandstand is used for free concerts on Sunday afternoons during the Summer.
Heading out of Halifax we made our way next towards Cape Breton. On our way we stopped at the historic town of Antigonish which is the site for the Highland Games here in Canada and home to St. Xavier’s university.
As our guide talked about Antigonish, being of Indian heritage I started wondering what the Lord Ganesh had to do with a town in Canada famed for highland games. As I later discovered the name was a First Nations name and had nothing to do with my kind of Indian.
Peace by Chocolate is such a lovely story of perseverance and a whole town rallying around their Syrian refugees. The Hadhad family has been making chocolate since 1986 when they were bombed and forced to leave their home in Syria. After spending three years in Lebanon, they finally managed to make their way to Canda and settled in Antigonish Nova Scotia.
The son Tareq had dreams of going to Medical School and becoming a doctor. When he was unable to fulfill his dream, he came back to Antigonish and started making chocolate using his family recipe. He is now a success story with many stores across Canada, his story immortalized in words and a movie.
We made our way over the Canso Parkway after a lengthy traffic stop due to construction and into Cape Breton.
As it turned out we weren’t quite out of the woods yet because one of the members of our group began to complain of acute abdominal/ chest pain. EMTs were called and our fellow passenger removed to the nearest hospital which was some distance off. We set off again on our journey feeling like we’d abandoned a member of our family. However, things would look up and given a clean bill of health they were back with the group after a two-day absence, and I particularly had the good fortune to enjoy their company over some shared dinners and drinks.
Definitely needed to plan for the unexpected on this trip though I did make some terrific new friends that I hope to stay connected with.