travel tangent: ns day-tripping 2022

I’ve already written about our four-day road trip to Cape Breton Island, but MAC and I fit much more in her visit to Nova Scotia in September 2022.  She had flown out of Nova Scotia twice before but never in.  How did that happen?  By driving to NS with me 1) on our epic 2017 Seattle-to-Nova Scotia road trip and 2) at the end of our 2019 travels through New England and to Acadia National Park.  Those previous two visits had left little time for sight-seeing in Nova Scotia, so we made up for it in 2022.  Here are details on five day-trips we took from my home base in the Annapolis Valley.

The South Shore

The day after MAC arrived from Atlanta, GA, we headed to Nova Scotia’s South Shore.  This area of the province comprises five counties west of Halifax (the capital) with a rugged coastline on the Atlantic Ocean.  We started with a drive through Hubbards and then around the Aspotogan Peninsula that I had biked earlier in the summer—this windy route with St. Margarets Bay on the east and Mahone Bay on the west gives a good taste of the coast.

Next, it was time for our first waterfall of her trip—East River Falls.  Our interpretations of the trailhead description provided one false start and a few U-turns until we parked on the side of the highway according to the GPS coordinates.  The trailhead and trail were not well marked, but we eventually found the lovely cascade that looked like a great place for a swim on a hotter day.  We had the place to ourselves. 

Then we went into nearby Chester (I hadn’t been there since the 1990’s) and had a light meal at the busy Kiwi Café.  After lunch, we had a short stroll to look at Chester’s fancy yacht club and marina before driving southwest to the perfect spot to get a view of the coloUrful port town of Lunenburg, a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Our view included watching the Bluenose II sail into the harbour and tie up at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.  The original Bluenose was a famous fishing and racing schooner built in Lunenburg in 1921 (and featured on the Canadian dime).

I have been to Lunenburg many times since moving home so, rather than going downtown which was still crazy with tourists, I took MAC to Mahone Bay, my preferred spot on the South Shore.  We had a walk around and stopped for hot drinks and treats at The Barn (an espresso bar in an actual old barn).  I picked up some oatcakes I like from Jo-Ann’s Bake Shop to take with us and, with MAC liking them as much as me, they became vital on our trip to Cape Breton (and she took several bags home with her). 

We didn’t fit in everything on the itinerary but we did stop for another waterfall at Indian Falls Park that was on the route home.  I thought a municipal park would be easy to find.  Wrong.  GPS initially took us to a private road with a large sign telling people looking for the park they were in the wrong location.  When we backtracked and found the correct entrance, we saw that the sign had been damaged (and easy to miss) and the road in looked like a driveway.  Not very welcoming.  But undeterred, we got to the park where we enjoyed this 45ft slide falls on the LaHave River and, for the second time that day, had the view all to ourselves. 

Mainland Nova Scotia’s most iconic tourist destination is the lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove on the eastern entrance of St. Margarets Bay—MAC and I had visited there in 2019 (we also visited the nearby memorial for Swissair 111) so didn’t include in this trip.  Other larger towns on Nova Scotia’s South Shore include Bridgewater, Liverpool, and Shelburne but we didn’t get that far west that day.  Another time.

Grand-Pré

The next day, we stayed close to home and explored the Grand-Pré area.  We started at the Grand-Pré National Historic Site, a place I’ve mentioned in other posts, that is a monument to the Acadian people and their expulsion from the area.  In the Visitor Center, we watched a film and looked through the displays—it was a reminder to me that these people of French heritage simply wanted to farm and live peacefully in community but were removed for not taking part in the British/French wars.  We walked the beautiful gardens (where I spent many summer days early in the pandemic) and toured the Memorial Church.  The site is a pilgrimage for people of Acadian heritage.

Grand-Pré is on the southern side of the Minas Basin (my tiny house is across the water on the northern side), an inlet off the Bay of Fundy with the world’s highest tides.  With an eye on the time, MAC and I got to Evangeline Beach for both a high tide and a low tide that day.  There is approximately six hours between high and low tide but you need to check the daily tide tables.  After growing up with these tides, it’s easy for me to take them for granted, so I always enjoy the reminder when I show the wonder to visitors. 

Grand-Pré is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The dykelands here where I frequently walk and bike are former saltmarsh that was dyked by the Acadians and is still farmed today using that 18^th century-technology.  At high tide, we also visited The Guzzle and joined a few other people with big camera lenses watching Semipalmated Sandpipers.  Beaches on the Minas Basin are resting and feeding stops for these birds as they migrate from their northern breeding grounds to South America, flying non-stop over the Atlantic Ocean for three days. 

The North Mountain

The Annapolis Valley, where I live, is a region in western Nova Scotia protected from the Bay of Fundy by the North Mountain and from the Atlantic Ocean (that South Shore ~100km / 65 miles away) by the South Mountain (note: both mountains are under 1000ft elevation).  This fertile farmland in a milder micro-climate has long been known for its apples but, in the past couple decades, has become home to many wineries.

For one of our day-trips, we headed to the North Mountain because a mountain, even if it’s kinda small, has … waterfalls!  First was Church Vault Brook Falls in Canada Creek.  The trailhead was not well marked (getting to be a theme in this post, eh?) but the trail along the brook was easy to follow.  There are two main falls (drop, cascade, tiered) but the upper one was difficult to view due to lots of fallen trees.  The lower one was pretty though and, again, we were the only people there.

Next we had a long drive on a dirt road in search of Coby Irving Brook Fall in Baxter Harbor area.  Following two people with backpacks, we started hiking at the wrong trailhead.  After veering off into the woods following some marking tape, we were rewarded with a view down at Black Hole Brook Fall, not the falls we were looking for and one best accessed from the beach!  After returning to the car, driving up and down the dirt road, talking to a chap sitting on his lawn, we parked (where MAC originally thought we were supposed to park, I admit) and hesitantly walked down what looked to be a driveway.  It was a driveway.  But, reading the instructions closely on the walk back up the driveway, we found the start of the trail—the destination involved a big decline (ropes were supplied) and was an atmospheric place with steep rock cliffs.  I loved it but it was disappointing for MAC, particularly after all the searching—it would normally be a 40ft drop fall but, after a dry summer, there was just a little trickle dripping over the top. 

For lunch, we drove to Scot’s Bay (I was particularly glad to get back on paved roads) and ate a good lunch on the patio at The Long Table Social Club with a great view of the bay. We had a fun chat with an outgoing customer who was celebrating her 60th birthday (and, with it, qualifying for the Canada Pension Plan). Scot’s Bay is home to my favoUrite local hike at Cape Split Provincial Park, at the entrance to the Minas Basin, but we didn’t have time that day.  We will also have to go back during another visit to see the many waterfalls off the North Mountain that are accessed from the beach—on the Bay of Fundy, that activity has to be timed very carefully with low tide!

The Kempt and Noel Shores

Our one day-trip to the east of the valley was to the Kempt Shore and Noel Shore also on the south side of the Minas Basin.

This is one of the many undeservedly less-travelled parts of the province.  We started with a stop at Burntcoat Head Park on the Noel Shore.  This lovely municipal park is home to the world’s highest recorded tides and features steps down to the ocean floor at low tide that allow you to walk over the red sandstone and get up close and personal with a flowerpot seastack.  We had an explore, washed off at a handy shoe/foot washing tap, and then had a hot and claustrophobic climb up to the top of the small lighthouse that houses the Interpretation Center.

We also had a short stop that day at another lighthouse—at Walton—where we stretched our legs and then had another hot and claustrophobic climb to the top! Lunch was on the patio at The Flying Apron Inn and Cookery in Summerville on the Kempt Shore.  This is an exceptional out-of-the-way farm-to-table restaurant but I didn’t want to talk it up too much with MAC in case we couldn’t get a table.  As soon as MAC saw “We Do Local” on the restaurant sign, she got excited—we’ve had memorable meals at these types of restaurants!  The delicious lunch that day did not disappoint—all enjoyed leisurely sitting outside with a good friend on a warm September afternoon.

Kejimkujik National Park Seaside

Two days before hurricane-strength post-tropical storm Fiona was forecast to hit Nova Scotia, MAC and I took our last day-trip of her visit and headed further west on the South Shore to Kejimkujik National Park Seaside (this is an adjunct, the main part of the national park is an hour inland).

We hiked the Harbour Rocks Trail through shrubby barrens to white sand beaches and turquoise water.  The main beach is off-limits May to August because it is a nesting area for the endangered Piping Plover.  In this remote and protected coastal area with few other visitors, we had a relaxing explore on the beaches and over the rocks (there was an icky moment when I came across the head of a gull minus its body) and sat to watch the Grey Seals and Harbour Seals offshore. 

For lunch, we chose The Grill at the nearby Quarterdeck Resort.  Since it was mid-afternoon on a weekday in September, we had no problem getting a table by the window—we had the place to ourselves.  And what a view it was overlooking the 1km (.6 miles) stunning white sand expanse of Summerville Beach (note: a different Summerville than where we had lunch at the Flying Apron).

Wrap Up

Other than Keji Seaside, I limited the day-trips to ~ an hour drive max each way, so there are still so many unique areas (and waterfalls!) remaining for us to check out together.  And besides Fiona, the September weather was mostly good and we were still wearing shorts for the first week.  We weren’t on-the-go the entire visit, we also had plenty of relaxing downtime together. On the day-trip days when we enjoyed lunch at a restaurant, we made a lighter evening meal at home.  And with these day-trips, there’s always that positive side-effect for the host: a reminder of how lucky I am to be living in this beautiful place.

Extra

As I was writing this post, I remembered a day-trip I planned for MAC while I was living out west that … fell a bit flat.  I thought she would enjoy seeing Leavenworth, WA, a town modeled on a Bavarian village with lots of German restaurants and bakeries.  I wanted to surprise her with it but as soon as we got there she started laughing: there is a town, Helen, near her in Atlanta that is similar.  I see now that in Wikipedia, the entries for Leavenworth and Helen link to each other, and are apparently the only two towns in the US that reinvented themselves (to save themselves through tourism) as Bavarian villages, both in the 1960’s.  What were the odds?  Well, we laugh about it now and MAC agrees it makes a little more sense in WA with the mountains, at least there are snow-capped peaks in view from the village.

References and related links:

• MAC: mon amie Caroline.
• Grand-Pré National Historic Site (Parks Canada site)
• Burntcoat Head Park
• Kejimkujik National Park Seaside (Parks Canada site)
• cape breton 2022 (post #186)