Author Archives: Jill and Bud

We are now at Battery Provincial Park just outside St. Peter’s, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. This is the view from our campsite.

The whole campground is well spaced with great views.

This lovely mown trail leads down from the campsite…

to this view of St. Peter’s Bay off the Atlantic.

There are a number of trails with a scattering of benches…

and views…

and some ruins. The French had a gun battery here and later the English had a small fort.

We drove down next to the park to the St. Peter’s Canal. It joins Bras d’Or Lake to the Atlantic. As a friendly native explained, the “lake” is actually an inland sea.

Boats going from one side to the other go through a lock. This lock is unusual because the high side is determined by the tides. We visited at a very high tide, and you can see that the water level on the ocean side…

is higher than the “lake” side. At low tide this would be reversed.

We watched as a couple of sailboats locked through…

from Bras d’Or Lake to St. Peter’s Bay.

We took a short walk along a shoreline trail…

just far enough to see the lighthouse that guides boats to the canal. The lighthouse sits at the entrance to the campground, we are camped up on the hill beside it.

We might have walked further, but we’d spent an hour or more talking to a couple of Maritimers, Paul and Cathy. He grew up on Prince Edward Island, she in Nova Scotia. They spent 25 years in Kitchener, Ontario and the last five years full time in their motor home. People here are so friendly, it reminded me of the people we would meet sailing.

Beautiful scenery and wonderful people, what more could you ask.

Today is our last day at E & F Webber Lakeside Park, a small RV park north of Halifax.

We were booked into site A19, a spacious, shaded, full hook-up pull through site that was pretty level. But alas, no TV. So after spending one night there we went in search of an alternative.

We found site A09. It’s still a full hook-up pull through site, but small enough that Bud had to do a lot of wiggling to get the trailer on the level part, not going down the hill and not in the huge hole just past the right rear corner of the trailer. The main park road passes by the side and front of the site, so it’s not at all private. And, despite how it looked to our apps that locate the Direct TV satellites, still no TV.

Lake Charlotte is still a beautiful place to be.

Yesterday we played disc golf on a course about a half hour from here. It was just a little 9 hole course so we played two rounds.

The ground was very unusual to me, though I’m learning it’s common here. The brown you see is not dirt, it’s dried sphagnum moss. There were places if you got off the fairway you were in a bog and had to be very careful where you stepped.

Today we took a long drive to do a short hike. Nova Scotia seems like the inverse of Prince Edward Island. Instead of rolling farmland with small areas of rough land, we saw rough land everywhere with small areas of rolling farmland.

Most of the hike ended up along a logging road, it was pretty though, and Matey could be off leash.

Then we cut into the woods on this newly made gravel path.

We appreciate the work some volunteers had done, because the ground here is not level. Plenty of places to sprain an ankle!

Our goal was Fantum Falls. I took a video to show the volume and speed of the water.

You could see the falls pretty well…

but it was hard to capture it in a photo.

Since the trail to the bottom of the falls had ropes to assist you, we decided not to do that one.

I was thrilled to spot these ghost plants or Indian pipes growing on the bank above the falls. Monotropa uniflora is a flowering plant with no chlorophyll. It is a parasite on the mycorrhizal fungi that form a symbiotic relationship with tree roots. M. Uniflora takes the water and minerals the fungi provide the trees and the sugars the trees provide the fungi. Their range is wide but they are very uncommon.

This one was growing alone nearby. You can see the inside of the flower better in it.

So even with no TV and a hike that was mostly on a logging road and not being able to get to the bottom of the falls, rugged Nova Scotia is wonderful!

We are in our third province since leaving Maine. When I made our reservations I was looking for a public campground and found this small city campground in Lunenburg. I am so glad we came here!

This small fishing port is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It has a beautiful harbor…

lined on the far side with lovely homes.

On our side was the business district…

with narrow streets,

and plenty of places to shop and eat.

We went to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. We learned the town was settled by a group of the only French speaking Lutherans in the world. When their small independent land was taken over by Catholic France they took advantage of a British offer to come to Nova Scotia. They were farmers but soon learned to fish.

They were joined by others from Europe, mostly Germans, and the town became an important fishing and boat building site.

A highlight of the museum was a chance to tour the Theresa E. Conner and speak with Philip, a docent on board. Philip was a former fisherman and his father fished using the dory system like aboard the Theresa E. Conner. A dozen dories were carried on deck. Each dory went out with a two man crew and set long lines with 3 foot lines and baited hooks along their length. The ends were marked by buoys. The men would go back and pull in the lines and fish and return the fish to the schooner. They went out three or four times a day and also had to clean and salt their catch. The ship would stay out up to 8 weeks until the hold was full.

We were lucky to catch a glimpse of Bluenose II, built in 1963 to the same specifications as the original Bluenose. That fishing schooner, built in 1921, was entered in and won several international fishing schooner races, ultimately winning the last of those races held and bringing the trophy to Nova Scotia. An image of Bluenose is on the Nova Scotia license plate and the Canadian dime. Bluenose and Bluenose II were both built in and sailed from Lunenburg.

We enjoyed just walking around town…

looking at the many colorful old houses.

Some are on their own…

and others are in rows.

There were a lot of flowers, too;

including these giant Scotch thistles. (I learned these are an invasive.)

We came across St. John’s Anglican Church. Built in 1754, it was a symbol of British authority.

In 2001 two thirds of the church was destroyed by fire. The congregation built it back using the original plans. Some skilled builders came out of retirement to work on this project.

I loved the constellations painted on the ceiling above the alter.

I tried hard to capture the unique beauty of this place, but it’s someplace that is much better in person. If you get the chance, come!

PEI is a checkerboard of farm fields and woodlands…

surrounded by lovely coastlines. Since the island is only 139 miles long and between 4 and 40 miles wide you are never far from the sea.

They are known for potatoes, lupines,

and mussels.

Provincial roadways can turn to gravel…

and the capital, Charlottetown, has no sky scrapers. Here you are looking at Charlottetown across the harbor from the site of the first European settlement (French). The embankments are from Fort Amherst which the English built here after they defeated the French.

There are no really wild places but one thing Prince Edward Island has lots of is groomed walking/bike paths.

We saw them everywhere, and they appear to be well used…

and well made. This path wound on nice gravel through this wetland to the bridge and beyond.

On one three mile loop we saw fields (we think this is barley),

woods (unfortunately this sole stand of sugar maples was badly damaged by Fiona),

and a vista that included a pond in the foreground and the dunes of the shoreline behind.

I have wanted to visit Prince Edward Island ever since I read Ann of Green Gables years and years ago. Now that I’ve been here I think it turns that old adage on its head. It’s not an exciting place to visit but it sure would be nice to live here.

On Monday we crossed the eight mile long Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island.

We drove across the island to the north shore and Cavendish Campground in PEI National Park. Note that the site looks more than a little ragged.

On September 7, 2019, post tropical storm Dorian pummeled this area. There were strong winds and a significant storm surge. The inland trees here were mostly a monoculture of white spruce, and they were old. 90% of them fell. The park service cleared the used areas, but left the others to provide wildlife habitat and build soil.

The damage was mostly right in this part of the park (which has three sites along the north coast).

Then on September 23, 2022, post tropical storm Fiona hit. This was a much longer storm with heavy rain and strong storm surge. It affected the entire island. The damage in this photograph is at a disc golf course we went to in the middle of the island. The course was in a “sustainably harvested forest”, most of which is now gone.

Fiona ripped up the dunes in the National Park. What you see is a dune that lies between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and New London Bay. This is the bay side of the dune, the surge must have overtopped the dune here.

I’m pretty sure Fiona is responsible for stripping the leaves off these birches, leaving dead twigs at the ends of many branches and adding to the general dishevelment of the campground.

It has made nice habitat for the snowshoe hares judging by our sightings. (I had just tapped to take the picture of the hare in front as the second one jumped out of the brush.)

We have one more day here and I hope to do a little more exploring before I write up a more general entry for this island. Stay tuned.

Everything has been pretty uncrowded in New Brunswick, so we were a bit dismayed to have to park in the third lot out from the entrance at Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park.

We hoped it warranted the crowds. First we walked just under a half mile on a pleasant but unremarkable path through the woods.

We chose to go down the ramp rather than the stairs. It was all the way at the north end of the beach. There were mud flats but not much else.

We came around the point and saw the rocks. These are called the flowerpot rocks for obvious reasons. The bases are under water at high tide and are eroded. This is a small one.

They got larger as we walked down the shore.

There were passages among the rocks.

Slots

and tunnels

and fantastic shapes.

The bottoms are covered with seaweed.

Uncovered mudflats went out for yards,

but happily, walking in the mud was optional.

Visiting Hopewell Rocks is probably on the list

for everyone coming

to the New Brunswick shore

of the Bay of Fundy.

We thought it was worth braving the crowds, but we didn’t want to hang out the four hours to wait for high tide. They rent kayaks to paddle through the rocks then!

Sorry about that title, I couldn’t help myself.

We came to Fundy National Park Friday and when the fog cleared I found that the campground overlooks the little town of Alma and its small harbor. This was just after high tide.

Four hours later the boats were left sitting on the bottom as the 35 to 40 foot tide receded (maximum tide here is 40 feet, but I think it is lower than that now).

It is a beautiful setting.

Yesterday morning we drove out to Point Wolfe and walked down to the inlet there. I took this photo from the high tide line looking out to the bay.

I was excited to see this foxglove growing by the trail until I looked it up and found it is an invasive species. I hate when that happens!

It was only a five mile drive but included this covered bridge.

In the afternoon we played golf on this 9 hole course that is part of the park. When I suggested this I assumed we would play nine holes. I should have known; Bud signed us up for 18.

This is hole one, what you can’t see is that below the drop off is a small section of fairway and then a creek. There were creeks on almost every fairway, and some had two!

This is another course designed by Stanley Thompson. He is the architect that designed the course we played at Waterton Lakes in Alberta. He is obviously not deterred by uneven terrain!

Besides beautiful views there was wildlife, mostly gophers. They were quite tame, I was not using telephoto to take this picture.

The gopher seemed interested in Bud’s tee shot.

For us the course was long and tiring. Did I mention the uneven terrain? (The planks are for those hearty souls pulling hand carts.)

Even the cart ride was more interesting than relaxing.

This may look like a pretty brook to you, but to me it was a ball eater. Besides the many water crossings,

the rough was, well, rough. We ended up skipping the second play on the last two holes, and even then we took almost 5 hours to play!

But then there were the views!

I get up really early and today while sipping my coffee I was looking for another hike for us to take. I found what sounded like a nice trail on Minister’s Island just under 40 miles from here. Investigating I found you need tickets to get on the island, but opening and closing times depend on the tides; you drive to the island at low tide.

When Bud got up I asked if he was interested. If so, we had to leave by about 7:35 as today’s tides had the island open from 8:30 until 11:15.

He was, so we threw ourselves together and took off. Here we are driving across the gravel part of Bar Road that crosses Passamaquoddy Bay. It was 8:23 AM. In the distance you can see other cars waiting at the entrance to the island.

The tide had just drained away. Some people were out there clamming.

We did find some nice paths to walk.

There were old stone fences…

and parts along old carriage roads. (The white blob in the road is Matey enjoying a roll in the soft grass.)

We glimpsed Chamcook Harbour through the trees.

I loved this part; two ruts filled with conifer needles worn through a roadway of moss. Soft!

Toward the end of our walk we passed this stone gate. This whole island is now a National Historic Site. It was the summer home of Sir William Van Horne and his family. Van Horne was the president of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

The estate operated as a self sufficient farm, but hardly an ordinary farm. This is the three story barn built in 1898.

Behind it was the ice house and creamery. The barn, with its iconic turreted silos was designed by an architect. The milk was cooled in the barn and then piped directly into the creamery.

Everything in the barn was state of the art and immaculate. This is the basement of the barn where the prize bulls were kept. Manure was removed by an overhead rail system and taken to the composting garden.

After touring the barn and hiking we got back in the truck and drove close to a mile to Covenhoven, the 50 room “cottage” built in 1891. You approach from the back.

The front of Covenhoven faces the sea.

Pretty nice view from the front porch.

There’s also a bathhouse…

with its own close-up view of the water.

To support the house were a windmill which pumped water from a well and a gas house where carbide gas was made to light the house.

Inside the carriage house they had one of the original carriages from the estate.

The inside of the house has been restored and has a lot of the family furnishings.

When the property was acquired by the government this pool table was the only thing left in the house.

All of the furnishings in this nursery, built for Van Horne’s grandson, are things that were here originally.

I guess this is dining casually if you were a Van Horne.

We definitely could have spent more time seeing this amazing island.

But time and tide waits for no man and the waters were rising as we drove back to the mainland at 11:23.

We drove into the nearby village of St. Andrews; very pretty but very congested. Before leaving we came back to Bar Road. At 12:07 the water was coming across the road. At high tide the water over the road will be 14 feet deep.

As they say in their promotional material, this is an island like no other!

On our morning walk Matey and I came across this bird, which seemed young and was just standing on the edge of the park road.

Then I spotted its parent nearby. We walked by on the other side of the road, I kept Matey on a short leash and neither bird moved. I think it was a fledgling and mother Merlin, Falco columbarius.

We headed out to St. John to play disc golf, but on the way we stopped at the narrows of the St. John River.

It’s a pretty big river, and if you watch this video clip you can see that the current is moving fast. But since this was close to high tide, and not far from the Bay of Fundy, the current is flowing up the river!

The rather interesting disc golf course was in a nearby park.

You would never guess…

from the paths between holes…

that the course was laid out around an athletic complex.

It was fun, but we couldn’t avoid all the mud!

I’ve enjoyed seeing the new growth on the trees.

Spruce…

and fir…

add new growth in an orderly way. But on the drive back I noticed the larches.

They add new growth with abandon and end up looking like they are flinging out their limbs with laughter. I like them the best.

Although there were and are a lot of other things we want to see and people we want to visit on this trip, the goal was to visit the Canadian Maritime Provinces.

And yesterday we crossed the border into New Brunswick and the Atlantic Time Zone. We are staying first at New River Beach Provincial Park along the Bay of Fundy. This place was recommended to us by a couple from New Brunswick that we met while touring a decommissioned oil rig in Morgan City, Louisiana.

I love our site. It’s quite secluded in a spruce and fir woods with a floor of moss.

The Bay of Fundy is famous for its tides. Yesterday afternoon Matey and I walked down to an overlook of the beach. We were within an hour of low tide.

Today, after a hike, I took another picture from the same overlook. The distant shore had disappeared into the fog, and the beach had disappeared into the tide. The tide here is about 18 feet.

Our hike was through very drippy woods. There were nice boardwalks, bridges and steps, but they were very slippery from the rain and fog.

The woods were wonderfully green. I loved the bright green of the new growth on the trees…

and the softer green of the ferns.

We were walking out a trail on the very rocky Barnaby Head.

We came out at a cove…

where we were able to walk down to the stony beach and onto the rocks. You could hear the stones tumbling with the waves. Beautiful!