September 11 and 12, 2013 Annapolis Royal and Halls Harbour, Atlantic Ocean

Annapolis Royal was our next stop, we visited lots of local art galleries and museums, we saw some wonderful folk art ...  and the Sinclair Inn Museum built in 1710- 1781, the museum uses interactive computer technology and de-constructed sections of the building to exhibit almost 300 years of history. Joe loved this part.  You can also,  Meet the Ghosts of the Sinclair Inn ... ten people who lived in the building from the time of its construction in 1710 to its last days as a hotel in the early 1950's. You can watch and listen as these "ghosts" unfold the history of Annapolis Royal through their stories and struggles.

we arrived at low tide which was about around 11am

a neat fence gate, to a children's play ground

 friend's of Joe's mom bought this beautiful 1800 century building down town Annapolis Royal, and we managed to have a visit with them.  Arthur and Lizby, live on the 2nd floor of this beautifully decorated one bedroom loft, with a fireplace, and a covered back room, with  a frog water fountain, and tons of beautiful plants.

Harriet (Joe's Mom) met them many years ago in Antique, Caribbean.

we did a tour of the Annapolis tidal Generating Station, this same system is used in Ireland, when the tide comes in, and the sea level reaches the level of the head pond, as in picture. The gates are opened and the water fills the head pond. When the tide begins to go out and the gates close, the head pond remains higher than the sea.  When this difference, called "the head" is about 1.8 metres or more, water is allowed to flow through the turbine at a rate of 400 cubic metres per second.  This cycle lasts approximately 5 hours.  The predictable 12 hour and 25 min tide cycle allows Annapolis to operate twice a day.

the next day we drove to The Lookoff, (not Look Out), and viewed the Annapolis Valley, below is the rows of vineyards

some other areas are growing peach trees, we just had to buy a some, along with varieties of apples that we have not seen in our area

again the tide is out, and an old wharf is exploded, we think that the ocean is 1/2 mile from shore

picture is not good, it was too foggy, but if you look close you can see the tide going out !!!

next was Hall's Harbour

note the small entrance to this fishing village, and no water

this is outside the harbour and the area that is the deepest to come into the harbour ... the two dots in the centre of the picture are people walking the ocean bottom ... the tides are about 30 feet here

no sea glass here, but lots of fantastic looking stones, I wanted to bring a few home with me !!!

September 10, 2013 .. 4 car ferry rides and sea glass hunting !!!!

today was exciting ... we headed off early morning and went to Briar Island ... the Bay of Fundy on one side and St. Marys Bay on other .. out a Peninsula that was a hour and a half drive ... low tide here at Sandy Cove ... when we returned the fishing boat was floating ...

all this area was also under water , on our way back to the main land ... the tide is 26 - 30 ft here

waiting on our first ferry from the mainland to Long Island ... note the school bus on the ferry

it was at low tide and the ramp was so steep ... we are wondering how they do this in the winter months

heading down 26 feet to the ferry .... on the way back it was high tide and we were level to the loading dock

there was quite a current thru the islands, we said if we were on our sail boat we would rush right thru ..

there is only one sail boat that we saw in this area ... no power boats ... only huge fishing boats

heading into the Tiverton, on Long Island

the ferry's run once an hour ... and it did a double shift once ... a fuel truck had to get off one of the islands, and they don't allow cars on with the fuel truck ... we wondered about this and a resident said for safety reasons it has to travel alone

 

heading up the 26 foot tide ramp

we arrived at low tide, which is what we wanted to do

oh my another ferry ride, to Briar Island 

this green bouy was out of place and tied to the wharf wall

what we saw was fantastic, and it is hard to show in pictures with an instant camera

lots of bouys, amongst flowers ... this is the fishing area's and there is tons of lobster cages, lines and rope ... the season starts around the first Monday in November ...these fishermen have the coldest season to fish in

we just love low tide, it shows everything that water hides

 ... I didn't realize that Joshua Slocum grew up here at Westport, Briar Island ... there is a monument here on the southern end of the island ...  he was the first to sail alone around the world

I am at the monument,  Joe down at the car, Peter Island and a bird sanctuary, to the right, which is the next picture

this area is very rugged and suited for back packers, whale watchers, bird watchers, and sea glass hunters

we happened to run into another Ontario man, that moved here 4 years ago and he told us were to go for sea glass .. we did have to hunt around sea weed, but it turned out okay ... pictures of the find at the end of this day's blog

we explored Pond Cove too, but only found 20 seals in the harbour and about 10 bald eagles on shore ... that was even better to see 

Joshua Slocum's dad's boot making shop was closed when we arrived, but we found out that at age 10 Joshua was forced to leave school, and work in his father's shop, a job not to his liking. His interests were sailing and ship building of which his father disapproved.  After his mothers death in 1860, Joshua ran away to the sea.  Thirty five years passed before he returned to Westport.

next we headed back the Digby Neck Long and Brier Islands road ... to discover the Balancing Rock

from the parking lot, we walked for about 15 - 20 minutes, thru bogs, clear cut areas (another forestry lesson, it was only cut a year ago, the skipper said "AND.. right next to a nature trail !!") .. 

this is what we saw ...

some 3 or 6 or 12 sided towers have already fallen, it is a columnar basalt sea stack, that rests on it's end .....  

the sea was really rolling in, this is looking the other direction

there was a 15-20 min walk and 235 steps to get down to the rocks ... it was well worth the effort

this is some of the special pieces of sea glass that we collected today on Briar Island 

  

the little red piece is a real find, the skipper found the red, the blue green piece above it and the part of a handle ... I found the purple piece and a marble .....

sea glass hunting is tons of fun, but lasts Friday I started climbing down a 6 ft, boulder/rock break wall , and I miss  a step, and I fell head first down to the rocky beach ... I did not break any bones, but I'm supporting a grape size bruise on my right hip, and right shoulder, and right leg all scrapped up, face scrapes are now clearing up ... I still can't raise my right arm ... the skipper has to do all the driving in his standard car ...  accidents happen and it did ... getting better every day !!!

September 8 - 9, 2013

this is the view a few minutes from our motel in Lunenburg, we also anchored here a few weeks ago, and meet with our friends Dave and Mary Lou Bath

lots of the old houses have this style of woodwork .. this one needs repair, but many are so pristine

we visited the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic ... the first floor was a gift shop and Aquarium of live North Atlantic species, many of which are the basis of the Atlantic Coast fishing industry

the 2nd floor is the 500 years of the Bank fishery off Canada's East Coast,  a ship model shop, exhibits of the famous schooner Bluenose, and ship building tools ... The Memorial Room is dedicated to fishermen lost at sea from the port of Lunenburg and includes list of the fishermen and vessels lost.

the third floor, exhibits the exciting and dangerous practice of rum running, and the activities of the fishermen and their families 

Joe and I have seen some of these whales

we also got to explore the Theresa E. Connor and Cape Sable

the Bluenose II, was launched on Friday and is getting float testing done now ..

people leave the Dory's on clothes lines, do deal with the tides .. when they want them they reel them in

old oar above the door

we followed the Lighthouse road, along the South Shore of Nova Scotia, lots of little villages and harbours ... note the picnic table on the rocks

every bouy has it's own fishermens marking

the cable ferry arriving to pick us up

about 10 cars are on board now, it cost us $5.50 to save a one hour road trip

to La Have

one of the attractions is the Lahave Bakery, there is a dock and mooring balls here, so next year we will probably visit this area

Westcote Bell Pottery .. very different and exciting pieces

teapot on pedestal and flared lid 

we are alway looking for sandy beaches, this one was at low tide and went for miles ... 

we also went to the Historic town of Shelburne, and the Yacht club, to check it out ..... as it is from here that we will be leaving for the U.S.A. next  August

next we went to Cape Sable Island, the fishing boats are getting much bigger in size ... ocean boats

we went looking for the 'DROWNED FOREST", we are in the right area, but would have to wait for another 5 hours for low tide to see the forest ... we talked to a local and she said it was unbelievable to see the tree stumps at low tide

what we did see was the shore birds

not too sure what they are

the shore line changes from sandy beaches to high cliffs

St. Mary's Church ... the largest wooden church in North America,  the church is build as a cross .. 190 ft. in length, 135 ft. in width, 63 ft, floor to the ceiling and 185 ft floor to steeple, 41 stained glass windows, the large pillars that support the church is Norwegian Red Spruce trees covered in plaster, the organ was built in Quebec and has 999 pipes and is one out of only six of it's model in Canada.  There is also paintings on the ceiling ... we only had 5 minutes to view the church, as it closed at 5pm

next we stopped off at the Village on Stilts, Bear River

the tide which is about 25 ft today was going out and we got here at 6 pm, unfortunately shops were closed, but the tide was low ... can't have everything !!!