There once was a Turtle..

We enter Fundy National Park.  It's foggy and refreshing after leaving 32C with humidity back in Fredericton.  We can see the fog laying on the horizon.

Alma is a small coastal town situated close to the tidal bore from Fundy tides.  When the tide is out, boats 

are left lodged in mud.  Looks strange to come up on so many marooned vessels, but we know they will float again in 6 hours. This truly is the place Shakespeare spoke of when mentioning "There is a tide in the affairs of men.." 

The next morning the cool mist is actually dripping on us as we sip our coffee at our campsite.  What a difference 24 hours makes.  Yesterday the drops on our brow were sweat.  This feels much better.

The Bay of Fundy has the fastest rising tides in the world.  If you arrive at low tide, you get to walk on the bottom of the sea where you can appreciate Nature's underwater sculptures.

When the tide is due to return, alarms sound and park officials scurry around making certain tourists have vacated the beach.

July 17, we arrive in Nova Scotia, the apex of our journey.  If I were a rich man, I would own a condo on both coasts and fly back and forth at a whim.  This is my second favourite province, with it's many bays and inlets, small fishing villages, history and friendliness.  People seem unhurried, and if the traffic backs up due to one of the many road repair projects, you don't hear impatient horns been honked or see people glaring at each other.  Rather people smile, and let you enter the traffic flow easily.  

In the early 1700's french speaking immigrants arrived in this area.  They drained the marshes, built dykes, built their homes and raised their families.  For 30 years they prospered and became the Acadians.  They formed allegiances with the Mi'kmaq tribes and lived in peace.  

The British wanted to strengthen their hold on the place they called Nova Scotia.  Between 1755 to 1764, they expelled 10,000 Acadians, took all their property and livestock and burnt their homes.  They shipped them to places that were French holds - Louisiana ( that's how USof A inherited their Cajun people), the Carolinas, the Carribeans and even sent some to France, although they were born in Acadia.

Grand Pre is one of the places that this happened.  Now it's a National Historic Memorial site, showing the life of the Acadians before expulsion.  Much like Mecca to the Muslims, or Jerusalem to Jews, Grand Pre is a place that Acadians from all over the continent visit for a yearly event.  The British had comfortably mostly forgotten this part of history, until Longfellow revived it and romanticized it in his epic poem, Evangeline. 

Mahone Bay is known for three churches that line up along the shore on one side of the bay.  

We discover Fairy Park, and I wish we had a 4 year old walking with us.  Someone took a lot of effort to make a delightful wooded trail complete with fairy homes and floating water lilies.

The people's homes aren't too shabby either.

Sunday, July 20:  Today we return to one of my most favourite places in Nova Scotia.  Knowing this is the last time I will visit, adds to the sweetness of the day, as we wander the streets of colourful heritage houses, old brick buildings, view the sail ships in the harbour, and reminisce about the building of the Bluenose.  When we were here 15 years ago, the refurbishing of the replica of the Bluenose was nearly complete.  Tourists could view the ship up close and sign the log book which would be aboard for the maiden voyage.  

You don't need a stair climber machine to build Thunder Thighs in this town.  Like Ladysmith, on Vancouver Island, the British dignitaries decided to impose a square block system for the development of the town site unseen.  This makes for lots of steep streets and stairways to climb.  

15 years ago we took a sunset cruise on this ship...

This time we watched it sail by as we enjoyed our fish and chip dinner from shore.

There are three of the oldest churches in Nova Scotia here, but St John Anglican is considered a World Heritage building.  Not only is it a fine structure with lots of stained glass windows, it has the famous "Vinegar Bible".  Bibles were hand printed,  and occasionally type set errors crept in.  In this case, making for an interesting Parable of the Vinegar.  The bible (1717)  was given to Rev. Vincent in 1761 but when he died only four years later, his widow couldn't pay their debts and sold the Bible to Franklin, the governor of Nova Scotia. In 2008 the Bible was returned to the church.

We also visit the nearby Ovens, so called because of the shape of the caves the ocean has worn along the  coast line.  Gold was discovered on the beach here in 1861 and for a few years a town of 400 miners lived on these shores.  Tonnes of sand were sent to Wales for processing, but nobody made big  fortunes. Now the privately owned park is making new fortunes from the tourists that come to hear the thunder of the ocean in the caves and see the odd striated rocks. 

July 21, Monday:

If you want to avoid a major Tourist Trap, avoid seeing Peggy's Cove in the height of summer.  It is a swarm of eager tourists, eating fish tacos and climbing up the glacially smoothed rocks to the lighthouse.  This famous landmark is where Swiss Air ditched due to an inflight fire in 1998.  Baggage and people parts washed up on shore for months afterwards.  There is a monument acknowledging the lives lost.

Peggy's Cove Village

Man Playing Swiss Alphorn

Halifax is very old, founded in 1749 when the British imported 2500 settlers, to establish a stronghold on the east coast.  The architecture has many shiplap houses, and fewer grand buildings than Fredericton.  Downtown no has many 20 storied highrises, and modern buildings.  We check into our hotel on Chocolate Lake, while the truck gets checked out, once more.

View from our window

Without a car we rely on the Halifax transit system, an efficient and inexpensive way to get about.  At the Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, we tour an interesting display of the food diversity within Canada due to immigrants bringing their culture to share with us.  Did you know there are 1000 varieties of potatoes grown near Cusco in Peru?  That California rolls were created by a Japanese cook in Vancouver?  That another Japanese cook created fortune cookies, so popular in our Chinese restaurants?  That bannock is a Scottish biscuit the Indigenous adopted?   The only thing missing in all the displays and stories was an opportunity to taste the flavours and smell the aromas. Darn!

After hearing the stories of immigrants who came to Canada since WWII, and watching a film that touches your heart, you come away so very grateful for our diversity and intent upon continuing to be a place where all are welcome and everyone can have the same rights and privileges.  This is one fine country, and I am proud to be Canadian.

Scenes around Pier 21

Cunard, the famous ship builder was born in Halifax.

Hungry after all the walking about, we catch the ferry across to Dartmouth, twin city of Halifax.  Revisit the Wooden Monkey there, a wonderful organic restaurant we came to 15 years ago with our friend Zetta.  This is Zetta birthplace.

at the Wooden Monkey

Peaceful Sullivan's Pond, Dartmouth

Another Turtle:

Life has truly come full circle it seems.  56 years ago, we had a VW camper with a 4 cylinder motor.  It was slow and steady with it's house on it's back so we called it the Turtle.  Wayne even made a turtle insignia on the doors.  

We had another diagnostic test at the Ford service  here, and they confirm what the Ottawa mechanic said.  This fellow explains the work would be upwards of $15,000 in labour alone, and the wait time depending on where the required parts come from, could be 2-6 weeks.  Both mechanics assure us that the truck can keep going, and is safe to drive.  We opt for an oil change and take our camper back.  Sure she only runs on 7/8 cylinders and may be a bit slower uphill, but she suits our pace.  We're going to call her Turtle II.

So once again we move along, into the Cape Breton area of this wonderful province, looking for music.  Slow and steady.