New Scotland (Nova Scotia)

Glenholme, NS - August 12 - 14, 2012 Our Current Location

Today’s the day we make another milestone in our trip, crossing over into Nova Scotia. Got a really late start after shopping, fuel, internet check, etc. It only took us about an hour to reach the border.

We stopped at the visitors center and spent about an hour there. We had a really great guy who took time to explain all about the Province. We ended up with about 5 lbs of brochures! We originally thought we might spend two weeks here, but now it looks more like a month!

We pick our route and possible stopping point for the night. It is still raining and hot. We decide to boondock anyway. Along our way down Hwy 104, we had a big surprise, it’s a toll road. No obvious way to go elsewhere, so we are stuck, dreading what it will cost. We were pleased that it ended up being only $5.25 for the RV & car.

It’s getting late and we head for Great Village and a gravel lot area described in the Days End Directory. Not sure about how stable it will be after all of the rain. Frank got out and walked it to see if we would get stuck, but it looks ok. We park for the night, cook out some steaks and call it a day.

We have so much information and need to make plans on what to see and which way to go. We decide to stay where we are for another day, run the generator and get things done. One of Frank’s projects was to install a clamp on the bad boy water pump. That sucker ain’t gonna bust loose now!

By days end we decided our route would be counter clockwise around the Provence, drive BG on major roads to a campground, do day trips with Ele’ and move to the next interesting place. We’ll see how that goes.

Our first move is two miles back up the road to a campground we passed. It’s not getting any cooler during the day so we bite the bullet and pay $40 so we can run the AC for the girls! It looks like there are lots of things to do in this area so we get an early start. Checked in by 11AM, hooked up BG to this interesting connection and headed out for the day.

Our route today is west on Hwy 2 up the coast of Cobequid Bay and Minas Basin. There are lots of little towns on this route. First stop is in Bass River at the Veterans Memorial Park. It is a very impressive tribute to all veterans including their animals. We figured they would honor dogs & horses, but they also included pigeons, mules, and elephants.

We couldn’t pass up the General Store across the street. They had a little bit of everything and upstairs was an antique/gift shop. Great old building.

A few miles down the road was the Cobequid Interpertation Centre and World War II Observation Tower. History of the area and not so great views from the tower due to over cast and fog.

The guy at the visitors center told us if we just wanted to explore we should try going down any wharf road and see what’s there. We tried that and were rewarded with these views.

Five Islands was our next stop. We hit the market (fresh corn), Bazaar (fresh molasses cookies), and Dianne’s for lunch (fresh flounder). We took a walk on the wharf and headed to the Five Islands Light House Park. It was low tide and amazing how far out you could walk.

Parrsboro is a larger town than most with a population of around 1,400. We needed to exchange some money so our first stop was the bank. The exchange rate was not in our favor, again, but not too bad. It has fluctuated between .95 and 1.09 since we have been here.

We visited a couple of shops and then went to the Ottawa House Museum. It is the only remnant of the Partridge Island settlement built in the late 1700’s. It was bought in 1896 by Canada’s Prime Minister as a summer retreat. It has not been redone and you can see all the layers of paint and wallpaper.

We tried to find the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) as Frank was interested in learning about tidal energy technology, but the GPS could never get us there. We enjoyed driving around all the back roads along the coast and saw some great views, but never quite found it.

It’s getting late and as usual we didn’t get as far as we wanted because we are finding other things along the way. Had hoped to get all the way to Cape Chignecto.

Our first tourist day in Nova Scotia was great. It is a beautiful place with friendly people. Looking forward to our next excursion.