We enjoyed our sleep in our overnight spot and had a mostly peaceful night except for the 5am visit by someone doing donuts in the parking lot. The view out of our van window showed the beautiful morning light.

At the information center, a somewhat inexperienced agent suggested a beach with a nearby lake where we could have an ocean swim followed by a lake swim to wash out the salt. The ocean part turned out to be really great, especially in the fog, although the water temperature was only about 16 degs C. The lake part, turned out to be a duck pond and the maintenance staff cutting the grass suggested it might not be a good idea to swim in that water.

Mahone Bay is a picturesque little town with lots of tourists on this beautiful sunny day. We visited a couple of stores and liked a store that had objects made of reclaimed wood. The Amos pewter factory and store is here and offered a more detailed demonstration of the pewter manufacturing process than the waterfront location in Halifax did.

We were extremely lucky to get the last spot at the Lunenburg city campground, right next to the main stage of the Folk Harbour Festival which took place from Friday to Sunday. We only had a 5 minute walk to the Lunenburg downtown area and visited a number of stores and art galleries.

There are a number of shipbuilding shops at the waterfront and we met a Lunenburg store owner who, in his spare time for the last two years, has been working on rebuilding his boat. He is optimistic that he will be done this year. He and his wife bought a property in Paros, Greece where they spend their winters. So jealous!

In the evening, after dinner, we attended the music festival with about 800 people and enjoyed some amazing performances by musicians from Canada and the US. We especially liked Keith Mullins, Dala, and the Amanda Jackson Trio.

It was a late but very enjoyable evening.

What a luxury having breakfast at Starbucks on gift cards. We made good use of their free WIFI as well.

We returned to the Halifax waterfront and visited Pier 21, the museum of immigration. A special exhibition on family and what creates and binds family captivated us. Families that immigrated often brought objects and memorabilia from their old countries that connected them to their heritage. The term family was also used in a broad way to connect sports team members, military, friends, pets and anyone you love dearly.

The main Pier 21 exhibits cover the stories and history of families that arrived via ship in Halifax to begin a new life in a new country. It talked about the ships, the journey and the hardships experienced during the journey, the landing and processing by Canadian officials and the help of many volunteers and church organizations who assisted newcomers.

A particularly sad story was that of the 900 Jewish passengers who fled Nazi Germany and were turned away first by Cuba (although they had initially approved their immigration), then by the USA and finally by Canada. They were forced to return to Europe where more than a quarter perished in the Holocaust.

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic wasn’t much more uplifting as it covered the sinking of the Titanic and the devastating explosion in the Halifax harbour.

It was now time to leave and head to Peggy’s Cove for a late afternoon and evening photographic shoot. We had a lot of fun and took a great number of images to add to the collection of one of the world’s most photographed locations. Ruth just loved the wild waves and Martin tried to tame them with long exposures.

The garbage truck came by at around 5am to empty the dumpster right next to our van at the studio. We fell asleep again and woke up to a pretty grey day which was perfect for having breakfast with Brent and Sarah and exploring the Halifax waterfront. Pepsi joined us for most of it and was the star with many children and adults wanting to pet her.

We visited the Amos Pewter shop where we got a demonstration of how pewter is cast. Pewter is melted in a pot at 500 degrees F and then poured into molds made of rubber that are spun in a centrifuge to ensure that the molten metal makes it all the way to the nooks of the mold.

A short way down the boardwalk was the NovaScotian Crystal company and here we saw how crystal is blown and then carved. They had a series of beautiful intense blue bowls and vases but they were pretty expensive.

We spent a lot more time on the boardwalk enjoying the music, eating scones, testing the hammocks and enjoying the sailboats on the water.

The Halifax water utility had an information booth where we learned about how the water quality in the harbour has improved dramatically over the last 10 years through better waste water treatment.

Pepsi was getting a bit tired so we dropped her off in the van and walked a little further to see some more shops. Of course we found a chocolate/ice cream shop and had to test the quality. Martin’s raspberry gelato was made with a hint of bear which gave it a unique flavour.

A nearby craft museum featured Lorraine Roy, a Dundas textile artist we know. While there, we met another artist who had an opening at a nearby gallery which we were invited to.

After a thorough cleaning and filling our tanks, our van was ready for the next couple of days of adventure.

We weren’t sure whether we would make it to Halifax today or whether we would be staying near one of the beaches to the northeast of Halifax. The roads were pretty good most of the time and we did not stop very often. One stop we did make came as a surprise. We found a ship breaking facility with several old rusting and rotting ships and boats. We spent quite some time photographing the ships and details of the cracking paint and rust, something Ruth loves to do.

We had a quick lunch break by a small park and chose to visit the Martinique Beach, one of several beaches in the area. When we got there the waves were huge and we knew we had to try them out. Swimming was not really possible in the area where the waves broke but it was a lot of fun to experience the power of the water and try and keep standing. Pretty exhausted we returned to our van with sand everywhere.

We were now fairly close to Halifax and decided to make that our destination for the day. We met our friend Steve for a Greek dinner, had great conversation, a lot about photography and ended up getting a tour of his studio and seeing some of the beautiful images for his next book. Tired, we parked the van on the studio parking lot where we will be staying.

We slept well on our “private” campground and decided to start the morning with a refreshing swim in the ocean on our “private” beach since we’d had so much fun last night.

Eventually we had to say goodbye after combing the beach for sea glass (our new hobby). We made it about 30km until we stopped at the Goldboro Interpretive Centre. This region is known for gold mines, natural gas and a huge project to reintroduce gold mining in the area is underway.

The cafe offered ice cream and had a flavour called Gold Mine which we had to try. At $1 a huge scoop it was the cheapest ice cream we’ve had.

Next came the 300 meter ferry trip which cost $7.

Finally we made it to Sherbrooke Village, well in time for the 2:30pm ice cream making demonstration. Sherbrooke Village is a heritage site adjacent to the St. Mary’s River consisting of buildings from the real town as it was in the 1860s. We got an extensive overview of the site from Dana who also told us that the ice cream making that Stephanie had promised us yesterday at the beach had been changed to butter churning.

We’ve been to a number of heritage sites and this one stands out for its authenticity, super nice interpreters and interactivity. We visited the blacksmith who made items far beyond the typical nails most blacksmith demonstrations do.

The print shop was next and the design graduate showed her skill in letterpress work with materials and machines of the period. She produced a wide variety of printed materials, including recipe books, invitations, signs and advertisements.

It was now 2:30pm so we rushed over to the building that Stephanie was doing the butter churning demonstration at. Everyone was welcome to turn the handle to make butter and butter milk from the rich cream. We got to try this super fresh butter on crackers.

The tailor shop didn’t just produce clothing but also sold hats. There was a large selection of buttons to be seen. The cloth was imported from Europe and the US.

The pottery shop produced all sorts of cups, bowls and jugs and had a super friendly dog that Pepsi barked at.

The General Store was restored as a typical store of the 1870s when it was operated by John and Samuel Cumminger.

The second floor was of far greater interest to us as it housed an Ambrotype photography studio where we learned about 19th century photography techniques and had our portrait taken, in costume of the period, on a glass plate hand coated with sensitizer.

Our portrait exposure was 33 seconds and we had to sit absolutely still during that time. Today’s digital photography, like the image posted below is much easier.

One of the nice things about Sherbrooke Village is that dogs were welcome to visit the grounds and buildings, except for the restaurant. Pepsi had a very busy day greeting all children and Stephanie even prepared Pepsi her own ice cream cone. After a few hours, Pepsi was beat and needed a nap at the photo studio.

While waiting for our glass plate to be developed we moved on to the woodturner’s shop. Here the trained cabinet maker turned spoons, rolling pins, baseball bats and various other objects.

It was now 5pm and closing time and although we still had a number of buildings to see, we said goodbye to a number of the people we got to know, received our image and drove to the Riverview Campground nearby. We have a beautiful spot right by the river and are looking forward to a quiet night. Pepsi is already asleep by the driver’s seat.

The morning started off well with an apple pancake breakfast followed by a short walk on a trail along the shoreline. After that we sadly prepared to leave Cape Breton Island. A last brief visit at the information center helped us find some points of interest on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia on the way to Halifax. Our first stop would be the Canso Islands and Grassy Island Fort National Historic site. A short boat ride brings you to Grassy Island.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the Mi’kmaw and their trading partners had been coming to these islands for over 2000 years. The first European fishermen came in the 1500s and in the 17th and 18th centuries, France and Britain fought for control of the area. Today one can tour the island and see wells and faint outlines of where building once stood, but the vegetation hides most of the ruins. In fact, one of the information panels stated that remains of a large house was still visible, but all we could find were the lawn chairs for weary tourists.

The highest of the day was certainly the swim at Tor Bay. We had an entire sandy beach with crystal clear water to ourselves. The water was refreshing and we swam for at least 20 minutes with Pepsi tired to a rock on the beach watching out for us. The rocks on the beach and the dark clouds made for a dramatic scenery. Unfortunately, the sign in the parking lot said “No Camping” so we had to move on.

About 10km down the road was a short gravel road that lead down to a municipal beach. The parking lot is our home for the night.

During the rising tide, quite a number of people came to the beach in search of sea glass and one couple had found a large handful, including some pieces of china. It turns out that one of the women searching for glass works at Sherbrooke Village, a pioneer village from the 1800s which we will be visiting tomorrow and she will be demonstrating how to make ice cream starting at 2:30pm. We will definitely be there.

We left before 8am without breakfast or coffee and were rewarded at a beautiful lookout with big grey clouds, rugged rocks and rough waves. We spent a good 45 minutes enjoying and photographing the scene.

Having worked so hard, we deserved a hardy breakfast at the Westside Cookhouse in Inverness. The omelettes where great and the coffee excellent!

Nearby was a photography gallery with canvas prints of Nova Scotia images taken by two photographers.

The next street had a store called Tears of Glass which specialized in making jewelry of glass washed up on the beach. We’d never heard of this before and were told it was from glass thrown into the ocean that is broken and tumbled by the action of the waves and rocks.

The idea of visiting another distillery was interesting to us and we hoped it would a scotch whiskey one given the large Scottish influence in this region. It was high end distillery with bottles costing as much as $750. The tour had already started and since we’re not whiskey experts like Martin’s brother Ron, we chose to move on.

Close to Port Hood was some more affordable at the Galloping Cows. We were welcomed by two beautiful dogs one of which was Sam, the 15 week old shepherd.

It wasn’t about the dogs, but the spreads and sauces. We talked for a long time to the owner and learned about his small business and its national and international successes.

The owner suggested a beach for a good swim with waves. We drove another gravel road to get there and found the beach well visited. It wasn’t all that sandy and the water had quite a number of jellyfish in it. Nevertheless we had a short swim with Pepsi looking out for us and guarding our belongings. After the swim we walked the beach looking for sea glass and found two pieces, one amber and one green.

We were still missing a bit of culture for the day and this came in the form of a performance and dance at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre.

It was now time to look for a spot for the night. One of the phone apps we use listed a parking lot at a trail that was right next to the water and we checked it out, finding another camper already there. We talked to this couple from BC for a long time before we went for a short walk and then had supper.

We woke up early and Ruth prepared a wonderful porridge with strawberry jam and maple syrup. We got the van cleaned up and headed north. Pepsi is 15 now and can’t wait to get her driver’s license.

First stop was a lookout point with pink granite and good waves.

Shortly after that stop came Black Brook Beach. It had a beautiful sandy beach and the water really showed some spirit with waves were a lot of fun.

We aways try to make it to where the road ends and this trip was no different. Meat Cove is the most northern community in Nova Scotia and is at the end of a gravel road. The name comes from the fact that it was more of a hunting than fishing place. Quite a number of cars and tents were at their small and very dusty campground because many hikers come for the trails in the area. We, however, came for a coffee and Sprite and headed back the dusty winding road, not sure whether the effort had been worth it.

We drove towards Cheticamp looking for a suitable place to spend the night. One campground in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park looked interesting but required self registration and lacked the necessary envelopes. In Cheticamp we found a campground but it was full and only had overflow parking available on the lawn for $33.90. We declined and went for dinner instead, figuring we could find a free parking spot somewhere in the town. Dinner was at Le Gabriel where we had an Acadian platter with frigot, fish cake and meat pie accompanied by baked beans, vegetables, a relish of green tomatoes, a beer and live music.

The sun was setting and we took pictures at the small harbour across from the restaurant. While down there we met the owner of the Captain Zodiac whale watching tours and asked him whether we could stay in his parking lot for the night. He was very nice about it and very welcoming.

We awoke to the most beautiful sunrise over foggy rocks and ocean. And no, you won’t see any of those images as they are only in our memories.

After breakfast we took the Lighthouse trail along the coast with its stunning views and interesting trees and plant life which were explained on signs along the way. For example, the coastal forest has stunted trees because of severe winds, salt spray and poor soil quality. Ruth really liked the wild roses.

Further along the trail, we came to a rockier area and became mountain goats, climbing to the edge of the rocks to enjoy the play of the waves.

We spent way more time than we had expected and now needed to leave so that we could get to the Louisbourg Fort. Thankfully it was relatively cool so that we could leave Pepsi in the van with just the fan and not need to turn on the noisy generator and air conditioner.

A bus took us from the visitor center to the fort and we were astounded by the size of it and the small town contained within it. The current reconstruction is only one fifth of its original area.

We visited houses of craftsmen, middle class people and the architect, who was the third highest ranking person in the fort. It was nice to see beautiful architecture, connected by fences and vegetable gardens with chickens and turkeys running around.

At the bakery we had a choice of three different kinds of bread – whole grain, eaten by the lower classes, half white/whole grain for the middle classes and white bread for the higher classes. The breads are baked in the traditional manner. We bought a large $5 loaf of the wholegrain, still warm, and enjoyed half of it on the spot.

A highlight of our visit was a talk and demonstration of life as a soldier, complete with the firing of muskets and cannons. The muskets certainly were temperamental and take a long time to reload. The living conditions of the soldiers were hard, with little pay which also needed to cover their clothing. They bathed once a year and wore their shirts until they fell apart before moving on to the next one. On their days off they worked for local craftsmen on construction or repair of the fort for extra money.

A great exhibit covered the reconstruction effort. The fort had been completely destroyed and historians, archeologists, architects, designers, craftsmen and artists from Canada, France and England worked on this immense project for 20 years. The craftsmen hired were often laid-off miners who were retrained after the mines closed.

Time to check up on Pepsi. She was sleeping away, nice and cool and demanded a treat. We set course for the Cabot trail and all the artisans along the way – leather, pewter, glass, pottery, and chocolate. We only bought chocolate. The Cabot trail road is steep, narrow and not always in good shape but the vistas make up for it.

This is a long weekend and we still didn’t have a place to stay and were warned that the grocery stores might also run low on food. We stopped at the Cape Breton campground and were told that all sites were full and that for $25 we could park in the overflow area. We decided to move on, saw a grocery store on way to stock up, and found a commercial campground that still had one site. It turned out to be unsuitable – small and with quite a slope. We took our chances and moved on and turned into the next park campground. A woman on foot was ahead of us at the park kiosk and taking a long time. We thought she might be getting the very last spot. Boy were we lucky – she had just cancelled her fully serviced site and we snapped it up. To celebrate we ate our freshly bought chicken and were serenaded by a live guitar player and singer at a nearby site. He was really good!

First things first – a swim before breakfast on a slightly foggy and quiet morning. Our neighbours were still asleep. While having breakfast outside our neighbours slowly appeared. One of the people we had met on our walk the day before came by and wished us a wonderful trip.

It was a bit sad to leave, but we had a full program for today. First up, the Membertou Heritage Park where we learned about the Mi’kmag First Nation. We took the guided tour and learned so much more than the information panels provided through conversation with our guide Nikkita and stayed way longer than expected.

The next stop was another museum of a different kind. Coal mining was an important industry in Cape Breton, having started very early on. The Miner’s Museum in Glace Bay is built on a real coal mine and offers a tour of the mine by a retired coal miner.

Our guide was not only a miner for 27 years, but also very active in the union. He explained the history of exploitation of the miners by the companies they worked for and the provincial and federal governments who profited from the coal industry. The mine tunnels were very low and the guide explained the dangerous work the miners did.

The museum exhibits showed in detail the different types of coal and how it can be mined. It documented the lives lost in this dangerous occupation.

All good things come in threes and we still had a few minutes (8 to be exact) to visit the Marconi museum. You might remember him from a previous posting. This museum is located at the site where the first transatlantic wireless transmission took place.

We drove to Louisbourg to be here early tomorrow to visit the fort. The first lighthouse in Canada was constructed here and the third one is shining on us as we write this. We decided to spend the night right next to the lighthouse and feel very protected.