Some interesting facts. Halifax residents are called Haligodians. And, the Latin name for Nova Scotia is New Scotland. In 2016 , Halifax merged with Dartmouth, Bedford and regional areas and is now 440,00 people. When you travel the area it is widespread and seemingly into the country as Peggy’s Cove is part of Halifax but 30km away.
The scallop industry is alive and well in Nova Scotia and a lot of the cod fishermen are doing this now. Much more lucrative as they are paid a salary and work for a boat with a quota. If they get their quota early, they can get another job while still paid throughout the year. Fishing early in the year is tougher and the scallops peak in weight in July.
This is a scallop rake. The ship drags this across the bottom on both sides of the boat. They will drag for 20 minutes and hoist to get their catch
We are off to Digby tomorrow, famous for their scallops and thought it might be an idea to buy on the wharf and cook ourself. After reviewing on the video, we thought otherwise.
We had a 1 1/2 hour drive to Kingston on the south coast for our golf game at the classic golf course…
When we arrived, I asked the lady at the counter if I had to pay. I got the look that said, are you crazy, and I showed her my business card for Paragon. She laughed like crazy but no discount. I said, are you sure, that I do not own this golf course. We had a fun dialogue for sure. I should have designed this course differently as I had a very rough game and Marg was better but not by much.
A number of holes were very wet, due to the Nova Scotia weather, and the mosquitoes were reflective of the current climate as well. Really glad to have played it but a better result would have been memorable.
Off to our campground, a few km away. On the way, on the 2 lane highway, we approached a vehicle , that had his left turn signal on, and as we approached him, the vehicle behind him decided to pass him on the left or in my lane. I had to swerve onto the gravel shoulder to avoid him, so he could get back to his lane. Wow, scary one.
More of the southern shore tomorrow, with a number of stops.
First stop this morning is a drive to the Luckett Winery which is a little north of Kingston on the south shore in the Annapolis Valley. This is not the Okanagan here as only 14 wineries, we are told, and growing grapes that are suited for more cooler, wetter weather.
We had a mine tasting and bought a couple of bottles of L’Acadie white. Their grapes are 3 weeks behind, so a bit iffy for harvest. Last year they had a severe frost in June and lost the entire crop. The wineries, last year, bought grapes from the Niagara to sell.
Next stop is Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Port Royal, further south on the south coast. The original site of Port Royal dates back to Samuel de Champlain in 1605. The original fort site is a National Historical site and a cool place to visit. We were greeted by a native Acadian who gave us a wealth of historical information about the Acadians
Port Royal was on the coast, just outside the Annapolis Royal town site. In the town is the fortification of Fort Anne. This was a main battleground over the years and featured 13 battles and overtaken six times, French vs English. The original capital of this area for 150 years prior to the establishment of Halifax.
The Annapolis River flows thru here and is a tidal river and is the site to a power plant.
The Museum here was great. Lots of info but again with most of the Canadian museums, just scanning most of the exhibits as a whole day to take them in properly.
She had 2 ice cream cones and none for me. Oh well, she is worth it!
The Acadians, when they would not acknowledge allegiance to England in 1760 or so, were deported and many of their farms and homes destroyed. According to the Acadian that we talked to, many ended up in Quebec, Louisiana and other parts of the US, Others were shipped back to France. In England, they offered incentives to move with free land, or the land that the Acadians were removed from.
Our day was running out, and we wanted to visit the Historic Gardens here as they have a tulip tree there. No time, so we drove by it.
Getting to supper time, and we have to drive to Digby to our campground yet and we want to stop at the wharf their to get some scallops to bbq, as Digby is the home of the best scallops in the world. We made it before closing!
Tasting better! Oh boy, we might do this tomorrow as well. The best!
We had a small motorhome parked next to us at the Digby Campground tonight that has a Grove RV sticker on it. So had to chat with her! This lady is travelling with her dog, now for 11 months and 38,000 km and she loves it. Been throughout the US and home is in Vancouver. Wow, brave lady.
The next morning, we are off to what they call Digby Neck, which is a long peninsula in the Bay of Fundy, to an attraction called balancing rock.
To get there you have to take a ferry and when we reached the ferry terminal, we missed the ferry by 5 minutes, so had a 55 minute wait. I took a walk and when seeing the ferry loading, it was very steep and concluded that I did not want to take a chance of grounding out the back end for a rock. Too bad as there was a nice hike to get down to it at water level.
On the way back we stopped at the replica house of Maud Lewis, a famous and endeared painter from these parts
Maud and Everett Lewis lived in poverty and she would sell her paintings for 25c. The above type of sales took place well after her death. Murray told us that years after Maud’s death, Everett was admitted to hospital for malnutrition, and would not give up his backpack. The rumours started, that it was full of money, and it was. After Everett was released and back at the house, a 17 year old kid confronted him with a gun and demanded the back pack. Everett would not give it up and the struggle left him dead. He was a miser, Murray said, pure and simple.
From here, we want to travel to Meteghan, pronounced Met aye gen, as I was corrected by a few Acadians. You have to get it right, eh! Along the way, we stopped at a couple of interesting churches.
The Acadian flag
Meteghan, as I mentioned previously is a Acadian fishing village and is in the Grade 2 curriculum along with Saskatoon and Iqaluit so, being close to there, we have to visit. Not much there of significance but we can tell Riley, that we were there.
So, when we were at the Maud Lewis house, the fellow there, Murray Ross would go down to the shore and gather Dulse and placed it on the roof of his shed to dry. Marg read about all the healthy stuff in it so she had to get some.
And, we are in lobster country, so for sure we have to do this!
Tomorrow, we catch the ferry to St John, New Brunswick which is a 2 1/2 ferry ride across the Bay of Fundy., so goodbye New Scotland.
Oh, 1 more thing from Meteghan.
Absolutely the best Scallops in the world are in Digby!!!
We bought an extra meal of those, but I would agree, the best that we have ever tasted, by far! No fishy smell at all.
Awe Jim wanted you to get one of those rocks😀 we’re enjoying the pictures and updates. Thanks for sharing.