Travel Diary: Tour Through The Maritimes of Canada - Part Two
Once we wrapped up our fun at Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick, we had a decision to make due to time constraints: drive PAST Halifax to the southern tip of Nova Scotia to whale-watch and eat delicious sea scallops OR stop IN Halifax to explore Nova Scotia's largest city.
We thought about it for about 2 seconds and decided to make the 6-hour drive to the Digby Neck Peninsula. Don’t get me wrong, we love exploring new cities, but this decision was a no-brainer.
We drove past Halifax and the fishing town of Digby and headed south toward Briar Island, where we would be whale-watching the next morning.
A quick photo stop while driving down the Digby Neck Peninsula.
Just before Briar Island, we stopped at a campground called Whale of a Time Camping that we found with a simple Google search. The campground only accepts cash, which we did not have. Luckily, the small store in town allowed us to get $50 cash back with a purchase, so we were good to go! We drove back to the campground and booked our camp for the night. As the host led us over the hill directing us toward our spot, the most amazing view opened up to us! We'd be camping on a hill looking out over the Bay of Fundy with a lighthouse off in the distance. We couldn't have dreamed of a better spot! The host said at times you could see whales breaching in the water. How cool! At the bottom of this post is a little review video of our camp.
If you look in the distance, you can see a lighthouse on that small strip of land.
About midway through the evening a very dense fog rolled in. We lost all of our beautiful view—hell, we could barely see 15 feet in front of us! Anyhow, we built a campfire and cooked some burgers before eventually going to bed. We were super-tired after another long day of driving.
Grillin’ some burgers before the fog rolled in.
Before and After the fogged rolled in!
The next day, we left camp early in the morning to drive to Brier Island for some whale-watching! The fog had stuck around all morning, but that didn't put a damper on our experience. Actually, with us riding on a boat in the North Atlantic Ocean, the chilly weather and fog kinda made the outing feel more authentic. We ended up seeing four whales and a bunch of puffins on our tour. We never knew puffins were so small. Cute little guys, they are!
One of the few photos we captured on the boat. We were too busy taking in the experience, I guess!
After our tour, we drove up the Digby Neck back north to Digby to sample some of the world's finest sea scallops at Shore Line Restaurant.. When in Digby, you must eat scallops!
Fishing vessels in Digby.
World-famous Digby scallops!
From there, we drove east through Kejimkujik National Park and landed in Lunenburg to camp for the evening. Lunenburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a charming port town on Nova Scotia's South Shore. Most of the buildings on the water are painted various bright colors that adds to the town's charm. Unfortunately for us, the town shut down around 7pm, so we couldn't really grasp what the town really has to offer. We camped at a city campground just off of the downtown Lunenburg area—nothing special.
Our not-so-special-camp in Lunenburg.
A look at Lunenburg from across the water.
In the morning, we left Lunenburg and took a short drive to a small fishing village known as Peggy's Cove. Peggy's Point Lighthouse is located there on St. Margaret's Bay. It's the most photographed lighthouse in the province, and you can see why. With its rocky outcroppings and the ocean waves crashing, it's quite picturesque. There was a gentleman there playing the bagpipes which added even more to the amazing atmosphere. From there we drove north toward downtown Halifax.
Peggy’s Point Lighthouse.
On the way to Halifax, we noticed our Vanagon's exhaust started to get louder and louder. We said, "Eh, we'll worry about it later. We have so much to do!" Anyway, we landed in Halifax and took a stroll down the waterfront. Littered with great shopping and restaurants, I bet it's pretty active in the evenings. We'd like to return and have a nice dinner on the water sometime.
After our walk, we met up with an Instagram friend at Garrison Brewing Co. for a couple hours. We had a really nice time/conversation that afternoon. Not only did he cover our beer tab, but he also shared some produce he had grown in his own garden! It was really great to put a face & voice to someone you've only conversed with through Instagram.
After we said our goodbyes, we took another long drive (about 4 hours north), this time to find camp on Cape Breton Island. This was when van's exhaust noise was getting louder. More on that in the next blog entry!
-Andrew