Thursday, May 6th
Marine Drive
You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn— Alanis Morissette. You Learn.
Even though I am just across the water from Halifax, road trips are about roads not cities. So I skip it and instead drive south along the shore. Two random observations: The trees are already green here and quite a few flowers abound. Second: The local sign for a tourist attraction is a white key on blue ground.
The weather is fabulous. At dawn there were some clouds left, but by the time I took off, the sky is all blue. I am heading south, first through downtown Darthmouth, which looks like a lovely little city, and the through its industrial area. It is dominated by large refineries first. After that follows Shearwater Airport, the second oldest military aerodrome in Canada, with its Shearwater Aviation Museum. Next, a storage facilities for new European automobiles. There are Mercedeses, Volvos, even Smarts. And lots of them. Finally, huge petrol tanks.
And then suddenly and unexpectedly, we are back in small town Canada. A sign says ‘Spoil mum for tans.’ A bit of an unconventional Mother’s Day gift. I turn onto a smaller road to go further south. There is a parking lot and a board walk through the coastal area. Further down, in the middle of the mouth of Halifax Harbour is Devil’s Island featuring two lighthouses, Southeast Lighthouse and Southwest Lighthouse.
The road ends rather abruptly at the club house of the Hartlen Point Forces Golf Club. Staff is out mowing the lawn as the first players meander to their little Golf carts. It is only twelve past nine, after all. Which seems to be the perfect dog walking hour. Dozens of dogs walk their owners on the sidewalk as I drive back to the highway.
The roads are rather poorly signed around here. Usually, there is only a small sign right at the intersection. Often, that is a bit late. So I dead-end again, this time at the grounds of the Darthmouth Clay Target Associations, which spends its time with skeet and the likes. This is right next to a small, swampy lake which seems to attract lots of birds. A man just stops his car on the roadside, winds down his window and aims his gigantic bird spotter camera right out the window. Photography from the comfort of your car. Wish I had come up with that. The town of Rainbow Haven seems to have garbage collection day. The road is lined with lots of large black garbage bags.
After Lawrencetown comes a beach which the guide book claims is one of the best surfing spots in Canada. While there were surfers at the beach, indeed, either this was a bad day or Canadians shouldn’t stop booking flights to Long Beach for their surfing just yet. I can make bigger waves in my bath tub (but in accordance with Swiss house rules, I never would).
Driving through the town of Three Fathoms Harbour, I almost crash into a sofa standing right by the road.
Grand Desert and West Chezzetcook are the first sign of Acadia in Nova Scotia. Acadia used to be a specific part of New France in the early days of European settlement. Those days ended when Britain took over New France and expelled many Acadians. While there are large Acadian areas in New Brunswick, making the province officially bi-lingual, there is only few left in Nova Scotia. The towns here are decidedly English despite the occasional Acadian flag (the French tri-colore with a golden star) and a big stone church appearing somewhat misplaced in the country of small white wooden churches.
In Smith Settlement I turn right for a little detour to Pleasant Point. The road goes through a dead forest but returns to the water soon. The local fire department is present with two fire trucks and a rubber boat preparing some rescue mission. Pleasant Point is a typical settlement except it has even more space then usual. Maybe twenty or thirty houses are strewn into a landscape of green, forests, water, and a swamp. At the border of town is a little, green cemetery where the birds are singing in the sun.
After Oyster Pond where they sell lobster at Lobster World for $ 4,99 (the pound, I assume, plus tax) the settlements thin out and we return into nature. I decide that a little walk would be nice now and stop at Taylor Head Provincial Park. But a barrier blocks off the road and a sign says “closed”. I’ll have lunch in the sun, then, instead.
Sheet Harbour seems a nice little community. It has all the things one could possibly need: a hospital, an RCMP station, a liquor store and at least two churches. The biggest building seems to be the public library, though. And it even has cars parked in front of it. Extra bonus: There is a German B&B in town. At least that’s what appears from the sign of Anne’s B&B which features two German flags.
More pleasant driving through forests, along lakes and the Atlantic coast, leads eventually to Sherbrooke. It starts promising with the liquor store on top of a hill before the road runs down into the valley of St. Mary’s river. There you’ll find the old town of Sherbrook, which has been conserved and is now Nova Scotia’s largest museum. Currently Nova Scotia’s largest closed museum. I drive down Main Street which has various old, Western style buildings with various businesses.
After Sherbrooke, the road follows St. Mary’s river upstream. There is a shortcut east, but it requires a short ferry ride. Instead I detour further upstream and cross the same water on a tiny bridge.
Another surprise turn takes me off the main highway and towards Tor Bay Beach. Incidentally, I wanted to go there anyway. Like everything else, the facilities at the beach are still thoroughly closed. There are some ‘change houses’ and display holders sans displays. The beach itself is a nice sand beach. But rather windy today, so I refrain from spending more time.
I am afraid that after returning to the highway, I got a bit lost in thought and can’t really report the rest of the drive. It sure was pleasant though. At some point I arrived at the town of Canso at the eastern end of the road. I expected a bit of an English seaside town and subsequently was slightly disappointed. Though not through any fault of the town itself. It has some handsome buildings at the water front, a little park with a pavilion and a small fishing harbour.
Hazel Hill, the next town west, used to be home of a rather important cable station, possibly named Commercial Cable. I would tell you more, but at the interpretation centre, the displays were missing, too. The station itself was in a pretty red brick building which is currently falling apart. A sign declares a project to restore it, but the only actual sign of work is a portapot and a heap of sand.
Still driving deep in thought, I arrive in Guysborough, the local county seat. Yet another pretty small town with a small centre and houses spread over a large territory. Unfortunately, no accommodation as far as I can see. So I drive on north to Monastery and then east to the Strait of Canso. It separates the mainland from Cape Breton. The highway crosses at Canso Causeway. Right after lies the town of Port Hawkesbury which, thanks to the Trans-Canada Highway, has not only motels but also a shopping centre with all necessary services (well, you know what I am after). As I enter the town, it starts to rain heavily. Apparently, it is time to end the day.
Beer of the day: Propeller IPA (patience and persistence …)