Episode #8 Nova Scotia’s East and South Coasts

Dartmouth’s Shubie Campground was our home base for five nights as we explored the Halifax area and Nova Scotia’s east and south coasts. Dartmouth was established in 1750 by British immigrants on the traditional lands of the Mi’kmaq. It evolved from an early farming and sawmill outpost into a bustling industrial hub before becoming part of the Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996.

Beautifully restored vintage travel trailers used as AirBNB's in Shubie Campground

The Shubenacadie Canal is a 114-kilometre historic waterway that was designed to link Halifax Harbour with the Bay of Fundy. Spanning a network of seven lakes and the Shubenacadie River, it remains one of the most ambitious, yet financially troubled, engineering projects of 19th-century Atlantic Canada.

For more than 6,000 years, the Mi’kmaq used the natural river and lake system as a trade route. In the early 1800s, British merchants envisioned a canal system along this same route that would allow cargo ships to avoid the dangerous 450-kilometre sail around Cape Sable.

The first phase, from 1826 to 1831, faced harsh winter weather and gruelling excavation through solid bedrock. Cost overruns eventually resulted in bankruptcy. A second phase, from 1854 to 1861, was undertaken by the Inland Navigation Company. Using a system of nine locks and two marine railways, the canal was successfully completed in seven years.

The canal was used to transport vital raw materials such as lumber, bricks, granite and coal. However, within 10 years, the rapid expansion of the Nova Scotia Railway, with its faster and cheaper year-round service, resulted in the canal’s closure in 1871.

Today, the canal system has been transformed into a preserved cultural landmark, with restored stone locks, walking trails, parks and waterways for canoeing, paddleboarding and kayaking.

Old Friends and the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron

During our stay, we had a wonderful lunch get-together with good friends Denis and Denise. Denis was a former colleague of Stephen’s, and they were also neighbours of ours for a number of years in Oakville. Denis is an avid and highly experienced sailor who has crossed the Atlantic five times—once solo and twice with crew on his own boats.

We last saw Denis and Denise at their yacht club, the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, 10 years ago when we were on our boat, Tug’n, doing the Down East Circle Route.

What’s in a name? The Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron began life in 1837 as the Halifax Yacht Club. In 1860, His Royal Highness Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and later King Edward VII, an enthusiastic yachtsman, visited Halifax and a regatta was planned in his honour.

The Halifax Yacht Club organized an extremely successful regatta and, in appreciation, the Prince agreed to become the club’s patron. He subsequently petitioned Queen Victoria for permission to adopt the term “Royal” in the club’s name. In 1862, it became the Royal Halifax Yacht Club, and in 1880 the name was changed to the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (RNSYS).

Some other interesting facts include:

• RNSYS is the oldest yacht club in the Americas.
• It was the second yacht club in the world to be awarded the “Royal…Squadron” designation.
• Only seven clubs worldwide have the “Royal…Squadron” name.
• In partnership with the Boston Yacht Club, RNSYS organizes the biennial Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race, first sailed in 1905.
• RNSYS was the club of record for the True North America’s Cup challenge in 1984 and the Canada II Challenge of 1987.

So, it was a great honour for us to dine at RNSYS as guests of Denis and Denise for the second time in 10 years. Our conversation picked up right where we had left off at our last get-together, and we had a marvellous time together.

Halifax has many great sites to see, most of which we had explored during our 2016 visit. These include:

• Halifax Citadel National Historic Site
• Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
• Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
• Halifax Public Gardens
• Alexander Keith’s Brewery
• Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk

Rather than revisit these attractions, we concentrated this time on some of the surrounding communities and attractions.

Nova Scotia's famous brewery

Lunch at Halifax's "Bicycle Thief" restaurant on the waterfront boardwalk

A seriously delicious burger

Lobster Ravioli

Halifax waterfront boardwalk

One of our side trips was to the world-famous, quaint fishing village of Peggy’s Cove. In the early 1800s, it became a popular, sheltered cove for fishermen because of its proximity to the abundant fishing grounds of St. Margaret’s Bay. 

Here are pics of the quaint and colourful Peggy's Cove

A dory, Fran & a fisherman with a couple of big cod!

There are many stories about the origin of its name, with two of the most prominent being that it was:

• Named after St. Margaret’s Bay, with Peggy being a nickname for Margaret; or
• Named after the sole young survivor of a schooner shipwreck off the rocky coast. She was too young to remember her real name, so a local family took her in and called her Peggy. She eventually grew up, married a local resident and became a well-known figure, leading people to refer to the area as Peggy’s Cove.

Regardless of which story is true, Peggy’s Cove remains a quaint fishing village that is wildly popular with visitors from around the world.

The Peggy’s Point Lighthouse, originally built in 1868, marks the eastern entrance to St. Margaret’s Bay. The current 49-foot-tall, traditional octagonal tapered design is widely recognized for its stark beauty, dramatic granite outcrops and close proximity to the small fishing village of Peggy’s Cove.

Some huge boulders the glaciers left behind at Peggy's Point Lighthouse

At the urging of my sister Leslie in Vancouver, our next outing was a visit to Hope for Wildlife, a charitable wildlife rehabilitation and education organization located in Seaforth, Nova Scotia.

Since 1997, they have rescued, rehabilitated and released more than 100,000 injured and orphaned animals representing over 300 species. In addition, Hope for Wildlife works to connect people with wildlife in a positive way through knowledge and understanding.

They respond to more than 40,000 calls, texts and emails each year and welcome thousands of visitors to their facility for tours. They also provide off-site educational presentations to community and school groups throughout Nova Scotia.

We toured their facilities and spoke with a number of staff members and were thoroughly impressed with their work and measurable results. All the animals in these photos are either in rehab of some sort or permanent residents who cannot be released into the wild. Each has their own story which is documented for all to see.

This snake likes to be cuddled

A Chinchilla named Picchu

Jessie the Bobcat

Elderly bald eagle with juvenile

Fran among the wildflowers

Playful skunk

Hope for Life lookout tower

Down the South Shore

With our time around Halifax behind us, we continued down Nova Scotia’s rugged coast to the quiet, oceanside Graves Island Provincial Park, about 45 minutes southwest of Halifax.

It was a lovely campground, with large campsites, views of the ocean and surrounding shoreline, and numerous easy hiking trails.

Our Graves Island campsite view

Graves Island hiking trail

The south shore of Nova Scotia is like many other Atlantic coastal regions, with secondary roads leading you to a full menu of quaint and charming villages, towns, fishing communities and more. Most have traditional East Coast architecture, with natural or colourfully painted cedar-shake or wood siding on oddly shaped lots, all facing the ocean.

Some residents still make their living fishing. Seafood restaurants are abundant, and it is easy to be swept up in the relaxed vibe and friendliness of these communities.

Some names are familiar to many of us—Chester, Mahone Bay, Lunenburg and Shelburne—along with many more that most of us have never heard of.

Chester, NS

Lunenburg and the Bluenose II

Our first day trip from Graves Island was to the UNESCO World Heritage port town of Lunenburg, a National Historic Site of Canada.

Founded in 1753, Lunenburg is considered one of the best examples of a planned British colonial settlement in North America. It has retained much of its original layout and appearance from the 1800s, including its distinctive wooden architecture.

Its prosperity was built on the Atlantic fishery, and a visit to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic provides a wonderful walk through that history.

Close by, the Fishermen’s Memorial, featuring eight black granite columns arranged in the shape of a compass rose, lists the names of local fishermen and vessels that never returned. It is a poignant reminder of the hard work and dangers of life at sea.

Lunenburg is also home to Canada’s iconic Bluenose II, launched in 1963. It is a replica of the original Bluenose, the undefeated racing and fishing schooner immortalized on the Canadian dime in 1937. Built by many of the same craftspeople as the original at the Smith and Rhuland boatyard, Bluenose II now serves as Nova Scotia’s official sailing ambassador, promoting the province’s rich maritime heritage and tourism. It is a huge public attraction.

We were fortunate that Bluenose II was in harbour when we visited Lunenburg and were able to take a deck tour. Sadly, all the harbour cruises were booked for the entire month of August. Bluenose II also offers “Crew for a Day” sessions, which were also sold out. What fun that would have been!

The yacht is extremely well maintained by her crew of 19, who sign on for the seven-month season. Many of the junior positions are filled by people who have never been on a boat before, and they are provided with all the necessary training. It is a seven-day-a-week job that I would have loved to have done in my younger years.

Bluenose II entering the harbour

Among Lunenburg’s many great restaurants, we enjoyed a fabulous lunch at the Grand Banker Bar & Grill, a reference to the Grand Banks, the East Coast continental shelf. The area was once famous for cod, haddock, various flatfish, mackerel and herring.

Due to overfishing and climate change, fish stocks have been dramatically reduced, with a corresponding impact on the fishing industry.

Seafood chowder at the Grand Banker

A very creative "Lunenburger" at the Grand Banker with beef paddy, bacon, lobster and a bacon wrapped scallop.

Later, we visited the very picturesque, quiet fishing hamlet of Blue Rocks. It is famous for its blue-tinted slate rocks, narrow winding lanes and iconic, weather-worn fishing shacks sitting right at the water’s edge.

Blue Rocks shoreline

Bluenose II heading out for an afternoon sail, taken from Blue Rocks

Creativity in Blue Rocks

The area is sheltered by a maze of dozens of small rocky islands and inlets and is a premier sea-kayaking spot on Nova Scotia’s south shore. It is also a haven for painters and photographers trying to capture the dramatic coastline, light and reflections off the ocean.

We also fit in visits to Mahone Bay and Chester, both lovely, picturesque oceanfront communities on the south shore. They both do an amazing job of maintaining the traditional look and feel of their communities, which is so appealing to visitors.

Mahone Bay

Famous 3 churches in Mahone Bay

After four nights at Graves Island Provincial Park and a farewell dinner at The Naked Oyster, a lovely restaurant in Mahone Bay, we continued our route down Nova Scotia’s south shore. Our travel companions, John and Teresa, began their trek home to Toronto.

Shelburne and The Islands Provincial Park

Our next stop was Shelburne, Nova Scotia, where we stayed at The Islands Provincial Park, on Shelburne Harbour. It was arguably one of the prettiest campgrounds we’ve stayed at all summer.

It is a relatively small campground, and our spacious site—and many others—was right on the water. While there are no campsite services such as hydro or water, it was well worth the extra effort to camp without them.

We were there during a heat wave, but with the help of fans and plenty of shade, we stayed relatively comfortable. The overnight temperatures were also very comfortable.

We had explored Shelburne during our 2016 Down East Circle Route, so this visit we decided to take a break from touring and simply enjoy relaxing at the campground.

Our campsite at The Islands Provincial Park

Tide is out

Fran "beating the heat" at our campsite

Lower West Pubnico

En route farther south, we visited the largest commercial fishing port in Atlantic Canada—the Lower West Pubnico Dennis Point Fishery.

The area has very strong Acadian roots, with the Acadian flag flying everywhere. The impressive port supports more than 1,000 fishers, with a massive fleet of vessels driving a multi-million-dollar shellfish and groundfish economy that includes haddock, cod, halibut, pollock and flounder.

The "fleet" at Dennis Point Fishery

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans divides the coast into distinct Lobster Fishing Areas. When one area closes, another opens elsewhere, meaning lobster is actively harvested somewhere nearby during large portions of the year.

In Nova Scotia, lobster fishing is the most valuable harvest, with the season running from late November through the end of May. Year-round demand is supported through staggered regional fishing seasons across Atlantic Canada, as well as high-tech live-holding pounds that store millions of pounds of live lobster in chilled, regulated seawater and large-scale processing facilities that freeze tails, meat and whole, in-shell products.

Yarmouth and Cape Forchu

Castle Lake Campground was our least favourite campsite of the trip, but it did provide us with an opportunity to visit Yarmouth, near the southwestern tip of Nova Scotia.

Yarmouth waterfront

Yarmouth has a rich Indigenous heritage as well as deep French Acadian roots. The town was officially founded in June 1761 by New England colonists who took advantage of free land grants offered by the British government to attract Protestant settlers after the British forcibly removed the French Acadian population.

Shipbuilding and global trade flourished, making Yarmouth an important international port. Wealth from maritime trade created the ornate captains’ homes that are still visible in the Collins Street Heritage District.

Tourism also surged as a result of steamship lines running directly to Boston, earning Yarmouth the title “Gateway to Nova Scotia.” Yarmouth’s harbour also served as a hub for rum-running during the 1920s.

We enjoyed a lovely seafood dinner on the waterfront deck at Rudder’s Brewery on Water Street.

Dinner at Rudder's Brewery

We also visited nearby Cape Forchu Lighthouse, located on the fog-shrouded Leif Erikson Park. The lighthouse towers over the rocky headland of Cape Forchu, guiding mariners into the safety of Yarmouth Harbour.

The original wooden lighthouse began operation in 1840 and was eventually replaced with a unique “apple core” tower in 1962. Its unusual shape was designed to allow high winds to pass around the structure rather than pushing directly against it.

Cape Forchu Lighthouse in the fog

Foggy the Fin Whale bones on display

Farewell to Nova Scotia’s South Shore

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip down Nova Scotia’s south coast. There is so much to see, so much history to absorb and, of course, wonderful seafood to taste.

We are very grateful for the experience.

Next Up – The Bay of Fundy