Atlantic Tour Tidbits – Part XII: Cape Breton Island

Our trip to Atlantic Canada was fast coming to an end, with only two days left before heading home to Regina, Saskatchewan. When we left the bed and breakfast at Havre Boucher, Nova Scotia, it was very foggy, but we decided to carry on to Cape Breton Island anyway, and hoping for the mist to clear.
There is a causeway joining mainland Nova Scotia and the Island, so we set off to find it in the fog.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Making our way across the causeway to Cape Breton Island.

A look at the causeway from the Cape Breton side.

What we could see through the misty fog.

Sometimes we couldn’t tell where the ocean ended, and the horizon began.

At last the fog began to lift, and we could see some of the island coastline.

Parts of the coastline were rugged and natural.

Other areas were quite bucolic.

Before leaving the island, we stopped at small gift shop, and information centre. Outside was this monument. The plaque stated that it was erected to the memory of Angus L. MacDonald by the Nova Scotia Association of Scottish Societies. Born in 1890, Angus was the Premier of Nova Scotia for many years, and also served as the Minister of Defense for Naval Services during WWII. He died in 1954.

Inside the Information centre, we were welcomed, not once, but twice!

On display was a model of the Blue Nose, Canada’s famed sailing ship.
Though it had cleared up quite nicely, we ventured to Dieppe, where we would spend one more night before our flight would whisk us away from the Maritimes.

Atlantic Tour Tidbits – Part VII: Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia

While travelling in Nova Scotia’s Lunenburg County on our recent trip to the Canadian maritime provinces, my husband and I came across some interesting and notable sights.
The area is scattered with vintage houses, some converted into bed and breakfasts, like the one above, for the comfort of visitors to the area.

Many residents displayed items more suited to the sea than the soil.

We saw sculptures depicting people and creatures.

A clever sign. (close-ups below)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

And a rock, painted in a spirit of fun, or is it sarcasm?

The Lunenburg power poles were adorned with fish and ships.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This boardwalk provided a good vantage point for photographing the ocean.
Sadly, it was a dull, rainy morning, and the bad weather cut short our time in Lunenburg County. We must come back here someday to see more of the area.

Atlantic Tour Tidbits – Part III: Shediac Marina

On the recent trip to the eastern provinces of Canada, my husband and I spent three days in Shediac, New Brunswick. During the mornings and afternoons I attended meetings for work, but still had time to do some sightseeing afterward. The marina was a short walk from the hotel. An array of boats were moored there, and a few stood out with brightly coloured paint jobs.

There was a sailing school for landlubbers to learn the ways of the maritimers.

The only other people we saw there were these, who were hard at work. You wouldn’t catch me up that mast!

I was highly amused that this converted rail car was labeled “Le” Container. It seemed to me that the fact was quite obvious. I wondered if this mass of ropes was as tangled as they looked to be.

And more boats.

Atlantic Tour Tidbits – Part II: Shediac for Tourists

On our recent trip to Eastern Canada in June, my husband and I spent the first three days in Shediac, New Brunswick, where I was attending meetings. Luckily, there was time after the day’s work to do some sightseeing. One of my colleagues, a resident of Shediac, took us on a tour of the area.

Above, Shediac’s claim to fame.
The plaque states: This is the world’s largest lobster. It’s made of reinforced concrete and steel, measures 10.7 metres (32.8 feet) in length, 5 metres (16.4 feet) in height, and took three years to complete. It weighs 50 metric tons (110,231 pounds) and rests on a 32 metric ton (70,547 pound) pedestal. It was unveiled June 30, 1990.

We saw many more fun sights, geared toward entertaining the tourists. One of these pirates lost his head. He, and the stocks, provide a photo opportunity.



One of these cute and colourful buildings held a souvenir shop. Outside, you could sit on a barrel and talk to this old fisherman. He’s a great listener!

Everywhere we saw the old style lobster traps, brightly painted and sporting the colours and star of the Acadian flag. The yellow star, the Stella Maris, is the symbol of Mary, Acadian national symbol, and patron of the mariners.

We then stopped at Parlee Beach, early enough in the year to be deserted. For a prairie girl like me, the Atlantic Ocean was an awesome sight!