Oh Canada!

Thursday, August 3

Sailing away from Greenland on our way to Canada we walked out of dinner to find the most stunning of all of the sunsets we've had on this cruise. The colors were simply amazing.

Saturday, August 5

After another 2 calm days at sea we arrived in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.  I had reserved a rental car for the day with the plan of driving up to Cape Breton Highlands National Park for a little hiking and a little lunch.  We invited a couple (Betsey and Gary) whom we have sailed with previously to join us.  Unfortunately, we were tendering since a big Holland America ship had taken the dock.  With the delay in getting cleared by the Canadian authorities and the chaos of the tendering we were delayed in getting on shore.  When we were finally on the tender I called Avis to tell them that we were on our way.  That’s when I got a good dose of fine Canadian customer service.  The woman at Avis told me that I had reserved the car at the wrong Sydney office.  She suggested that I call the correct one to see if they could transfer the reservation.  By the time I finally got through to the other office, the woman from the first office had already called the Sydney office and it was all taken care of.  She even told me that she would have a van waiting for us at the pier to bring us to the rental car office.  Wow, I was impressed.  Nevertheless, we were late getting started so we wound up taking the scenic drive up the Cabot Trail to Ingonish.  For Canada’s 150th anniversary, admission to all of their national parks is free for the year, another nice surprise.  After visiting the Cape Breton Highlands information center we continued up the coast and found a great little restaurant for lobster rolls overlooking the sea.

 After lunch we just took the scenic drive back to Sydney.  It was fine day that convinced us this was an area we’d like to come back to and spend more time.

Sunday, August 6

Another port in Nova Scotia (Halifax) and another rental car.  Today we could approach things in a more leisurely manner.  First off, we were docked, not tendering.  Second, the ship was in port until midnight so there was no rush to get back.  When I planned for the day I had picked a wilderness area to drive to, making for what looked like a nice loop drive.  When we got off the ship we stopped at the information desk to see if they had other suggestions.  The woman there was quite helpful and suggested a totally different plan which we opted for and then modified later.  She suggested driving up to Grand Pre and Wolfville which lie in the valley between the coast of the Bay of Fundy and the center of the peninsula.  We decided to take her suggestion.  The day started out with a rain shower and then it poured even harder as we started driving.  The shower passed and the rest of the day was mostly fine and sunny.  Our first stop was at Grand Pre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It is a site that features the dykelands created by the Acadians who settled there and also remembers the hardship of the Acadians who were expelled from the land in the 1700’s.  An interesting history that is the subject of Longfellow’s Evangeline.  

We drove out to Evangeline Beach and were greeted by hundreds or maybe a thousand sandpipers flying in unison over Minas Basin.  The basin is part of the Bay of Fundy which has the greatest tidal variation in the world.  We were there at high tide, low tide would come in the evening and be 20 feet lower.

Look carefully for the Sandpipers

 We then drove on through Wolfville with it’s many B&B’s and found a cute little cafe for lunch.  At lunch we looked over the map and modified our plan.  It looked like we could drive out to Cape Split for a little walk and then maybe stop at a winery.  It was foggy driving over the mountain and it was still a bit foggy when we got to the trailhead.  Then we found out that the hike to Cape Split was way longer than we thought so we just took a short walk through the woods which were beautiful.  Our reward came as an owl flew over our heads and landed in a tree near the trail.  

The view thru the fog

Spot the owl

The view after the fog cleared

Our next stop was at the Blomidan Estate Winery.  I had never had wine from Nova Scotia so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do a tasting.  Hey, it’s been over 2 weeks since our last tasting!  Their white wines were really nice, the reds too young.  So we bought a couple of bottles of white - we always like to support the local wine industry.  

The next part of our modified plan was to drive across the peninsula to the South Shore with the goal being to visit Peggy’s Cove.  Peggy’s Cove is a highlight of the area and many cruise passengers take an excursion there.  It was another beautiful drive along the shore and just before Peggy’s Cove there is a memorial to the Swissair flight which crashed off the coast in 1998.  When we got to Peggy’s Cove we understood why everyone says you have to go there.  Fortunately we were there late in the day so the tour buses were gone and sun angle was dramatic.