Sunday 13 May 2012

Discovery trip to Nova Scotia



We've been home a week now.  Our 2 week trip to Nova Scotia. was a working holiday.
We tried to see as many houses for sale as possible in our preferred area (close to where Wally would work.) 
Again, my creative work has taken the form of these photos which I hope you will enjoy.



On April 21st we set out, making our way through Algonquin Park. 
It had been dusted with snow early that morning.



I love the snow and this fairy dust sprinkling on new blossoms
set the tone for the start of our trip.



By the time we got outside of Montreal in La Belle Province Quebec,



the road became treacherous and we were lucky to find a moteloutside of  Quebec city
in the small town of St. Apollinaire.



Many hours, many flights of geese, hill after rolling hill of New Brunswick later



we arrived in Nova Scotia just after 8 p.m. on April 22nd, just as the information bureau had closed. Sleepy me enjoyed the old country music show on the radio as we drove another 3 hours to the cabin we had booked for the next 11 days.






We spent our first day driving about in the rain to the various houses we were interested in, and quickly nixed all of them for one reason or another.




 Our favourite on School Street was a general wreck with its poor foundation, mossy roof, animal invaders, and to ice the cake, next to an apartment building's parking lot atop a hill to the right.




The next, a classic Anne of Green Gables charmer, was too old-160 years-which wouldn't be so bad except  ...



the interior,  a doll's house, lovingly decorated by an amazingly creative true Nova Scotian,
covered a multitude of problems.



Some were too small.



And some were too big, with no yard for a vegetable garden.



On a main road would be too much noise for this country girl..


Despite the amount of farmland, there is a regular amount of traffic.




This sweetheart in Middleton with a studio over the garage would be too far a commute for Wally.



And this one too,  plus it looks out onto the back of  warehouse shipping and receiving docks. Yikes!





Once one starts looking at houses,  it becomes an addiction and we started contemplating ones that weren't even for sale.  Magnificent!




Eventually we found one that was just right.
Well, actually, it wasn't but it was close.  I had originally dismissed this humble but sturdy house from its pictures on the internet.  But we could see lots of potential.   Besides, it had forget-me-nots, a childhood favourite of mine, and after all, there has to be some romance in a house for me if its going to call me so far away from home.

Our first 2 offers were rejected.  We are taking a break as there is still some weighing of choices to be done..  We may very well "come back to the table" understanding that if it's meant to be, it will still be there for us.



One day, we drove north to clear the palate, so to speak, to a little fishing town on the Bay of Fundy specializing in lobster catch called Halls Harbour.


The tide was out so this little boat was tied securely in place lest it float out to sea.



The town was quiet.




We walked around this stoney barrier along the bottom of the cliff where trees hung on with roots exposed,  then back along the rocky beach examing the beautiful coloured stones and seaweed.



An old fishing cottage, possibly kept up as a cottage.



In fact most of the town had the vacated feel of a summer-in-waiting.



Standing on a cliff at Lookout Point facing east. 
It was my doing things like this that nearly drove Wally crazy.





Nova Scotia is one of the oldest provinces in Canada. Its fishing and naval history are apparent everywhere.  On our last evening, we took another drive over to the sweet village of Granville Ferry, intending to walk around its sister town of Annapolis Royal.


Here we stand in Granville Ferry looking across the Annapolis River at Annapolis Royal.



Annapolis Royal is famous for its quaint beauty, art and organic market.
It is a charming tourist destination.


Its fishing heritage and humour is apparent with a typically East Coast name O'tmaway,
 which I will venture to guess means "out of my way"



And here is Granville Ferry, looking out across the Annapolis River from Annapolis Royal.



The old inn that caught my eye on the internet last year has finally sold.



This building now being used as an apartment building was probably the town hall at one point



There is a unique ocean wave harnessing hydro electricity plant outside of Annapolis Royal



whose open dam had water gushing through furiously







I was mesmerized as Wally stood far off to the side.






But I took photo after photo, fascinated by ever-changing waterscape.



The surge made strange blobs of foam that settled off to the side.






Of course there is much more which I will share with you another time.  It is a quiet Sunday here. I hope the Mothers of the world are feeling well appreciated for their enduring love, the vital force of life. And I hope this makes up for my absence.




Peace