<--Me bloggin' in a dining room of Annfield Manor Hi everyone, this will be the first entry in my online journal of this eventful summer: I left home in Vancouver BC on April 26th, and I won't be returning until early August! I'm writing from a gorgeous B&B just outside of Sydney, on Cape Breton Island (East Nova Scotia), called Annfield Manor. I'm sitting in one of the three guest dining rooms to use the internet, since our bedroom doesn't have a very good connection. It's a shame because the bedroom is super cool with big porthole windows and the bed is comfy, but this dining room is pretty neat too.
We've only been in Nova Scotia for three days (we landed Tuesday Morning, it's now Thursday night), but at this point we've seen almost the entire coast of the province.
We've already driven West from Halifax all the way to Yarmouth and back down to Lunenburg (day 1) where we spent our first night. We stopped in some really cool old towns along the way, including Windsor and Annapolis Royal, that are definitely worth a look. At Royal there was an old military fort that I'm sure is crazy full of tourists come summer, but everything in the province seems to be practically shut down three out of four seasons, so we haven't had to contend with crowds. On the other hand, hardly anything is open.
The next day (day 2) we drove into Halifax where I got a tour of Dalhousie, which was really amazing. Our tour guide was great, the campus is beautiful, and Halifax is a really cool old city. On the way back to Lunenberg and our motel, we stopped in Peggy's Cove, where huge waves from the open Atlantic crash over the smooth sculpted rocks. I'm going to be a raving tourist here and say everyone should visit it at least once, it's that incredible! It was dark by the time we neared Lunenberg and we saw two deer run across the road within a few minutes of each other! Luckily they were far enough ahead of us that we saw them in plenty of time. Then this morning before leaving for our long drive to Sydney, we saw a fox right outside our motel room! And just when we thought we weren't going to see any wildlife (emphasis on life, since there is lots of roadkill...).
Today (day 3) we drove all the way from Lunenberg to Sydney with hardly any stops. We had a picnic lunch consisting of our leftovers from last night's dinner at St Francis Xavier University in Antigonish-- and it was really nice to get out of the car-- but that was pretty much the only significant stop.
So far I've found Nova Scotia to be a very beautiful, albeit quiet, province. Most towns are really small, without even gas stations or convenience stores, and some houses seem completely isolated on a big lot along the highway. There isn't much traffic and a lot of the shops and visitor centres are closed. However, all of this probably changes during the summer tourist season, when small oceanside towns like Annapolis Royal and Peggy's Cove become bustling tourist attractions.
Another thing we've noticed is that the weather can change at the drop of a hat. Driving along the freeway, it was literally one minute of pouring rain and the next was brilliant sunshine and blue sky, back and forth and over again. Fog rolls in and out constantly and the wind can have you freezing in layers of sweaters, then disappear and leave you stripping off your jacket, only to return again seconds later. It's a strange and interesting experience.
Anyway I'd better head back up to my room for the night but hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with updates and photos!
