Graham's Pioneer Retreat Digby

... and Roseanna were so proud of their ‘special’ breakfast.

As we sat eating our breakfast, Bob brought our attention to Bluenose II leaving the harbour. Would love to see this boat in full sail. She was on her way to Halifax today. The ‘Lunenbergians’ are very proud of Bluenose; they also speak proudly of the Picton Castle - a working sailboat (steel hull though) that one can pay $38,000.00 to travel/train on for one full year and circle the globe (as ...

... to Long Island and Brier Island. Unfortunatley the fog was so thick by the time we reached the ferry for Long Island it didn't make much sense to tour something we couldn't see.

We continued our drive along the Evangeline Trail into Nova Scotia's Yarmouth & Acadian Shores District stopping to check out the sites highlighted in the guide books such as a water turbine sawmill, the largest wooden church in North America, Ship Building Yards and more.

For reasons known to many of you, Annapolis looms large in my mind. I was pleased to see the town is quaint as ever and the Academy is much less of an overwhelming presence than I recall. Hopefully this quells some of the anxiety dreams going forward...

Two minutes worth of comparing pre-adventure notes would have shown us that we should have continued up around the coast from the Rocks and dropped into Nova Scotia from the NW, but we didn't. So after the kayaking, we took the 200 km dirt path back to civilization (Saint John) to catch the ferry to Digby. At 11 PM. Who the hell schedules one of the twice a day three-hour crossing ferries for 11-f-ing o ...

... Ate my first lobster! YUCK! The way it was fixed was awful! Will convinced me to try again and we found another place and Will was very careful to make sure it was boiled, not roasted! I am now a big lobster fan!! Yes! Sat with a dishtowel around my neck, drinking beer and sucking on lobster! Oh my....yes, I have pictures - which I think I can post tonight!

Ok -we are off - will write tonight - think I have internet access!!

... be fitted with benches and had just been taken out of use for lobstering earlier that week.

There were about 15 people on the trip, including a couple from St Louis! Couldn't believe it that someone from back home would be on the boat! We had a nice chat but they were serious birders and wanted to watch for all kinds of birds as we traveled to the island. It was kind of hard to see much as it was foggy again - the captain used ...

... the silence. We are slowly making our way to Long Island and Brier Island which are a couple of short ferry rides from here. Prior to getting here, we made a stop at Bear River, also known as the Village on Stilts. A small town with a lot of artistic flair. Flights of Fancy, one of the stores in the village represents about 24 local artists and showcases some beautiful pieces of art. At Long Island, we went on another whale expedition, hoping to have a better experience ...

... on an inland site at the junction of two rivers. It was then continually fought over between the British and the French. The fort was laid out in a classic star shape that gave cover from many sides and this design was then adoped all over Canada. We saw this pattern at the big Citadels in Quebec and Halifax, We plodded on and reached Digby, which is a small fishing port sited on an inland water that is only reached from the sea by a ...

... enough out into The Bay of Fundy to where there "might" be whales. We spotted them by spying their blow sprays on the horizon. There was three in that group, all humpbacks. They were fascinating and stayed real close to the boat for a good show. One of the guys on the tour with us said he had been on a few whale watching tours like this but had never seen them as close as we did today. We watched that group for about 45 min and ...

... your departure time. The first ferry leaves to Long Island on the half-hour, and the one leaving to Briar Island leaves on the hour. If you make the first one, you have to drive like Hell all the way across the island to make the other ferry on time. If you miss it, you will have to wait an hour before you can cross again. Oh, and dress warm....real warm. It was cold on the water. The whales were impressive. They were surfacing ...