We were at Isis in West Asheville night before last to hear Rose Cousins and I've got Nova Scotia on my mind.
When we left Five Islands in July 2012 we swung east around the Minas Basin at Truro and headed southwest down 236 to 215 to 101 toward Digby. At Maitland, our viewing of the "tidal bore" was anti-climactic because the drought had so reduced the flow of the Shubenacadie River that it didn't compete very well in collision with the incoming tide. We visited the World Heritage Site at Grand-Pré which tells the story of the early French colony in Nova Scotia (L'Acadie) and the Acadians who were expelled from there by the English in 1755 and transplanted in other areas. Some of the Acadians settled in Louisiana where their descendants are known as Cajuns.
Grand-Pré Memorial Church and the statue of Evangeline
We camped that night at Parker's Cove on the ocean and watched the fishing boats come and go for a week and enjoyed local vegetables from the farmers market in Annapolis Royale (10 miles south) and fresh lobster and haddock from the fish market at the docks, which was a short walk down the hill from our campsite. As was the case at Five Islands, we had good neighbors and made good friends. One family that we had seen at Five Islands was with us at Parker's Cove. There were 3 siblings from Quebec with spouses and children and they would circle up their popup campers and all of those first cousins had a wonderful time together.
Sunset at Parker's Cover
We branched out from Parker's Cove during the day for trips to Digby and to Yarmouth. Yarmouth has the complexion of a tourist town on the wane because the big ferry from Maine to Yarmouth (the only ferry from the U.S.) was discontinued several years ago.
We planned to take a whale watching cruise and chose Freeport Whale and Seabird Tours. Our Parker's Cove neighbors Mike and Linda had taken the Freeport tour and had a very good experience. The popup family had gone a different route and had not seen a single whale all day. I guess that is what it takes to make a seabird tour. We left Parker's Cove first thing of a morning down 101 to exit 26 and dropped off onto 217 which took us down Digby Neck a little over 50 miles to Freeport which is where the second ferry goes over to Westport on Brier Island. The Freeport Whale and Seabird Tour company dock is right next to the ferry dock and the ticket office is in Lavena's Catch Cafe (more on that another day) right across the road from the ferry dock. We got there in plenty of time and retrieved our tickets and had a nice lunch on the deck at Lavena's.
The Georgie Porgie arrived at the dock and disembarked the folk from the morning tour. The tour boat is a working lobster boat during lobster season that becomes a whale watching tour boat when lobster season closes (locally May 31). Captain Tim Crocker runs the boat while exchanging information and sightings with other boats, while the passengers are entertained and informed by a knowledgeable local guide.
We boarded and headed north into the Bay of Fundy where, within about 20 minutes, we were among humpback whales - and we remained among whales for about two hours.
These girls are over 40 feet and 40 tons. We saw one with a calf which was only about 12 feet long but very playful. They are very sociable creatures.
Later in the afternoon, we suddenly headed up northeast at full throttle for about 5 minutes and came about. Our guide announced that we had "won the whale watching lottery" and pointed out to us a North Atlantic Right Whale she termed "one of only 400 remaining on Earth". Maybe they have a deal with the North Atlantic Right Whale to promote Nova Scotia tourism and they do that everyday - but it could have been a "Southern Left Whale" and none of us would have known the difference at 50 meters.
We had a great time. We saw and cavorted with more whales than we could have reasonably expected, the equipment performed well, and the personnel were very gracious and informative. The trip exceeded our expectations and we would give it 5 stars.
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If you would like to see my collection of Carolina Lowcountry memories—"Magnolia Elegy: Place In the Edisto Fork," you can view the book trailer here, and see the book page here on the publisher's website. The book is also available from Amazon, B&N, and your independent local bookseller.
