10th September 2022
Today our road trip begins with a drive to Peggy’s Cove and then on to Lunenburg, both very scenic fishing villages. At Lunenburg we have an organized walking tour of the old town.
After breakfast at our hotel, we departed at 9 am for the first part of our trip which was to Peggy’s Cove, about 50 km away. The drive is very scenic following the coast with a number of inland lakes and small villages along the way. Little harbours are populated with fishing vessels and a surprising number of sailing yachts. Lobsters, scallops and mussels are major sources of fishing income in this region. Tourism is also a significant contributor to the economy, most likely the major contributor these days.
Peggy’s Cove is a small settlement with stunning coastal scenery, and a lighthouse that appears on most tourist photographs of the region. It is a very pretty little fishing village, with a small harbour that has a challenging entrance. Today, the boats were staying in the harbour due to unfavourable sea conditions. The harbour was formed by dynamiting the granite rock shelf at the entrance to create enough draft for vessels to get in and out.
The settlement is small enough to get around on foot and we found a car park without a lot of trouble. The highlight of the scenery is the lighthouse, perched out on a rocky granite coastline. The wind and sea have eroded the granite down to smooth rounded outcrops, which were easy to walk across and take in the coastal views.
There is also an active art community and a few galleries displaying the work of local artists. We are fortunate that peak tourist season is over, so the volume of tourists (especially bus tours), was at a reasonable level and not overcrowded. It is Saturday and not all of the food outlets and galleries are open further reinforcing that tourist volumes are below peak levels.
Old buildings, often colourfully painted and constructed from timber, surround the harbour. Timber was the main attraction in this area when it was originally settled, as farming was tough in poor soils full of granite rocks. Fishing came later and became the dominant industry.
We spent a good hour exploring Peggy’s Cove, took lots of photos, and then set out to drive to Lunenburg. Lunenburg is 100km from Peggy’s Cove and it took about 1.25hrs, through more scenic villages and forests. We arrived at around 12.30 pm and have an organized walking tour of the town booked for 2 pm, so first priority was lunch.
There are a lot more tourists in Lunenburg and lots of restaurants, Cafes, pubs etc, many of which were full or had queues out the front waiting for a table. We wandered through the main street and eventually stopped at the Salt Shaker Deli & Inn where we managed to secure 4 seats at the bar as all restaurant tables were full. We ordered lobster rolls and smoked salmon club sandwiches, both of which were delicious.
After lunch we had a short walk (about 600m) uphill to meet our guide for the walking tour of Lunenburg. We met in the grounds of the Lunenburg Academy, a very impressive timber building that was built as a school, and operated as such until 10 or so years ago. It is now used for various other uses including some academic schools and a library.
Like most of the buildings in this area, the Academy is built completely from timber.
Our tour had only 6 participants, the 4 of us and 2 other Aussies from Brisbane. The lady who ran the tour was a 9thgeneration local who gave some great insights into the development of the town, and aspects of current life there.
Lunenburg was the second settlement in Nova Scotia after Halifax which was settled by the French. The British set up Lunenburg as their first settlement.
It was a wealthy settlement that basically hit its economic peak processing Cod fish. Like many other settlements around the World that had built their wealth around sea produce, the Cod industry collapsed through overfishing in the late 1960’s. Now tourism and fishing for lobster, mussels and scallops sustains the local economy.
Lunenburg is a UNESCO Heritage site, and has a rich history of old timber buildings, which are quite grand in scale reflecting the wealth that was generated in the early days. Migrants that were the basis of the early settlement were mainly Germans from the Upper Rhine who were promised great farming opportunities by the British who were trying to establish the settlement. The German heritage is quite evident in the town.
It is now a booming tourist centre with a focus on its maritime heritage and a vibrant waterfront tourism based entertainment area, with boardwalk, various harbour cruise options (tall ships included), and lots of restaurants.
Harbour tours are also very popular on old boats with history associated with Lunenburg
In the peak season, it must be chaotic, as there were plenty of tourists there to day.
By now it is around 3pm and we should be heading back to Halifax. On the way we decide to drop in to Mahone Bay, another very pretty little harbour that seems to be a popular place to moor yachts.
We were back in Halifax by 5.15pm, had a beer in the garden area of our hotel, and got ready for dinner at The Bicycle Thief restaurant, down on the Halifax waterfront, a short walk from our hotel.
When we arrived there at 7.30pm, the place was packed. Even though we had a reservation, we were not seated until 7.45pm. Service staff were stretched, but once we placed our orders, the starters appeared within 15 mins but we did not get our main meals till 9.15pm. It was also so noisy it was hard to hold a conversation.
Whilst this area is World renowned for lobster, the standout seafood so far has been the scallops.
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