Good Bye Nova Scotia - Hello British Columbia

I would have liked to take a few of these crustaceans with me. As tempting as they looked in their tank at the Halifax Airport, the prospect of carrying a box of live lobsters aboard kept me in check. And then of course - there is the other problem.
Would I muster the courage to throw these scrabbly little characters into a pot of boiling water and see them DIE???
One did have a choice - buy them live, packed in ice (good for 24 hours) or dead, packed in ice (good for about 12 hours). In any case, airline regulations stipulated that live ones had to be crated in bulky regulation boxes. Taking lobsters on the loose aboard, maybe confined in a paperbag or even on a leash was not an option.

The neighbours back in BC are getting into the harvest/scarecrow/halloween spirit.

Although the East wins leafs down in the contest for the reddest fall colours, there is the odd splash of Red Maple even here, in the Province of pines, firs and cedars.

21. October 2010 - Sunrise Trail along Northumberland Strait

Wharf rat...

Sunset at the Breakwater beside Ferry Terminal at Pictou

Quilt exhibited in the Raven Gallery in Tatamagouche

The Raven Gallery in Tatamagouche

Balmoral Grist Mill near Tatamagouche

Sutherland Mill near the Sunrise Trail in Nova Scotia

Toney River Fishermen's Harbour

Toney River - Fishing boats

Fishing Boats at Toney River, NS

Ready to go Blue Fin Tuna Fishing

Barbie Doll art inside a wharf building in Toney River

True Blue Nova Scotia Fisherman

He owns a 200 acre farm, but has no time to work the fields. He goes fishing for lobster, herring, mackerel and blue fin tuna. He will go off for another three weeks before freeze up around Cape Breton to take advantage of the last blue fin tuna before he has to take the boat out of the water for the winter. Toney Harbour - as almost all the coastal harbours - will freeze solid in winter. Come spring, the fishermen's co-op will have to dredge the harbour from annual silt deposits before he can go out again.

He finds that between the seals feasting on fish stocks, and factory ships depleting them at an unsustainable rate, the blue fin tuna are arriving skinnier each season, and earlier....there are not sufficient bait fish for them to feed on.

But, he has to put food on the table, and fishing does that better than farming.

21. October 2010 - Pictou, Birthplace of Nova Scotia

The good ship Hector landed here in Pictou in 1700??? Scottish immigrants stepped ashore to build a new life here. The Scottish heritage still lives in Cultural Events like the 'Highland Games' the 'Tattoos' (not the body art version), Tartans, and most of all Family Names...there are so many 'Mac's' here, MacDonalds of the Golden Arches could never claim an exclusive rights to the use of their name. There is even a law firm called Mac, Mac & Mac.


Caribou Island in Pictou County, where I have been staying during my visit. The Prince Edward Island Ferry passes the sand spit on her journey between Pictou and Charlottetown.
Photo by Jeff Vienneau


Some of the Scottish Lads in Kilts, and a Guardsman in historic Loyalist (??) uniform with a replica of 'Hector' in the background.
Stock photo of the Pictou Advocate

Pongo and Stumpy ignoring history, but adhering to doggy tradition of digging for treasure on Waterside Beach, Caribou Island.

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Dune grass covered shores of Northumberland Strait.

Makes even a doggie smile....

Hector, the replica of the original 'first landing ship', berthed at historic and quaint Pictou waterfront.

A couple of years ago, she was almost destroyed when a hurricane travelled along the Canadian Coast, smashed into Pictou on the way and left the waterfront in ruins. She has been repaired again, and is open to visitors in 'season' - which right now means...next June.

19. October 2010 - Rainy Pictou Day

Pongo, tourist guide par excellence....


Pictou town craft shop

'Ironsforge' crafted wrought-iron hooks.

Thirty years ago, still being a horse owner, the artist's father shod my horses, in turn I inherited his Newfoundland Dog to give him a 'retirement home'.

The family tradition of working iron stays alive...

Heating up the yard I suppose...

Dan Munro, painter, of Gairloch, sells his paintings in this little store downtown New Glasgow.

Pictou Wharf drenched in rain. The little sailboats serve as information booths.

No more lobster fishing this year, and no more tourists either. Wait until the snow goes - maybe next June..

Small art gallery hiding behind this mural, downtown New Glasgow.

18. October 2010 - Walking on Caribou Island

I am staying on Caribou Island in a spacious, warm and airy house, situated on the shore of an Inlet off Northumberland Strait. Expansive vistas, walking trails, cropped hay fields out back, and a shoreline great for strolling at low tide.

Walking with 'Pongo' - white - who is part of an informal exchange doggie student plan. Pongo moves in on weekends, whereas 'Stumpy' - black- goes off to visit his 'other family'.

Red Maple Leafs, as only the Eastern Canadian provinces seem to develop.

Apple trees line the country lanes. By now, most of the fruit has fallen and feed deer, squirrels and whatever else walks by to enjoy a little roadside snack. Wild flowers, instead of sporting colourful blooms, have turned fuzzy with seed pods.

14. October 2010 - Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, Circle Drive

Nova Scotia. I am staying in Pictou on Northumberland Strait, the north coast of NS.

Cape Breton is the landmass/peninsular making up the north-east part of the province.

Cape Breton - the Cabot Trail 'proper' circumnavigates the upper portion, taking in most of the Cape Breton Highlands, but by-passing Cape North. A side-trip takes you to 'Cabot's Landing', where the Giovanni Caboto set foot on Nova Scotia's soil about 500 years ago, after he rediscovered Newfoundland in 1597. Eric the Red beat him to one of the official discoveries by another 500 years.

Nova Scotia and Cape Breton - their 'Maritime' flavour is never more than a few steps away.

Small Villages and towns with names like Inverness, Wycocomac, Cheticamp, Arichat, Dundee, Baddeck and Mabou dot the landscape. Fishing and Cottage Industry, largely supplemented by seasonal tourist traffic make up the local economy.

Dozens of art and craft stores sell quilts, carvings and the famous Cape Breton hooked rugs.

The Red Shoe Pub, located in the village of the famous 'Rankin Family', talented musicians all. This pub is owned by on of them, and provides a venue for dancing, singing and general merry making.

Cabot Trail presents a feast for the eyes at any time of the year, but during fall it shows itself in a burst of splendid autumn colours.

Catholic Parish Church in Marble Mountain

Nova Scotia size Crab Traps.

The drive offered a sampling of any imaginable weather: rain, hail, snow, sunshine, high winds.....the vistas are spectacular in any light

Rain squalls hanging over Cape Breton Coast

Cabot Trail winds along towering cliffs for a couple of hundred kilometers.

The sea is still 'benign' even in high winds, but Atlantic winter storms are on the way...

Hundreds of picturesque coves invite anchoring - in summer. In a few weeks these inlets will be frozen solid.

Church spire peeking over colourful foliage.

Symphony of Land, Sea and Sky