Elm River NS to Parrsboro NS

After a good overnight stay at Elm River Park, we continued westerly along #2 highway stopping here and there, a short travel day.
Bass River was small active-looking place with several well-kept exhibits and (of course) some nice scenic shoreline:

 

Logging has been big in the area

 

Still some big logs around

The "Old Wharf Road" area

With a sign that offers "Dragon's Breath" cheese, how could we not stop?

It's a strong blue cheese, smells like dirty socks to some people, but tasty. I've never tasted dirty socks though...

 

The store has a wide selection of Dutch-based products:

Various types of Gouda

 

In an area called 5 Islands, we stopped at the Five Islands Lighthouse exhibit. This one has been moved several times since being built in 1913, almost 7km now from where it started. The last move was due to the sale of the original property rather than erosion, and the lighthouse is now set in a lovely picnicking area.

Overlooking the 5 Islands

 

Tonight we're camped in a rustic campground near Parrsboro. It seemed like a good night for bacon and eggs for supper, cooked outside:

We came the other direction in this area a number of years ago. It seemed a much nicer drive today, with more of an effort to showcase the area.

We're getting a bit concerned about where we'll be able to stay over the upcoming holiday weekend. We might be back to PEI sooner than expected!

Today's route map:

Bridgewater NS to Elm River Park NS

Today was another driving day. The heat has arrived here now, up to 30C and humid today and likely tomorrow too, before it breaks a bit. It's cooler along the coasts though, another reason to hug the coastline (as if we need another reason eh).

We had a good night at the Bridgewater Walmart. A cooling breeze helped. The plan is to get to a rug hooking museum today (Cathie is very into rug hooking), and do some sightseeing along the way.

First we had to drop into Lunenburg, since we were so close. We always like a visit along the waterfront there. Luckily the parking meter enforcement doesn't start until 10 am, so we got most of an hour free parking, enough for our casual tour:

Always a handsome ship or two on display

Some downtown in the background

Some lovely lines on local pleasure boats

A nasty-looking harpoon used in whaling, until 1972

 

We did drop into Mahone Bay for a short visit. It's nice they have a free parking lot on the edge of downtown, and our van can fit into it. Cathie hiked around a bit and enjoyed it as usual.

A closeup of two of the iconic church steeples 

Another very pretty harbour here

This is more harbour, both pictures are taken from the free parking area

We did get to the Rug Hooking museum. Cathie had another good browse here:

The south shore of NS is dotted with small sand beaches in amongst the typical stones. This was a small Provincial Park area, free admission:

We ended up today at Elm River Park, a campground north and west from Truro. Between the hot weather and two nights of camping with no facilities we needed some tonight. As we often do, we were set up before 3pm. Good washrooms and showers here, and laundry too, good timing for both. A nice shady site too, no site hookups though (we don't usually need any, especially after a driving day):

Our route for today:

Digby Neck NS to Bridgewater NS

What a change we woke up to today, fog, drizzle, wind:

This picture is from one of the ferry crossing spots later on, starting to clear a bit:

Since we had done what we wanted to, we decided to break camp and head out. It wasn't until we got to Annapolis Royal that we decided to head towards a rug hooking museum near Hubbards NS, down towards the southern NS coast. 

At Annapolis Royal we headed southerly on the road to Kejimkujik National Park. We didn't stop there, as it's oriented to back-country canoeing and hiking, not what we're looking for this trip.

After a couple of failed camping attempts (even most Provincial parks are full right now in the popular areas) we ended up at the old standby Walmart parking lot, this time in Bridgewater NS. Friendly staff, large lot easily accessed. A good night to catch up on blogs, with a strong cell signal once again.

Foggy and 13C in the morning, the day cleared up and warmed up. Not many pictures today though, by the time the day cleared up we were getting quite tired from the drive.

Here's a map of our drive today: 

Blomidon NS to Digby Neck NS

We reluctantly left Blomidon Prov Park today (Sunday morning) after a really good stay.The weather and surroundings will be hard to top. Note that this post was delayed, as there is very little Internet service where we were camped.

We decided to head right for Brier Island rather than stopping along the way much. There are 2 short ferry rides to get to Brier Island. Our focus was to get to the lighthouse area, which is a nature sanctuary, and stay there overnight. 

The first ferry ride, less than a kilometer across the water

 

The ramp down to the ferry

 

An incoming fishing boat

When we got to the Brier Island lighthouse several other people were there, but we got a good spot for the night:

The lighthouse. Locked up but automated. Even the foghorn.

 

Our spot for the night. More level than it looks.

 

One of our 2 camping neighbours. This was from Germany, roaming the world.

 Hiking around the area:

The wild roses will grow almost anywhere it seems

Lots of crabby remains scattered around

One of the many crab-killers

A big potato? A dinosaur egg? Nope, just a foam float remnant.

A number of chicks around, hidden until a parental feeding is available

The chick colours really camouflage them against the rocks

Those dots in the water are seal heads, a seal convention apparently

Windy but beautiful seas today

Today's travel map:

 

Visiting the Wolfville Farmer's Market

Today we headed to Wolfville quite early, aiming to get there about when they opened at 8:30. Wolfville is a lovely little town, but gets crowded with vehicles very quickly in busy times.

The market is another apparently genuine local market, which we love. We were able to get some seafood for supper (scallops, halibut cheeks), and a few other odds and ends:

 

After we left Wolfville we took the scenic route home. Yes, more scenery I'm afraid... :))

At Kingsport there is a launch ramp, a rarity for the Midas Basin due to the extreme tides. The tide was on its way out when we were there, and fishermen were scurrying back to land while they could:

The camera angle flattened this, but it's quite a long and steep launch ramp

We love the view the bungalow with the porch pillars would get

Playing Fetch at the seashore with your Yellow Lab, Ah Memories!

He just wouldn't quit

 

Some potato fields are blossoming now. Some aren't, but it seems time they should be:

Great views from the potato field

 

Almost back to the Blomidon campground, we found the reason there are often cars parked in this area. Beach access and more Lab play in beautiful surroundings:

Here was part of supper, the market seafood, scallops and halibut cheeks. Never had halibut cheeks before, just as tasty as the scallops:

 A feature of the park is the posting of park poetry in the various washrooms. Here are a couple of samples:

Today's travel map: