I just made a snap decision that I wanted to see some more
fall colours, and with the aid of a timely seat sale offer from Air Canada and
some hotel frequent stay points from Choice Hotels I booted off for a 3-day
weekend in the Halifax area.
Just as a by-the-way note, Choice Hotel points expire two
years after they are earned. I had some
that were about to expire, so I was doing myself a favour of a sort by using
them up!
On my last trip to Halifax in July (read about it here: City of the Sea), I focused on the sights of downtown Halifax and its harbour. This time, I stayed in the suburbs, rented a car, and went on two extended day trips out of town to make the most of the fall colours (which were actually a bit past their best). The weather was a mixed bag of clouds and sun, with a good deal of wind, and chilly but none of that slowed me down and I had a great time.
On Sunday I drove northwest along express highway 101, and this is an experience which takes a bit of getting used to. The express highways are all multi-laned freeways in the Halifax area. With the exception of 102 (which runs north to Truro and there connects with 104 northwest to Moncton), they all drop down to a single lane each way after a short distance from Halifax – but still with interchanges to control the access. It seems reasonable enough, given the small traffic volume, but be warned. Passing is permitted in appropriate places, but with the speed limit at 100 km/hour, you need to realize that the oncoming traffic and your vehicle are approaching each other anywhere from 20 to 40 km/hour (combined speed) faster than you expect. Under these circumstances, you need a terrific amount of free road to be able to pass successfully!
I’ve been in Nova Scotia often enough that it doesn’t disconcert me, so off I went and headed over to the Annapolis Valley, ultimately winding up for lunch in the little village of Annapolis Royal.
As you cruise along this two-lane expressway, it's good to remember that there is a parallel "trunk road" (in this case, Trunk 1) which was the original main highway before the newer express highway was built. Driving the Nova Scotia trunk roads is a bit like driving country highways in the United Kingdom -- the roads twist and turn like crazy, wander through the middle of every town and village they can find, and take much much longer to get anywhere. But they also give you some lovely experiences that the main express routes deny you.
Near the east end of the Annapolis Valley region on Trunk 1, for instance, is the town of Wolfville, and this community with its peaceful tree-shaded streets is the home of Acadia University. It's a town made for strolling.
The Valley is bigger than I remembered – it takes about an hour to drive from one end to the other. It’s a famed farming and fruit growing area, neatly separated from the windswept Bay of Fundy by a sizable range of hills. About 25 kilometres before I reached my destination, an interchange on the express highway had a sign directing me to exit there for Annapolis Royal. So I switched onto Trunk 1 and meandered through the lovely countryside of the valley.
In due time, I came to the small village of Granville Ferry, where a modern causeway spans the wide end of the Annapolis Basin (an arm of the Bay of Fundy) over to Annapolis Royal on the south shore. The causeway incorporates the tidal power plant, first of its kind in North America. This plant generates electricity using the terrific incoming and outgoing tidal currents of Fundy, twice each way every day.
The Annapolis Royal region is the site of two historic forts, one English and one French. I’ve seen both of them before, and in any case they are now closed for the season. The village features a lovely boardwalk along the shore of the Annapolis Basin.
There are a whole range of quaint colonial houses, with some shops, cafes and restaurants -- and a sizable selection of B & Bs. Many of the shops were not open on a late fall Sunday, but this didn’t bother me as I am not a huge fan of shopping. I enjoyed a light lunch and a glass of local white wine in a pub, did some more walking around, and then headed back east.
At the midpoint of the drive back to Halifax is the sizable town of Kentville, the biggest population centre west of Halifax on this route. I stopped there for a coffee and afternoon snack, and then drove north along a secondary road to the little village of Hall’s Harbour. This has drawn some attention from tourists recently, like the far more famous Peggy’s Cove. But this is still a working fishing harbour on a commercial scale, complete with a lobster processing plant. It’s tucked into a narrow little river valley at the bottom of a very steep hill and is another great place for a scenic walk, especially when it isn’t crowded.
On Monday I drove off to the southwest along 103, the express highway which leads along Nova Scotia’s south shore to the western tip of the province. I cut off onto Trunk 3 after about 40 minutes to visit the picturesque waterside village of Mahone Bay, famous for its chain of wooden churches posing by the bayside (the first thing you see as you arrive on Trunk 3 from the east).
I then continued for a few minutes farther west to the famous and scenic port town of Lunenburg. This old fishing town, the original home of the renowned schooner Bluenose, slopes steeply up from the water with narrow streets lined with a great variety of quaint wooden buildings. It’s a great place to park and walk around. All you have to do is go three short blocks uphill from the harbour, and there you can escape the perfidious parking meters.
The remarkable wooden St.John’s Church was carefully reconstructed – recreated, really – after a catastrophic fire destroyed the original church in 2001.
Near it is this steeply-tilted civic park complete with cenotaph and gazebo, right behind the town hall.
Along the streets lie old houses, churches, inns and shops painted – as dictated by tradition – in a dazzling array of unexpected colours.
This house, as its traditional German name plate indicates, is believed to be the oldest house in the town.
Down by the water, you can also visit the Fishermen’s Museum, and see the replica Bluenose II – herself a reconstructed relic since her 2010 rebuilding – whenever she is in port. I didn’t go that way as I have visited those in the past, but they are fascinating and well worth your time.
When I was young, I read an account of the remarkable life of Captain Angus Walters, the fishing and racing skipper from Lunenburg who was the captain of the original Bluenose. She was designed to be a working fishing schooner which would also be competitive in racing against the fishing schooners from Gloucester MA. The vessel developed her uniquely upcurved prow after Walters visited the framing in the Lunenburg shipyard, saw that the fo’c’sle (the crew quarters in the bow) would be only four and a half feet high, and snorted, “My crew aren’t midgets.” It was raised by a foot. That sharply upturned forepeak was one of the key reasons why Bluenose rode the waves so effortlessly.
Walters swore that his vessel spoke to him and understood when he spoke to her. Considering the many years they sailed together, I wouldn’t venture to disagree. After a string of victories, Bluenose and Walters entered their last racing series against a younger vessel with a younger captain. In the final race, Bluenose struggled to catch her rival and was almost – but not quite – there. Then Walters bellowed, in a huge roar heard even over the wind and waves, “Come on, Old Stormalong – ONE – MORE – TIME!” Bluenose caught a puff in her sails, surged ahead, and edged her rival for her last and greatest victory.
(Nova Scotia Archives photo)
Most visitors just drive down from Halifax to Lunenburg and then return. But if you keep going west, and then turn south on secondary road 332 you can experience a quintessential Nova Scotia coastal drive around the peninsula west of Lunenburg, past Riverport and La Have and then north to Bridgewater where you can rejoin Highway 103. You can, if you wish, cross the river on the La Have ferry to continue exploring secondary roads farther west as well.
This weekend I went for another dose of fall colours and Nova Scotia seafood as I explored some countryside west and southwest of Halifax.
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