McNab's Island at last ...

Just off the shore from Eastern Passage and a short 20 minute boat ride from downtown Halifax,  lie Lawlor's and McNab's Islands. 

McNab's is lousy with history extending back to its purchase in 1782 by Peter McNab.  On it,  are two forts, pioneer homes, a beach where executed sailors were hung in gibets, and the McNab family cemetary. Nothing remains of the fair grounds where turn of the century Halegonians came to spend a fun afternoon.  Nor could I find any sign of the soda pop factory that once was there.  No outward signs remain of the poor folk who were interred in two remote locations after succumbing to Cholora in 1866.

Lawlor's Island was home to a quarantine station.  It is a sad sign of the times that there were in fact three buildings for 1st, 2nd and 3rd class passengers since those being quarentined had arrived by ship. 

During her vitis my cousin Carol and I took the McNab's Island Ferry from Fisherman's Cove to Wreck Cove on McNab's and arranged to be picked up at the same location five hours later.

 It was a weekend and a delightfully sunny day and yet surprisingly we only encountered for or five other visitors while there.  Typically of Nova Scotia this treasure lying on the doorstep of a major city is little known or appreciated.

 

The island is large and not well signed. Oh heck, there are no signs. Apparently there were road signs once but they were stolen. There are maps but without signs it's easy to get off  track and so while Carol and I thought we were on one path heading one way we ended up in a completely different location.  We'd stumbled across Fort Ives (above) which, sadly, is in a state of disrepair.  

The paths on the island were wide and scenic and we always ended up somewhere interesting which made it hard to get too frustrated about being constantly "lost". 

Among the many houses that remain is Conrad House - the home of Gladys Conrad, the last permanent resident of McNab's Island

 

This small building had a roof thick with moss and and one crumbling wall.  I don't know what the building was and I am determined on my next visit to orient myself better and find out.

The wreck of an old bardge can be found on the shore at the north end of the island.  In the distance you can glimpse downtown halifax.

I can't wait to go back and explore McNab's again.

A really boring post

I was thinking of creating a Blog Post that only consisted of pictures of some scanky beach plants and rocks.

The plants would look like overgrown lawn weeds. 

They'd be growing out of impossible narrow cracks in the rocks.

The rocks might be grey.  Grey is a nice boring colour.  And there would be long gouges in the rocks created by receding glaciers.

And these weedy, monochrome, little plants growing where nothing should be growing --

in impossibly narrow cracks baked by the heat of the sun.

And occassionally doused with salty sea spray.

But I'm not sure what I'd say about rocks and weeds. 

So I won't bother. 

It was a silly idea anyway.

Point Pleasant Park ... again.

I love my morning walks in Point Pleasant Park with Buffy and Sooki.  I'm usually there by 8:30 after I take Kait to work in Halifax.

The fog was still lingering over the park when we arrived but burned off within a short time. 

Often we walk along chatting with other dog folk.  Dog owners are happy to chat about their companions.

We walked around the point at the south end of the park.

A worn path lead up the hill away from the road.  We soon stumbled across a lovely patch of blackberries.

Over the last few visits I've been putting my endless supply of poop bags to a new use to collect berries. 

I'm not the only one who enjoys berry picking...

I don't mind sharing.  The dogs only pick the dubious berries that are closer to the ground, giving a whole new and negative meaning to the business expression about picking "low hanging fruit".

Help yourself.  I'm happy to share.

'splorin' ...

One of the marvellous things about having visitors, is exploring Nova Scotia with them. 

Some of my best discoveries have been after saying to an unsuspecting guest,  "Let's see where this road goes.". 

Recently the road lead my friend Sandy and me, to a lovely, scenic lookoff  near the Bay of Fundy.

From there the road lead us downward to a lovely provincial park with a cliff-rimmed beach.  That it was low tide, was a bonus.

Some young people were digging clams on the beach.  They happily showed us how it is done.  Clams create small holes in the beach sand near the water line.  They have a snout that sticks out of their shell and they use it to clear their breathing hole. After locating a clam hole simply dig down 6-8 inches to reach the clam.

You can see the "snout" in the shot above.  Good grief, it's as long as its body!   BTW I'm very proud of myself for not making a crude joke about the clam and its... ummmm .... errrr ... snout !

  The clams are put into a container of sea water to keep them hydrated while further digging goes on.  When digging is finished, the clams are moved into a container with water with some corn meal mixed in.  The corn meal causes the clams to spit out the sand that is in their shells. 

The final step is to  go to the kid's grandmother's house to have the clams cooked.   Sadly, I neglected to get the grandmother's address.  

We wandered up the beach admiring the cliff's colourful strata layers which became even more beautiful where water dripped down the rock face.
 

You'll notice I use words like, "wandered", "sauntered", and "strolled".  Seldom are beach walks really walks at any kind of a pace.  There's too much to see to be walking quickly.

So wherever you are, don't forget to slow up, or down, when you go for a walk.  

Unless of course ...

 
 the tide is coming in.  In that case, rapid walking is encouraged.

Do you know any tidal bores ?

Puns are racing through my head..."I'm in love with a tidal bore!", "I spent Sunday morning with a tidal bore."
"My tidal bore is more fun than your tidal bore.".

Perhaps the only kind of tidal bore you know is an annoying person.

Perhaps you've never even heard of MY tidal bore.

Let me introduce you.  This is a shot of me meeting the tidal bore.

To quote from the information sheet:

 ... (on the Bay of Fundy) tide water enters the bay at its widest point and as it passes along toward the head of the bay, it is in effect squeezed by the the ever-narrowing sides and by the constant shallowing of the bottom.

At the head of the bay, the advancing tide becomes a wave varying from just a ripple to several feet in height, and this wave continues into and up the Shubenacadie River which empties into the bay.  This wave is referred to as a Tidal Bore.  Thus, there is the phenomenon of a river changing its flow before your eyes as the tidal wave, or bore flows OVER the outgoing river water.

My cousin Carol, treated me to two-hour rafting ride last Sunday.

It was fun.  We screamed a lot. 

After the initial encounter with the bore our driver sought out the shallow areas where the rapids were most impressive.

He ran our boat right into the churning waves.  Sometimes just for fun, he'd turn the inflatable to the side to ensure we all got a thorough soaking.

Did I mention that we screamed a lot ?

Sometimes the waves would break right over the boat and we'd find ourselves still inside the boat but floating in the water.  All we could see of the boat was the  top edge of its inflatable sides and the top of the motor. 

These boats are incredible.  They have big holes near the floor at the rear of the boat and when the boat leaps forward the water flows out the back.

If you ever get a chance to go.  Take it.

Here is the link to the rafting park: http://www.raftingcanada.ca/index.php

Happy Natal Day !

The first Monday in August is a holiday in most provinces in Canada.  Each area creates it's own identify for the mid-summer holiday.  Here, it's called "Natal Day" as it celebrates the founding of Halifax and Dartmouth in 1750.

I took Buffy to go and check out the Natal Day Parade.  It was a great opportunity to socialize her and expose her to new experiences as we walked along the parade route.

The parade this year started in Halifax and crossed over the McDonald Bridge to Dartmouth which I thought was an intersting idea.  It symbolized the very tangible link between these two very different cities.  The only hitch was that horses were not allowed to cross the bridge.  

The bridge was closed for the full day for the parade, a "bridge walk" and other events.  It was rather marvellous after the parade was over to see the bridge empty of traffic.

There were maraching bands, multicultural groups and of course the Shriners were tootelling around on their little bikes and mini cars.

 

One of the more surprising entries was a group of baton twirlers (majorettes?).  I thought baton twirling had fallen out of favour and was surprised by the skill of some of the young performers.

Hey Buffy, you're looking the wrong way !   The parade is behind you. 

Air cadets escorted a plane advertising the Nova Scotia International Air Show in September.  They walked by the plane ensuring no one got bonked in the head as it turned the corner.

In the background you can see the toll booth lanes for the bridge.

Someone has to clean up...