Brier Island or Bust !

My friend Sandy flew home to Ontario yesterday, after her annual visit to Nova Scotia and oh, did we cram a lot of adventures into one week !

On her first full day here, we kayaked from Fisherman's Cove to the Auto Port to see the massive ship loading and unloading cars. Being on the East Coast the cars that arrive here are from Europe (Volvos, Smart Cars, Fiats, Mercedes etc.) and we in turn re-load the ship with North American made vehicles. I'd always wanted to get close to those massive floating "shoe boxes" that cross the Atlantic Ocean, and wasn't disappointed.

Me.  Feelin' kinda tiny.   See the car being unloaded ?

I was fascinated by the emergency life raft system perching perilously five stories (my guess) above the water.  That must be one heck of a drop.

It was quite beautiful under the big concrete dock, as the changing tides had painted the piers in different colours.

Common Terns nested on a nearby disused pier.

Paddling in the harbour was a wonderful way to kick off Sandy's visit.

Our big adventure was a road trip to Brier Island, which lies off the end of "Digby Neck" which is a long spit of land protruding into the Bay of Fundy, to go Whale watching.

Travelling the length of Digby Neck includes two brief ferry rides.

Oh wait.  I'm getting ahead of myself because on the way to "The Neck" we stopped at Annapolis Royal home to Fort Anne, one of the oldest forts in Canada.

The Powder Magazine 

1708

This is how they mow those endless hills and berms around the Fort.

This little building set into a bank reminded me of a Hobbit home.

Annapolis Royal is a very pretty town with an air of history and old world charm,

and is home to a wonderful historic garden.

An Acadian "cottage" overlooks the Dyke and tidal river below.

A variety of walking sticks, each engraved with an interesting quotation, were there for us to use while exploring the gardens.  What a lovely idea !

Sandy selects a stick.

Wasn't sure about this expression.

After viewing the gardens we headed down Digby Neck to Brier Island.  But I think I'll let you rest here and will save those adventures for another post.